Happy 4th of July, world! Today I’m celebrating 39,200 visits to my blog. Thanks for visiting and being part of my Fulbright experience in Ireland!
DIY in Europe
I encountered some interesting new machines on my recent travels. I love the customer survey device I stumbled upon in the Dublin airport. Was perplexed by the self ordering stand at McDonald’s though….
Satisfaction survey in the Dublin airport.
McDonald’s in Paris (no, I did NOT eat there)…
…do other McD’s have self-ordering machines?
Passage in Toulon
I’d forgotten how much I love Toulon, France. It’s a naval town, and the sister city of Norfolk, Virginia, where I live in the States.
The little plazas–scattered throughout Toulon–are amazing. Full of character and life. And, they are so close together that you’re never more than half a block from a lively public space.
Our Hampton University architecture program has worked with officials and urban planners in Toulon each summer since 2010 to develop design strategies for revitalizing the city using architecture and urban design.
This year’s HU students in the plaza in front of the opera house, on the way to an event.
Reception hosted by the Sister Cities organization in Toulon.
A sketch I made this year of a pedestrian friendly street in Toulon. We got to see inside an apartment on this street in 2010.
This refection photo from Toulon was part of my recent exhibition.
Dublin’s Capuchin Friary
Photo downloaded from Flikr.
There’s a beautiful Capuchin Friary right near my apartment in Dublin. The wooden ceiling is spectacular. The photos I have on hand right now don’t do the place justice, so I’ve included two that I found on line as well.
Photo downloaded from WikiMedia.
Drawing Conclusions in Paris
Sketching in Luxembourg Gardens
Pam Eddy and I attended the World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology (WASET) International Conference on Higher Education yesterday. We each presented a paper. When the activities wound up, we headed out in different directions. Pam went to hear a lecture at UNESCO that she’s received a special invitation to attend and I went to study the architecture of Paris.
I sketched in the Luxembourg Gardens and in a church that I’d discovered two days before.
Pam and I met back up for dinner with Pam’s husband Dave. After dinner, we strolled through central Paris–discussing things we’d concluded about the city on our earlier explorations.
A discussion group at the conference, lead by Pam.
Luxembourg Gardens
The Pantheon in Paris… feels like Rome.
Sketching in St. Etinnene du Mont church
caratids
Shannon Dave Pam pre-dinner
Dave Pam Shannon dinner
book benches
Passage Vivian by night
Quintessential Paris
An evening reflection from Arrondissement 9 in Paris….
Paris reflection
Pyro-technics at Pont du Gard
The Roman aqueduct, Pont du Gard, lights up once a year for just four nights. And thanks to Hampton University’s Prof. Mason Andrews, I’ve had the chance to see the animated light show twice… once in 2010 (the first year such an event occurred) and now again in 2013.
The 2010 show depicted the history of France. The 2013 show was titled Ulysses the Pirate. The event planners (F Group) expanded the effects significantly over the years–they have added many new pyrotechnics.
This year’s production included some of my favorite animate footage from 2010 (illustrating structural characteristics of the Roman water bridge) as well as animated projections onto a nearby building and cliff face.
Pont du Gard crowd
Pont du Gard pyro-technics
Pont du Gard fireworks
Discovering Uzes, France
I’d never been to Uzes, France even though some of my Hampton University architecture students had. Uzes is home of the famous urbanist, Leon Krier, though we didn’t get to meet him there this year. We often use his book, The Architecture of Community, in my Urban Theory class.
Visiting Uzes made for a wonderful day of learning and exploring. I even wrapped with two decent sketches of my own.
Arriving in Uzes, Mason sent us off…
…into the market…
…and lunch on our own.
Then to work–sketching…
…and discovering details of the town.
Learning to sketch from Ray Gindroz…
…a famous architect and urban designer.
One of my sketches in progress.
A courtyard of Uzes.
A street in Uzes.
A small little plaza along a street in Uzes.
My sketch of the market square, after the market finished.
The trees make this plaza very pleasant.
Arriving in Nimes
Nimes is a beautiful town in southern France that is chock full of Roman artifacts. It’s where I met the Hampton University architecture students, mid-way through their study abroad program in France. I typically organize one of these trips each summer. This year, Prof. Mason Andrews had the whole cohort of third-year architecture students on the trip to France–some years we offer two different trips.
The new plaza outside Nimes’ train station
The organizers of the 2013 Hampton University architecture trip to France: Mason Andrews, Ray Gindroz, and Dave Chance.
A church in Nimes.
The Roman arena in Nimes.
An arch at the Place Marche.
The Masion Caree… freshly renovated.
Dave and his cafe gourmand.
A modern housing complex outside the historic center.
Fête de la Musique
The summer solstice brings throngs of Parisians to the streets. They sing, play, and dance the night away on the longest day of the year. The annual event is called the “fête de la musique” or festival of music. I’ve shown pictures of some street performers, but there are also large-scale events. There were rock bands in St. Eustache all day long, for instance.
This year marked my second fête de la musique in Paris. I was there as part of Hampton University’s architectural study abroad program… my colleague, Prof. Mason Andrews, always makes sure we get to be part of this fun cultural event.
Ireland by Chance 