LP traveling

LENKO PLEŠTINA

Travelings makes life more interesting. It is joy and learning, admiration and comparation. With being far away comes closeness and affiliation for home. Trains, buses, airplanes and speed make an illusion that life last longer - the least enriched with memories.

First journey over the state border was with night train, arriving in lights of dawn to the Ferrovia on the waterfront of Canal Grande, and then Rialto, St.Marco, Campanille, Palazzo Ducale, lions of Serrenisima, equestrians Colleoni and Gattamelata. Celebrated pieces of art and architecture, unique city. Excitement than and always on my travelings.

First image of distant traveling was train, Split-Zagreb, I, II, even III class seats, sleeping departments, couchets, pleasant whistling and unpleasant smoke in tunnels, 70 cm corridors sometimes crowded, sometimes only conductor and waiter with drink and sandwiches. Rapid trains are friendly snakes on the straight or nice curved lines in nature. My longest train trip was Zagreb Wien Prague Berlin - Kopenhagen - Stockholm // Turku - Helsinki, lasted more then week, with day, two or three stops.

I like highways, I experienced it for the first time in Italy in late sixties - autostrada with bridge-restaurant over was alike Sant Ellia fiction. Beautiful in landscape, with bridges and tunnels as they were around Genova gave an additional value to the natural setting. "This land is your land, this land is my land, From California, to the New York Island", America, November 1st, 1972 - January 1st, 1973., 10.500 miles /16.900 km on highways with Greyhound (two months ticket 149,99 $). I spent hours in buses with casual people sitting next to me, we exchanged our stories, and they entered in my memory.

Airplanes make you to disappear and then reappear in hundreds or thousands miles away. Moving through the air breaks time, day might be shorter or longer than normal measure of 24 hours. Flight, straight line on the sky above planet sphere is sign of power and courage. Speed of almost one thousand kilometers per hour for aircraft monsters (Boing747, A-380) is hardly understood and very exciting. Airports are special space, anthill of people - next day they will be on completely different parts of planet, some underneath where we are now. An image of Earth as sphere comes with flying. I have passed forty airports with a question: do they belongs to the earth or to sky? Should they all be alike depending strong rules of air traffic, aircraft performances or they should express city and country location? Is there genius loci concerning the airports? Buildings of Ero Saarinen: TWA, Calatrava: Bilbao, Richard Rogers: Madrid T4, Norman Foster: Stansted gave feeling of their architects, complex of O'Hare, JFK, LAX, Heathrow, CDG, FraPort, Schiphol, Barajas, Fiumicino, Malpensa, gave feeling of immense air power, but my Pleso is dearest because all starts and finished there.

Architecture and people. Often, there are someone met to talk and discuss architecture and about. In spite of all possible photos, some new vistas are going to appear, and of course tactile experience of space, materials and details: meals, for instance.

It is pleasure to have dinner always in St.Benot restaurant Parisiene nowadays still working, where Le Corbusier and Ozefant were dining, Urbino caffe bar is place of cappuccino with Peter Smithson talking about his lecture, three generations of architects. In their Helsinki office, food and drink, lunch time, with Raili & Reima Pietila. Taliesin West, Thanksgiving day 1972., sitting across Ms. Olgivania Wright giving toast. There is an small office restaurant on the 16th floor 635 Madison Avenue where Marcel Breuer at least twice per week had lunch - we all from his office being there were proud to enjoy company of the great architect around the same big table. A special place for remember was dining hall at Shaar Hamakim Kibutz and my hosts Eva Nahir, Hilel Livni, piles of tasteful food and nice talks.

I always wanted for my travelings to be an architectural journey. I've been searching both for the celebrated pieces and for anonymous architecture. Even the best presented edifice in books is missing an atmosphere that can be tasted in situ. I did not discover the national architectures - rather architectural personalities. (Le Corbusier is neither French nor Swiss but international, the most American FLW was grown on roots of European, Japanese, Mesopotamian and precolumbian architecture.) I concluded that architectural expression comes more from used materials and energy, less from life styles (more and more alike in developed world). Architecture, form follows finance.

