If you look closely at any given situation fault can be found. Someone has just puked in the concierge and I just got a parking ticket for stopping outside the apartment for 5 minutes. Ho Hum.
Please feel free to boast about the positive aspects of your home city, town, suburb or village.
Why should we visit.
What not to miss.
What is it famous for.
Who lives there.
What has it given the world.
I start by giving it up to my home city of Cardiff which celebrates it Centenary as Wales' Capital City.
So Zaha didn't get to build her first great commission (the Opera house debacle) but in the last couple of years we got a new cultural centre built and a parliament under construction designed by Lord Rodgers
Cardiff has more parks, recreation and open spaces per head of population than any other city in the UK
Don't miss the Millennium Stadium. Home to the Grand Slam winning Welsh rugby team.
Famous for hosting the first £1m deal in the world (traded on coal).
Charlotte Church lives down the road.
Share your home location with the world. Embrace the Love.
Born and raised in Huntsville, AL. It is around the 3rd or 4th largest city in AL. It unfortunately doesn't house any architectural wonders but does boast some nice buildings here and there. Situated in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and in the Tennessee Valley - where the weather is nuttier than a bag of squirrels.
Huntsville is home to the Stars. Where a once young Mark McGwire, Jose Conseco and Walt Weiss (among others) use to play (possible pre-juice?). It is also home to the Space and Rocket Museum. Werner von Braun defected from Germany to Huntsville in the '60's; the famous scientist who developed the rockets that sent astronauts into space.
benedictine (a light green cucumber/cream cheese sandwich spread)
makers mark, woodford reserve (woodford county), buffalo trace, jim beam (bardstown).
ky bluegrass - the grass. and the music, too.
hometown of ali, pee wee reese, and pat day.
love jones, squirrelbait, my morning jacket, dave pajo, king kong, vhs or beta, slint, palace/will oldham.
thunder over louisville - largest fireworks display in u.s.
louisville slugger.
university of louisville cardinals + uk wildcats.
bldgs by mies, graves, stern, som, albert kahn, deborah berke, chu+gooding, etc.
many microbreweries.
amazing restaurants for a city its size - great seafood thanks to being a ups hub.
ups hub.
yum! brands: kfc, pizza hut, taco bell. (like 'em or not, they're a fortune 400 co that helps out a lot around town.)
one of the largest amounts of public park per capita than any u.s. city - many of them designed by frederick law olmsted or his legacy firm. newest of parks a huge waterfront park designed by george hargreaves.
a great crossroads - close to many other cities: 5 hrs drive to chicago, 1.5 to cincinnati, 1.5 to indianapolis, 1.5 to lexington, 3+ to nashville, etc.
you can get anywhere in town in about 20 minutes on surface streets.
correction: thunder is the largest fireworks display in the world. i checked my facts.
largest manuf. of mirrorballs is here.
bill girdler, director of horror/b movies in '70s was here.
edison lived here and introduced the light bulb to public here at the southern exposition in 1883.
doublemint twins (from '70s ad) live here.
below the mason-dixon line, but didn't secede in civil war.
cheeseburger invented here at kaelin's restaurant in 1934
'happy birthday to you' written here by two sisters in 1893.
Jul 21, 05 3:47 pm ·
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Philadelphia
We want your travel dollars.
See the SS United States docked in the Delaware River (it's near the latest IKEA).
Famous for cream cheese, Mario Lanza, and American Bandstand.
Smokin' Joe Frasier, Camile Paglia and the Governor of Pennsylvania live here.
It has given the world a super power.
Jul 21, 05 3:53 pm ·
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Hey ether, is that Saturn 5 rocket still laying in the 'backyard' of the Space and Rocket Museum?
I learned CAD at INTERGRAPH in Huntsville back in 1983. Those 10 days in Huntsville actually changed my life.
Yes. There are two Saturn V rockets there. The one laying down in the back of the park is the actual rocket used in the missions. At various joints the pieces are pulled apart so visitors can see inside the rocket and it's various stages. The second one is a replica and stands upright in front of the museum. I hear it is the tallest structure in Alabama. There is fund raising project to help restore the Saturn V. Take a look here.
Jul 21, 05 4:25 pm ·
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Thanks ether. The rocket in the back was laying in pieces back in 1983 as well. Walking between the parts is still fresh in my mind, and the fact that you could hear lots of birds cooing within the pieces kinda blew my mind. I mean, here is the greatest vehicle of flight ever made and it ends up laying next to a farm field in Alabama with lots of birds living in it. Like I said, the time I spent in Huntsville actually changed my life.
that should read, 1/2 hour to nearest beach by the way
have not seen that movie, now really curious about it but we have really bad selection in movie rental places here... strike that as was trying to keep post upbeat and positive per bots' suggestion
The shuttle is actually a full scale mock up - the Pathfinder. Marshall Space Flight Center, just down the road is still in bidness today. When I attended Space Camp back in the day, we went on a tour of the place. The scientist took us into a huge hanger like building and proceeded to tell us that we were looking at the "flattest piece of land in the world".
Jul 21, 05 5:24 pm ·
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aml, you never see the Encantadas in the movie, it's just that Hepburn always says "The Encantadas" like its a longed-for land of enchantment. The movie made me want to see the Encantadas, so I think you're at the better advantage here.
By the way, how could I forget Patti LaBelle lives in Philadelphia.
she does?
keep it coming Rita, I'm moving there next week.
