Architecture,  Monochrome Madness,  Photographic techniques,  Squares,  Themed galleries

Gallery: finding geometry in architecture

January 30, 2025 / 45 Comments

Architecture is the triumph of human imagination over materials, methods, and men, to put man into possession of his own Earth. It is at least the geometric pattern of things, of life, of the human and social world. It is at best that magic framework of reality that we sometimes touch upon when we use the word order.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Wherever we travel in the world we find cities building and rebuilding themselves. From Pyongyang in North Korea to Seattle on the west coast of the US and also back at home in London, there is no dearth of modern architecture to love or loathe.

While I accept that there are plenty of dull buildings to be found, and some that are downright ugly, there are also many to admire. Good architecture makes our cities more interesting, and the best can give us iconic and visually striking buildings that will enhance our cityscapes for years to come. I am especially drawn to curvaceous buildings, from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim to the work of Zaha Hadid. After all, as the latter has been quoted as saying, ‘There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?’

But whether you admire curves or sharp angles, hopefully there will be something to please everyone in my gallery below. I’ve chosen these shots partly because they are buildings I personally find appealing in some way, and partly to fit with Becky’s January Squares theme of ‘Geometry’. I’ve also editing them all in black and white (using Nik Silver Efex Pro as usual) as my contribution to this week’s theme-less Monochrome Madness.

Incidentally, I will be hosting Monochrome Madness next week and my chosen theme is the sea. I hope you’ll all join in!

The Musée Albert Kahn in Paris, designed by architect Kengo Kuma and inspired by the connection Kahn had with Japan

[my feature photo is of the same building]

In Shoreditch, east London

On the left, One Park Drive, a residential block in Canary Wharf, London’s Docklands

Out of interest, a two bedroom / two bathroom apartment here is currently on the market for £1.5M

The Shard, London, for now at least the tallest building in the UK

It was designed by Renzo Piano to be ‘a spire-like sculpture emerging from the River Thames’

The Fenchurch Building (popularly known as the the Walkie-Talkie) in the City of London

Zaha Hadid’s Serpentine North Gallery extension in Kensington Gardens, London

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, NYC

Reflections in Chicago

The St. Regis, Chicago, formerly the Wanda Vista Tower

This is the work of architect Jeanne Gang and is the world’s tallest building designed by a woman

MoPop, Seattle, designed by Frank O. Gehry and ‘inspired by the energy, movement and fluidity of the art it exists to celebrate’

It consists of 3,000 panels, with 21,000 individually cut and shaped stainless steel and painted aluminium shingles

Another shot of MoPop, Seattle

The Louvre, Abu Dhabi, designed to appear as a floating dome, its roof allowing the sun to filter through as through palm fronds in an oasis

Another view of the Louvre, Abu Dhabi

A new housing development in Pyongyang, North Korea

The building in the foreground, intended to resemble a waterlily (it sits by a river), is a restaurant

The Alban Tower on Rruga Ibrahim Rugova, Tirana, Albania, designed by Marco Casamonti from the Italian architectural firm Archea Associati

45 Comments

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