Europe

Located in south Serbia, Niš is a historical-cultural crossroads. Interesting archaeology, historical relics and monuments, and remains from troubled times, dot the city together with pleasant streets, vivid street life and nice modernist architecture.

13th Alpine Peace Crossing Peace Hike took place on June 29th, 2019. Here is a collection of sights from the event.

Novi Beograd was planned during the late 1940s and has been built ever since as an overwhelmingly impressive modernist town. But don’t let the gray look of its brutalist buildings deceive you – unique details, green vegetation, care of locals and vast open areas create a unique environment.

Niš, like any other Serbian town, contains an interesting variety of modernist architecture. From small apartment buildings with delicate simple modernist lines to large high rise brutalist blocks, and magnificent public buildings.

Situated in Vojvodina, north Serbia, close to the border with Hungary, Subotica enjoys influences of various periods and cultures. Delicate architecture from Central Europe meets modernist socialist architecture of Balkan Yugoslavia, decorating the town’s pleasant streets.

A magnificent example of Hungarian Art Nouveau, the huge synagogue in Subotica, Serbia, is a truly inspiring temple.

Brno, in Czech Republic’s Moravia, had a thriving Jewish community. Its grandeur and wealth are reflected in the beautiful headstones of the Jewish cemetery.

Magnificent headstones and general view of Třebíč Jewish Cemetery – a former Jewish community, whose heritage is well kept in the local Jewish quarter and synagogue.

Moscow’s Zaryadye Park is a man-made wild area, an outdoors-indoors organic, flowing and inspirational fabric. But mostly, it blurs the unreasonable existing dichotomy between architecture and landscape architecture.

Repetitive geometrical forms were dominant in soviet architecture and design. It seems that sidewalks were playgrounds for designers to try elaborate repetitive interlocking forms…

Inspiring projects across Austria commemorate the fate of Jewish people during and following World War II, refresh the sociohistorical discourse in Austria and add meaning to public areas threatened by technology mediated experiences.

“Ins Gelobte Land – Eretz Austria” by “teatro caprile” is a unique interactive theater conducted outdoors. Presented in Krimmler Achental, Austria, it tells the incredible story of 5,000 Jewish refugees, who after the holocaust, crossed the 2,634m Krimmler Tauern mountain pass, on their way to the Land of Israel.

A footage of Venice in the morning with Vivaldi on the background became an editing Étude, an urban concert dedicated to those who make Venice – sweeping, collecting garbage, loading, carrying and unloading, through the meandering alleys and canals.

Trekking from Bazena through Rifugio Tita Secchi and Rifugio Maria e Franco to Passo di Campo – 24-26 June 2016

Visiting The Floating Piers was a once in a life time experience. A unique installation that enabled people to walk on water. A video, photo gallery, impressions and a few thoughts about the project and its “aftermath”.

A beautiful day hike up Breithorn via Südwandsteig, with a beautiful rewarding view to Steinernes Meer, and a relaxing stop at Riemannhaus. A day in the Austrian Alps.

A beautiful day hike crossing the Alps from Italy to Austria through Kehrer Alm, Birnlückenhütte and Birnlücke pass

Photos from the events and walk of the 9th Alpine Peace Crossing – commemorating the 5,000 Jewish refugees who crossed the Alps on their way to the Land of Israel in 1947

An inspiring visit to Aspern – Seestadt – Vienna’s new suburb. Varied materials, colors and landscape details and a pleasant urban design make this new town a unique model for a new suburb

Discover Buzludzha Monument – a fine example of socialist/communist – brutalist architecture currently in decay. By video and stills we shall discover the unique architectural and artistic features of the site.

Tobacco leaves decorate the streets of Prilep in Macedonia as part of the curing process. Watch a clip of a family preparing the leaves for curing and enjoy stills of the colorful streets

A fine piece of Communist – Brutalist architecture commemorates an important event in Bulgarian history. Currently neglected and in poor maintenance, a climb inside the structure is a thrilling experience, so as the view from the top.

Three enthusiastic young Bulgarians run an isolated large mountain hut. Without permanent electricity and no road connection, everyday life in the hut is a challenging task even in the 21st century. A glimpse into hut management and an original campaign for facilities improvement.

The hike from Krimml in Austria towards Kasern in Italy through the Krimmler Tauern pass, is one of the finest in this area of the alps, but also provides the opportunity to experience a bit of post WWII Jewish refugees difficult journey to the Land of Israel.

A unique 24 hours look into Jökulsárlón – a magical glacial lagoon in south east Iceland. A celebration of wonderful ice formations affected by high and low tides.

The square is shaped by several buildings and structures which bring life into Andersa Street. Inspired by prewar buildings, what shape should they wear?

Not just another metro station, but an integrated space, inspired by prewar buildings layout, connected to the street by natural light and sight, and comfortably accessible using intriguing passages

Creating meaningful public spaces, adding buildings for various uses and construction of a metro station are suggested to create a vivid hub for Muranów, inspired by the life that existed there before the war.

