San Marino is a mountainous microstate surrounded by north-central Italy. Among the world’s oldest republics, it retains much of its historic architecture. On the slopes of Monte Titano sits the capital, also called San Marino, known for its medieval walled old town and narrow cobblestone streets. The Three Towers, castlelike citadels dating to the 11th century, sit atop Titano’s neighboring peaks.
All posts by She Seeks Serene
Modern Architecture: 10 Apartment Home ‘Fenwick’, Kew, Melbourne, Australia
Uniting the gestures of interior design, architecture and landscape, Fenwick embodies a coherent vision of modern apartment homes. Developed by ANGLE in collaboration with Edition Office and Flack Studio, the building uses an evolving connection to context to answer an open design brief.
00:00 – Introduction to the Modern Apartment Homes 00:42 – The Client Brief 01:29 – Finding Inspiration for the Apartment’s Design 02:18 – The Kitchen Island Bench 02:35 – Durable Material Selection 03:10 – Hero Spaces 03:30 – Landscape Architecture 04:42 – Connection to Country
Situated on the banks of Yarra River in the Melbourne suburb of Kew, Fenwick straddles environments of dense forest and heritage buildings. As a unique by-product of its location – wherein nothing can be built in front of the home – the ten modern apartment homes have access to immersive, panoramic views that capture both the wilderness and city.
The exterior of Fenwick purposefully interacts with the natural surrounds. Conceived as a broken mass, the modern apartment homes are divided amongst three distinct pavilions that allow for view corridors between parts, extending across the gardens to the landscaped scenes beyond. Presenting Fenwick as an extension of the environment, Eckersley Garden Architecture designs a landscape reminiscent of the neighbouring greenery.
Lying beyond the modern apartment homes are layers of native shrubs, grasses and lower ground covers that change in accordance with the seasons, continuing to establish the development over time. With an interior design that draws the eye towards the outdoors, Fenwick thoroughly embraces its Kew context. By pursuing a connection to nature through interior design, architecture and landscaping, ANGLE ensures that the modern apartment homes effectively echo the language of the surrounds.
Preview: 75th Cannes Film Festival Opens May 17
After two years of Covid disruption, the Cannes Film Festival returns to its traditional May slot for a 75th anniversary edition packed full with Hollywood stars and celebrated auteurs.
Book Reviews: Booklist Magazine – May 15, 2022
Booklist Magazine, May 15, 2022 – From a barrier-leaping African American woman in the Gilded Age to a military coup in Guatemala and the woman bookseller who first published James Joyce’s Ulysses a century ago, the most radiant historical novels of the past 12 months illuminate many lives and times.
Opinion: India’s Economy, Workplace Surveillance, Infant Genome Screening
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the forces that stand to transform India’s economy over the next decade (11:06), how surveilling workers could enhance productivity (21:07), and full-genome screening for newborn babies is now on the cards.
Spring Walks: Essenburg Castle In The Netherlands
May 15, 2022 – We visited two of the many castles in our province Gelderland. In the province of Flevoland we saw a lot of konik ponies at the nature reserve Oostvaardersplassen.
Essenburg Castle is located in the Netherlands province Genderland east of the village Hierden. The plaque on the castle argues that it was built in 1652. It is believed that the current building was built on the site of a medieval castle. However, serious archaeological investigations found no evidence of the existence of the predecessor.
Morning News: Northern Ireland-UK, Mariupol Siege, Cannes Film Festival
We discuss the possibility of unilateral action on the Northern Ireland protocol and hear the latest on the conflict in Ukraine from Kharkiv. Plus: Yemen’s Sana’a airport finally reopens, and it’s the first day of the Cannes Film Festival.
Front Page View: The New York Times – May 17, 2022
Louvre Exhibits: ‘Pharaoh Of The Two Lands, African Kings of Napata’ In Paris
PHARAOH OF THE TWO LANDS – The African Story of the Kings of Napata
28 April – 25 July 2022
OVERVIEW
In the 8th century BC, a kingdom grew up around the Nubian capital, Napata. In about 730 BC, the Nubian king Piankhy conquered Egypt and founded the 25th Dynasty of Kushite kings, who ruled for more than fifty years over a kingdom stretching from the Nile Delta to the confluence of the White and Blue Niles. The most famous of those kings is the pharaoh Taharqa.
The exhibition highlights the importance of this vast kingdom, located in what is now northern Sudan. It is organised in connection with the Louvre’s archaeological campaign in Sudan, which focused for ten years on the site of Muweis before moving some 30 kilometres northwards to El-Hassa, not far from the pyramids of Meroe.
History Books: ‘The Castle’ By John Goodall (2022)
John Goodall’s The Castle: A history is the much slimmer companion to his magisterial The English Castle, (2011). Partly an attempt to bring the fruits of his research to a wider audience, Goodall’s new book uses extracts and quotations as the foundation of a historical account: each short chapter features an excerpt from a primary source that seeks to illustrate a particular moment. Rather than offering an architectural or conventional narrative history, Goodall explores the concept of the castle as it has been imagined, remade and contested over time. Important castles such as the Tower of London, Kenilworth and Windsor feature throughout.
