Architecture By Element
San Sebastian Building Crown
The unique and varied building crowns of San Sebastian, Spain (Donostia) are an identifiable element of the architecture of the city. Many of the buildings in the city display unique solutions and styles for the top of a building — creating a varied and diverse city skyline. Like heads in a crowd, each unique solution or type provides the visual [...]
San Sebastian Outdoor Terrace
The outdoor terrace is an identifiable element of the architecture of San Sebastian, Spain (Donostia). Many of the mid-rise buildings in the city have wonderful and unique outdoor terraces located at or near the top floor. They provide an enjoyable outdoor space high above the city — a respise from the intense urban environment of the streets below.
San Sebastian Balcony
The balcony is an identifiable element of the architecture of San Sebastian, Spain (Donostia). Almost every building in the city is covered with a variety of types and styles of balconies. Whether made with a stone balustrade or a wrought iron rail, the cantilevered balcony is a beautiful and identifiable feature of the city.
San Sebastian Bay Window
The Bay Window is an identifiable element of the architecture of San Sebastian, Spain (Donostia). It is a dominant architectural feature that is visible in many of the buildings throughout the city.
The Pedestrian Arcade – Creating Comfort in the Street (Tomorrow’s Miami : Part 24)
The pedestrian arcade has the possibility to become an identifiable element of Miami. Early in the twentieth century pedestrian arcades were used quite extensively throughout Miami. Many were demolished, but today some remain scattered throughout the original neighborhoods of Miami.
New York City Fire Escape
The New York City fire escape is an identifiable element of the New York City urban landscape. Everywhere one turns, the steel fire escape dominates the architecture of older buildings in the city. Today nevertheless, the fire escape is rarely seen in new construction.
Outdoor Terrace in Charleston
The outdoor terrace or veranda is an identifiable element of the architecture of Charleston. Building after building displays a varying array of types, methods, styles, and sizes – entire building sides are sometimes covered in dominant, multi-story platforms. The Charleston Single and Double House, two housing types unique to the region, also incorporate them into their design. The importance of this element [...]
Colors and Windows of Charleston
I was especially amazed by the liveliness of the buildings and colors that make up this fabulous urban environment. Tropical and pastel colors cover many of the stucco buildings in the urban core of Charleston — from pink to blue these building colors serve as identifable elements of the city. Along East Bay Street, appropriately named Rainbow Row is an excellent example of the importance of colors to this city — featuring a variety of brick and stucco exteriors painted in a spectrum of pastels. Arched doorways, gambrel roofs and quoins on some Rainbow Row exteriors are matched in beauty by paneled wainscoting and architrave moldings inside.
Victorious Cape May
Picturesque Cape May holds the distinction of being the oldest seashore resort in the United States and one of the most unique.
The American Front Porch in Squirrel Hill
I am always amazed when people try to defend the suburban lifestyle as the ”American way of life”. The truth is that before the utter domination of the automobile, housing and the way people lived was very different. While homes of today welcome visitors with massive garages and inhospitable driveways, homes at the turn of the 20th [...]
Urban Doorways in San Francisco
Doorways are everywhere in and around the Mission District of San Francisco — every block is surrounded by a multitude of doorways! Just like the Bay Window, the doorway is a dominant visual and structural urban element of San Francisco’s row house and Victorian architecture. Not only is it a uniquely identifiable feature of the city – as the threshold between building [...]
Bringing Back the Arcade
The pedestrian arcade is an urban and architectural element that was used widely at the beginning of the 20th century in Miami. The pedestrian arcade provided a perfectly suited and unique local architectural solution that protected pedestrians from walking under the harsh summer sun while at the same time protecting them from unpredicatable tropical rains.
San Francisco Bay Window
The “Bay Window” is perhaps one of the most identifiable architectural features of the City of San Francisco. It is a visual and structural element permeating throughout the city that seems almost like a mandatory architectural feature which every building incorporates into its design. Over time, the Bay Window has become synonymous with San Francisco — a distinguishing [...]
