an englishman's home.

Have posted on these Kennington flats before, but here are a few more views of the best bit.

Sala Troisi, Roma

Now, I need to get my Mussolini era architectural shit together and find out who built this and when, and I will...unless anyone fancies doing it for me.

Here are the photos in the meantime.

Must at some point also try to stutter out why I like this so much.

Look at those teeny chamfers !

 Stylized off-set quoins.   Not naff, brilliant.

Bricks & Mortar

'80s starchitect Richard Meier had the rare chance to build something modern in Rome's historic centre in 2006, and whilst he didn't exactly hit the ball out of the park it's a pleasant museum/gallery space and stepped piazza.

Not the best stonework to be found in the eternal city however.

A better standard of detailing at the Terme di Caracalla.

Looking at these enormously thick walls, and then seeing the rubbly cement exposed behind the brick, you realize the whole thing must really be a slightly structurally ambiguous masonry-concrete composite.

The bricks are very thin. I reckon not much more than an inch, with mortar joints surprisingly thick so, close up, it's not as artisanal as you'd expect.




 

Mercato Magna Grecia, Rome, Italy. Arch.Ricardo Morandi

There's a video here with narration in Italian which gives you a useful overview of the building (including sight of some original floor plans) - built toward end 1950s as parking garage on several floors with covered market on the ground floor level.

Rome

Didn't have much time for architecture stalking during this trip but what I did find was a bit of a revelation to me.  Thanks to Sabina for catching the above through the car window and for seeing this...

 

 ....as we walked along the river around 4pm.

The camera has done something a bit weird with the light but it did actually look quite a lot like this.