What makes for enjoyable poetics of space? How much is determined by use and by aesthetics? In the USA, some of my favorite designs are former Spanish sites with a Catholic church or mission, a presidio, an open square with fountains, benches and lush verdure. The design is holistic, pragmatic and attractive.
Traces of Spanish layouts remain in the USA even outside of San Antonio, Texas; New Mexico, Saint Augustine and Pensacola, Florida; California; and New Orleans, which has a definite Franco-Spanish stamp in the Vieux Carré. There are remain as far north as North Carolina, and there is an archaeological site about twenty miles west of Natchitoches, Louisiana, that I'd love to see in person: the Mission San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes and the Presidio Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes.
Today's Rune: Disruption.
1 comment:
Something about an inner courtyard with fountains and trellises covered with vines and flowers really resonates with me. We saw one on our recent road trip, at one of the hotel's we stayed at, and it has lingered in my memory.
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