Warm colors wash Warsaw landscape during “Golden Polish Autumn”. A pictorial tour provides an opportunity for a brief insight into Warsaw’s best gardens, streets and tranquil suburbs.

Visiting the enchanting landscapes of Mariovo, southern Macedonia, and the villages of Štavica and Manastir

The story of Vitolište in Macedonia is the story of numerous villages all over the world that were left to decay due to massive urbanization processes. We shall tour the village that once knew lively days, guided by Vane who used to live there as a child.

Intervention in Warsaw / Muranów inspired by pre-war urban tissue. Summary of first semester of the project presenting historical development, values, commemoration issues, master plan and sample intervention ideas

Initial intervention ideas inspired by pre-war Warsaw urban tissue are presented through excerpts from a computerized model

In this post we shall get a glimpse to pre-war Warsaw and its urban characteristics, followed by a comparison to current Warsaw, through aerial photos and analyses.

Iceland National Trail is an initiative to create a long circular hiking & biking route that passes through Iceland’s best locations, in order to spread tourism across the country, encourage encounters between visitors and locals and bring tourism as a source of income to remote communities.

I chose the former Warsaw Ghetto area as the site for the final Architecture and Town Planning studies project. In this post a summary of the first phase of the project is presented – observations, data analysis, history, conflicts, and finally architectural research questions, some ideas and relevant references

Encounters with people of Iceland in the capital Reykjavík, most of them during Menningarnótt – “culture night”

Excerpts from fascinating encounters with people of the country of ice and rocks, during a 40 days trip in Iceland. In this part – encounters throughout the island

A tour back to Albania’s communist era through sights of Enver Hoxha’s bunkers scattered all over the country

A train ride from Prilep to Bitola in Macedonia is an interesting view into decaying rural life in this region, in a magnificent landscape

Can a huge industrial complex in Fier, Albania, can be reused? Site structure analysis may give inspiration to those who care about Albania and may give a new meaning to remains of an era that many Albanians prefer to forget.

We continue our urban exploration of Fier’s industrial site. The northern part was a nitrogen fertilizer factory, and its monumental concrete remains form amazing compositions and rare post industrial views.

Communist-era industrial legacy – a tour in Fier, Albania’s abandoned thermal power plant

Although Earth aerial images are widely available today in the Internet, there’s no substitute to looking out of an airplane window and exploring the earth (or the sea) beneath. Watch a photo presentation of pictures taken during a transatlantic flight from New York to Rome.

A Glimpse of Georgia (Gruzia), the wonderful Caucasus country rich with natural beauty and wonderful people…

Photo coverage of the Elite races of the European Mountain Bike Championship 2010 that took place in Haifa, Israel.

We all like to admire places from viewpoints, whether natural or man made. This presentation is a journey-quiz through sights seen from man made towers in various countries…

This unique presentation is a Jewish journey to familiar as well as “off the beaten track” sites in and around Berlin.

A journey to Romania in April 1999. It was a voyage back in time… Join a journey through Romania’s rural areas as well as some more familiar urban places, and meet its landscapes and people.

A significant event aimed at developing a closer relationship between the European Union and Israel was launched in Brussels on September 13, 2006. “European Friends of Israel (EFI)” unites those European and EU member state parliamentarians who wish to deepen the ties between the two.

On March 26th, 2006, a total solar eclipse was visible from the Mediterranean cost of Turkey.
These pictures were taken about 30 kilometers East of Antalya.

Yin-Yang interpretation of a bird eye view of Venice. Inspired by a visit to Venice that came immediately after a long trip to China

Images from the rolling hills and ranges of Tuscany (Toscana) , Italy.

Antennas can be found everywhere. Although these monuments of the modern era pollute the view, they enable people all over the world to communicate, and sometimes they even charmingly mingle in the surrounding landscape. Let’s go for a guided antennas tour in some places in the world…

Unique artistic presentation featuring art and people in London and Tel-Aviv

How many backpackers can squeeze into a red telephone booth? Step inside, and check out this experiment took place in the Isle of Skye

A homage to British icons – the red telephone booths of Britain – in Scotland and London

Photos from Bulgaria – A trip in Rila, Pirin, Rodopi ranges with a climb to Vihren Peak, and visit in Shiroka Loka, Plovdiv, Sofia, Trigrad Canyon, Bansko and more…

Watch some sights from the rocky and snowy Dolomites above Val Gardena, Val di Fassa, and Madonna di Campiglio area.

A landscape collage made of pieces of photos taken all over the world (USA, UK, Austria, Nepal, Vietnam, Israel, Thailand). The world is indeed made of pieces, and they are all combined to one system…

Some impressions from a short visit to Amsterdam. Surprisingly, most I could see was bicycles.

Images from Turkey – Kaçkar, Erzurum, Kars, Ani, Cappadocia, and more…