For centuries, a long, skinny dragonβknown as the Ly Dynasty dragonβhas served as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune in Vietnamese culture. City officials in the bustling Vietnamese city of Da Nang decided that the best way to honor the Liberation of Da Nangβwhich was an important turning point in the Vietnam Warβwas to…
The Netherlands has long been considered a forward-thinking country where imaginative ideas flourish. Many people consider Rotterdam to be the creative capital of the Netherlands. Rotterdam’s Cube Houses are a shining example of the city’s enthusiasm for all things avant-garde. In the late 1970s, city officials in Rotterdam were contemplating how to build a housing…
In 1921, an ornate cinema and live performance space called the Theater Tuschinski that was one part Art Deco, one part Art Nouveau, and one part gothic cathedral opened its doors in Amsterdam. The Theater Tuschinski was founded by a Polish tailor named Abraham Tuschinski who stopped in the Netherlands when he was in the…
In 1948, enterprising shoe salesman Mahlon Haines decided that the best way to increase sales at his ever-expanding collection of shoe stores was to build a giant shoe-shaped house in York, Pennsylvania that would pique the interest of passing motorists. Haines reportedly requested that an architect build a house that looked like a work boot…
In the late 1800s, banker Abraham Salomon Camondo commissioned a grand stone staircase in the Turkish city of Constantinopleβnow known as Istanbulβso that his family could traverse one of the city’s steepest hills and travel to work and school with greater ease. The Camondo Stairs are a sprawling staircase with a distinctive curved design that…
In 1888, the Bishop overseeing the construction of a new chapel for the Sisters of Loretto, an order of nuns in New Mexico, passed away before the chapel’s completion. The Our Lady of Light Chapel was left with several unfinished details, including a large gap between the choir loft and the chapel. The Sisters of…
One day, ceramicist and architect Octavio Mendoza Morales was chatting with one of his nieces. She suggested that he combine his passions by building a house out of clay. Captivated by the idea, Morales set out to turn this whimsical concept into reality. Casa Terracota, located in Villa de Leyva, Colombia, is entirely made of…
Crowds of tourists visit the thundering Trevi Fountain in Rome on a daily basis, but few visitors are aware of an elegant Art Nouveau courtyard that is located nearby. Constructed in the late 19th century by the wealthy Sciarra family, Galleria Sciarra has served as a bustling pedestrian thoroughfare for Italians who live and work…