LILLE - CITADEL OF LILLE ( CITADELLE DE LILLE)

A protecting pentagon shaped fortess with bastions, that was a key part of Lille city walls.



The building was built around 1668 and designed ( in late renaissance/ early baroque style) by noble french man, most renowned military engineer of the time Sebastian Le Prestre de Vauban who mastered the design of the fortification of french cities to perfection and was a father of many citadels like this one along the french - belgian border.



The citadel is also known " Vaubans citadel" and " Queen of Citadels".



I am not sure if  it is possible to visit the building inside as the building is occupied by the army - and is still used as a french military base.
If you like to find out more about the architecture of Lille , see our previous posts below:

LILLE - CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME DE TREILLE
 http://architectureofeurope.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/lille-cathedral-of-notre-dame-de-treille.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/QSwUL+(ARCHITECTURE++OF+EUROPE)
 
LILLE - PAROISSE DU SACRE COEUR - CHURCH OF SACRED HEART
http://architectureofeurope.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/lille-paroisse-du-sacre-coeur.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/QSwUL+(ARCHITECTURE++OF+EUROPE)

LILLE - OPERA HOUSE
http://architectureofeurope.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/lille-opera-house-france.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/QSwUL+(ARCHITECTURE++OF+EUROPE)

LILLE - ST CATHERINES CHURCH -EGLISE SAINTE CATHERINE DE LILLE
http://architectureofeurope.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/lille-st-catherines-church.html















for more info and pictures please see below:
http://shortlist-id.com/shortdiscoveries/11111378/citadel-of-lille-shaped-like-a-fivepointed-star.html

PARIS - FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY - BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE

The gigantic building designed in 1992 by great french architect's office, Dominique Perrault Architecture, located next to the Park Bercy.



The construction of the edifice was completed in 1995, was intended to be the biggest library in europe and hold all books that was and would ever be published in France and the proposed site of 65 300m2 was supposed to be natural continuation of the large empty spaces along Seine river like place de la Concorde, Champ de mars, and the Invalides.






The buidling's design is based on a shape of large rectangle - an enormous size patio with full height
grown up trees (oaks, wild pine tress, birches) and the most important, biggest in scale four towers on the L-shape plan, symbolising the open books, placed at each extral corner of the patio.




The scale and unusually public character of the entire space make fantastic impression.

LONDON - TATE MODERN GALERY - THE TURBINE HALL

One of the most recognizable landmarks of modern London - the former power station ( Bankside Power Station) originally designed in the mid 20th century by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, also responsible for design of Battersea Power Station




In the early 21th century the building has become really famous after its conversion to a modern gallery.The architects , Herzog & de Meuron kept the original external brick fasades and dominating tower, but re-organized the accesses to the building and most of all the interiours, taking the adventage of great empty spaces, and a perfect environment to create something grandeur,simplistic, and very unusual.




They also added an extention made of half transparent plexi panels at the top floor, to make better proportions an give it more contemporary character



The main hall is called until today the Turbine Hall.



Interesting external feature is the bridge also by Herzog & de Meuron, across the River Thames that is linking two banks and it also draws the attention to St Pauls Cathedral at the other end.



A lot of landscape architecture features ( together with the sculpture of a giant spider "Maman" by  Louise Bourgeois ) make the entire area tastefull and visitors friendly


















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LONDON - KEW GARDENS

The Kew gardens are the Royal Botanical Gardens in London an cover an area of 121 hectares.



The site incorporates the world's largest collection of living plants including the species that are very unusual for our climatic zone and a lot of realy amazing buildings and structures like glass houses that are the masterpieces itselfs. Some of them housing hundreds of palm trees, some the cactuses, orchids and other incredeable plants.



The main glass house called Palm House (1844-1848) was designed by architect Decimus Burton and iron -founder Richard Turner who basically foolowed design principles developed by Joseph Paxton and John Claudius Loudon.The uncommon collection of cactuses and tropical species have been built up at the Princess of Wales conservatory(In front of the conservatory there is asculpture "A Maximis Ad Minima" by Eduardo Paolozzi )



The other green house, called Temperate House is a group of glass houses that is the world's largest surviving Victorian glass structure - designed again by Decimus Burton and Richard Turner.



Very interesting feature of the lake, further in the center of the site is recently constructed The Sackler Crossing, the minimalistic, granite and bronze bridge by John Pawson and Buro Happold.



There is also a replica of the karamon( gateway) Nishi Hongan -ji temple in Kyoto and the Pagoda within the traditional Japanese garden.



The gardens have a fantastic walkway by Marks Barfield Architects ( the architects of the London Eye), called "Xstrata Treetop walkway" 18 metres high and 200 metres long that allows you to see the trees' crowns from a high level, and see the miraculous panoramas of entire complex.The walkway was designed as a steel construction which with time was supposed to rust to a tree- like appearance.
and what's even more interesting its shape was based on a Fibonacci numerical sequence.
Below, underneath the ground there is another attraction designed, called Rhizotron
which is basically exhibition explaining all the proceseses  and relationships between the living organisms and trees.( for other famous sctructures by Marks Barfields Architects refer to my post from May 2011  http://architectureofeurope.blogspot.com/2011/05/london-london-eye-south-bank-of-thames.html   )



The gardens offer so many attractions that it is almost impossible to visit them all at once .



My girlfriend and I do love "concrete" more than the plants, but after an experience with these gardens we must say we now appreciate the gardens a lot more than we did it before.