MetaFilter posts tagged with architecture and history

Knossos

homunculus — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:16:14 -0800

Knossos: Fakes, Facts, and Mystery. "The masterpieces of Minoan art are not what they seem... The truth is that these famous icons are largely modern. As any sharp-eyed visitor to the Heraklion museum can spot, what survives of the original paintings amounts in most cases to no more than a few square inches. The rest is more or less imaginative reconstruction, commissioned in the first half of the twentieth century by Sir Arthur Evans, the British excavator of the palace of Knossos (and the man who coined the term 'Minoan' for this prehistoric Cretan civilization, after the mythical King Minos who is said to have held the throne there). As a general rule of thumb, the more famous the image now is, the less of it is actually ancient."

A Fair To Remember

mattdidthat — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:35:02 -0800

Concept proposals for Seattle's Space Needle. More sketches and images, from the University of Washington's image database. Erecting The Needle, a four-part series about the Space Needle's construction: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, with a picture of the rarely-seen gas-flame beacon in action. And this morning, the Space Needle was briefly for sale!

Danvers

zarq — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:43:24 -0800

A website has been launched to preserve the history of Danvers State Insane Asylum. The Asylum, which opened in 1878 in Danvers, MA (site of the Salem Witch Trials) and closed in 1992, was featured in the horror movie Session 9, and may have been the inspiration for HP Lovecraft's Arkham Asylum. Its Kirkbride Wings, which once held the institution's living quarters, now house a 400+ unit apartment complex. Unfortunately, Avalon Communities destroyed most of the hospital in order to build their apartments. Danvers is also not the first asylum to be turned into consumer residences. The Danvers gallery includes excellent, evocative images from John Gray, who specializes in photographing "abandoned architectural environments." The "Kirkbride Buildings" link was part of a former FPP. Fascinating stuff. Pennsylvania psychiatrist Thomas Kirkbride literally wrote the book (pdf link) on the construction of massive mental hospitals through the "Moral Treatment". In all, approximately 30 US hospitals were designed according to the Kirkbride Plan. More on Danvers. Previously on MeFi.

India and South Asian resources

nickyskye — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:22:27 -0800

Dr. Frances W. Pritchett, Professor of Modern Indic Languages at Columbia University, New York, has created a superb online collection of resources, all about India and South Asia, its art, history, literature, architecture and culture. Her Indian Routes section (the Index page) is a particularly rich resource. Her vast, colorful and informative site also has many great images. Check out her "scrapbook pages" on the Princes l the Ghaznavids l British Rule l Women's Spaces l Perspectives on Hinduism. Photos of Professor Pritchett and her encyclopedic page of links about India/South Asia, Morningside Mix.

The Past is Another City

Miko — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:26:31 -0800

Photos of 1940s New York City.

Ancient Greece

netbros — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 09:24:40 -0800

Explore the History of the Ancient Greek World from the Neolithic to the Classical Period. Covering important topics, such as Art and Architecture, Mythology, Wars, Culture and Society, Poetry, Olympics, History Periods, Philosophy, Playwrights, Kings and Rulers of Ancient Greece.

A survey of London's remaining professional darkrooms

nthdegx — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:05:05 -0800

A survey of London's remaining professional darkrooms

Ancient Oases

homunculus — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:12:29 -0800

10 Incredible Ancient Oases.

Thomas Jefferson Papers

marxchivist — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:33:53 -0800

The Massachusetts Historical Society has a nice collection of Thomas Jefferson's papers online. It includes two catalogs of Jefferson's books, a draft of the Declaration of Independence and his Garden Book. Architectural Drawings too! I kind of like the Garden Book for some reason. Some mundane things like March 21, 1774: "Peas of Mar. 10. are up" and interesting entries like May 22, 1773: "articles for contracts with overseers." Yes, he had slaves. Here is a list of some of them. I always think Jefferson is interesting, plus I think this site is straightforward and easy to navigate, and you can download nice, big images of the manuscript pages.

Interactive 18th century Rome

peacay — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:21:59 -0800

Imago Urbis: Giuseppe Vasi’s Grand Tour of Rome is a rich and innovative geographic database that projects Vasi's 18th century engravings of Roman architecture onto the contemporary map of Giambattista Nolli [previously] with supplementary modern satellite, photographic and mapping overlays together with copious background detail. The work was undertaken by researchers at the University of Oregon (announcement) [via]

A Candle On The Water

amyms — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:33:45 -0800

The Lighthouse Directory. An information portal for over 9000 lighthouses, and sites of former lighthouses, all around the world. Photos, histories, technical specifications, etc. Most of the links are very thorough, with some including excerpts from keepers' logs. The site also includes links to current news stories and general historical articles related to lighthouses.

