By Mark Orwoll The autumn afternoon could not have been more pleasant. My wife and I were strolling in the Roman Ghetto, the picturesque medieval Jewish Quarter, after a simple lunch of cacio e pepe and a bottle of Barolo. As we turned down a particularly charming vicolo, an awful stench stung my nose. There,…
By John Gottberg Anderson Angkor is a city that haunts the imagination. For those of us who knew of its mysteries before it was discovered by Hollywood, Cambodia’s crown jewel is one of those rare world destinations — like Peru’s Machu Picchu or the pyramids of Egypt — that forever commands our wanderlust. From the…
By Thomas DeVoss As an architect I often get asked, “What are your architectural styles?” I tend to deflect this question, saying I don’t really have a style, but that instead I have an approach to each project, and that varies with the location, climate, client needs, budget, etc. On the third page of…
By Mark Orwoll New York’s five boroughs often inspire instantaneous (though not always correct) reactions from the city’s residents and out-of-towners alike. Manhattan is a cultural capital. Brooklyn is rife with hipsters and craft cocktails. The Bronx is dangerous and dirty. Staten Island–wait, is that part of New York City? And then there’s Queens. Boring. Archie…
Australian Harry Seidler (1923-2006) is revered in the architecture world as an articulate exponent of modernism and an inveterate photographer who traveled the world with a Leica filled with Kodachrome film recording architectural marvels. After attending Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, he apprenticed for German Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus School, and Hungarian architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer.
The greatest journey in life is the one we all take to the grave. It’s a trip where getting there is all of the fun. Along the road travelers encounter luxury hotels, memorable dinners, historic athletic contests and a bucket list of exciting experiences. For those who invest wisely and are prudent with their savings, the last leg of life can be filled with glamping safaris and Disney cruises with the grand children. Yet travel writers rarely ponder humanity’s final steps toward the ultimate threshold.
Top 10 2016 DK Travel Guides By David DeVoss We live in a digital age. Bookstores are closing; newspapers are shrinking. Print, our betters tell us, is dead. Of course, a lot of things have been pronounced dead by experts. Back in 1966, Time Magazine declared God dead. Yet He/She/It continues to float…
Architectural Detailing Review by Thomas DeVoss Architectural Detailing provides an introduction to the basics of drawing details (the places where materials intersect) for standard construction. While it may not have as many diagrams as Ching’s Building Construction Illustrated, or have the depth of Architectural Graphic Standards, it does an especially good job of explaining the purpose of each construction…
Avoiding Faux Pas in Asia By David DeVoss Rules regarding cultural interaction are simple. So why do we stumble so often when meeting clients in Asia? Often it’s because we assume all Sinitic cultures are the same. Or fail to remember that, despite its large Chinese population, a country like Malaysia is historically Islamic. Inadvertent…