escapist pictures – findingtimetowrite

#FridayFun: Former Sanatoriums

This may not seem like a very fun project, because of its association with illness and even death. I was inspired by watching the film Scarred Hearts, directed by Radu Jude, based on a novel by Max Blecher which is set in a sanatorium. Most of the former TB sanatoriums have since been abandoned, or transformed into hospitals or hotels or… see the last example below with a renovation and development project by Playze Architects which led to an entire new residential neighbourhood. Abandoned buildings are also a niche travel destination and there are specialised tours or explorers/photographers.

Georgia with its mild climate (compared to the rest of the Soviet Union) had a great number of sanatoriums, the most famous being Tskaltubo. From Get Your Guide.

Another Georgian gem, Libani, from Urbex photographer Emily Rush.

Another iconic Soviet construction in Yalta, Ukraine, used mostly for top Soviet party officials in the 1980s.. From ArchDaily.

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky has the reputation of being one of the most haunted buildings in the US. From Louisville, Kentucky website.

A more modern and well-maintained feel to this sanatorium designed by Alvar Aalto in Finland, now a wing of the Turku Hospital. From divisare.com

Germany was also popular for its spa towns and this used to be Sanatorium Apolant in Bad Kissingen in Bavaria (now empty).

However, the Beelitz Sanatorium near Berlin has been renovated and converted into studio flats (972 Euros monthly rent for a 36 sq.m. studio with bath and kitchenette under the eaves, in case you’re wondering)

#FridayFun: Constantin Brâncuși

Having recently seen the Brâncuși exhibition at the Neue Nationalgalerie (brought almost wholesale over from the Centre Pompidou but beautifully curated and made to fit the Mies van der Rohe building here in Berlin), I thought I’d share some of the pictures I took there. We Romanians are extremely proud of him – but I think he is not as well known in the English and German-speaking world, although he spent more than half of his life in Paris and the French know him well (and pronounce him Brahn-küssee – his surname is actually more like Bryn-Koosh).

I loved the way you could see the evolution of his art and techniques – from the very Rodin like sculptures (he worked briefly with Rodin after he moved to Paris)…

… to developing his own unmistakable style.

Like many artists of the time, you can also see the Oriental (and African) influence on his works…

Another thing the exhibition did well was provide opportunities to walk all around a sculpture and view it from many angles, like this portrait of Nancy Cunard…

Entitled ‘Sophisticated Young Lady’. It made me smile…

More evolution or versions of Mademoiselle Pogany, one of his friends in Paris, whom he portrayed at ten yearly intervals, always slightly different. From wide-eyed ingenue…

… to more mature, yet still dreamy woman. One of my favourites of his sculptures.

He tried to capture the flight of the bird rather than the shape of the bird itself. Based on a Romanian folk tale, the Mythical Bird (pasăre măiastră) is a symbol of liberty, inspiration and rebirth.

The exhibition also contained many private documents, letters, photos, even films of him working in his studio…

… and his Paris studio has been painstakingly recreated here. Every piece of furniture, including the doors, tables and stools, were carved by him. We really got to see that being a sculptor is a hard physical job.

#FridayFun: Japanese-Style Houses

Japandi style is the mix of Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetics, which often means pared down looks, effortless simplicity and natural materials like wood and stone. Since I’m currently reading the Japanese novel Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami, which is about many things, but mostly about young girls longing for a home, I craved some inspirational homes (very, very far removed from anything the people in the novel might actually live in).

Love the asymmetry here, plus a Japanese inspired house requires an equally Japanese garden. From Houzz.

This one is far more traditional-looking, with the sliding doors (and hopefully a private garden). From Vecteezy.

This is what this kind of house might look like from the road, allowing for some privacy. From YouTube.

This looks more Western in style, like an upmarket bungalow with a terrace. From Home Beautiful.

It’s all about the terrace running along the side and back of the house, and the peaceful garden. From Homes to Love.

Now this is what I call a grand house in this style, because this is a modest style, not flashy. From IDW Architects.

Not sure if this is the same house as above, but IDW Design in Malaysia have plenty of such gorgeous houses in their portfolio.

#FridayFun: A Few Hours at Leipzig Book Fair

I was only able to attend the Leipzig Book Fair on one day, Sunday, the last day of the fair. But I was wowed by the scale and comfort of it, after the drudgery that is the London Book Fair. But of course the Leipzig Book Fair is designed for readers, while the London one is for trade. I haven’t been to Frankfurt yet, but I assume that one is more like London, while the Geneva Book Fair was more like Leipzig, but much smaller. Leipzig is a town that has specialised in trade fairs for a few centuries, and built an entirely new vast infrastructure for it to the north of town, which is served by train, tram and shuttle bus (and if you have a ticket for the fair, you can travel for free on public transport to get to and from it).

The entrance hall is covered but open on the sides and there are corridors leading off to the 5 main halls

There are plenty of seating spaces both in the central hall, and scattered throughout the other halls, unlike SOME places I might mention

The Book Fair takes place at the same time as ComicCon and your ticket gives you access to both. I was too shy to ask people if I could take pictures of them directly, but I loved their cosplay costumes so I sneaked one picture from an unrecognisable distance.

Most of the books are in German, but there are lots of translations (and foreign publishers) around.

I was pleased to see such crowds of passionate readers, with plenty of room to browse and buy books. Can I just say how much cheaper it was to pay for a stand than at London Book Fair?

Additionally, there were country stands in the International section, and Romania was quite well represented, with a bookshop and plenty of events

… such as this panel comparing Chilean author Carlos Franz with Romanian superstar author Gabriela Adamesteanu (and the books they wrote about living under our respective dictatorships)

I could not resist a peek at the ComicCon section, although I only spent 3-4 hours at the fair itself. And yes, there was plenty of Studio Ghibli merch…

… as well as my beloved Tony Tony Chopper, currently starring the live action remake of One Piece.