mobile homes built without nails

nickyskye — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 23:41:26 -0800

Chattel houses were very small houses, built by freed slaves or plantation workers, that could be dismantled quickly and moved in the event they were fired or unable to pay property tax to the plantation owner on whose land the house stood. Examples in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad l Sunday 25 March 2007 marked 200 years to the day that the British Parliament passed an Act to outlaw the slave trade in British colonies. Images of chattel houses from the Caribbean Poetry site. Stories of people in slavery Definition of chattel house from the Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage

Big city lights guide my way into the night

fandango_matt — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:26:55 -0800

The American Sign Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and documenting historic and vintage signs from the American landscape.

warsawa ... tourist trap?

toycamera — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:39:11 -0800

modulation is visiting warsaw. not a city which has ever appeared in my top ten tourist destinations, but i am much more inclined to visit it after reading his thoughtful reflections on its architecture and history not to mention obscure (and in classic polish style, rarely open to the public or about to be shut down/demolished because they are too popular, attractions.)

Get your housing for nothing and your sweat for free

dersins — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:24:33 -0800

Want to live for free (sort of) in a historic home? Maryland, Delaware, and Massachusetts all have resident curatorship programs, in which you can live rent-free in a historic home, provided you spend your own time and money renovating it. Contact your state's historic preservation office to see if there's a program like this near you...

Souvenir Glass Collection

tellurian — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 20:06:44 -0800

Thomas Graz has a collection of glasses with pictures on them. Mainly from the countries of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the German Empire, but including some other countries too. A novel way to navigate history, architecture, people and landscape. Oh! and he needs help with some of them too.

"The crazy notion that design not only was important but could also change the world"

BLDGBLOG — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 23:58:58 -0800

Clip/Stamp/Fold. The current show at the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City explores an era when architecture was actually interesting. We go from "an elephant attacking the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan to a skyscraper made of Swiss cheese." On the way, we visit astronauts, bunkers, walking cities, and robots fucking – and it's all waiting for you inside these little magazines.

Romanesque Churches of the Bourbonnais

provolot — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:51:35 -0800

Bourbonnais. No, not Bourbonnais, IL, but Bourbonnais, a historic province in France that flourished during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In this area there are hundreds of churches built in the Romanesque style.

In 2004 Stephen Murray, an art history professor, and his students recieved a $500,000 grant to document, process, and archive data from the churches into a digital database, all available online.

De architectura - Vitruvius' The Ten Books of Architecture

nthdegx — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 08:25:12 -0800

De Architectura, known also as The Ten Books of Architecture, is an exposition on architecture by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. Originally in Latin, here it is translated into English.

Maya Ruins

carter — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 13:15:59 -0800

Maya Ruins - Nice images of Maya ruins in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, indexed to site plans. See for instance Uxmal: the Grand Pyramid, the House of the Doves, the Nunnery Quadrangle, and the Pyramid of the Magician. See also: the Meso-American Photo Archives.

Wilshire Boulevard

carter — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 13:16:20 -0800

Curating the City A Flash exhibition exploring the past and present urban landscape of Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. A modest topic explored in depth - which is perhaps what makes it so fascinating. The site includes a pdf guidebook, in case you want to check out the bricks-and-mortar version.

Rephotographing Atget

monju_bosatsu — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 13:02:12 -0800

Rephotographing Atget: Eugene Atget photographed Paris from 1888 until his death in 1927. Christopher Rauschenberg retraced Atget's steps in 1997 and 1998, photographing the same scenes, and documents his project in a gallery at Lens Culture. The gallery includes an audio discussion of the project. [more inside]

Ambassador demolition

tellurian — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 18:11:13 -0800

The Ambassador Hotel is no longer standing. Recorded here.

Sir John’s House of Curiosities

annaramma — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 08:33:24 -0800

Sir John Soane (1753-1837) was responsible for the design of quite a few of London’s public buildings (and to some extent, its phonebooths). His home, now a museum, is filled to the brim with architectural relics, sculptures, paintings, drawings, stained glass, and assorted curiosities. Almost unchanged since his death, it also contains the gravesite of his wife’s beloved dog Fanny, a mummified rat, an Egyptian sarcophagus, and an imaginary monk named Padre Giovanni. Best of all, on the first Tuesday of every month the museum has a candlelight tour which enhances the spooky splendor of the rooms.

The Laurentian Library

dhruva — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 23:22:31 -0800

Under Foot and Between the Boards in the Laurential Library "Within the Laurentian Library, the enigmatic masterwork of Michelangelo, there exists a complex geometric pavement that is hidden from view, little known about and shrouded with mystery...Why had an immensely complicated pavement been constructed, only to be covered over?"