The Baroque city palace in the St. Johanns-Vorstadt in Basel has proved in the recent restoration, treasure chest. Under centuries-old layers of the original substance came to light and revealed a surprise: The house is older than previously thought.
The architectural design interested visitors will quickly establish in Basel, the city known as architecture capital of Switzerland, not only promotes modern building, but also maintains a careful handling of their historic buildings. Obvious example, the facades: Where dominate in other cities long ago modern and functional window shutters – which most historic buildings is visually detrimental unfortunately – in Basel, the original glazing and shutters kept and restored. “It is indeed the case,” said Dr. Thomas Lutz, Adjunct conservator of Basel, “that we promote the protection zone in the preservation of old windows and Vorfenster. But even with the population there is a tradition of preservation and care, so many historic districts are very well preserved. ” Read the rest of this entry »
TheHydraulics.com will feature an “urban scene of the week” of Hydraulics sights and scenes on a roughly weekly basis – weekly, meaning “whenever the inspiration and the camera intersect.”
This week, the highlight is the fence pier of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Administration Building, built in 1904 and demolished in 1950, with the exception of this one lone artifact. The fence pier, on Swan Street, is all that remains of Wright’s masterpiece, what was considered by architecture critic Henry-Russel Hitchcock to be “the most important building ever demolished in the 20th century.” Read the rest of this entry »
New clues on the original appearance of the Larkin Gas Station have emerged, hiding in plain sight. In the rear of the long-vacant filling station at 725 Seneca, an Art Deco, brick and concrete facade reveals itself, giving some indication of what a retro, 1960s Gulf Oil sheathing may hide underneath its metal panels.
Commentor David Steele, a writer for Buffalo Rising and architect in Chicago, underscores what may be a preservation dilemma in the potential Read the rest of this entry »