Jul 21, 05 6:31 pm ·
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[sent to the architecthetics list 14 December 2000]
Just as an aside to Paul's concise explanation of "architectural language" as it is currently "spoken", whenever I go to study an original edition of Piranesi's CAMPO MARZIO publication, it is in a Frank Furness building, the Fine Arts Library of the University of Pennsylvania, the place where Louis Kahn held his design studios, and a building recently restored by Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates. Back in the mid-1980s, when I was employed as CAD system manager at U of P's Graduate School of Fine Arts, I had one the coveted balcony offices of Meyerson Hall which offer a majestic view of the Furness Fine Arts Library. Alas, I left Penn because they had to sell their (very expensive Intergraph) CAD system. Since it was towards the end of the semester when I left, I did not have to empty out my office immediately (it was furnished with my own rather large desk and bookcase). One night a few weeks after my leaving, I went back to my office to take inventory of what all had to be moved, and I was surprised to find a small older gentleman sitting at my desk. Actually, we surprised each other, and, since we did not recognize each other, we made our introductions. I told him who I was, and he told me he was Joseph Rykwert. We had a little chat. I told him I recently read one of his texts. He thought I was going to say ON ADAM'S HOUSE IN PARADISE, but I told him it was "Classic and Neo-Classic" in OPPOSITIONS 7. Rykwert was surprised by the somewhat obsurity of my reading, and then told me he found my collection of magazines (within my bookcase) interesting. (Rykwert was using my old office for himself, he was, and I think still is, head of Penn's architecture Ph.D program). I was a very eclectic magazine collector throughout the 1980s, and in my office bookshelf, along with ARCHITECTURAL RECORD and PROGRESSIVE ARCHITECTURE, were many issues of CASA VOGUE, THE FACE (UK), and i-D (the UK's indispensable document of fashion). While Rykwert said he particularly enjoyed the architectural magazines, he said nothing about the others. Can you just imagine Joseph Rykwert reading CASA VOGUE, THE FACE, and i-D? Can there be any more reasons why I find architecture and Philadelphia so enchanting?
i was born in this neighborhood in izmir (smyrna), turkey.
the city was founded 3 rd millenium bc.
you want to visit izmir because you are into ancient history and want to have a great time on the aegean coast.
homerus of smyrna wrote iliad. pergamon, ephesus, teos, virgin mary's house are few of the ancient sites nearby. there is an ancient agora in the center of the city. during 14-15 century, jews came to izmir, fleeing spanish persecution and there is still a sizable safardic community there. it has delicious grapes, figs and seafood. it ain't istanbul but i love the city. pop. 4 mil.
Sioux City, IA
11th largest city in US in 1890's - historic jumping off point to the West
Dear Abby and Ann Landers, twin sisters of the advice columns born and raised (their house is in the next block south of mine)
Other home town of celebrities: Tommy Bolin, Johnny Carson (well, nearby).
Corporate headquarters of: Gateway, Sioux Bee Honey, Jolly Time Popcorn
The only fatality in the Lewis & Clark expedition occured here.
Farthest point north navigable by barge on the Missouri River
The grave site of the first white bride west of the Mississippi.
The only high rise prairie school style building. It's arguably the most architectural significant county courthouse in the nation.
Geologically speaking, the soil is highly unusual, it is found in only two places in the world, here and a valley in China. Makes for really troublesome retaining walls.
And of course Gene Autry's 1943 hit song, Sioux City Sue:
Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue,
Your hair is red, your eyes are blue,
I'd swap my horse and dog for you.
Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue,
There ain't no gal as true as my sweet Sioux City Sue.
since i live in the stix of this here fly over state i will give a smattering of famous people and things that fall within a one hour drive from my double wide. here goes:
howard hawks- one of america's greatest directors
bliss blass- fashion designer
shelly long- u know from cheers
carole lombard- great comedic actress
james mccracken-opera singer
anne baxter-actress
michael jackson-thrilla
james dean -icon
tim holt-actor (curtin in the treasure of the sierra madre)
harol urey invented deutreum won nobel.
charles kuhl- the guy patton slapped
things:
first practical gas pump invented here
alka seltzer invented here
awesome cars:
studebaker
auburn
cord
duesenberg all built here
also hummers
first professional baseball game 1871
only man made white water raceway
notre dame
Chicago, ILL
I was given the boot today again . $215 bucks
Otherwise Chicago is an awesome place| with the exception of long cold winters.
Oh yea, a bad mayor.
Since I don't live anywhere interesting, I'll have to throw in some of the surrounding areas:
Chicopee, MA (where I live)
Guiness Book or World Records holder for the world's largest kielbasa
home of Edward J Bellamy, author of 'Looking Backward'
Westover Air Reserve Base, located in the city, is a back-up landing site for the space shuttle
location of the Ames Foundry, which made swords during the Civil War
Springfield, MA (where I work)
home of Theodore Giesel, aka Dr. Suess
founding city of basketball, also home to the Basketball Hall of Fame
the Springfield Armory (selected by George Washington in 1770 to be the national armory) is the location of Shay's Rebellion
the Springfield Armory also manufactured many rifles during that time
home to gun maker Smith and Wesson
birthplace of Timothy Leary
location of the first gasoline powered commercial car (the Duryea Motor Wagon)
Founding location of Indian Motorcylces, first US motorcycle company (2 years before harley davidson)
the whitesox
wilco
radiohead usually stops near by when they tour once every 5 years
the cubs suck
lots of trees "urban forest"
interesting downtown
the reader
Hey ABRA,
I live outside of Smyrna, GA. Take my advice, go visit Huntsville, instead.
OK, something nice abt. Smyrna...Its got a 'Moe's'.& we just got a 'Bruster's.
It is where Julia Roberts came from (& left). All It can I say is that I got a good deal on the property.
Actually I grew up in Northern Kentucky but in my frame of reference, this is the south side of Cincy. The 'Nati is famous for producing people who love to complain about how bad the city is, but when they move away, come to a greater appreciation of how bad we don't have it.
We have two professional sports teams, the Reds and Bengals, the quality of both is nearly always debatable.
We don't need a pro basketball team as we've got the University of Cincinnati Thugs, er Bearcats, to keep us entertained in that dept.
Nearly everyone who has been Mayor or made a serious run for Mayor in the last 30 years has either come from or gone to a broadcasting job on local news stations.
Examples:
-Charlie Luken, current worthless mayor, former anchorman;
-Curtis Fuller, anchorman, then ran for Mayor, failed, now anchorman again;
-Jerry Springer, former mayor, then anchorman, then "talk-show host", now radio host. Jerry is most famous in Cincy for paying a hooker with a personal check in the 70's.
Cincy is also home of a world-class university medical school, which produced the guy who invented the Heimlich maneuver (Dr. Heimlich?!?), and Dr. Salk.
