Next week I’ll be embarking on another intense work trip beginning with two solid weeks of guidebook research for Rick Steves. A few readers might think: “oooh, how exciting! what a glamorous job!” Fun moments will happen as always, but overall the schedule is so tight that there’s little room for glamour 🙂
Read More »guidebook research: typical day
Don’t be jealous… although you should be.
The Kavanagh is a Holy Grail to architecture buffs worldwide, & I scored a visit inside today. The building administration was adamant about not taking photos in public areas. Did I listen? We were chastised several times, & I wouldn’t want the person who granted us access to get into trouble. She lives there after all. But how could I resist?
Read More »buenos aires: inside the kavanagh
[Originally written as a series of three posts in Jan 2008.]
Remedios de Escalada in the southern suburbs of Buenos Aires may be off most people’s radar, but it contains a testament to Argentina’s industrial past that’s very interesting: the largest, privately-owned railroad workshop that the British built outside of the UK.
Read More »lanús: talleres de remedios de escalada
Since I’ve become such a fan of Buenos Aires architecture, I’ll begin a series of posts about our best architects in order to highlight who have made BA such a joy to walk around. There’s no better place to start than the grandfather of all BA architects, Alejandro Christophersen.
Read More »buenos aires: alejandro christophersen
I’m not an enormous fan of tango, but there are quite a few songs that I’ve grown to love. And before you ask, no… I’ve never taken a dance lesson. Far from being clumsy on my feet —I grew up in Memphis, after all— it’s one of those cultural experiences I keep saying I’ll do one day.
That day has yet to arrive, but I thought of something yesterday when Jeff & I were discussing the difficulties of translation. He’s done a very nice month-long series of posts about Borges since June 2006 was the 20th anniversary of his death. We had trouble agreeing on how to translate one simple line of poetry, so I decided to take the ultimate challenge… translating a tango song. I think I’m asking for trouble.
Read More »argentina: no soy muy tangueroFirst of all, one building that didn’t fit any of the other categories:
Güemes 3950 (Palermo) • I hadn’t been disappointed in my Estanislao Pirovano quest. But after seeing this former apartment building, I wonder what Pirovano was thinking when he designed this. There’s nothing wrong with it… just very blah compared to all his other buildings. Maybe he was merely fulfilling a client’s request. No Tudor, no Neocolonial, no dragons, nada. The most decorative part of the façade is the pediment with lots of frilly bits & curves to look at through the trees.
Read More »buenos aires: estanislao pirovano, last word