I saw this picture and it instantly reminded me of when walking down Stadiou Street near Syntagma (Constitution Square) in Athens Greece with FB. That was the block that had Ferragamo, Hermes, Gucci and yes, Zara.
I love window displays. Now Fari, judge the clothes [haha.]
I took the picture on the left of L’Enfant Plaza on the Green Line in DC. It reminded me of Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal that used to be at JFK Airport (or Idlewild Airport, as it used to be called.) Concrete is definitely not one of the more flexible building materials and it doesn’t look too pleasing to the eyes either, but these two public spaces look great. They have their own elegance through their simplicity, something made the wouldn’t be achieved with paint or subway tiles. There’s very little color in either of the places, just light, concrete, the bare essentials and design. It’s so functional, yet sleak, I found aesthetic value in that even though the DC subways remind me of George Orwell’s book 1984. I kept picturing Winston riding the rails on his way to the factory in the morning.
These are some pictures I took of The Capitol when I was in DC this weekend. This building is amazing and breath-taking. It reminds me of the cathedral Antonin Gaudi design in Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia. When I saw that church up close, I literally was in awe. The same thing happened when I walked up on The Hill, this building is massive. I there right before sunset, the first pictures are from the south, then then east and some really nice sunset pics from at the front of the building, at the west. There are some Monument pictures too (I kept thinking about that Forrest Gump scene for some reason.)
The DC subways are so clean and architectural. I can really admire the order here. All of the tunnel widths are the same, allowing for those perfectly symmetrical vaulted ceilings at the points where two tunnels intersect, like in the picture over the tracks.
The use of concretes makes the stations seem so utilitarian at times, but I appreciate its functionality over decadence. Form is supposed to follow function, right? The vaulted, coffered walls/ceilings is a design in itself, it’s just not the subway tiles, soot and bill boards like I’m used to. But it does have its own charm. DC is definitely one of my “second cities.”
H Street on a Friday night. This picture is really cool. We don’t have this on our streets in New York, but like I said before, DC has way better maintenance. Could you imagine seeing this on Broadway and Canal or on Hester and Allen? I think not, but isn’t it nice?
Ha! For a day and a half. There isn’t a city in America that I could really see myself living other than the Big Apple (with 4 notable exceptions, I’ll come to back another time.) *boom boom* I was made here, I can make it anywhere. New York, New York!!
I’ll be visiting my nation’s capitol, Obamaland. Oh wait, they didn’t change the name yet. Last time I was there, it really was Obamaland though: January 20, 2009. When I was at the Inauguration, I was just where I wanted be: on The Mall, at the Monument, with clear views to The Capitol and The Black House The White House.
Every time I visit the city I’m reminded of how that place would make (and used to be) a great plantation city. The city’s mostly flat, good for cotton crops and tobacco, moderate temperature, on the river, near the sea. Then it hits me: I’m nearly in Virginia, I’m almost down south. And then I start to itch..but I digress.
I find D.C. fascinating, not just because it’s the seat of our legislative government and I’m a CNN junkie either. I love the way the city’s laid out. Dare I say, their grid pattern and structure’s more organized than Manhattan. In our defense, DC was actually planned, we can thank Benjamin Banneker for that. The street views are amazing, the way the diagonal streets let you see clear across town and plazas, circles and squares are all over the place. All roads lead back to The Capitol. The architecture’s great too, we got our system of laws and design from the Romans.
One thing’s that’s certainly true about D.C. is that their subway, excuse me, metro is wayyy cleaner than ours. It’s like people don’t use it our something. *Lightbulb* maybe it’s because they shut down at night and get a chance to do real maintenance everyday. We don’t have that luxury, we don’t sleep out here. I rely on that 6-train ride to sober me up before I get to the Bronx at 4 am. I bet that severely hinders the club scene, or at least beefs-up the taxi industry.
Now I’m excited…pics soon to come.
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