Birthplace of a bunch of celebrities who don't like to mention they are from here, including:
-Carmen Electra
-Sarah Jessica Parker
-George Clooney (actually N. KY)
-Pete Rose (West SIIIIDE), but he actually likes it here. Then again about 95% of us think that he belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Home of Proctor & Gamble/Gillette and Federated Department Stores. Actually has the 6th largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the country.
Ranked the sixth most architecturally significant city in the country (after, I believe, NYC, Chicago, LA, Columbus, IN, and Washington DC maybe? I really don't remember).
Home of the (in)famous College of DAAP at UC. UC is home to Signature Architecture master plan project which includes buildings by Gehry, Graves, Mayne, Eisenmann, Leers/Weinzapfel, Pei Cobb Freed, Gwathmey/Siegel, and master plan by Hargreaves.
Home of CAC by Zaha Hadid, first museum in US designed by woman and her first major commission in US (first period, I think). It sits across the street from the Aronoff Center (performance hall) designed by Pelli.
There are some other things, inventions and what not, that I'm sure were done here but as I am from Cincinnati, I don't care enough to check.
The article even mentions the RagFlats in Fishtown and two of the recent New Yorkers that bought one of the units.
After over 15 years since eating there, I had dinner last night at Charlie's Pizzaria on Roosevelt Blvd, near where the world's biggest building implosion once occurred. (Gosh, their pizza is good, and so is the view.) I was with a close friend who had just had lunch with the Venturis and some publishers/interviewers from Korea. Among other things, we discussed Trumbauer, Kahn and "The Philadelphia School."
rita, have you ever heard a philadelphian refer to his/her city as "the sixth borough?"
Aug 15, 05 6:30 pm ·
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No. The term is obviously one of journalistic convenience. Plus, it's New-York-centric-ness is rather expected from a New York Times article. But, you know, if it says so in The New York Times, it has to be true!
abracadabra: I visited Izmir in Feb. 1971. A few comments on the area to add to yours (correct me if I am wrong here and there)
-bus trip in the rain to Ephesus: near the site of the temple of Diana, one of the 10 wonders of the ancient world
-virgin mary's house up in the hills. hills with pine trees on them. vendors up at her house selling lean roasted meat on wooden skewers? What is this called? virgin mary's house filled with crutches the healed had left behind
-basilica of st john the evangelist and his tomb in it which was visited or opened by pope paul VI
-the amphitheatre in Ephesus where Paul preached against the cult of Diana and was almost lynched for doing this (all in the episltle to the ephesians)
-Ephesus harbour all silted up making the city useless
-was cold and rainy in the morning but cleared up in the afternnoon
-paul's enigmatic words in his epistle to the ephesians which I have always tended to apply to the four dimensions of architecture: "...that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height..." (three dimensions of space and one of time?)
-ephesus/Izmir a crossroads of many influences, hence making it a really magical zone. I have never forgotten it.
skewered meat on bamboo picks=cheopshihs (sort of pronounciation of 'copsis' with c and s having tails and o having umlaut)
i've been in amphitheatre in many rainy days, ditching high school, drinking wine and doing spontenious performances on stage with few of the friends clapping or booing. after the sea dried there were plauge epidemics couple of times and the city was eventually abondoned around 11th century i believe.
a lot of muslims pray at virgin st mary's house and consider it a half pilgramage after mecca.
it is really magical there, sitting in the shade of a fig tree and looking at the library of celsius thinking about the ancient brothels of ephesus.[imghttp://www.geraldbrimacombe.com/photogallery/photo26816/Turkey%20-%20Ephesus%20-%20Celsius%20Library.jpg[/img]
library of celsius.
Dammit, I knew Philly would go huge as soon as I left. I was sitting on a rowhouse that would be worth $1mil in five years, I have no doubt - five blocks south of Rittenhouse Square! The reason my screen name is "liberty bell" is my very first archinect post was "bigging up" Philly as a good place for young people to live - happening, independent, charming, and cheap.
Sigh. Well, maybe in addition to being liberty bell I'm a bellwether for the hot new cities - left Portland Oregon in 1995, left Philly in 2005...maybe archinecters better start investing in real estate in Indianapolis, ten years from now they'll be calling it "the 7th borough".
As for the thread topic: I can't big up Indy cause I don't know anything about it yet - but vado did so above. I can add that there is amazing mid-century modern housing stock here, and people are really, wonderfully friendly. And there is as yet no IKEA yay!
Rocky
Soft Pretzels
Cheesesteaks
PSFS building
Kahn
Furness
The Schuykill
The Tourist Ghetto AKA Independence Mall
City Hall, the largest masonry structure in the US (i forget how tall..500ft.?)
MOVE and Ramona Africa and poor lil Birdie Africa
WAWA- the convience store powehouse, that sells Breyer's and Turkey Hill ice cream (as well as the WORST soft pretzels on the planet)
the FU center, home of the Sixers and Flyers, now the Wachovia Center..only in Philadelphia
Terrell Owens, 5, and Brian Westbrook, the most underrated player in the NFL, and a fine Villanova product as Tolly would say.
Teddy Predergrast
A huge shipbuilding hertitage that helped win WWII
Baldwin Locomotives
A top 3 pharaceutical region.
Terry Gross
Reading Terminal
Italian Market
Ralph's
A city with great surprises everywhere.
Although right now it is too friggin hot here.
But you can get on the Atlantic City Expressway and go downtheshore.
Philadelphia is a liveable city, walkable, driveable, no earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes at full blast.
Between NYC and DC.
And...
Its got Rita Novel
The only problem is we alot of great people come hear to learn, then leave. How do we keep them when we are in the middle of the east coast?
when mentioning cinci/NKy, you can't ever leave out Vent Haven. The worlds only dedicated Ventriloquism Museum.
Aug 16, 05 9:28 am ·
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Liberty Bell, you're probably right about the house you left now being worth a lot more. Just this past weekend my mother told me she decided to look through the real estate pages of the Sunday paper and she was amazed at the current prices of things. What scares me is that there is now a lot of Philadelphia that I can't afford anymore, so maybe I will be stuck living in the same house all my life.
