Gardens of Stone
This is the sixth post of seven, each a response to Kate Shrewsday’s request for an itinerary of MTM’s Seven Architectural Wonders. Each text post has a corollary visual post; the text and image posts will alternate between the blogs of Kate Shrewsday and the Andra Watkins. Since I (MTM) am no longer a paid pedant, I will try to make these as entertaining and enlightening as possible in 600 words or less. One ground rule: I cannot include a work of architecture I have not experienced directly and personally, just as one’s list of Great Books should not include a book one hasn’t yet read.
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To read the text on Gardens of Stone for this fifth post please click here!
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Potager du Roi: The Kitchen Garden at Versailles
- Ancient Espalier
Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo, Japan
Cherry blossoms and stone stele
The National Museum of Roman Art in Merida, Spain
Roman antiquities in contemporary architecture
A dialog between the ancients and us
Timeless and of its time
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Gosh, here is a building that itself seems to move in time. Thank you for the introduction.
Spain does seem to have an architectural tradition of being different.
Spain has one the greatest architectural cultures in the world, especially over the last 40 years.
And the amazing art deco stuff! That makes my heart smile when I see it.
I agree with you mtm, I have learn much more about Spain. It is my dream place as well and I want to visit this place in my life.
Love this.
So glad…jsut one more day and Andra is back.
How wonderful! I have photos taken five years ago on my one and only visit to Madrid and Merida. I was standing there where your first two photos of Merida Museum have been taken. [I do not know how to put photos into a comment.] Coincidentally, yesterday I had spoken to Eduardo who took me to Merida, for the first time since that trip (his wife is my friend, I usually skype with her) and then I opened up your blog! Thank you for the reminder of the wonder.
Love the coincidences. Merida is so remote that not many make it there, but it is such an interesting part of Spain, and the Roman history is so intense.
My friend’s husband was brought up in Merida, we stayed a few days, and I will always remember other parts too, the ruined aqueduct – I think that is what it was – the bridge over the river, and the circus area. I posted re my visit there this morning, thanks for the inspiration.
I love that you have seen all of these things and taken pictures of them. The cherry blossom festival is so lovely.
Almost all of my architecture photos are from slides….I have a lot of scanning to do to digitize my whole library.
Cool juxtaposition of old and new. And the idea of the hanging gardens has always really appealed to me too. What must that have been like?
The Hanging Gardens are the most mysterious…from a young age all I could do was let my imagination come up with what a fantastical place it must have been.
The closest I’ve come to feeling something even slightly similar to the Museum of Roman Art–and I couldn’t possibly be making a direct comparison–is the Getty Museum in Malibu. It’s very small, but the antiquities in that particularly gorgeous setting stirs all my senses. I can’t even imagine being in “the real thing” and what that would feel like. Maybe someday….D
One of the aspects of Merida that resonates is that you almost feel you are among the excavations, rather than a collection of disparate artifacts.
Very nice variation of photos! And nice photos also! But I would have loved to have been there with you! Great posts!
Well, one aspect of Merida that didn’t come across in the photos is that it was mid-summer….hot, hot, hot. I really learned the ‘why’ of siesta.
It is an intriguing place. I love the lines, like pen-strokes in a woodcut, horizontal and vertical. The contrasts, as you say, make two timelines very comfortable in each other’s presence. Great post. I really don’t want these to end…
I know this building would make very few others’ Wonders list, but it just hit me so strongly, and accomplishes so much of what I value in architecture.
One more day…I mean it!
I love the architecture of Spain!
Where did my comment go? Sigh….
Just love the juxtaposition between the contemporary architecture and the Roman antiquities.
Girl, you’re the queen of promotion and you’re such an excellent girl. I wasn’t shocked to ascertain your sweet smile and that i appreciate what you are doing for the blogging community.