It's known for its distinctive red-brick façade and intricate details. The architrave, a feature seldom seen constructed in brick, is especially unique. The building houses classrooms and lecture halls used by various departments, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. Sever Hall is considered an architectural masterpiece and has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

At the center of the building is its famous gold dome — originally wood-shingled, later coppered by Paul Revere’s company, and eventually gilded with 23-karat gold leaf. On top of the dome sits a gilded pine cone, symbolizing the importance of New England’s forests to the colony’s survival and economy.

The original building was designed by Charles Bulfinch, one of America’s first major native-born architects. Construction began in 1795 and the building was completed in 1798. Bulfinch drew inspiration from British neoclassical architecture, especially Somerset House in London, but adapted it into what became a distinctly American Federal style.

Architecturally, the State House is important because it helped define the appearance of civic government buildings in the early United States:

• symmetrical Federal-style composition,

• red brick with white trim,

• classical columns and pediments,

• and a prominent central dome representing republican government.

Its influence can be seen in later capitol buildings across the country.

The Vines is a historic pub in Liverpool, renowned for its stunning Victorian architecture and opulent interior design. Located on Lime Street, near Liverpool Lime Street railway station, it is one of the city's most famous and well-preserved public houses.

The Vines was built in 1907 for brewery owner Robert Cain, a prominent figure in Liverpool’s brewing industry. It was designed by Walter W. Thomas, a noted architect of the time. The exterior of The Vines is marked by its ornate stone façade, large arched windows, and detailed carvings. The grand entrance is indicative of the lavish style popular in the early 20th century.

The 17-story building, completed in in 1922, was designed by architect Emory Roth.

Most people, New Yorkers and visitors alike, view the Garment District as dull and gray, grim even. But architecturally, at least, the Garment District can be interesting and even whimsical. Keep a sharp lookout upward as you walk through the District and you'll find trolls, grotesques, and mascarons. You'll also find a variety of old-fashioned craftsmanship, from intricate bricklaying to marble, granite, and terra-cotta sculpture.

The building was completed in 1883 as Peabody’s Town Hall, before the town officially became a city in 1916. It was designed by architect Rufus Sargent of Newburyport.

Architecturally, the building’s most recognizable Second Empire features are:

• The steep marsard roof

• Corner pavilion/turret elements

• Red brick with granite trim

• Tall arched windows

• Symmetrical civic composition

The French King Bridge spans the Connecticut River, connecting the towns of Gill and Erving in western Massachusetts. It carries Massachusetts Route 2 over the river, and is part of the historic Mohawk Trail scenic byway. It is just upstream of the confluence of the Connecticut with its tributary, Millers River. The bridge deck is 140 feet above the river, its total length is 782 feet, and its center arch spans 460 feet. Construction began in September 1931, completed in 1932. Opened for traffic on September 10, 1932.

The bridge is named for French King Rock, a rock outcrop in the middle of the river just upstream. The rock was itself named during the French and Indian Wars: local legend holds that a French officer in a scouting party used it as a landmark, referring to his monarch, the French King.

The view here is from just before the mouth of a tributary to the Connecticut River, Millers River.

What makes the tramway really special is that it is cable-hauled (like the trolleys in San Francisco) not powered by electric traction motors. The tramcars are vintage-style and mostly unchanged in concept since 1902. Some grades reach 26%, which is extremely steep for a street-running railway. streets before transitioning into a more traditional hillside railway.

The lower terminus is at Victoria Station in Llandudno, near the base of the Great Orme and not far from the promenade. The ride is about 1 mile (1.6 km) long in total and climbs roughly 680 feet (about 207 meters) from the town to near the summit of the Great Orme. Passengers change cars at the Halfway Station. The lower and upper sections use different cable systems and slightly different tramcars, so everyone gets off and transfers there.

What makes DUMBO especially famous is the combination of:

• Massive 19th-century brick warehouse buildings

• Cobblestone streets

• Bridge infrastructure towering overhead

• Spectacular views of Lower Manhattan

• Excellent waterfront access

For photographers, it is always a playground. But in this case, it was just a vibrant mural that tells the story.

Located across from the National Gallery of Canada, the basilica is the oldest and most prominent Roman Catholic church in Ottawa. The most striking feature is the star-filled blue ceiling, with gold stars painted on a deep cobalt background. The rib-vaulted ceiling mimics medieval European cathedrals.

