BldgBlog recently posted about a door to nowhere in Paris, installed four years ago in the 3rd arrondisement. Complete with fake address, facade, faux business sign and a Parisian-style door with a central doorknob (now missing), it still exists today.
Ten minutes outside the Peripherique lies the oft-forgotten industrial underbelly of Paris: the Seine-Amont. The architecture of the region is a juxtaposition of 19th century industrial infrastructure with 20th century modernity, with a sharp contrast between traditional residential homes and public housing projects.
Occasionally, while walking in Paris one gets a glimpse of the courtyards that lie behind the uniform facades and intimidating doors that define the streets of the city. Reid Hall, located just by the Luxembourg Gardens, is an example of a private courtyard with a mixed industrial and aristocratic history. And, because it's a school - you can visit!
Untapped Paris got a sneak peak into the Paris underground thanks to a few urban explorers we know.
Before I went to visit La Defénse, it remained in my mind’s eye as a looming, monumental structure–an abstract, geometric form with no relationship with its external surroundings apart from its linear correlation with the Arc de Triomphe. I was inspired to take a trip there after seeing the photography of Ryan Southen. In a rarely seen perspective, Ryan captures the monumentality of the Grand Arch from below.
Tasked to capture a museum for a photography class through the Columbia University architecture program in Paris, I chose the Musée du quai Branly. The museum made a profound impact on me when I first visited in January. Feeling disoriented in the dim cavernous interior of the museum, I did not stay long but the architecture and the feeling of being in the space lingered with me for months.
Global. Timeless. Placeless. These were the keywords from a publisher who was interested in my photography for the cover of a forthcoming book by architect Jan Gehl.
Nestled between the new W Hotel and an abandoned lot a few blocks south of the World Trade Center, a Neo-gothic building at 103 Greenwich Street has a history as incongruous as its architecture. Now an Irish pub, the building began as the home of Dutch immigrant Ryneer Suydam and his family in 1799.
Recently Untapped discovered this at Bedford Avenue and N.7th in Williamsburg. Looks like something is in the works for 2010!
January 2010 Manhattenhenge sunrise captured by Untapped New York photographer Monica Morrison on 34th Street.