Category Archives: Architecture

Mild, Mild West

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Next month’s issue of Budget Travel magazine (old-school version) will be featuring an excellent short article on Amsterdam’s West neighborhoods by Maria Robertson-Textor. The city’s former industrial area has been undergoing a slow, but inexorable gentrification for the last decade … Continue reading →

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Is it Das Slinky ?

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The Slinky Springs Bridge in Oberhausen, Germany was completed in the summer of 2011. Based on designs by Frankfurt artist Tobias Rehberger, the funky bridge drew its inspiration from the iconic Slinky children’s toy. Rehberger captured the wild, fun qualities … Continue reading →

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Scotland : Not Just Kilts and Heather

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

  We’re a bit tardy in reporting Scotland’s Carbuncle Award for most dismal town, but here it is anyway. Urban Realm magazine has named Linwood, just southwest of Glasgow, as the most dismal town in Scotland. The award was established … Continue reading →

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NYC: The Water Tank Project

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

An impressive roster of New York City artists have signed-on to participate in a consciousness-raising project dubbed The Water Tank Project. Designed to draw public attention to the urgent need for water conservation and the myriad threats to the world’s … Continue reading →

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Found Libraries

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Even though there are still more than 13,000 public payphones on New York City sidewalks, they are seen by most residents as dead technology, if they are noticed at all. But NY architect and civil society activist John Locke, the … Continue reading →

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The Last Train to Urville

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Urville is the little known capital city of a seaside province of France. It has a population of almost 12 million citizens and is the largest city in Europe. Starting to wonder why you’ve never heard of Urville ? That’s because … Continue reading →

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Boston’s Newest Jewel

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Yesterday, the stunning new addition to Boston’s wonderful Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was officially opened to the general public. Designed by the Italian architectural studio Renzo Piano, the extension houses a new 2,000 square-foot exhibition space, a stylish cafe, a … Continue reading →

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Beijing Wonderland

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

Construction began in 1998 on an ambitious project to build Asia’s largest and greatest amusement park . But since then the “Wonderland” project, outside of Beijing, has been scrapped after funding dried-up. Last year, UK photographer Catherine Hyland explored the … Continue reading →

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Cheapo Tourism

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

Talk about cheapo travelers: A woman named Ma Jei told startled visitors at Nanjing, China‘s Zhonghau Castle that she climbed the 14th century walls to beat the $4.00 admission charge. The 48 year-old climber claimed that she has scaled the … Continue reading →

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Can We Save the Taj Mahal by Staying Away?

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Brian D. Butler

Freelance journalist Jeffrey Bartholet has written a challenging piece for this month’s Smithsonian Magazine entitled “How to Save the Taj Mahal ?”. The article examines the ongoing preservation struggles that India’s most iconic tourist attraction continues to face. With millions … Continue reading →

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