Slender pointed Gothic columns, painted in faux-marble blue and gold, line the nave and rise into pointed arches, drawing the eye upward. The church is filled with 19th-century stained glass windows, mostly made in Montreal, depicting biblical scenes, saints, and the Virgin Mary.

I normally only have one image per post, but I thought I would be remiss if I didn’t show you the amazing Apse (east end) of the Cathedral with its High Alter. The elaborate, hand-carved wooden details are the work of Philippe Parizeau and other artisans in the 19th century. The high altar and pulpit are ornately carved and gilded, with religious iconography in a Baroque Gothic style.

The current Union Station opened on June 4, 1911, replacing an earlier station built in 1875. Designed by the architectural firm Watson & Huckel in a French Renaissance Revival style, the station featured two prominent white marble towers flanking the main entrance. made largely of terra cotta. They turned out to be structurally vulnerable because of constant vibration from heavy rail traffic passing directly beneath and beside the station. By 1926, only about 15 years after the station opened, they were removed for safety reasons. Passenger services declined throughout the 20th century, leading to the station's closure in 1974.

The building fell into disrepair but was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. A comprehensive restoration was completed between 1994 and 2000, culminating in a grand reopening with a gala ball in 1999. ​

The story of the current towers is fascinating from a preservation-engineering standpoint. During the restoration, architects and sculptors worked from original architectural drawings, surviving photographs, and surviving architectural details to recreate the towers as faithfully as possible. The new towers were built with structural steel frameworks clad with fiberglass-reinforced material rather than original heavy terra cotta. This dramatically reduced weight and improved resistance to vibration and weathering.

Worcester preservationists generally consider the project one of the great architectural restoration successes in Massachusetts. Before restoration, the station was essentially a ruin. The rebuilt towers restored the station’s skyline presence and gave Worcester back one of its signature landmarks.

Originally built in 1815, the Waterworks was designed to pump water from the Schuylkill River into the city using steam-powered engines. It was considered a marvel of engineering at the time and served as a model for other waterworks projects across the United States.

Today, the Philadelphia Waterworks serves as a museum and a picturesque public space.

It was created in 1937 by sculptor Lee Lawrie (1877-1963,) with modeling assistance from Rene Chambellan (1893-1955.) It’s a massive bronze figure of the Titan Atlas, shown standing and straining under the weight of the heavens. The “heavens” are represented as a large armillary sphere (a ringed celestial globe,) detailed with zodiac signs and astronomical markings. The axis is oriented so it aligns with the North Star as seen from New York.

Atlas himself is 15 feet tall, and the entire work, including the pedestal, stands 45 feet tall, making it one of the largest sculptures in the Rockefeller Center complex. Its placement is very deliberate - in front of the International Building at 630 Fifth Avenue, directly facing St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The building wings frame it, so it functions as a kind of mythological “threshold figure” for the complex.

The style is fully Art Deco, with muscular idealization of the human body, the geometric precision of the armillary sphere, and the monumental scale integrated with the architecture.

Installed in the late 1990s as part of the MTA’s Arts & Design program, the Ghost Series is a set of tile mosaics embedded in the corridors of Penn Station, especially around NJ Transit passageways.

They are not meant to stand out like murals. Instead, they function as subtle, embedded references to the original 1910 Penn Station that once stood above

Leicester’s premise is simple but powerful: The current Penn Station sits on top of a lost masterpiece. So instead of reconstructing the old station, he creates fragments, echoes, and partial images. These act like “ghosts” of the demolished buildings.

This particular “ghost” is based on original “Day and Night” sculptures by Adolph Alexander Weinman - there were four of them, identical, each placed over one of the four main entrances of the station. Carved in granite or limestone, they were fully three-dimensional and projected out from just under the cornice of the building. Each featured a large central clock flanked by two monumental, classical figures, one representing day and one night. Day, in an open pose and decorated with sunflowers, symbolized the visible, active portion of human life. Night, partially hooded and decorated with a poppy, a classical symbol of sleep, symbolized the hidden, inward side of life.

The monumental, functional clock positioned between them gave a sense of "mechanical" versus cosmic time. The clock was "railroad time," precise, scheduled, modern. The Day and Night sculptures were natural, cosmic time, eternal cycles.

When Penn Station was demolished in 1963, these sculptures, and most of the rest of decorative carvings at Penn Station were destroyed or discarded. One complete one remains in a Park in Kansas City, Missouri, and there is one "Night" statue that was rescued from a dump in the Meadowlands and now is in the outdoor sculpture garden at Brooklyn Museum.

