Supreme Court Historical Society - Washington, DC, USA
'The headquarters of the Supreme Court Historical Society is located on East Capitol Street in a historic district. The Society asked for a design that was not merely sensitive to the historic context of the site but was firmly rooted in the classical tradition exemplified by the Supreme Court.'
It's great to see some Neo-Gothic architecture being built, especially at USC, the school that unleashed Frank Gehry on the world. But we can probably thank Gehry for a fiasco like the Stata Center for turning a lot of campus architecture away from starchitecture.
Also just completed at USC, the Caruso Center (left) and Our Savior Parish (right), completed 2012:
some upper middle class neighborhoods in tehran, these are nice in my opinion, they dont try to be "classical" yet they render traditional looks and proportions much better than some other examples i showed
In 2010 Kleiweg Passage in Gouda in the eyes of the Gouwenaar the ugliest building in the historic center. Where once had stood a beautiful neo-Gothic church was in the eighties a concrete shopping risen with stores in two layers, linked to a central passage. The architecture of glass and concrete there was now worn out and did not join in the size and scale of the historic city. The passage, once intended as an additional link in the wink circuit was not working. The route was your feeling dead and retail space were rent. The poor state of the complex was the reason for the owner, Redevco to fundamentally think about the future. The large-scale structure of the complex is economically vital to the historical center of Gouda, since this is one of the few places where large chains can settle in the intricate structure of historic downtown.
Thus the task was defined: a shopping mall realize that both in language and architecture reflect the historical city and also just up space continues to offer large-scale stores. And, as was the task, do it sustainably!
In the project, the existing large concrete structure is maintained. The current passage is removed and replaced with retail space directly accessible from the Kleiweg. The rough concrete facade on the Kleiweg is completely removed and replaced by a façade that matches in size, scale and language in the historical center of Gouda. Seven new buildings, with a wink, referring to the language and architecture of the city are featured in the site. Each of the facades tells a story Gouda, ranging from candles to the Gouda Gouda heroes. That Gouwenaar was pleased with the project, was demonstrated by the spontaneous applause from passing citizens.
For those of you who are interested in learning the venerable craft of stone masonry, be sure to check out the Worshipful Company of Masons, a guild with a history dating back to the 17th century.
^ That one really doesn't integrate well, except its colours. It should pay more respect to its surroundings, with a proper roof and facade structure. A slightly neoclassical look would have been so much better there. I'm really beginning to miss postmodernism so badly.
In case you wondered about this statement... Here we have an example of such a Cour d'Honneur in Charlottenburg's Witzlebenstrasse:
There certainly is room for improvement, but I don't think it's that bad at all. The biggest issues for me are the somewhat tacky balustrades and the upper setbacked storey. It still adds a lot more vibe than any of those sloppy bare concrete facades that show no effort or affection at all.