Constructed in the mid-1980’s to a then-popular sci-fi high-tech style by Norman Foster, it is one of the centrepieces of Hong Kong’s stunning skyline. Along with the Bank of China Building, Cheung Kong Centre, and IFC 2, it is one of the most iconic buildings in the world. By day Read more…
Easily reachable by S-Bahn and tram, the Reichsparteitagsgelände in Nürnberg consists of several monolithic structures over a large land area. The most famous of those buildings is the Zeppelinfeld where a Cathedral of Lights was set up during Nazi Party rallies to create a sense of religious fervour. Tens of Read more…
Asia’s last remaining greyhound racing track closed in June of 2018, so I decided to pay it a visit just before it closed. Greyhound racing has a significantly lower profit than horse racing, a brief glance at the information board reveals that each race has less than $10 000 in Read more…
This iconic attraction in Paris is a real cash cow for the French tourism industry. It has been the subject of many controversies, scientific experiments, and postcards. Constructed for the 1898 World’s Fair it was supposed to be taken down like all the other exhibits, but it was maintained as Read more…
Located in Postdam less than an hour away from Berlin, this group of palaces is almost as spectacular as Versailles from the outside and ten times more fun because the outdoor area is free for all to admire. Though I would recommend bringing a bicycle there because the S-Bahn is very Read more…
Or the Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum, named after the famous Grimm brothers who wrote fairy tales such as Rapunzel, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, and The Red Cap (Little Red Riding Hood). This is a fitting name for a central library of the university that once managed the German State Library – Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. Read more…
Although the VPL has dozens of branches all over the city, my favorite location is the central library in downtown Vancouver. You might have noticed that I have an affinity for libraries having visited the Peabody Library, the Grimm Zentrum, and the Library of Congress on several occasions The central Read more…
Constructed for the 1936 Summer Olympics, the Olympiastadion in Berlin was the largest stadium in the world when it was built. This gigantic 100,000 seat stadium was Hitler’s showcase to the world and he wanted to be take seriously. Built on the western end of the east-west axis of ‘Germania’, Read more…
Olympiastadion – Germania and Beyond This was the first bit of serious research I’ve done looking into the history of Nazi Germany and how its architectural styles reflect its ideology when I was in Berlin. It’s not very long so I won’t write too much of an introduction.
Authoritarian Themes of National Socialist Architecture in Berlin When I was studying in Berlin, I enrolled myself in an architecture and art history course out of pure curiosity. Being a foreigner in a prominent university in Germany, I took full advantage of this situation and decided to write about a Read more…