Leicester’s 1990 "ghost" of Day and Night uses tile and mosaic with flattened classical forms and a muted, slightly aged color palette. The two figures are not as finely done as in the originals, while other details, like the wreath surrounding where the clock would be, are more precisely done. This creates a feeling of something halfway between present and memory.
Chiseled somewhat roughly in the center of the large clock-less circle, across two separate tiles are what looks like 102 and 863. This is actually a reminder of the day the demolition of the old Penn Station started: 10/28/63.

I have not found the other pieces of Leicester’s project - they may not be displayed at this time.

But this one is easily visible if you look for it. You'll find it at the very eastern end of the long east-west corridor of station's Lower Level, just before you get to the turnstiles for the 1, 2, and 3 trains.

Tens of thousands of people walk by this work of art every day without noticing. Don't you be one next time you're in Penn Station.

At its unveiling in 1914, this was the largest sculptural group in the world at 48 feet high. The elegant clock below includes what is still the world's largest example of Tiffany glass at thirteen feet in diameter.

The Met Life Building (originally Pan Am Building) provides a modernist backdrop for Grand Central, a Beaux-Arts jewel.

The Woodward & Lothrop building at 11th and F Streets NW was Washington’s largest and most important department store complex for most of the 20th century, growing from a single 1880s storefront into a full-block retail “department store city. Located at 11th and F Streets NW, the original Woodward & Lothrop building was an architectural gem, showcasing a blend of Beaux-Arts and Classical Revival styles.

For much of the 20th century, it was the center of downtown shopping, a major holiday destination, and a symbol of middle-class Washington life. It was so dominant that it anchored the entire F Street retail district, alongside rivals like Garfinckel’s and Hecht’s. The local’s called it “Woodie’s.”

The company went out of business in 1995, and the building was empty for long periods afterwards. In the 2000’s, the building was completely revamped on the inside, and has since been used for retail and office space as well as other commercial activities. This adaptive reuse is often cited as an early example of successful conversion of a major American downtown department store into Class A office space.

It’s a huge stained-glass and iron Art Nouveau dome covering the main central hall of the es Lafayette department store on Boulevard Haussmann. Completed in 1912, it was part of a major expansion of the store in the early 20th century. The idea behind it was to turn shopping into a luxury, theatrical public experience. 

Several major Art Nouveau luminaries collaborated: Ferdinand Chanut was the architect who designed the overall geometry and structure; Jacques Grüber designed the stained-glass panels; and Louis Majorelle designed the ironwork and other decorative architectural details.

The floral composition consists of 10 glass petals, about 1,000 square meters of stained-glass altogether. Light filters through in shifting colors, giving the store a golden, cathedral-like atmosphere. 

As an experience, it’s quite a Parisian bargain, as there is absolutely no charge to see this Art Nouveau wonder (after all, it’s a department store - just walk in.) As a bonus, you can walk up to the roof terrace for a magnificent and unobstructed  view of this most elegant part of Paris, seven stories above the Boulevard, and all for free. 

This is a large bronze seated female figure created by sculptor Daniel Chester French, a noted American sculptor, who created, among many other famous works, the seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in DC. Alma Mater was installed in 1903 on the steps of Low Memorial Library at Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus in Manhattan.

The statue depicts a regal woman seated on a throne. She wears an academic robe and laurel wreath. In her right hand is a scepter topped with wheat and a tiny crown, a symbol of Columbia University. In her let hand is a book, representing learning. The throne arms are shaped like lamps, symbolizing knowledge. A small owl is hidden in her robes, symbolizing wisdom. 

“Alma Mater” literally means “nourishing mother.” The concept comes from a long tradition dating back to European universities that the university “nurtures” students intellectually and morally.

At Columbia University specifically, Alma Mater functions as the personification of the University, a symbol of wisdom, welcome, and institutional identity, and a ceremonial “guardian” of the campus. 

The building's design is striking and has sparked much debate over its aesthetic value. Boston City Hall has been a subject of controversy since its completion. Some critics and architects admire it for its bold design and representation of civic power, while others, including your correspondent, view it as an eyesore and unwelcoming. Frankly, I believe it photographs much better than it looks in person.

Over the years, there have been discussions about renovating, redesigning, or even replacing the building, but it remains an iconic part of Boston's architectural landscape.