The Art of Architectural Architecture 11-30-2014

There are those people who love cities and others who appreciate the quiet countryside.  The architecture in cities can be spectacular or ordinary.  Nature's architecture, the same.  Where there are mountains, white-water rivers, blooming foliage and grand vistas, settlements of people exist so that these sights can be part of daily life.  Too, there are people who prefer the muted landscapes of long grasses on flat plains.  Cities, also may be characterized by tall glass and steel skyscrapers or by ornamented lower buildings with "character."

Personally, I love the element of surprise.  On a dive in the pristine landscape, I delight in coming across a 19th Century Federal brick building apparently constructed or commissioned by the landowner.  A clapboard house with a wide lapped porch perched on a cliff enchants me (I always look for the widow's walk!).  Elaborately gnarled trees; naturally constructed intricate rock formations as well as a perfectly constructed flowers found in a city are all architecturally enticing to my lens.  The juxtaposition of nature's genius for architecture as well as humans' creativity and artistic building has been my inspiration all along. 

The combination of nature IN the city is a twofer I can't resist!  On a recent shoot in the Bronx, I visited Mosholu Parkway on foot.  Frequently I have driven along this beautiful road to get from one place to another and have always marveled at the wide expanses of park ribbonned into the highway lanes.  The boarders of deco apartment buildings face a single service lane.  Then a broad, tree-lined grassy stretch, followed by three traffic lanes.  This configuration is mirrored and the entire parkway is truly a park.  Last week I took the opportunity to explore the area with my cameras.  As I walked along the road, I encountered hills, brilliant flowers and foliage, stately trees, wonderful deco buildings with names like Delacourt, Oliver and Park Lane Court and old fashioned street lights.  Finally I came to a beautiful concrete elevated train station that spanned Mosholu Parkway.  City and country combined architecture in ways that revel in the complexities of creation.

Sepia architectural photography

To learn more about Mosholu Parkway and parks in cities visit:
http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/mosholu-parkway

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/arts/design/in-madrid-even-maybe-the-bronx-parks-replace-freeways.html?pagewanted=all

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mosholu-Parkway/103212866398603#