I went to Cyprus to receive an award on architectural competition from Eastern Mediterranean University, having a tough time with the heat at that time. While awaiting the ceremony, I wandered the whole area as much as I could. Saying that Cyprus is abundant in beauty. For many years, people have live in an ongoing conflict along  ethnic and religious lines and still continue in the country to a degree. In fact, some zones are still No Man’s Land. One of the interesting buildings to which I needed to pay attention was the Lala Mustafa Paşa Mosque in Mağusa. This is due to the fact that the mosque was originally a cathedral. Later, the Ottomans turned it into a mosque. The funny thing is that the cathedral and the mosque were designed with different prayer directions. Churches are built so that worshippers face East. Mosques, however, are built to facilitate prayer in the direction of Mecca. From Cyprus, this means Southeast. This sketch was from in front of the building. Note the later addition of the minaret.

One can appreciate how concrete can cause a great deal of undescribed feelings within spatial areas at the Yale University Museum. I think that Louis Kahn was truly talented to use materiality upon forms, especially mass and heavy forms. We can even envision his works as “monumental beyond modernism.” This sketch, which was from an old photo, was of Yale University’s Museum from the courtyard. As the art gallery is the oldest university art museum in the western hemisphere,  it has a great deal of precious pieces over there. The museum has ben collecting them since 1832. It was truly a good time with one of my cousins, also a graduate student of architecture, until we heard students getting rowdy in the pitch black New Haven streets

I really did not relish the route, on the green line, I took when I was going to a crappy language school, but I did enjoy looking around while taking the subway as part of it runs as a trolley. This lent itself  to exploring new places. One of them is the Boston University central campus, seen here. The Martin Luther King Jr. sculpture was truly appealing for those who are keen for art. I wish I could have seen it when the sunlight creates the shadow which appears on the ground. There is always next time.

Boston has a great deal of small surrounding towns. One of these is Rockport, where I wolfed down a lobster roll. This fishing town is quite quiet, yet, in the summer it is pretty crowded, having a plethora of art galleries which are open seasonally (that is, not in the harsh winters). I certainly recommend this place to visit for those who want a day trip, see a good place and eat fresh lobster. The sketch was from a parking lot and seen through the lens of the obligatory red house. At that time, no one was there as the season was winter. I got lucky. Just me and the lobster traps.

Oh boy, this is an Italian job -not the movie! Of course, the architect is Renzo Piano and here you are, the New York Times building in Manhattan. Due to Renzo’s background, that is, engineering, there are so many details which I am happy to figure out. The building is a green structure and the design team planned to increase energy efficiency. For example, the double skin curtain wall, automated louver shading system, dimmable lighting system, underfloor air distribution system and cogeneration are the main sustainable design features. It is certainly worth seeing it. The sketch was from a picture which I took on a trip. Later, I stopped by the Muji on the first floor, as, as an architect, I appreciate fine pens and pencils.

One of James’s events was visiting the Longfellow House / Washington's Headquarters national historic site. At that time, I was trying to learn English. It was a great trip for not only learning something about American culture, but also seeing and understanding the architecture of that era was truly beneficial to me. This is due to the fact that I had moved here only 3 months earlier and knew nothing about Boston. The house was built in 1759 and it is still standing. It was erected by a Tory who abandoned it when he fled from the Patriots. Washington later took up residence and used it as his headquarters while in Boston. The house later came into the possession of the Longfellow family. The sketch was from in front of the house. I also fell in love with its garden!

When I am in Turkey, of course, I call my friends to grab coffee or get breakfast. That day, one of my best friends from high school, my sister and I had a delicious breakfast in Karakoy. Then, we decided to go to old Istanbul, where everything is a rabbit warren -Sirkeci. Strolling through the old streets, taking in the buildings and eating traditional food was very cheerful. Historic architectural details and elements marred by time and fools was upsetting, but, even so, Istanbul seems to be pristine although many modern additions have spoiled it. This sketch was from Sirkeci of Karakoy, from the outskirts. Due to the fact that my whole street’s buildings were demolished,  next time, I will probably find Istanbul unrecognizable. In the meantime, I was still jet lagged as the date should have been  2017, not 2016.