Architecture & art
When the American furniture manufacturer Gustav Stickley returned from a trip to England in 1897, he brought back an idea promulgated by John Ruskin (social reformer, connoisseur, premier art critic of his day) and William …
You might find yourself in Manila on a stopover on your way to some of the country’s most pristine beaches – or on the way home from Thailand. Whatever your reason, Manila does have some …
A Medusa has moved into my neighborhood. I live in San Francisco, three blocks from Haight Street. I don’t go down there much because it’s sordid with shoe stores, out-of-towners, homeless folk, and all-purpose muckiness. …
Some clichés smell okay, others stink. Whenever I hear a California enthusiast hyperventilating about how the West Coast is culturally “cutting edge” and so “out there,” I remember that the last time David Smith (the …
Of all the buildings that Frank Lloyd Wright designed, his favorite was Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s one of the most popular destinations for lovers and admirers of the architect’s work, and, with the …
There’s so much more to Detroit than what’s in the foreboding Chrysler commercials. It’s taken a beating in the press with the hard times that have befallen the auto industry, but still offers a vibrant …
You’ll never forget walking the walls of Dubrovnik. Put this on your bucket list now! Climb the ancient stairs of this walled city and take your first look at centuries of history. The tile roofs …
The atrium at the Museum of Photographic Arts offers an essay on what we thought we were as a people during the ’50s and ’60s. Constellated images by several photographers tell us that, before anything …
I’m not a student anymore, but I still like to take a break in the spring to travel. My favorite place in the world to take a spring break trip is New Orleans. Who needs …
This is an amazing town. It’s an open-air museum best explored on foot; every turn offers an architectural feast for the eyes. I spent a week in Prague and it remains one of the highlights …
As a warm-up before you see the splashy Gainsborough exhibition running at the San Diego Museum of Art, make a pass at Fragonard’s late 1770s Blindman’s Buff in the Timken. In a vaguely bucolic setting, …
Bergen is located on Norway’s western coast. The journey there from Oslo takes you through a wonderfully scenic part of the country, including some of the longest and most spectacular fjords in Norway. You can …
I’m sitting on a bench in the San Diego Museum of Art, which has just opened an exhibition by the British painter Howard Hodgkin. Pretty quiet here, only four other warm bodies, one of them …
I’ve always loved university towns: the spirit, the energy, the combination of youthful, bustling enthusiasm and quiet intellectual reflection they exude refreshes me. Most university towns have a keen sense of place and radiate a …
When in 1853 Admiral Perry and what the Japanese called his “black fleet” (the ships were painted black and their coal-stoked engines puffed black smoke) sailed into Yokohoma Harbor, he couldn’t have known he’d be …