Anyone who has spent at least 50 hours studying 20th century architecture would recognize Albany’s Empire State Plaza as Le Corbusier’s brainchild, a one-block model of his Radiant City, except it’s not. It was a poorly-executed urban renewal project under governor Nelson Rockefeller supported by Albany mayor Erastus Corning II, Read more…
Right below the more iconic Neuschwanstein Castle, this little brother is never jealous because it’s got a storied history of its own. Sitting next to the border with modern day Austria this was the home where King Ludwig II grew up, who later built the more architecturally majestic Neuschwanstein Castle. Hochenschwangau Read more…
Constructed in the late 1800’s by Bavarian King Ludwig II, it’s simply amazing to step into a castle where Richard Wagner (yes, the composer) was involved in. Some of the paintings inside the castle were even inspired by his compositions and operas. The brightly decorated interior (especially the throne room) Read more…
The Senate of Canada was founded in 1867 with its confederation, but it is currently held in an old train station in Ottawa built in 1912 opposite the senate’s original purpose-built building. Funnily enough, the former train station is older than the 1920 Parliament Centre Block, which has been undergoing Read more…
The oldest Lighthouse on Prince Edward Island is Point Prim Lighthouse built in 1845. It’s 60 feet tall and a $5 fee will let you climb up to the top. It’s 20 feet wide at the bottom by narrows to just 10 feet at the top, so extremely fat people Read more…
Now called the Willis Tower, the department store giant Sears once owned this Chicago landmark. The stepped-back upper floors were designed to yield a maximum window-to-floor ratio to make it attractive for tenants. Not having a gallery on the architectural ingenuity of the architecture of the tower is a missed Read more…
When the John Hancock Building in Chicago was completed in 1969 it was the second tallest building in the world after the Empire State Building, but only if you include the height of its 350-foot tall spires. Today, it’s roof height of 344 meters is barely remarkable. The observation deck Read more…
Not actually a castle in the classical European sense, but still a grand 20th-century home. Casa Loma in Toronto is the only true castle remaining in North America. The museum in the ornate Beaux-Arts home in Montreal records the life of the wealthy Dufresne family and how the rich lived Read more…
The state capital of Washington is a sleepy city called Olympia. It was known as Cheetwood to the indigenous peoples before being renamed by the Europeans. Washington became American territory in 1853 and a wood capitol was built. The current legislative building wasn’t completed until 1928. The Capitol Building has Read more…
Originally from Wisconsin, Frank Lloyd Wright is a renowned American architect who was commissioned to build works such as the Chicago Stock Exchange and the Transportation Building at the Chicago’s World Fair. In addition to massive buildings, he also built homes such as the Walter Davidson House and the Martin Read more…