Wine and Cheese in Architecture

I love when form and function are unified seamlessly in architecture and design, but it's also fun to see when concept and function are played with. I don't even mind the cheesiness, (and the wine was pretty good.)

Here, in the Santa Clara Valley, at Kirigin Cellars the doorway to the wine tasting room is a large oaky barrel.

Tolley Hall, Syracuse University

This building was designed in 1889. It has nice little details.

This guy looks very Romanesque~In art history class my friends and I created some mnemonic devices to remember these things. Grotesque Romanesque. And look, I remember it 13 years later! Have I really been out of college that long?

Syracuse Mosaic

Syracuse University has an impressive amount of art on campus. Here is the one that grabbed my attention the most.

Bonus points to anyone who can tell me more about the artist/artwork here, or any of the artworks all over Syracuse's campus. Our tour guide gave me a very general answer. I was less than impressed.

More Syracuse University

Very Classic: Nice red brick with Corinthian Columns. The frieze is a bit boring, but I like the eagle's feathers and his little legs sticking out of his "feather bellbottoms."

Variety of Old and New

Syracuse University has quite a combination of old and new buildings. Their oldest buildings are all in the center of campus and then the surrounding buildings are from all different decades with the newest building being LEED Certified.

University of Michigan

Here are pictures of two U of M buildings in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Artwork from the Phillips Collection

Here are a few of the pieces I liked while visiting the Phillips Collection. 

Phillips Collection Stained Glass

It's very simple, but nicely symmetrical.

Delft Tiles?

Each fireplace in the Phillips Collection museum building is different, but the tiles on this one caught my eye. This section of the museum appears to be part of the newer section. I wonder if this fireplace was moved here from the older house, or if it is just one piece in the collection of artworks.

Rothko Room! :(

I was so excited to arrive to the Phillips Collection and find that they had a Rothko Room! Rothko is one of my favorite artists, and I love sitting and enjoying his artwork for long periods of time. It was a wonderfully small room with a bench right in the middle for pondering the bleeding, layering, and movement of Rothko's paintings up close. 

I was disappointed by two things: the lack of light in the room, and the loud creaky bench. I couldn't really see the undulating movement I normally look for in Rothko's work because it was just too dark. And every time I moved or adjusted my weight on the bench or someone came in to sit down to join me the bench made an awful, loud sound destroying my reverie.

Wooden Stair Pattern

More Phillips Collection architectural elements: I like the contrast of the dark wood molding with the light wood floor. 

And I love this circle pattern!

Duncan Phillips Georgian Revival House

The Phillips Art Collection is housed in the home of the founder in the Dupont Circle area of D.C. There are definitely some rich architectural details around the house in addition to the artwork.

Simpson Street Stained Glass

This is part of a stained glass window at the Simpson Street 2 5 train station in the Bronx.

Face With Bird