Architectural Delight by bmac62
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Description
Tara and I were wowed by this 130 year old building a month ago. I didn't have my good camera with me, but my IPhone 6s always does the job in a pinch, particularly when a wide-angle lens is required. I was standing on the second floor balcony when I took this photo. There was a trade show on-going on the first floor when we were there and it didn't do anything IMHO to enhance an observer's view of this magnificent venue.
Zoom worthy.
This is the Old US Pension Bureau Building, Washington, D.C., now known as the National Building Museum.
Originally designed in 1881 and built between 1882-1887 to serve the needs of Civil War veterans, today serves as America's premier cultural institution dedicated to exploring and celebrating architecture, design, engineering, construction and urban planning.
This huge 19th century office building was designed to provide natural air-conditioning and light for its employees. By using air vents in the exterior walls of the building a ventilation system was created where hot air escaped through the skylights in the roof. The upward flow of air would draw in fresh air through the exterior wall openings. The Great Hall, another impressive feature, houses massive Corinthian columns that are among the tallest interior columns in the world.
If you'd like to know more about this place, copy and paste this link in your browser: https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc40.htm
Comments (21)
durleybeachbum
What a wowser!
1881 is the year my Grandmother was born, and is the date from which I feel connected and close to any thing or event because I knew her so well.
awjay
superb interior
TomDart
This is an excellent interior photograph...and, shot on a iPhone at that! I am impressed at many levels with this artful rendering.
auntietk
That's a great shot, hon! You'd never believe the columns are brick covered in hand-painted plaster. This is gorgeous!
bobrgallegos
Great capture of this beautiful old building Bill!!
weesel
Super capture and history. No, AK, I would never have guess the brick and plaster connection. They knew how to work back then.
wysiwig
Well, shoot. And here I thought you'd stepped into something built during the heyday of the Roman Empire. A very impressive building made more so by your composition. Yeah, and I hate iPhones. Sometimes the pictures taken with them make me want to throw my expensive camera in the garbage.
Faemike55
Fabulous capture, Bill! wonderful information as well
thanks
photosynthesis
You've captured the scale & majesty of it very well, Bill. I've been to Washington a few times, but never visited or even knew about this building...
giulband
Wonderful POV and perspective !!!
T.Rex
Beautiful Romanesque with Corinthian pillars. And in Washington? There's a lot of amazing architecture in that city I've never been aware of. Following you and Tara around the city has been a real education! Keep up the good work! I'd love to see more of this building inside and outside, but, as you say, we have to settle for the cell phone camera today! But that only makes this photo all the greater! Keep up the good work! :-)
sossy
real stunning and beautiful architecture! all the fantastic decorated columns and great pov 😃
X-PaX
Wow. Excellent capture Bill. Your iPhone maes a very good job.
jayfar
Your picture is also a delight Bill.
anahata.c
Full size, this is stunning. And only you, of all the photographers I know, can take a smartphone shot and make it look like it came from a fine camera. I'm befuddled and amazed that you got what appears to be genuine symmetry, but the piece still feels totally 'out of the box'---it's not confined by symmetrics; rather, it busts with vitality. I read Tara's comment, and I wouldn't have guessed that the columns were painted plaster, though when one looks closely, one can tell they're probably not pure marble. They don't have the pure sheen of marble---but painted plaster? A real surprise! (With bricks inside: How 'bout them apples!)
This is a bill shot through and through, with your tonal balance, your array of hues in what at first appears to be a 3 or 4 hue piece. The wonderful play of light and shadow, again with delicate balance. And your deep sweep, with---still---a sense of balance and 'affection' for the whole. (I like that word 'affection': There's almost always a sense that you nurtured your shot, fathered it, coaxed it lovingly to show its very best.) Lots of space too, for a shot as crowded with architectural elements. It must be a stunning place in person. (I've never heard of it---and you say it's a major center for architectural and design studies.) And you gave us the ceiling too with the light streaming down, with a highlight in the three windows at the top of the furthest-most arch. Beautiful work---and with a freakin' iPhone. This is what Steve Jobs hoped for, as he conceived the whole idea of "putting the world in the palm of your hand".
As for Piranesi, thanks for telling me! Yes, you gave a bow to the old master of deep spaces and columns and arches and god-knows-what. (Some of his pieces are downright creepy---like his "imaginary prisons".) A terrific shot, friend, and I was fascinated by the history too. I'll be back for a more intensive visit to both yours and T's gallery, in a couple of days. But I wanted to acknowledge this before another day passed. (I was busy doing a late piece of writing for lucinda, so I didn't comment anywhere yesterday.) This is a real joy. A 'wowser', as Andrea put it.
RodS
A fantastic shot of a beautiful interior, Bill! this has sooooo much more personality than the boxes they put together today. Just look at the capitals on those beautiful marble columns! Wow!
Richardphotos
I love architecture like this and you captured it so well. my Canon 15m fisheye lens would be useful here
blondeblurr
Architectural designs are always intriguing and of great fascination to me and this is no exception, it's simply mind-boggling, the sheer size of it and what a cracker of a shot with an 'iPhone' ... BTW - I have actually seen, how those pillars are painted and could tell, that they weren't real, right from the start... nevertheless a formidable building - WOW !
A certain restaurant in one of our holiday resorts on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia] did a renovation and used this faux marbling Technic, using [believe it or not] feathers ! - with pretty good results... an interesting detail about ventilation and the hot air rising - LOL
kenmo
Would love to visit...
jendellas
WOW!!!! Beautiful.
moochagoo
Stunning architecture. Really amazing to see.