Living in Gin, 4th and South was the center of my universe exactly 20 years ago. My best friend at the time had this enormous crush on a jazz singing waitress at Copa, so rather than go there alone, he'd invite me to dinner like 5 out of 7 nights a week (and he did this for a few months), thus I got to the point where I had to begin making up my own burger combinations. Spent all of hurricane Gloria at Copa. Rita Margarita indeed!
jbirl, nice list, and thanks for including me. I'll add the Duchamp collection, Love Park, and too bad we lost the X-Games. Venturi's "latest favorite" building in Philadelphia is the church on the square close to the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. Venturi told the friend I had pizza with this past Sunday to go see it. Venturi seems to only know it from train rides up to New York, so he told my friend it's around Allegheny Avenue. After my friend gave me Venturi's description, I told him where it really is. I myself haven't been there in 35 years years, but I'm pretty sure it's on or next to Unruh Street.
don't forget the reading viaduct
though currently a harbor for crime and drug use, it's an often used thesis site and i don't know one architect that doesn't want to get their hands on it. http://www.readingviaduct.org/
the rampant gentrification in the recent past does scare me though.
Tokyo.
live in surprisingly nice version of le ville radieuse; everday life feels alternatively like a duchamp joke, or just down-home normal; depends, somehow, on the direction i am facing.
nothing nearby by koolhaas, but we got h +deM, and Ito and SANAA are all over the place lately. Omotesando is super-fine, Tokyo station is super-clean, and the rest of the city is nice and messy.
Gotta love that I can get good grub anywhere in the city for less than 10 bucks; subways run on time and go everywhere; people are cool and there are always happenings goin on; on the other hand sometimes it all feels like everyone is trying a bit too hard to be...um, something (not happy exactly but something akin to it) and the bits of the city that are being nice-i-fied are definitely on the Potemkin side; very shiny and slightly uninhabitable. Best parts of the city are the ones no one designs and no one cares about.
Amazing that a city of 12 million plus could be so low-rise...rows of suburban-esque houses within walking distance of shinjuku. rent is stupid, but london is worse, food is cheap, and my daughter's school is better than wut I had in canada. Nothing is perfect, but it feels like urbanism is working here. Definitely not what we were led to believe in school; either the profs were wrong or something has changed...is it like that all over?
princeton junction nj . . .
less than 7 miles away from princeton, nj.
a designated 'tree city usa'
a wonderful acme market that is an immediate time warp back to the early 80's.
an architectural disater of a high school that is unique in the sense that it had neither walls, nor windows.
home to john nash (a beautiful mind) . . . he still hangs out at the local pizza joint.
45 min and youre in nyc, philly, or a pretty decent beach.
and since theres nothing to do in princeton jct, we hang out in princeton . . .
triumph brewing company, local brewery with good live music and great beer.
hoagie haven, or simply 'haven. theyre called hoagies here, and theyre damn good.
halo pub, possibly the best cheapest ice cream ever.
home at one point to albert einstein, thomas edison, and several other smarty-pants types. michael graves. bob hillier. and whatever illustrious faculty the soa has this year.
princetons beautiful gothic campus, and scarpa-esque architecture building.
the woody woo (woodrow wilson) school and its beautiful fountain which epitomizes the idea of casual public space.
two of the most gorgeous parking garages ever (discussed on an earlier thread i believe)
princeton plasma physics lab (pppl) and several nobel laureates.
frank gehry building coming soon!
miles of trails along the delaware-raritan canal.
enough revolutionary war history to make you clausterphobic, or turn you on.
washington slept here.
2 movie premieres . . . a beautiful mind, and IQ. susan sarandon and walter matthau have graced the sidewalks . . .
a very pretty street called lovers lane.
it once was the capitol . . .
if you stay off route one, its fairly senic, but you can get your big box retail or strip mall fix easily too.
great coffee, and coffee houses. part of the culture.
another bit of local culture - princeton record exchange. amazingly diverse music store/exchange/library of sorts.
go princeton, beat yale . . . and the colors orange and black.
I heard Jim Jarmusch on Terry Gross yesterday say he thinks of all the cities he's lived in as lovers.
Strangely, this prompted a total "ah ha!" moment for me. It really helped me reconcile with the sense of heartbreak and longing I feel for Philadelphia, and Portland, and the Cranbrook campus. I'd just never thought of having romantic love for places, but for me now it makes sense.
Big up your home urban conurbation
If you look closely at any given situation fault can be found. Someone has just puked in the concierge and I just got a parking ticket for stopping outside the apartment for 5 minutes. Ho Hum.
Please feel free to boast about the positive aspects of your home city, town, suburb or village.
Why should we visit.
What not to miss.
What is it famous for.
Who lives there.
What has it given the world.
I start by giving it up to my home city of Cardiff which celebrates it Centenary as Wales' Capital City.
link
So Zaha didn't get to build her first great commission (the Opera house debacle) but in the last couple of years we got a new cultural centre built and a parliament under construction designed by Lord Rodgers
Cardiff has more parks, recreation and open spaces per head of population than any other city in the UK
Don't miss the Millennium Stadium. Home to the Grand Slam winning Welsh rugby team.
Famous for hosting the first £1m deal in the world (traded on coal).
Charlotte Church lives down the road.
Share your home location with the world. Embrace the Love.
thanks BOTS. fun post.
Born and raised in Huntsville, AL. It is around the 3rd or 4th largest city in AL. It unfortunately doesn't house any architectural wonders but does boast some nice buildings here and there. Situated in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and in the Tennessee Valley - where the weather is nuttier than a bag of squirrels.
Huntsville is home to the Stars. Where a once young Mark McGwire, Jose Conseco and Walt Weiss (among others) use to play (possible pre-juice?). It is also home to the Space and Rocket Museum. Werner von Braun defected from Germany to Huntsville in the '60's; the famous scientist who developed the rockets that sent astronauts into space.