One of my main reasons for coming to Leipzig, however, was not to sight-see but to visit some friends, so I only managed to see some imposing buildings from the tram…

Next time, I’ll definitely stay for longer and explore both the book fair and this beautiful city.

#FridayFun: Cambridge in the Spring

I was in the UK for London Book Fair last week and also spent two days in Cambridge with my older son. It was cold but sunny, and I’ve always felt that Cambridge is at its best in spring, when everything starts blooming riotously.

Of course we had a little saunter through the grounds of some of the colleges, including my son’s favourite in terms of architecture and gardens (aside from the one he is at): St John’s.

However, one of my favourite places in Cambridge is Kettle’s Yard – a dream home for an art collector couple called Jim and Helen Ede. Simple, but cosy, personal, beautiful.

The ground floor of the original house, three tiny workers’ cottages turned into one.

The loft space of the original house, what a lovely guestroom.

The plants on display (the pebbles, the shells and other odd items the couple had collected) added to the charm.

What a beautiful legacy: art, art books, precious objects and you can sit in every one of the original chairs.

Later on, the Edes extended their house, mostly so that they could share their collection with others.

#FridayFun: Loft Conversions

I’m pretty sure I’ve handled this topic before, because at some point I was contemplating doing a loft conversion in my house in Maidenhead – I wanted to have my office and library up there. I’m glad I didn’t do it in the end, because it would have been very expensive and unlikely to be appreciated by most potential buyers. (Of course, for us book nerds, it would have been the clincher!). In a family of tall people, I’m not sure that low ceilings are terribly practical, but I stayed at a friend’s house in London in August and her guest room in the loft conversion was perfect for my size. So it can be done!

A sort of game den and TV room – this is the type of conversion I saw a lot of when searching for houses to rent in France. This one is the States, I believe. From The Loft Room.

The height and beams of this one look very similar to my loft in the UK, and what a nice office it could have been. From Self-build.co.uk

Smaller nook but nicely combined with a balcony, from resi.com

Another clever use of small spaces and balconies, from Italy, from FAKRO

An escape room where you can listen to music and read in peace, from Edinburgh. John Webster Architecture.

For the truly aspirational in terms of height (and I suspect somewhat enhanced by AI or terrible beige taste). From Pinterest.

#FridayFun: German Writers’ Homes

You knew this was coming, didn’t you? I’ve always been fascinated by writers’ homes and back when I lived in France/Switzerland, I visited a fair few in person. Here are some German writers’ homes which I have not visited yet but fully intend to.

Heinrich Heine’s parental home in Lüneburg, from luneburg.info

Erich Kästner’s house in Dresden, from gpsmycity.com

Goethe’s garden ‘hut’ in Weimar. He had a full-size house in the centre of town as well. From International Architecture Database.

Hans Fallada’s house in Carwitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. From FalladaMuseum.de

Closer to Berlin, the Brecht Weigele weekend home in Buckow, from ADAC site.

So after all these privileged male writers, shall we have a look at how a woman writer like Anna Seghers lived? Yep, in a small flat in the south-east of Berlin. From Berlin.de

#FridayFun: Dreamy Architectural Projects

I think my blog is being attacked by bots, because there is no way the traffic has ramped up so dramatically following a couple of book reviews and escapist pictures. But I will ignore all of that and keep going, as long as they don’t try to infect me or you readers with some kind of virus. For today, I was dreaming of escaping to places with better weather, or at least to places where there might be summer at present, with some beautiful buildings that have actually been properly designed by architects rather than cookie-cutter building.

John Marsh Davis house in California – love the doors that slide open and of course the bookcases. From Instagram.

Yes, I know this only works during a dry summer, but I could imagine some kind of sliding doors being used in winter. From Japandi

A modest ‘holiday cottage’ in the Austrian Alps, from Booking.com, with plenty of outdoor space for partying.

The boathouse on the Lingholm Estate in the UK is a dream – I wouldn’t need anything bigger than that. From TheLingholmEstate.co.uk

Kengo Kuma’s tea house and museum in the Japanese Gardens in Portland, Oregon

But I’ve saved the best for last, with this gem from Bay of Islands, New Zealand, designed by Pete Bossley, from homemagazine.nz

Built to hug the slope, this is what it looks like on the inside. From homemagazine.nz

#FridayFun: One Sunny Day in Bucharest

It has been quite a harsh winter in Bucharest too: snow, ice, freezing cold, low clouds and fog. I had one sunny day while I was there last week and I made the most of it.

The Hotel Lido has been renovated, but I’m not sure the once-famous pool (lido) at the back is open to the public once more.

I couldn’t resist a short visit to my old university department. I was pleased to see there was a far broader spread of languages being studied than before – but shocked to see that Chinese is no longer one of the languages offered.

I love the relatively modest 19th century bourgeois (merchant) houses, which are abundant in some neihbourhoods despite Ceausescu’s efforts to pull down most of them. Especially when they are as nicely renovated as this one.

Had a rather lovely dinner here in the famous Mitsa Biciclista house. There is a bistro and bakery on the ground floor, a restaurant on the first floor and an exhibition about interwar Bucharest on the second floor. For more about the owner of the house and the house itself, go here.

And here is a glimpse of the restaurant inside…

Of course I visited a few bookshops and here is a sample of new releases…

More here… and as you can see, a LOT of translations

#FridayFun: Last Set of Shelves

My shelves may be delivered and built by the time this post comes out – here’s to hoping anyway. So my current obsession with home libraries may be coming to an end, but not before we admire these images below.