a beautiful sunset after a rainy day.
by now you already noticed that i love wandering around wiesbaden's neighborhoods, discovering all kinds of architecture and their various details and you also probably noticed that i like a wide array of styles, too. if you'd ask me 10 years ago what style i liked most i'd answer you that i love medieval architecture the most & historicized wilhelminian styles second. there wasn't much space for modern architecture ( except really outrageous & prominent masterpieces ). 5 years later you would find me say: oooh, i like old and new together quite a lot, especially when it's well integrated, i also developed a liking for bauhaus & art deco. and just recently i came to the decision that while everything i expressed prior to now still rings true, i look at various styles for what they are, standing on their own and appreciating them just as they were built without context, not dismissing them as tacky & distasteful. strangely, i now absolutely adore a delicate art nouveau building standing right next to a hyper-modern contemporary monster. it makes me really excited and i want to capture the contrast of it all. i also now tend to focus more on details, not the overall look, which is still quite important to me, but i feel that details can lift up a building and make it change your mind. i love that feeling when you stumble upon a bleak structure, but suddenly a detail catches your eye that you are really excited about, like a relief stamped into a concrete wall, or light coming in through a brightly coloured window, or an elaborate sculpture overlooking a garden. architecture is getting more & more love from me, it surrounds us everywhere, whether it may be on the more organic or the artificial site. and depending on your mood or the environment you're in it can have an impression on you that might help you figure out a problem or understanding a relation you formerly didn't realize it existed. it's a bit like figuring out yourself and what kind of elements you are made of.
i'm pretty sure how i'm describing it might be a bit diffuse & confusing, and some might say i put too much thought into something that actually only exists to have certain functions fulfilled, but to me it feels more like that. especially when you discover those little details that impact you on a deeper level. architecture has the ability to reach every human being, no matter what they're into and what they make of it. it just always has some kind of meaning, whether it's you're own home or something that's in the public eye and also treated as such. and as an architect you have the potential to put meaning into it as well, to direct details that are important to you or to put them somewhere where people will stop and stare and even bring them to think twice about what they've just seen. it always does something to people, whether they admit or not. and this, i realized, is what makes architecture so special & even significant, right?
one of the many classical villas you can find all over this city.
the kreuzkirche ( church of the holy cross ) near walkmühltal park. built in 1958 by wilhelm herr, it is a nice example of mid-century architecture in wiesbaden. it's a rather simple church, but with some interesting details, such as the window enclosures & the bell tower. i haven't seen it from the inside yet, but i hear it's beautiful when the sun's out and shines through the windows.
side profile now with the bell tower.
the slender bell tower again.
probably showed you a picture of this building once, but didn't have any information on it. this time i do! it was built in 1968 and is officially called the duplex office building. i still think it's not really a beautiful building, but despite that, everytime i revisit i find myself liking it more & more. maybe it's the crossword puzzle optic? because i do love a good crossword puzzle. this building is just around the corner of the kreuzkirche.
another ugly building but with lovely window details. they remind me of my childhood in thuringia were a lot of the family homes built in the 70ies had these incorporated in one way or another. my parents still have a whole window made out of these glass blocks in their welcome hall, and thinking of it makes me feel all nostalgic.
the pariser hoftheater ( parisian court theatre ). it doesn't have anything to do with being a theatre of the aristocratic court, but rather that it was once a hotel called pariser hof. now it's a theatre & a museum for german-jewish history. right next to this historic building you can find a post-modernist hotel & office building - a contrast i find really interesting.
a few metres onwards this former grand hotel lures you in with long-gone wilhelminian splendor. paul jacobi built it in 1903, which explains the art nouveau details. these days this beautiful building is used for social housing purposes, which i think is quite uncommon for a building that initially was built for very rich people.
nice example of incorporating modern architecture into old-town sceneries. love the brickwork! ( i'm a sucker for brickwork, though, so that is very easy ).
on several occassions i have seen this style in various places in the city and i wonder if the same architect was accountable for all of them. unfortunately i can't find ANY information on them. i'd really like to know more about these buildings, because i actually like their design a whole lot. the only thing i know is that these are residential buildings and that they are expensive as fuck ( imagine like 3000 euro for 1 square metre when you want to buy a condominium!! ). ah, well, talk about exclusive wiesbaden.
there's something so futuristic to these houses! especially love the tetris-like facade structures.
a close-up.
there are three of them in that respective area. also, the multi-level composition is really enticing to me. it reminds me of the hanging gardens of babylon ( especially if you would use your balcony as some sort of gardening extension ).
well, and here is the clashing of the styles again that i love so much. and i really like especially this one, as futuristic architecture clashes with the most beautiful kind of historism.
i took details of that buiding in front of the tetris house first, because... would you please look at those stunning decorational statues?
it's a pure feast for the eyes.
everything about this house breathed neo-baroque. the handrails, the lamps, everything.
this is the house in its entirety. i suspect that it's not inhabited at the moment, judging from all the closed windows. i really hope someone will bring this to life very soon, no matter if it's going to be homes or offices ( addition: just looked this up on the internet and it's on sale for 4.5 million euro - approx. 15.000 euro in leasing costs - WHUT?! )also, you can see the tetris buildings in the back as well as some other city mansions on each side of this jewel. by the way, this was built in 1902 by friedrich lang.
a little less elaborate mansion, but with my beloved brickwork execution.
a few doors further this little boy was contemplating his life on a column.
villa sanitas on the left ( 1885 by heinrich ph. franke ).
is it the name or does this really remind me of some rich women's recovery residence?
back in the inner city these balconies catched my eye.
not really a nice corner of the city, even though it belongs to the famous hotel schwarzer bock ( black capricorn )! i actually like this because it advertises an indoor thermal bath, the restaurants le capricorne & das café ( which i'm not sure if it still exists? ) and that there is a roof garden on top.
former hotel 'four seasons', which was converted into a penthouse & suites residence. it is clearly a child of the 50ies!
ending this architectural tour with another evening view out of my living room window.
those clouds were so wild! truly breathtaking.
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