John Stallworth lives in Huntsville.
louisville:
kentucky derby. churchill downs.
mint juleps.
lebowskifest (this weekend).
benedictine (a light green cucumber/cream cheese sandwich spread)
makers mark, woodford reserve (woodford county), buffalo trace, jim beam (bardstown).
ky bluegrass - the grass. and the music, too.
hometown of ali, pee wee reese, and pat day.
love jones, squirrelbait, my morning jacket, dave pajo, king kong, vhs or beta, slint, palace/will oldham.
thunder over louisville - largest fireworks display in u.s.
louisville slugger.
university of louisville cardinals + uk wildcats.
bldgs by mies, graves, stern, som, albert kahn, deborah berke, chu+gooding, etc.
many microbreweries.
amazing restaurants for a city its size - great seafood thanks to being a ups hub.
ups hub.
yum! brands: kfc, pizza hut, taco bell. (like 'em or not, they're a fortune 400 co that helps out a lot around town.)
one of the largest amounts of public park per capita than any u.s. city - many of them designed by frederick law olmsted or his legacy firm. newest of parks a huge waterfront park designed by george hargreaves.
a great crossroads - close to many other cities: 5 hrs drive to chicago, 1.5 to cincinnati, 1.5 to indianapolis, 1.5 to lexington, 3+ to nashville, etc.
you can get anywhere in town in about 20 minutes on surface streets.
....um, more later.
correction: thunder is the largest fireworks display in the world. i checked my facts.
largest manuf. of mirrorballs is here.
bill girdler, director of horror/b movies in '70s was here.
edison lived here and introduced the light bulb to public here at the southern exposition in 1883.
doublemint twins (from '70s ad) live here.
below the mason-dixon line, but didn't secede in civil war.
cheeseburger invented here at kaelin's restaurant in 1934
'happy birthday to you' written here by two sisters in 1893.
Philadelphia
We want your travel dollars.
See the SS United States docked in the Delaware River (it's near the latest IKEA).
Famous for cream cheese, Mario Lanza, and American Bandstand.
Smokin' Joe Frasier, Camile Paglia and the Governor of Pennsylvania live here.
It has given the world a super power.
Hey ether, is that Saturn 5 rocket still laying in the 'backyard' of the Space and Rocket Museum?
I learned CAD at INTERGRAPH in Huntsville back in 1983. Those 10 days in Huntsville actually changed my life.
absolutely incredible!
Yes. There are two Saturn V rockets there. The one laying down in the back of the park is the actual rocket used in the missions. At various joints the pieces are pulled apart so visitors can see inside the rocket and it's various stages. The second one is a replica and stands upright in front of the museum. I hear it is the tallest structure in Alabama. There is fund raising project to help restore the Saturn V. Take a look here.
Thanks ether. The rocket in the back was laying in pieces back in 1983 as well. Walking between the parts is still fresh in my mind, and the fact that you could hear lots of birds cooing within the pieces kinda blew my mind. I mean, here is the greatest vehicle of flight ever made and it ends up laying next to a farm field in Alabama with lots of birds living in it. Like I said, the time I spent in Huntsville actually changed my life.
guayaquil, ecuador
see
visit
recent urban makeover is trying to stop migration to suburbs
1/2 to nearest beach
country so broke we actually use american dollars, so we want your travel dollars too
the cook that makes those great hamburgers at manhattan's corner bistro? from guayaquil.
we're the real banana republic
the panama hat? actually made in ecuador [sold in panama]
country really really small but super diverse: we have andes mountains, amazon jungle, great beaches and the galapagos islands.
ps. no rockets
ether, the 1 Tranquility Base link didn't for me. Here's another try.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1+tranquility+base&ll=34.709845,-86.654996&sll=34.730278,-86.586111&spn=0.005249,0.007033&sspn=0.088406,0.118446&t=k&num=10&start=0&hl=en
Is that a Space Shuttle there now too?
The Galapagos Islands?!! cool
Now I want to see SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER again, just so I can hear Katherine Hepburn say, "The Encantadas."
http://www.indiana.edu/~thtr/1999/Suddenly/Encantadas.htm
that should read, 1/2 hour to nearest beach by the way
have not seen that movie, now really curious about it but we have really bad selection in movie rental places here... strike that as was trying to keep post upbeat and positive per bots' suggestion
The shuttle is actually a full scale mock up - the Pathfinder. Marshall Space Flight Center, just down the road is still in bidness today. When I attended Space Camp back in the day, we went on a tour of the place. The scientist took us into a huge hanger like building and proceeded to tell us that we were looking at the "flattest piece of land in the world".
aml, you never see the Encantadas in the movie, it's just that Hepburn always says "The Encantadas" like its a longed-for land of enchantment. The movie made me want to see the Encantadas, so I think you're at the better advantage here.
By the way, how could I forget Patti LaBelle lives in Philadelphia.
she does?
keep it coming Rita, I'm moving there next week.
[sent to the architecthetics list 14 December 2000]
Just as an aside to Paul's concise explanation of "architectural language" as it is currently "spoken", whenever I go to study an original edition of Piranesi's CAMPO MARZIO publication, it is in a Frank Furness building, the Fine Arts Library of the University of Pennsylvania, the place where Louis Kahn held his design studios, and a building recently restored by Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates. Back in the mid-1980s, when I was employed as CAD system manager at U of P's Graduate School of Fine Arts, I had one the coveted balcony offices of Meyerson Hall which offer a majestic view of the Furness Fine Arts Library. Alas, I left Penn because they had to sell their (very expensive Intergraph) CAD system. Since it was towards the end of the semester when I left, I did not have to empty out my office immediately (it was furnished with my own rather large desk and bookcase). One night a few weeks after my leaving, I went back to my office to take inventory of what all had to be moved, and I was surprised to find a small older gentleman sitting at my desk. Actually, we surprised each other, and, since we did not recognize each other, we made our introductions. I told him who I was, and he told me he was Joseph Rykwert. We had a little chat. I told him I recently read one of his texts. He thought I was going to say ON ADAM'S HOUSE IN PARADISE, but I told him it was "Classic and Neo-Classic" in OPPOSITIONS 7. Rykwert was surprised by the somewhat obsurity of my reading, and then told me he found my collection of magazines (within my bookcase) interesting. (Rykwert was using my old office for himself, he was, and I think still is, head of Penn's architecture Ph.D program). I was a very eclectic magazine collector throughout the 1980s, and in my office bookshelf, along with ARCHITECTURAL RECORD and PROGRESSIVE ARCHITECTURE, were many issues of CASA VOGUE, THE FACE (UK), and i-D (the UK's indispensable document of fashion). While Rykwert said he particularly enjoyed the architectural magazines, he said nothing about the others. Can you just imagine Joseph Rykwert reading CASA VOGUE, THE FACE, and i-D? Can there be any more reasons why I find architecture and Philadelphia so enchanting?
