Noteworthy . . .
Silk Road Seattle is a leading source of images of silk road art and architecture, including many photographs of historic buildings in the cities of Central Asia.
Othello’s Island (The Cornaro Institute’s Second Annual Conference April 9-12, 2014). See the Resources section below for more information about the conference and The Cornaro Institute.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a must-see destination for the architecturally-inclined. The Met’s beautifully-designed buildings and galleries are masterworks transcending space and time. Among the museum’s vast holdings, the visitor should not miss the marble column from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis in Gallery 160 in the Greek and Roman Art Collection and the Venetian View Paintings in Gallery 619 of the European Paintings 1250-1800 Collection, which include evocative depictions of the Grand Canal, Piazza San Marco, and the Church of Santa Maria Della Salute. Pick up maps of the museum and specific collections at the Information Desk. Before starting on your tour spend about 10 minutes studying these maps to orient yourself physically in the immense spaces of the museum. Please see the Resources section below for visitor information.
Architecture as Philosophy: Beauty Is Forever
Like the city of Paris, architecture is a moveable feast. A beautiful building, garden, or other architectural work can stay with us for the rest of our lives, its beauty an unending source of delight, wonder and longing wherever we go.
Learning While Traveling
The road is a great place to learn.
A leader in educational travel, Road Scholar has a well-deserved reputation for delivering quality learning experiences across the globe.
Resources
The Cornaro Institute Cyprus
The Cornaro Institute is an arts, cultural and educational organization which works closely with the Cyprus College of Art and other organizations in Cyprus and abroad to promote art, culture and education in Cyprus. This includes providing studio space for artists from Cyprus and abroad, organizing art exhibitions, staging lectures and conferences and arranging educational programs. The Institute also runs English language teaching programs.
Othello’s Island (The Cornaro Institute’s Second Annual Conference April 9-12, 2014)
The Annual Conference of Mediterranean and Levantine Cultural History in the Byzantine, Medieval and Renaissance Periods and their legacies in art, culture, history, literature and more.
Italian Art Society
Do you love Italian art and architecture? Consider joining the Italian Art Society. The society promotes the study of the architecture and visual arts of Italy. Its membership fee is very reasonable.
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located on Manhattan’s East Side at 1000 Fifth Avenue with entrances on 81st and 82nd Streets. The half-day and highlights tours provide a helpful introduction to the works of art housed in this enormous edifice. These tours will lead you through time and across cultures in an exploration of the Met’s extraordinary collections. You should note, however, that on the day I visited the highlights tour was somewhat different than what had been described on the museum’s website, but wonderful nevertheless. After the tour, I visited the other works described on the museum’s website that had not been included in my tour.
You can also choose one of the museum’s suggested itineraries to help navigate the thousands of works on view at the Met. Each itinerary includes a map of the route and an estimate of the time it will take to complete. All of the itineraries feature masterpieces from the museum’s vast holdings, and offer interesting insights and stories. Audio Guide programs are available in several languages.
Before starting, I recommend spending about 10 minutes studying the maps available at the Information Desk to orient yourself physically in the immense spaces of the museum.
The Met can provide the equivalent of a university education in art history, including many areas of architectural history. A museum membership is a good way to take advantage of this educational opportunity.
The Cloisters Museum and Gardens, a branch of the Met, are located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan. Please visit the Museum’s website, www.metmuseum.org, for hours, admission charges, collection description and other information.
Silk Road Foundation is a leading source of silk road history and culture. The foundation publishes a beautifully-illustrated online and downloadable journal.
Silk Road Seattle is a repository of geographic, artistic, architectural images and other resources including silk-road-related primary texts in translation. The site features many photographs of historic buildings in the cities of Central Asia.
Useful Travel Guides
Oxford Archaeological Guides, Oxford University Press. Comprehensive, meticulously-illustrated, lively guides for the architecturally-inclined traveler. Each volume contains informative text along with detailed maps, plans and photographs.
Photo Credits: Top photograph, Wikimedia Commons, Justine Warrington (www.justwarrphotography.com); The Cornaro Institute; Italian Art Society; Oxford University Press.
Architectural Travels 