Each time we drive to the pet store, we get to pass this church.
And each time we pass this church it is either raining,
or I don't have my camera, or we're late.
So after several months of coveting this eccentrically compelling architectural
specimen from the passenger window,
I finally got a chance to pull over and take a look.
Unfortunately it was a day that the church was closed to the public...
But if the outside is this good,
my guess is the interior will be deserving of its own visit.
Until then, please take your time and marvel over the swirling,
textured, pixel magic that can be achieved by
using a single, repeating element.
Who knew a brick building could look this good!
And for whatever reason,
all of this very ordered and logical brick work was paired with this
deeply perplexing Grauman's Chinese Theater-esque entryway.
This royal blue tiled, bulging canopy fiercely battles with the
rest of the church for style, scale, period, color, and compositional domination.
Yet somehow, while this church really makes no logical sense
from a design standpoint...
I haven't seen a church quite this compelling in ages.
So, anyone want to come to pixel mass with me?
I'm really hoping that they're performing this song on repeat inside:
I somehow ended up in London for a few moments at the end of last month
and while I was there encountered some very expensive grass....
(Hi! I cost $29,000 a year to maintain!)
A few very brave and unusual staircases...
Nature clashing with progress...
Some profoundly unfinished thoughts...
And someone who actually has more laundry to do than me!
There are some tourist attractions in the world that are really
not worth your time.
Attractions that when you get there you find yourself thinking "that's it?"
or "I thought it would be bigger in real life."
The Alhambra is not one of these places.
The Alhambra deserves its accolades.
And you'd be hard pressed to find craftsmanship of this caliber
anywhere else (hey Sistine Chapel, are you taking notes?).
And even though I spent several weeks in architecture school
meticulously studying the roof of the Sala de las Dos Hermanas
and making drawings like this:
which of course meant I had understood and mastered its logic...
When actually confronted with this masterpiece up close,
could you blame me for forgetting all of my pervious knowledge
about muqarnas and geometric patterning?
While I focused all my attention in school to that one ceiling,
I was happy to discover that it was just one of many impressive moments
scattered throughout the expansive Alhambra complex...
So while you might come to the Alhambra thinking
you already know it all...
do prepare yourself for the likelihood of leaving
with some stars in your eyes.
And if you get lost, just keep an eye out for the eager animals,
ready to guide the way.
I have been thinking a lot about mistakes today...
their values and their stigmas.
So much about the nature of mistakes implies an element of
negativity and failure, and in many cases such a critique
may be deserved....
Like in the cases of most architectural mistakes:
Or mistakes against ideas of sustainability and humanism.
And maybe even in certain cases we can include culinary mistakes...
But some mistakes, make life better.
Some mistakes add spontaneity, surprise, and color to our
rules and rigid structure.
Some mistakes are worth smiling about.
So here's to the great fashion mistakes
and the sincere but failed attempts to tame wild animals mistakes.
