#ArchiTalks 8 favorite place

favorite place

Well, of course as most architects, I have favorite places that I have visited, favorite places that I have lived, favorite places…

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I was born here and lived here until I was seventeen.  I think the best thing about Pittsburgh is that it is a great city that most people don’t realize until they visit.  I think besides the cultural institutions of the Carnegie Museum and (what I will always know as Heinz Hall) Benedum Center, one of the most unexpected things about Pittsburgh is the surprise that one sees after coming through the Liberty tunnels.

Venice Beach

I lived in Venice Beach from 1989-1999, and loved it, not for the “crazy boardwalk and weird people” that most will talk about but it is a place where you can see a project by any of a number of architects and the architecture, along with the entertainment industry’s money have made it one of the most creative places to live. I couldn’t choose a favorite building so this is a photo of my favorite place to have coffee, Abbott’s Habit on Abbot Kinney Blvd, I am sure Noah the owner has seen many a project conceived at this place.

Paris, France

Because it’s Paris, France.

As an architect friend once said, “Everyone tells you it’s a beautiful city, but once you go, you are like, “Oh, that’s what they mean…”  My favorite museum is the Musee’ d’Orsay (see pic that I posted in ArchiTalk #5).

Two Harbors, Catalina Island, California

Most people go to Avalon, we go to Two Harbors, there’s only a few places to stay: the Banning House, the campsite and your boat.  And a couple of places to dine: the Banning House, the campsite, the Harbor Reef tiki restaurant.  It has changed little in hundreds of years, nothing but the hills and the ocean and it is so quiet you can hear the flapping of a bird's wings as they fly by.

Copenhagen, Denmark

I lived in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1986-87 while I went to architecture school with the Denmark International Students (DIS) program and it was a great experience.  We had a choice of Florence or Copenhagen and I chose the latter because of the emphasis on social housing and more travel time and we could live with a Danish family who I am still in contact with today.  This pic was taken on the roof of the architecture studio in the early morning after an all-nighter.

 

Crystal Cove, California

This is a great place to camp north of Laguna Beach with views of the ocean and an almost private beach and the only reason that I hesitate putting it as a favorite place is that I don’t want more people to find out about it. I want to mention it because of the wonderful natural resource it is and because we should support our National and State Park systems.  So, the next time you want to go to the happiest place on earth, try one of these places instead and see how fulfilling nature is.

Favorite Place

I think we all have moments when we want to be somewhere else.  In fact, those moments can turn into minutes, hours, days, years…  But at some point one has to realize that a favorite place doesn’t have to be a place one travels to, a building one visits, or great works accomplished,  my favorite place is where I am.  

These are some of my favorite places, if you would like to know what other architect’s favorite places are, click on the links below.

Please contact me via my website below for more information on the firm and sponsorship of the blog and podcast.

MGHarchitect: Michele Grace Hottel, Architect

Enoch Sears - Business of Architecture @businessofarch Where Do You Like To Go When You Aren't Working?

Bob Borson - Life of An Architect @bobborson

Matthew Stanfield - FiELD9: architecture @FiELD9arch Ruby Slippers

Marica McKeel - Studio MM @ArchitectMM Do You Have a Favorite Place?

Jeff Echols - Architect Of The Internet @Jeff_Echols

Lee Calisti, AIA - Think Architect @LeeCalisti favorite place

Mark R. LePage - Entrepreneur Architect @EntreArchitect

Evan Troxel - Archispeak Podcast / TRXL @etroxel My Favorite Place

Lora Teagarden - L² Design, LLC @L2DesignLLC ArchiTalks meets #ThisOldHouse

Collier Ward - Thousand Story Studio @collier1960

Cormac Phalen - Cormac Phalen @archy_type Baltimore

Nicholas Renard - dig Architecture @dig-arch

Andrew Hawkins, AIA - Hawkins Architecture, Inc. @hawkinsarch My Favorite Placein the Wild

Jeremiah Russell, AIA - ROGUE Architecture @rogue_architect favorite place: #architalks 5th edition

Jes Stafford - Modus Operandi Design @modarchitect Making Space and the Favorite Place

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Rosa Sheng - Equity by Design / The Missing 32% Project @miss32percent

Michele Grace Hottel - Michele Grace Hottel, Architect @mghottel favorite place

Meghana Joshi - IRA Consultants, LLC @MeghanaIRA Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Amy Kalar - ArchiMom @AmyKalar

Michael Riscica - Young Architect @YoungArchitxPDX MIT Chapel - My Favorite Place

Stephen Ramos - BUILDINGS ARE COOL @sramos_BAC Cinque Terre

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Brian Paletz - The Emerging Architect @bpaletz Favorite Place(s)

Tara Imani - Tara Imani Designs, LLC @Parthenon1 Favorite Place - Architalks 8

Jonathan Brown - Proto-Architecture @mondo_tiki_man Favorite Place

Eric Wittman - intern[life] @rico_w my [first] favorite place

Cindy Black - Rick & Cindy Black Architects