i was born in this neighborhood in izmir (smyrna), turkey.
the city was founded 3 rd millenium bc.
you want to visit izmir because you are into ancient history and want to have a great time on the aegean coast.
homerus of smyrna wrote iliad. pergamon, ephesus, teos, virgin mary's house are few of the ancient sites nearby. there is an ancient agora in the center of the city. during 14-15 century, jews came to izmir, fleeing spanish persecution and there is still a sizable safardic community there. it has delicious grapes, figs and seafood. it ain't istanbul but i love the city. pop. 4 mil.
Sioux City, IA
11th largest city in US in 1890's - historic jumping off point to the West
Dear Abby and Ann Landers, twin sisters of the advice columns born and raised (their house is in the next block south of mine)
Other home town of celebrities: Tommy Bolin, Johnny Carson (well, nearby).
Corporate headquarters of: Gateway, Sioux Bee Honey, Jolly Time Popcorn
The only fatality in the Lewis & Clark expedition occured here.
Farthest point north navigable by barge on the Missouri River
The grave site of the first white bride west of the Mississippi.
The only high rise prairie school style building. It's arguably the most architectural significant county courthouse in the nation.
Geologically speaking, the soil is highly unusual, it is found in only two places in the world, here and a valley in China. Makes for really troublesome retaining walls.
And of course Gene Autry's 1943 hit song, Sioux City Sue:
Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue,
Your hair is red, your eyes are blue,
I'd swap my horse and dog for you.
Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue,
There ain't no gal as true as my sweet Sioux City Sue.
since i live in the stix of this here fly over state i will give a smattering of famous people and things that fall within a one hour drive from my double wide. here goes:
howard hawks- one of america's greatest directors
bliss blass- fashion designer
shelly long- u know from cheers
carole lombard- great comedic actress
james mccracken-opera singer
anne baxter-actress
michael jackson-thrilla
james dean -icon
tim holt-actor (curtin in the treasure of the sierra madre)
harol urey invented deutreum won nobel.
charles kuhl- the guy patton slapped
things:
first practical gas pump invented here
alka seltzer invented here
awesome cars:
studebaker
auburn
cord
duesenberg all built here
also hummers
first professional baseball game 1871
only man made white water raceway
notre dame
Chicago, ILL
I was given the boot today again . $215 bucks
Otherwise Chicago is an awesome place| with the exception of long cold winters.
Oh yea, a bad mayor.
Since I don't live anywhere interesting, I'll have to throw in some of the surrounding areas:
Chicopee, MA (where I live)
Guiness Book or World Records holder for the world's largest kielbasa
home of Edward J Bellamy, author of 'Looking Backward'
Westover Air Reserve Base, located in the city, is a back-up landing site for the space shuttle
location of the Ames Foundry, which made swords during the Civil War
Springfield, MA (where I work)
home of Theodore Giesel, aka Dr. Suess
founding city of basketball, also home to the Basketball Hall of Fame
the Springfield Armory (selected by George Washington in 1770 to be the national armory) is the location of Shay's Rebellion
the Springfield Armory also manufactured many rifles during that time
home to gun maker Smith and Wesson
birthplace of Timothy Leary
location of the first gasoline powered commercial car (the Duryea Motor Wagon)
Founding location of Indian Motorcylces, first US motorcycle company (2 years before harley davidson)
chicago has...
the whitesox
wilco
radiohead usually stops near by when they tour once every 5 years
the cubs suck
lots of trees "urban forest"
interesting downtown
the reader
Hey ABRA,
I live outside of Smyrna, GA. Take my advice, go visit Huntsville, instead.
OK, something nice abt. Smyrna...Its got a 'Moe's'.& we just got a 'Bruster's.
It is where Julia Roberts came from (& left). All It can I say is that I got a good deal on the property.
Cincinnati, AKA "The 'Nati", "Cincy"
Actually I grew up in Northern Kentucky but in my frame of reference, this is the south side of Cincy. The 'Nati is famous for producing people who love to complain about how bad the city is, but when they move away, come to a greater appreciation of how bad we don't have it.
We have two professional sports teams, the Reds and Bengals, the quality of both is nearly always debatable.
We don't need a pro basketball team as we've got the University of Cincinnati Thugs, er Bearcats, to keep us entertained in that dept.
Nearly everyone who has been Mayor or made a serious run for Mayor in the last 30 years has either come from or gone to a broadcasting job on local news stations.
Examples:
-Charlie Luken, current worthless mayor, former anchorman;
-Curtis Fuller, anchorman, then ran for Mayor, failed, now anchorman again;
-Jerry Springer, former mayor, then anchorman, then "talk-show host", now radio host. Jerry is most famous in Cincy for paying a hooker with a personal check in the 70's.
Cincy is also home of a world-class university medical school, which produced the guy who invented the Heimlich maneuver (Dr. Heimlich?!?), and Dr. Salk.
Birthplace of a bunch of celebrities who don't like to mention they are from here, including:
-Carmen Electra
-Sarah Jessica Parker
-George Clooney (actually N. KY)
-Pete Rose (West SIIIIDE), but he actually likes it here. Then again about 95% of us think that he belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Home of Proctor & Gamble/Gillette and Federated Department Stores. Actually has the 6th largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the country.
Ranked the sixth most architecturally significant city in the country (after, I believe, NYC, Chicago, LA, Columbus, IN, and Washington DC maybe? I really don't remember).
Home of the (in)famous College of DAAP at UC. UC is home to Signature Architecture master plan project which includes buildings by Gehry, Graves, Mayne, Eisenmann, Leers/Weinzapfel, Pei Cobb Freed, Gwathmey/Siegel, and master plan by Hargreaves.
