Architecture – Page 18

Green College

2012-Aug-272012-Aug-26 adohertyh2 Comments

This photograph comes from within the walls of Green College at the University of British Columbia. I really recommend clicking through to read all about its somewhat bizarre history. The dormitory is a place where academics of all ages come together to exchange ideas and cook extremely garlicky food. The combination of alpine architecture and enormous trees makes it feel like a cross between Hogwarts and Rivendell. I was feeling these mystical vibes in the middle of the night, as the Moon peaked through the trees and I took this picture.

Man’s Geometry II

2012-Aug-22 adohertyhLeave a comment

I’ve always enjoyed photographs where I can contrast the stark geometries of man-made objects with the stochastic curves of most natural forms. (You can see the theme again in Part I.) In this case, I love the hexagonal cross-section and rough texture of the concrete in comparison with the smooth, vibrant waves.

Heavyweight Theology

2012-Aug-202012-Aug-19 adohertyhLeave a comment

During our recent trip to the University of British Columbia, Brendan spotted what looked a bit like a castle rising from behind the otherwise modern architecture of the university. What he saw was the Iona Building, the heart of the Vancouver School of Theology. It struck me as a little bit odd to see such an imposing and explicitly religious building on the campus of a public university, but hey–that’s Canada for you. The building’s provenance does little to diminish its architectural achievement.

Underhall

2012-Jul-112012-Jul-11 adohertyhLeave a comment

UCB’s Tolman Hall has a surprising number of urban legends surrounding its uniquely 1960’s appearance. The building is overcrowded and soon to be renovated, but I have to admit that it has a certain charm when the evening light bounces through concrete surfaces of its breezeway. The blues and greens of the shadowed campus and the golden sunset colors are appealing, to be sure, but it’s really the textures that I find so fascinating. The combination of precast and cast-in-place concrete means that there are at least four different textures here, each one reflecting and scattering light in its own, unique way.

Both Sides of the Bay

2012-Jul-06 adohertyhLeave a comment

The Bay Area has a set of dichotomies that I’ve always loved fitting into photographs. Here, we have the elegance of San Francisco herself, with towers and an array of sailing boats, contrasted with the decay of the East Bay and its own host of boats.

Rain on the Plaza

2012-Jun-27 adohertyh1 Comment

Today’s image is the result of a little experiment I did, in which I limited myself to shooting only with a simple prime lens. This is perhaps my favorite image that stemmed from the experience: Berkeley’s historic Lewis Hall on a rainy afternoon. The reflections from the wet concrete buildings, the grid of the plaza’s brick pattern, and the intricate array of the hall’s windows combine to produce such a strong sense of place. In contrast with these hard, angular, man-made structures are the curves of the redwood trees. Would the picture have been better, had I taken it with a wide-angle zoom lens? I’m really not sure.

Arcs of Transport

2012-Jun-25 adohertyhLeave a comment

Just around the corner from one of my favorite buildings, I found this spot where the curve of a footpath mirrors the curve of the passing road. The last moments of the day make for tiny beams of sunlight around my feet and tapping the tops of trees across the road. The start of summer is a perfect time in California.

Boat House Chaos

2012-Jun-22 adohertyhLeave a comment

Oakland isn’t always the most gorgeous place to behold, with more than its fair share of graffiti-laden, disused industrial areas. (You can see little hints of them for yourself in today’s shot.) When I get down to the San Francisco Bay, and the tenor changes, I can appreciate it so much more. Unlike the east seaboard of the U.S., much of which has a consistent architectural style, the Bay is a mish-mash of little buildings that fulfilled whatever roles were needed when they were constructed. I get a warm, satisfied feeling from the way the chaotic clutter of boats separates the sometimes-distressing Oakland from the clean, crisp water of the Bay.

CALIENTE!

2012-Jun-20 adohertyhLeave a comment

San Diego’s Civic Center, as I’ve shown previously, is a pretty surreal place. There’s certainly a feeling that you’re supposed to be in the nexus of the city’s of law and justice, but literally just around the corner, the buildings are plastered with signs for race tracks and the curbs and lined with homeless folks. I liked the way this image showed the broad sidewalks mostly abandoned, with only traces of waking life here and there.

Palace of Knowledge

2012-Jun-01 adohertyh2 Comments

Berkeley’s campus becomes oddly, frighteningly empty during the late spring. By the time summer rolls around, more students return to attend summer classes and the campus runs on a skeleton crew. In the time between the end of final exams and the start of the summer semester, however, only professors and graduate students dare to roam the halls. In this context, the enormous (but now mostly-empty) buildings remind me of the decaying palaces of some deposed monarch. School is dead! Long live school!

Hearst Mining Building

2012-May-312012-May-29 emceehammrLeave a comment

One of my favorite places on campus (or it used to be before the flurry of construction activity around it) is the Hearst Mining Circle, just opposite the chemistry quad on U. C. Berkeley’s campus. In particular the reflecting pool and lawn in front the historic (and fascinating — there used to be a tunnel to the Hayward fault from there) Hearst Mining Building make a great combination, especially on a sunny day such as the day this shot was taken.

Berkeley Public Library, North Branch

2012-May-24 emceehammrLeave a comment

The Berkeley Public Libraries recently remodeled their north branch, nestled at the bottom of the Berkeley hills in North Berkeley. It’s actually quite attractive, in stark contrast to a lot of the public buildings in the east bay.

Behold, the Tomb!

2012-Mar-24 adohertyhLeave a comment

Today is a more unusual shot of UC Berkeley’s Hearst Memorial Mining Building. As with so many other buildings on campus, the terrain and topology of surrounding the building have changed radically since it’s initial construction, with each shift requiring an adaptation to the landscaping and lower structure of the building to maintain access without violating the original design too severely. In this case, however, a fairly functional combination of tunnel entrance and stairs looks uncannily like some sort of ancient tomb. I keep waiting for Indiana Jones to come sprinting out past the ash trays with an enormous boulder rolling close behind him.

The Edifice

2012-Mar-22 adohertyhLeave a comment

This is the imposing Latimer Hall in UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry. On this stormy afternoon, the sky and the bare tree and the building itself all took on this similar cast, but with such radically different textures and shapes. If you look carefully, the cracks and stains under each balcony level begin to resemble the geometry of the tree.

Maintenance Building Detail

2012-Mar-19 emceehammrLeave a comment

This shot comes again from the Maintenance Building over the Caldecott Tunnel. It was a gray day and the building is all gray so I decided to play with some HDR in black and white.