1973.1. -15.V, Amsterdam/Rietveld:Van Gogh Museum,, Rotterdam /Lijnbaan/, Delft, Bruxelles, *Paris-(1)-. Hotel "Rivoli" Rue Rivolli, LOUVRE, NOTRE-DAME, VERSAILLES, EIFFEL TOWER, SWISS PAVILION 1930 -32, SALVATION ARME REFUGIE, LA ROCHE-JEANERET (LeC Foundation), Lyon (LeCorbusier:La Tourette), Marseille(Le Corbusier: Unite d'Habitation 1947 - 1953), Genova,Firenza(Michelangelo:David), Roma (Basilica Papale di San Pietro, Michelangelo: Capela Sistina, Pieta, Bazilika San Pietro in Vincoli :Mose, Panteon,

2007.Barcelona -Antonio Gaudi:Casa Mila-La Pedrera, Guell Park,Sagrada Familia, Norman Foster:Torre de Collserola, Tibidabo Church,Mies:Barcelona, Richard Meier:Museum, Sert:Miro Museum, Carlos Fereter: Casa Triginer, Cable to Montjuic, Jean Nouvel: Agbar Tower, Richard Rogers:Las Arenas,Picasso Museum, Diagonal, La Rambla, Enric Mirales:Santa Caterina Market, Noue Campo, Olymic Stadion, Gehry:Fish, CalatravaT ower, Tore Mapfre

2009-Paris, -(5)-. Hotel "Millefleurres" Av.Grand Arme - Jean Nouvel Musée du Quai Branly, dr.Hindermayer(LeC doctor)-visit, "Pettit Benoit"(LeC restorant), LeCorbusier APARTMENT, stadion ParkPrinčeva, DEFANSE arc- (follie berger, moulin rouge), Muzej Arhitekture Trocadero, August Perret:Rue Franklin, Opera Bastille /Andre Cheneir/, Burberry office, "Barney" restaurant Medon-Theo Van Duisburg Maison, Jack Prouve : Medon prefabricated maisons, Candilis-Woods-Josic: Artisanale

2011.28.IX-4.X, - Chicago-(2)-O'Hare Airport, Las Vegas-(2)-Trump Hotel, Strip Hotels, Fremont St, Hoover Dam, Stratoshere, -Los Angeles-(2)- Green&Green:Gamble,FLW:Pasadena Miniature, Neutra: Health, FLW:Ennis, FLW:Hollycock, FLW:Schindler:OwnHouse,Koening: CSP#22, Lautner:Cemosphere, Ellwood:CSP#16, Gehry:OwnHouse, Eams:OwnHouse,Gehry:VeniceBeach, Griffit Observatory, LA Downtown, Bradbury, Frank Gehry:Walt Disney Hall /LA PhilharmonicOrchestra, conductor G.Dudamel/, Hoolywood Historic, Hoolywood Bowl:Carlos Santana,Richard Meier:Getty Museum, UCLA, Simon Rodia:Watts Towers, LAX

2012. 22-25.VI, Como-Giusepe Teragni:Casa del Fascio, Ticino-Mario Botta-case: MorbioSuperiore, Stabio,Ligornetto,Riva san Vitale, Cadenazzo,Breganzona, Luigi Snozzi-case:Gobi, Kalman, Milano-(2)-Aldo Rossi:Galaratesse, Scala:Verdi:Luisa Miller, Torre Velasco, Duomo, Museo del Novecento, Santa Maria delleGrazie: Cenacolo Vinciano, Figini&Poloni:Casa Figini, Oscar Niemayer:Mondadori

2013. 12.VII-15.VII, Paris
*CDG - Le Petit Benoit - Fleurus 27 (G.Stein) - Jardin du Luxembourg - Pantheon - La Villette - Ledoux: Rotonde - Louvre (Gioconda, Nike, Venus de Milo, Michelangelo: Captive, Vermeer)
*Cite de l'Architecture: Marcel Breuer D&A - Desert de Retz, Chambourcy - Parc des Chaumont - (Niemayer)
*14 jul Parade - Alvar Aalto: Maison Carre, Bazoches sur Goyonnes - Trocadero Firework
*(Boulle: H. Alexander?, Madeleine, Concorde) - Quai Anatole France: Croisieres sur les Canaux de Paris, La Seine et le canal Saint Martin, from Seine 26 m up, (Hotel du Nord, Ledoux Rotonda) - CDG