Home of CAC by Zaha Hadid, first museum in US designed by woman and her first major commission in US (first period, I think). It sits across the street from the Aronoff Center (performance hall) designed by Pelli.
There are some other things, inventions and what not, that I'm sure were done here but as I am from Cincinnati, I don't care enough to check.
Philadelphia Story: The Next Borough
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/fashion/sundaystyles/14PHILLY.html
The article even mentions the RagFlats in Fishtown and two of the recent New Yorkers that bought one of the units.
After over 15 years since eating there, I had dinner last night at Charlie's Pizzaria on Roosevelt Blvd, near where the world's biggest building implosion once occurred. (Gosh, their pizza is good, and so is the view.) I was with a close friend who had just had lunch with the Venturis and some publishers/interviewers from Korea. Among other things, we discussed Trumbauer, Kahn and "The Philadelphia School."
NEW ORLEANS IS THE USA'S ANSWER TO HAITI. THIS PLACE IS CORRUPT AND MONEY DETERMINES YOUR ACCEPTANCE. STAY AWAY FROM HERE. PLEASE.
If only i could escape its purgatory i swear. Any good place to relocate to?
bmyrum - my old man is there on holiday. i hope he's OK.
Why should we visit:
Because it's spring. More parks per square metre than almost anywhere else. Three architecture schools in a city of 1million.
What not to miss.
Lying on your back in the crater of mt Eden; Karekare Beach.
What has it given the world:
Among other things, Mark Wigley.
rita, have you ever heard a philadelphian refer to his/her city as "the sixth borough?"
No. The term is obviously one of journalistic convenience. Plus, it's New-York-centric-ness is rather expected from a New York Times article. But, you know, if it says so in The New York Times, it has to be true!
abracadabra: I visited Izmir in Feb. 1971. A few comments on the area to add to yours (correct me if I am wrong here and there)
-bus trip in the rain to Ephesus: near the site of the temple of Diana, one of the 10 wonders of the ancient world
-virgin mary's house up in the hills. hills with pine trees on them. vendors up at her house selling lean roasted meat on wooden skewers? What is this called? virgin mary's house filled with crutches the healed had left behind
-basilica of st john the evangelist and his tomb in it which was visited or opened by pope paul VI
-the amphitheatre in Ephesus where Paul preached against the cult of Diana and was almost lynched for doing this (all in the episltle to the ephesians)
-Ephesus harbour all silted up making the city useless
-was cold and rainy in the morning but cleared up in the afternnoon
-paul's enigmatic words in his epistle to the ephesians which I have always tended to apply to the four dimensions of architecture: "...that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height..." (three dimensions of space and one of time?)
-ephesus/Izmir a crossroads of many influences, hence making it a really magical zone. I have never forgotten it.
skewered meat on bamboo picks=cheopshihs (sort of pronounciation of 'copsis' with c and s having tails and o having umlaut)
i've been in amphitheatre in many rainy days, ditching high school, drinking wine and doing spontenious performances on stage with few of the friends clapping or booing. after the sea dried there were plauge epidemics couple of times and the city was eventually abondoned around 11th century i believe.
a lot of muslims pray at virgin st mary's house and consider it a half pilgramage after mecca.
it is really magical there, sitting in the shade of a fig tree and looking at the library of celsius thinking about the ancient brothels of ephesus.[imghttp://www.geraldbrimacombe.com/photogallery/photo26816/Turkey%20-%20Ephesus%20-%20Celsius%20Library.jpg[/img]
library of celsius.
makes me wanna read eric ambler
Dammit, I knew Philly would go huge as soon as I left. I was sitting on a rowhouse that would be worth $1mil in five years, I have no doubt - five blocks south of Rittenhouse Square! The reason my screen name is "liberty bell" is my very first archinect post was "bigging up" Philly as a good place for young people to live - happening, independent, charming, and cheap.
Sigh. Well, maybe in addition to being liberty bell I'm a bellwether for the hot new cities - left Portland Oregon in 1995, left Philly in 2005...maybe archinecters better start investing in real estate in Indianapolis, ten years from now they'll be calling it "the 7th borough".
As for the thread topic: I can't big up Indy cause I don't know anything about it yet - but vado did so above. I can add that there is amazing mid-century modern housing stock here, and people are really, wonderfully friendly. And there is as yet no IKEA yay!
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned local comfort foods yet.
In my original hometown of Cincinnati, there's Skyline Chili and Graeter's Ice Cream.
In my adopted hometown of Chicago, we have our famous deep-dish pizza, hot dogs, and Italian beef sandwiches.
And while living in Philadelphia for 1.5 years, the center of my universe was Jim's Steaks at 4th and South Streets.
god that all sounds so good gin. my friends dad brought down a couple of lou malnatti's for her birthday. sooooooo delish...
there was chicago.
there was seattle.
there will be dallas.
louisville's the site of the next oma project in the usa.
yay!
Rita, you didn't mention:
Rocky
Soft Pretzels
Cheesesteaks
PSFS building
Kahn
Furness
The Schuykill
The Tourist Ghetto AKA Independence Mall
City Hall, the largest masonry structure in the US (i forget how tall..500ft.?)
MOVE and Ramona Africa and poor lil Birdie Africa
WAWA- the convience store powehouse, that sells Breyer's and Turkey Hill ice cream (as well as the WORST soft pretzels on the planet)
the FU center, home of the Sixers and Flyers, now the Wachovia Center..only in Philadelphia
Terrell Owens, 5, and Brian Westbrook, the most underrated player in the NFL, and a fine Villanova product as Tolly would say.
Teddy Predergrast
A huge shipbuilding hertitage that helped win WWII
Baldwin Locomotives
A top 3 pharaceutical region.
Terry Gross
Reading Terminal
Italian Market
Ralph's
A city with great surprises everywhere.
Although right now it is too friggin hot here.
But you can get on the Atlantic City Expressway and go downtheshore.
Philadelphia is a liveable city, walkable, driveable, no earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes at full blast.
