News
July 12, 2010
The Grand Tour
Let’s live vicariously today. I’m pretending that rather than being here in steamy Dallas, I am “abroad.” Spending a week or two cruising across Europe.
First stop…Barcelona. We were transfixed recently here at the Center when we screened a beautiful documentary on the works on Antonio Gaudi, including his still under-construction masterpiece La Sagrada Familia. Here’s an article on a perceived threat to its stability. Will a high-speed rail tunnel planned for construction just meters away from the cathedral undermine its stability?
Let’s jump to Italy for a story on one of Europe’s most-storied bridges. The Ponte Vecchio has been steadily altered since its construction in 1345 and offers a great lens on the evolving architecture of this wonderfully old city.
Germany is the site of a bit of an architectural debate. UNESCO has been petitioned to turn Nazi rally grounds at Nuremberg into a world heritage site; Nazi architect Albert Speer’s son calls it “a weird idea.” Here’s the scoop.
Our final stop might as well be the embarkation point for so many of our ancestors. In Antwerp, Belgium, the warehouses of the Red Star Line will be renovated and turned into a museum. The buildings were the starting point for more than 2 million passengers destined for Ellis Island and the United States. Bon voyage.