Since the first artists set up in Da Shan Zi’s newly vacated 798 factory in 2001, the East German-built industrial compound has become a world-famous center of contemporary Chinese art. Alongside the studios and galleries, there are also chic cafés, bars, and restaurants, not to mention a growing number of designer shops and showrooms. The … Read more
Today Paris’s beautiful Panthéon building is a fitting final resting place for the nation’s great figures. However, it was originally built as a church, on the instigation of Louis XV to celebrate his recovery from a serious bout of gout in 1744. Dedicated to Sainte Geneviève, the structure was finished in 1790 and was intended … Read more
This quiet suburb, seven miles (11 km) west of downtown Chicago, contains the world’s largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings. It was here that Wright developed his Prairie style, (inspired by the flat lines of the Midwestern plains), influencing other architects such as George Maher. His work was first considered radical, even ugly, compared … Read more
Today one of the world’s most famous pieces of modern architecture, the Pompidou Centre opened in 1977, when architects Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano startled everyone by turning the building “inside out”, with brightly coloured pipes displayed on the façade. Designed as a cross-cultural arts complex, it houses the excellent Musée National d’Art Moderne (Modern … Read more
With Chicago’s expansion in the late 19th century, a major university was the perfect addition to an array of new cultural institutions. Funded by oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, (who deemed it his best ever investment) the forward-thinking institution opened in 1892. Today, the university is one of the USA’s most respected, boasting 78 Nobel … Read more
Linderhof & Herrenchiemsee Linderhof Castle Linderhof’s history began as a hunting lodge of Maximilian II that Ludwig II had dismantled and reassembled in the park in 1872. Originally planned as a second Versailles, the castle turned out to be far more modest in scale, albeit designed in a delightful and whimsical neo-Rococo style. Linderhof Castle … Read more
An idealized vision of a knight’s castle on the outside and a homage to Wagner’s operas on the inside, Neuschwanstein was Ludwig II’s most ambitious project. During the same period, he commissioned Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee, two castles in the French style. More than 50 million visitors have admired these fairy-tale castles since they were built … Read more
Occupying the northwestern edge of the Magnolia headland north of Elliott Bay, Discovery Park is Seattle’s largest and most varied in-city escape. Even though the US Army’s Fort Lawton sold surplus base territory to the city, Army Reserves still use a portion of the park for training and officers’ quarters. At 534 acres, the park … Read more
Designed in 1909 by architect John Olmsted, this is one of the oldest zoos on the West Coast. Occupying an area of 92 acres, the landscape offers a natural habitat for nearly 300 animal species. Reflecting a naturalistic mission to advocate conservation and education while imparting the value of an ecological perspective, the animal habitats … Read more
Barcelona’s Modernista movement reached its aesthetic culmination in this magnificent concert hall (1905–1908), designed by renowned architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The lavish façade, ringed by mosaic pillars and brick arches, just hints at what awaits within. Domènech’s “garden of music” (as he called it) unfolds beyond the front doors, with each surface of the … Read more
Pay homage to the 20th-century’s most acclaimed artist at this treasure-filled museum. Highlighting Pablo Picasso’s (1881–1973) formative years, the museum boasts the world’s largest collection of the artist’s early works. At the tender age of 10, Picasso was already revealing remarkable artistic tendencies. In 1895, aged 14, he and his family moved from the town … Read more
This shrine to Canada’s favorite sport celebrates all things hockey, including those who have achieved greatness in the game. Housed in part in a beautiful former bank building dating to 1885, which is incorporated into BCE Place, this Hall of Fame contains the most comprehensive collection of hockey artifacts and memorabilia in the world, among … Read more
Named after Canadian retail legend Timothy Eaton – whose mail-order catalog and department store, Eaton’s, was a beloved national institution until 1999, when the company declared bankruptcy – this multi-story shopping center is the quintessential downtown mall: big, busy, and boisterous. Opened in 1979 and heralded as the anchor that would transform down-at-heel Yonge and … Read more
One needn’t be a fervent patron of the arts to be wowed by the Gardner Museum. Its namesake, who travelled tirelessly to acquire the pieces now housed here, opened the museum in 1903 to befit (some would say to rival) her staggering collection. The 15th-century, Venetian-style palazzo is a veritable feast of artifacts, art, and … Read more
Boston has a knack for creating curious visual juxtapositions, and one of the most remarkable is in Copley Square, where H. H. Richardson’s 19th-century Romanesque Trinity Church reflects in the blue-tinted glass of the decidedly 20th-century John Hancock Tower. The breathtakingly beautiful church was named a National Historic Landmark in 1971 and has earned the … Read more
The Great Wall snakes through the countryside over deserts, hills, and plains for several thousand miles. At its closest point it is less than 40 miles (60 km) from Beijing. The wall was created following the unification of China under Qin Shi Huangdi (221–210 BC). Despite impressive battlements, it ultimately proved ineffective; it was breached … Read more
The “invalides” for whom this imposing Hôtel was built were wounded soldiers of the late 17th century. Louis XIV had the building constructed between 1671 and 1678, and veterans are still housed here, although only a dozen or so compared to the original 6,000. They share their home with the greatest French soldier of them … Read more
The Retiro is the city’s green lung and the madrileños’ favourite weekend retreat. The aristocracy was first admitted to the former royal grounds in 1767 but it was another century before the gates were opened to the general public. Visitors can enjoy not only the decorative features, w hich include statues and sculptural arrangements, follies, … Read more
The Rookery One of the earliest remaining skyscrapers, this 1888 Chicago landmark combines traditional wall-bearing and newer steel frame construction. The latter made it possible for its architects, Burnham and Root, to design an open interior, with office spaces set around a central light well. The Rookery Auditorium Theatre Built by Adler and Sullivan in … Read more
This Gothic masterpiece, built by Louis IX (1214– 70) as a shrine for his holy relics of the passion and completed in 1248, is considered the most beautiful church in Paris, not least for its 15 stained-glass windows soaring 15 m (50 ft) to a star-covered vaulted roof. The church was damaged during the Revolution … Read more