Between NYC and DC.
And...
Its got Rita Novel
The only problem is we alot of great people come hear to learn, then leave. How do we keep them when we are in the middle of the east coast?
With much respect to Steven Ward, who I know from my past life of eight years in Louisville (and who I hope will email me when he sees this)
Indianapolis...
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, The Indianapolis 500
The Brickyard
The Colts - Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Dwight Freeney
The Pacers - Reggie Miller, Larry Bird, Jermaine O'Neal
Birthplace of Michael Graves and Kurt Vonnegut
Broad Ripple
The Monon Trail
The Circle City, Soldiers and Sailors Monument
The Mile Square
Massachusetts Avenue
Indianapolis Museum of Art - newly explanded
NCAA Headquarters (Building by Michael Graves)
Dinosphere
The Indianapolis Zoo
Buildings by Graves, Cret, Vonnegut's father and grandfather
My Man Mitch
Evan Bayh for President
President Benjamin Harrison
Meridian Street
Eli Lilly (Cialis or Prozac anyone?)
David Letterman
IUPUI - the yin and yang of Indiana University and Purdue University
Riley Hospital for Children
Butler University
Our Mayor's name is Bart
Bob and Tom - not syndicated.
Back home again, in Indiana...
did I mention David Letterman?
when mentioning cinci/NKy, you can't ever leave out Vent Haven. The worlds only dedicated Ventriloquism Museum.
Liberty Bell, you're probably right about the house you left now being worth a lot more. Just this past weekend my mother told me she decided to look through the real estate pages of the Sunday paper and she was amazed at the current prices of things. What scares me is that there is now a lot of Philadelphia that I can't afford anymore, so maybe I will be stuck living in the same house all my life.
Living in Gin, 4th and South was the center of my universe exactly 20 years ago. My best friend at the time had this enormous crush on a jazz singing waitress at Copa, so rather than go there alone, he'd invite me to dinner like 5 out of 7 nights a week (and he did this for a few months), thus I got to the point where I had to begin making up my own burger combinations. Spent all of hurricane Gloria at Copa. Rita Margarita indeed!
jbirl, nice list, and thanks for including me. I'll add the Duchamp collection, Love Park, and too bad we lost the X-Games. Venturi's "latest favorite" building in Philadelphia is the church on the square close to the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. Venturi told the friend I had pizza with this past Sunday to go see it. Venturi seems to only know it from train rides up to New York, so he told my friend it's around Allegheny Avenue. After my friend gave me Venturi's description, I told him where it really is. I myself haven't been there in 35 years years, but I'm pretty sure it's on or next to Unruh Street.
don't forget the reading viaduct
though currently a harbor for crime and drug use, it's an often used thesis site and i don't know one architect that doesn't want to get their hands on it.
http://www.readingviaduct.org/
the rampant gentrification in the recent past does scare me though.
thomas eakins
Tokyo.
live in surprisingly nice version of le ville radieuse; everday life feels alternatively like a duchamp joke, or just down-home normal; depends, somehow, on the direction i am facing.
nothing nearby by koolhaas, but we got h +deM, and Ito and SANAA are all over the place lately. Omotesando is super-fine, Tokyo station is super-clean, and the rest of the city is nice and messy.
Gotta love that I can get good grub anywhere in the city for less than 10 bucks; subways run on time and go everywhere; people are cool and there are always happenings goin on; on the other hand sometimes it all feels like everyone is trying a bit too hard to be...um, something (not happy exactly but something akin to it) and the bits of the city that are being nice-i-fied are definitely on the Potemkin side; very shiny and slightly uninhabitable. Best parts of the city are the ones no one designs and no one cares about.
Amazing that a city of 12 million plus could be so low-rise...rows of suburban-esque houses within walking distance of shinjuku. rent is stupid, but london is worse, food is cheap, and my daughter's school is better than wut I had in canada. Nothing is perfect, but it feels like urbanism is working here. Definitely not what we were led to believe in school; either the profs were wrong or something has changed...is it like that all over?
princeton junction nj . . .
less than 7 miles away from princeton, nj.
a designated 'tree city usa'
a wonderful acme market that is an immediate time warp back to the early 80's.
an architectural disater of a high school that is unique in the sense that it had neither walls, nor windows.
home to john nash (a beautiful mind) . . . he still hangs out at the local pizza joint.
45 min and youre in nyc, philly, or a pretty decent beach.
and since theres nothing to do in princeton jct, we hang out in princeton . . .
triumph brewing company, local brewery with good live music and great beer.
hoagie haven, or simply 'haven. theyre called hoagies here, and theyre damn good.
halo pub, possibly the best cheapest ice cream ever.
home at one point to albert einstein, thomas edison, and several other smarty-pants types. michael graves. bob hillier. and whatever illustrious faculty the soa has this year.
princetons beautiful gothic campus, and scarpa-esque architecture building.
the woody woo (woodrow wilson) school and its beautiful fountain which epitomizes the idea of casual public space.
two of the most gorgeous parking garages ever (discussed on an earlier thread i believe)
princeton plasma physics lab (pppl) and several nobel laureates.
frank gehry building coming soon!
miles of trails along the delaware-raritan canal.
enough revolutionary war history to make you clausterphobic, or turn you on.
washington slept here.
2 movie premieres . . . a beautiful mind, and IQ. susan sarandon and walter matthau have graced the sidewalks . . .
a very pretty street called lovers lane.
it once was the capitol . . .
if you stay off route one, its fairly senic, but you can get your big box retail or strip mall fix easily too.
great coffee, and coffee houses. part of the culture.
another bit of local culture - princeton record exchange. amazingly diverse music store/exchange/library of sorts.
go princeton, beat yale . . . and the colors orange and black.
I heard Jim Jarmusch on Terry Gross yesterday say he thinks of all the cities he's lived in as lovers.
Strangely, this prompted a total "ah ha!" moment for me. It really helped me reconcile with the sense of heartbreak and longing I feel for Philadelphia, and Portland, and the Cranbrook campus. I'd just never thought of having romantic love for places, but for me now it makes sense.
And Dead Man is an amaaaaazing movie.
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