Architectural Delight

Twice during this month I've spent time exploring the grounds and residence at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West located about 10 minutes from my new home in Arizona. Until my first visit with my sister at the beginning of the month, I had no idea that one of the buildings connected with my work place was designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, but it made sense once I learned that. Wright's "bring the outside in" designs that made him famous was so obvious I dont know why I didn't think of it sooner,what with the fish pond and water fall that is the focal point of the building's lobby.

My first visit, we just wandered the grounds enjoying the desert beauty that was so close to the heart of designer who lived here 6

months of the year during the latter part of his life. The house and design studio

seem to organically rise out of the desert floor like a ship that has run aground.

I took the 90 minute tour last week and was completely fascinated by the life of this man who was clearly a genius, but one of a somewhat dubious personal philosophy and practice. The tour guide was knowledgable and personable, one who wore no rose-colored glasses when it came to the personality he presented to us. I appreciated and enjoyed the tour immensely, enough to know I'm going to need to come back and explore further.

Meanwhile, I'm reading T.C. Boyle's The Women which chronicle's Wright's life from the perspective of the women in his life (4 wives and a couple of mistresses). The writing in this book is particularly beautiful making it a joy to read for that reason alone. The stories of these women are also compelling...and sad in the long run. Wright was charismatic enough to attract these (and others) women, but didn't seem to know how to take care of a relationship for any length of time. But the writing...it's as beautiful as F. Scott Fitzgerald or Alan Paton or Willa Cather. Just. Plain. Amazing.

I. M. Intrigued

One of my Christmas presents is a Page-a-Day "1,000 Places to See Before you Die" calendar. I love it! It has quotes, pictures, quizzes, and lots of information about places all over the world. Since I like lists, and quotes, and traveling, this is the ideal calendar for me. It will set my imagination going every time I look at it, and keep me thinking and learning about places I've either been or hope to go to someday. Today's picture is of the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris that was designed by renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei, more commonly known as I. M. Pei who was China born (1917) but Boston educated (MIT, Harvard), and which I saw shortly after it was completed in 1989. Pei is known as the last master of high modernist architecture. He works with the abstract form, using stone, concrete, glass, and steel.

I first learned about Pei in 1973 when the infamous Hancock Tower was being built in Boston (completed in 1076). That was my senior year in high school and every Tuesday the seniors went into Boston to do service work. My group had to walk by the construction site for some reason, and I remember that the sidewalks going by the building were covered over to protect us from falling glass. Apparently the all-glass exterior kept exploding until they could get the air pressure inside right. Seems like it was a big to-do at the time.

Pei also designed the Kennedy Library (1979) here in Boston. This, too, has an all-glass part of its structure. Perhaps this is a Pei trademark? If you want to learn more about Pei and see the extensive list of his projects, go here. He's pretty amazing I think.

Pictures from Wikipedia entries on Pei, Hancock Tower, and Kennedy Library.

Night Court

Last night, we went to the San Mateo County Courthouse for an evening of mock trials. After spending the day listening to all kinds of legal situations and issues, it was fun to see some of the things we heard put into practice. Literally.

The courthouse itself is beautiful. Built in 1908 it has survived many a shake up (again, literally). It's dome with beautiful stained glass is particularly striking, inside and out, especially after it got dark.

The trial I attended (there were four to choose from) was presided over by a feisty county judge from Florida (Tallahasee) who had given an outstanding presentation earlier in the day. She sees a lot of young people in her courtroom and helped institute a drug court that gets young people into rehab rather than jail as first-time offenders. Her mercy and grace approach to her work was inspiring.

The evening's situation involved a youth pastor who misused his time with a 17 year old youth group member. The lawyers were actual lawyers in their real life, but the rest of the participants were playing roles unfamiliar to them (clerk, jurors, plaintiffs, defendants, etc.).

It was an interesting and, at times, amusing evening. A couple of times the situation caused the judge to break up (a la Carson in his skits), which, in turn, cause laughter and/or applause in the audience. The actual case, of course, was not laughable though, and we learned a lot despite the occasional levity.

Typical Greek Village

David and I went in search of some Postcard-worthy photos yesterday afternoon. Here's what we found in our little village of Galissas.

Afternoon in Boston

I took the afternoon off to meet a friend in Boston. She is in town with National Honor Society students from her school in Maryland. They were walking the Freedom Trail today and I set out to try to catch up with them. It was a fruitless effort to find them as we were both walking, and there was virtually no way for me to catch up. I finally gave up for the time being and just enjoyed the sights.

It was a beautiful day, not too cool to revel in the hour's walk through the historic Government Center, Theatre District, and Boston Common. Many times when I wander through Boston, I like people watching. This time, the architecture interested me. I found myself being drawn to the tops of the buildings, several of which I'm sharing here.

I finally caught up with my friend a few miles south of Boston at the Kennedy Library. While her students (and other adults) went through the library/museum, we sat outside and talked. It was an all too brief reunion, but worth the minor frustration of not finding her for nearly two hours...

In spite of my happiness at seeing my friend, the day was tinged with sadness. The daughter of our maintenance man was killed yesterday in a freak accident in San Francisco. She had been walking her dog and was putting it in her car when a huge branch from a redwood tree fell down on her, taking her life instantly. It's a devastating loss. I went to high school with her, but haven't seen her since then. Still, I feel overwhelmed with sadness for her parents.

Colorful New England Houses

My niece brought a friend home to visit over Spring Break. I picked the two up from the airport on Friday afternoon. As we were driving through town to Julie's house, her friend exclaimed over how colorful the houses were. Julie and I burst into laughter at the realization that we had never noticed this fact. All the rest of the way home, we kept pointing out houses with color: pastel colors, reds, blues, all kinds of colors. It was quite the surprise to look at our NE architecture and color from a fresh perspective.

Today when I was driving south from my parents' in Maine where I had retreated for a day, I remembered what Julie's friend had said and noticed again how right she was. I grabbed my camera and took pictures in two towns, one in Maine and one in NH as I was driving along. What a beautiful place I live in!!!