Mass MOCA

Opened in 1999, Mass MoCA is a visual and performing arts center located in North Adams, Massachusets. The center's site sits on 13 acres and includes twenty-six 19th century factory brick buildings. From the late 1700's until 1985, the these brick yards occupied various manufacturers from a saw mill, to forgers and cabinet makers, to Arnold Printworks and finally the Sprague Electric Company. Today, a large percentage of the buildings have been beautifully restored, retaining their original textures and character, and charting a new life and territory for the contemporary visual and performing arts.

I had the opportunity to visit Mass MoCa a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed by the restoration and re-design of the gallery spaces, and specifically the installation of Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective, which occupy nearly an acre of specially built interior walls. Here are some images from that visit.

Walkway to building #7 and the Sol LeWitt exhibition

 

 

Girl in a Box

She sat, pondering if her matching shoes allowed her to become a part of the Museum's permanent collection.

Architectural Dilemas 3

War of the sculptures: After months battling the gods from above, they began to succumb loosing their shape and form.

Architectural Dilemas 2

As he got closer to the escape hatches panicked about getting caught in the herringbone, it occurred to him that he may not fit through.

Architecture Di lemas 1

Suddenly they were confused about vertical and horizontal planes.

Spiral

Location: Perlan, Reykjavik, Iceland

Art Deco Montreal

Montreal is a city full of Art Deco architecture which I will capture and share over the next months.

For starters, this is the Aldred Building, located at Place D'armes in Old Montreal. It was Montreal's first skyscraper, designed by New York architect Ernest Isbell Barott and built in 1931.

I particularly liked the front entrance.

Click here for more information.

Construction Holiday on Place D'armes

Bank of Montreal, 1847

In Quebec, the last two full weeks of July are called Construction Holiday. It is a time when most construction workers go on vacation. As well, many affected non-construction employees also take the opportunity to take their holiday at the time same time.

This Quebec tradition began 39 years ago and today, as many as 135, 000 residential and commercial construction workers are off until August 2.

Construction holiday time however means that the Surete du Quebec are out on highway patrol more frequently with additional speed traps and drunk driving checkpoints. Sadly while the rest of the province goes to sleep, the number of traffic related deaths increases and the first three days of this period is known to be the deadliest time of the year.

House of Cards

House of Cards (150 x 100cm), photo by Katrina Lee

Currently on display at the Bornholm Kunst Museum in Denmark, as part of the Poetisk Fusion Art and Architecture Installation.

If interested, please contact katrina@leeworkstudio.com for pricing details

Red Stripe

Red Stripe (150cm x 100cm), photo by Katrina Lee

In conjunction with Poetisk Fusion, an outdoor film, lighting and sound installation at Bornholms Kunst Museum , kleejourneys has the pleasure to present 'Red Stripe', the first of several photos to be displayed at the museum from Oct 13 2009 until January 2010.

Click here to learn more about the project, including a web gallery of more images by project photographers Katrina Lee and Ole Christiansen.

Note: There are 5 copies of Red Stripe(150cm x 100cm) available for purchase. For pricing details, please contact katrina@leeworkstudio.com

Grande Mosquée de Paris

The Paris Mosque was built in 1922 to honor the North African countries that had helped France during World War I. A major renovation was completed in 1992.

Made of reinforced concrete, the mosque was decorated with mosaics, wood carvings and wrought iron brought from Morocco. It remains an active place of worship for North Africans living in Paris, especially on Friday, the Muslim holy day, and during the holy month of Ramadan. (Source)

Official website in french.

Wannabe writer

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris (website)

Château de Versailles

When the Château de Versailles was built, Versailles was a country village. Today, it is a suburb about 20km south west of Paris. The Château was originally a hunting lodge, built in 1624, by Louis XIII. It was expanded by Louis XIV at the beginning of 1669. It later became the official residence of the Kings of France and the court, the centre of political power from 1682 until 1790. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but also as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy.

Refusing to wait in line in the cold outside for entrance tickets, we stood gazing at Le Château de Versailles from the outside...

at all the tourists,

posing in front of a fountain I camouflaged into,

and nevertheless, also at some nice old architecture...

and beautiful gardens.

More about the Château de Versailles here.

La Défense

La Grande Arche de la Défense

La Défense was establised in 1951 as the prime high-rise office district of Paris where many of the city's tallest buildings can be found. The initial concept was to have 2 rows of skyscrapers of equal height. In 1964, the approved plan included 20 towers at 25 floors each. But slowly, there was a demand for taller towers and the result is a mix match of cheap buildings of different heights.

The Grande Arche de la Défense (1982-1989) was initiated by the he French president Mitterrand as modern version of the L'Arc de Triomphe. This cube-like design, by Danish architect Otto van Spreckelsen, is a 106 meters (348 ft) concrete, glass and marble white building with the middle part left open. The sides of the cube contain offices.

More about La Défense here and here.

A bit of Napoleon

Arc de Triomphe

And the Big Blue Christmas Tree goes "blink, blink blink...."

Tour Eiffel

At the Charles de Gaulle airport, I found my feet walking out of the terminal towards the RER B train into the city. And so what was initially a flight transfer back to Copenhagen, became a 5 day stopover in Paris.

Bienvenue à Paris!

Amsterdam Docklands III

The Whale is located on the Islands of Borneo and Sporenburg at the Eastern Docklands in Amsterdam. This building is designed by Frits van Dongen and is a very prominent and recognizable architecture block in Amsterdam. Inside are 214 apartments, 1100 m2 of office and retail-space, a underground parking garage and a semi-public courtyard which flows through underneath.

Zinc slated facade

More images and information here.

Pinnacle II

Seen in Hoorn, Netherlands

Pinnacle I

Amsterdam Docklands II

Hoop, Leifde, en Fortuin

The apartments of Hoop, Leifde en Fortuin, or Hope, Love and Fortune, is named after 3 windmills situated in the area in the 17th century. It is located on the north side of the Rietlanden district, an area which is a turning point between the city and the Eastern Docklands.

The housing complex was designed by architect Rudy Uytenhaak and consists of overlapping planes coated with different materials, including the black spots near the windows which is an artwork of Willem Oorebeek.