#historic courtyards

[mimok]

A Night in Jianshui: Time Travel Through Photography

During my years in China, my journeys through Yunnan province remain among the most enriching experiences of my life. Each trip brought me closer to remote villages where time seemed to stand still. There were no hotels, no modern amenities, and nothing that resembled the world I was used to. These journeys were about immersing myself in the land, the traditions, and the people. Every village had…

[arc-hus]

Chongzheng Academy Bookstore, Weishan, China - TAO (Trace Architecture Office)

[huariqueje]

Claydon Pond Reflections - Alexandra Buckle , 2018.

British , b. 1984 -

Linocut on paper , 46 x 36 cm . Ed. 10

[mothmiso]

Guermassa (2) (3) (4) (5) by Panegyrics of Granovetter

[wandering-italy]

University of Pavia.

March 2024

[useless-catalanfacts]

Courtyard of the Berenguer d'Aguilar palace in Barcelona, Catalonia.

This palace is located in Montcada street, a narrow street in Barcelona's old city with many beautiful little palaces because, centuries ago, it was home to many of Barcelona's most important families.

The Berenguer d'Aguilar palace was built in the 13th century for the Caldes family, but takes its current name from Berenguer Aguilar who bought it in 1463. The Aguilar family lived here until the 16th century, a time period in which they did most reforms that established the house as we see it today. A few more Baroque additions were added in the 17th century and mostly removed in the 20th century.

The courtyards, like the one you can see in this post, are the central point of all the Montcada palaces, because they follow the typical structure of a Catalan Gothic house, common in many Mediterranean domestic architectures. The courtyard in the centre serves as the entrance, place for parking the carriage, light and breeze source for the rooms, and it's where the staircase is located, so the inhabitants can go up to the other floors.

This palace's architectural history is quite similar to the other palaces of this street. Because of their history, Medieval structures and elements survive next to Baroque windows and balconies.

Photos by Bob Masters for Calaix.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Reich Chancellery's courtyard in Berlin, Germany

German vintage postcard

[heritagebrowser]

Depicted: The courtyards of Musee Carnavalet in Paris.

A history of the complex:

At 23 rue de Sévigné, the Hôtel des Ligneris (known as Carnavalet) is, with the square courtyard of the Louvre, one of the rare witnesses of the architecture of the Renaissance period in Paris. Built in the middle of the 16th century (1548-1560) for Jacques des Ligneris, president of the Paris parliament, it is one of the oldest private mansions in the Marais in Paris.

The hotel was sold in 1578 to Françoise de la Baume, wife of the knight Kernevenoy, nicknamed “Monsieur de Carnavalet”. This distorted name has become established.

From 1660, the famous architect François Mansart raised the porch of the hotel on what is now rue de Sévigné and created two new wings. The writer Madame de Sévigné settled there from 1677 until 1694.

Finally, at the suggestion of Prefect Haussmann, at the time of the Grands Travaux de Paris (1853-1870), the hotel was purchased by the City of Paris in 1866, to make it the Historical Museum of the capital.

The extension of the museum was immediately decided with two-story adjoining galleries. The garden facades incorporate elements of demolished Parisian buildings: the Nazareth arch dating from the 16th century, the Drapiers pavilion from the 17th and the Choiseul pavilion from the 18th century. Several sculptures also leave their place of origin to join the museum, such as the statue of King Louis XIV by Antoine Coysevox or the relief of Henri IV by Lemaire (previously installed at the Hôtel de Ville), and also the statue of Victory by Louis-Simon Boizot (coming from Place du Châtelet)

[good-books-to-read]

Travel Destination: Pakistan

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

Naila's conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up-but they will choose her husband but when Naila falls in love with a boy Saif, her parents are livid and plan a vacation back to their homeland so Naila can reconnect with her roots.

However plans change and this vacation quickly turns to a nightmare when her parents find her a husband, Naila is running out of time, has Naila's fate been written in the stars? Or can she still make her own destiny?

Nura and the Immortal Palace by M.T. Khan

Nura must spend her time Mica mining for extra cash to support her family, however there’s rumours of treasure that could not only change her life but her family’s.

Her plan backfires when the mines collapse and four kids, including her best friend, Faisal, are claimed dead. Nura refuses to believe it and shovels her way through the dirt hoping to find him. Instead, she finds herself at the entrance to a strange world of purple skies and pink seas—a portal to the opulent realm of jinn, inhabited by the trickster creatures from her mother’s cautionary tales.

Under the Tamarind Tree by Nigar Alam

1964. Karachi, Pakistan. Rozeena is running out of time. She'll lose her home—her parents' safe haven since fleeing India and the terrors of Partition—if her medical career doesn't take off soon. But success may come with an unexpected price. Meanwhile the interwoven lives of her childhood best friends—Haaris, Aalya, and Zohair—seem to be unraveling with each passing day. The once small and inconsequential differences between their families' social standing now threaten to divide them. Then one fateful night someone ends up dead and the life they once took for granted shatters.

The Women’s Courtyard by Khadija Mastur

Set in the 1940s with Partition looming, Aliya dreams of educating herself and venturing beyond the courtyard walls, however she surrounded by the petty squabbles of her household.

Aliya must endure many trials before she achieves her goals, though at what personal cost?

An Abundance of Wild Roses by Feryal Ali-Gauhar

In a land woven with myth, chained with tradition and afflicted by war and the march of progress, the spirits of the mountains keep a baleful eye on the struggles of the villagers who scrape a living from the bodies of their wildlife. As the elements turn on the village, can humanity find a way to co-exist with nature that doesn't destroy either of them?

[wandering-jana]

Dating to the mid 13th century, the Bargello housed the podesta, the highest magistrate of the Florence city council. In 1574, the Medici got rid of that position and put the police chief here. The building was used as a prison. The interior yard was even used to execute people until 1786, although the police didn't move out until 1859. Now it's a fantastic museum.

Explore Florence:

[icewindandboringhorror]

If you became super rich and could design your own house, but could only add THREE unnecessary/random/expensive home additions (like how people will have bowling alleys, movie theatres, closets with museums of shoes, car display rooms, spa rooms, wine cellars, etc. in their mansions) - what three would you choose?

[arc-hus]

Museo Castelvecchio, Verona, Italy - Carlo Scarpa

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[tokiovibes]

Waraku-an guesthouse 和楽庵 in Kyoto, Japan.🎋

[mothmiso]

恭王府 Prince Gong's Mansion (2) (3) (4) by Emma 刘

[wandering-italy]

Casa Romei, Ferrara

March 25, 2024

[postcard-from-the-past]

Courtyard of a former monastery in Paris

French vintage postcard