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Unique Buildings Of The World

This group will show off the 'Buildings Of The World'

Featured Work

Real Presidio de San Saba by Terence Russell

The story of Presidio San Sabá is the story of Texas. It is the story of contentions and competing interests. It is the story of the Spanish Colonial pursuits of God, glory, and gold, and of the struggle of Native American groups to thwart the foreign invaders. Today the presidio (Spanish for “fort”) lies in ruins, but it is not hard to imagine how it looked at its height in the mid-1700s, when it was home to more than 300 Spanish soldiers and civilians, some of them women and children. You can picture the soldiers practicing drills in the presidio’s open courtyard while herders tended cattle and farmers worked the nearby fields. With imagination, you might catch a whiff of fresh-baked bread and meat roasting on a spit or hear children playing in the courtyard. But then, suddenly, the reverie ends with the shout “Fore!” followed by the sharp thwack of a metal club striking its target, and then the quiet thud of a golf ball finding purchase on the green. Today, Presidio San Sabá lies just outside the town of Menard, Texas, at the western edge of the Texas Hill Country. The presidio sits amid Menard’s Municipal Golf Course, not far from the clear, winding San Saba River. The standing stone ruins are evocative, but they are not from the original 1760 stone construction. Instead, they are the remnants of a past project to reconstruct the presidio. In 1936 and 1937, a crew hired by the Texas Centennial Commission and paid for by a grant from the Texas Legislature reconstructed the northwest portion of Presidio San Sabá as a tangible reminder of the past. These reconstruction efforts, relatively faithful to the design of the original presidio, began to deteriorate not long after their completion. Today they are just a ruin, another crumbling testament to Texas history. Presidio San Sabá, originally known as Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas, was constructed in April of 1757 by a Spanish force led by Captain Don Diego Ortiz Parilla. The presidio, which was subsidized by the Spanish crown, had a threefold purpose: to protect the nearby Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá, to assess the validity of rumors of rich silver deposits in the area, and to guard the Spanish frontier against the threat of Indian encroachment. The companion Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá was built a few miles downstream for the purpose of Christianizing the Lipan Apache. But by soliciting the Apache, the Spanish unwittingly made enemies of the Norteños, long-time foes of the Apache. The Indian groups the Spanish called Norteños (“northerners”) included various bands of the Comanche, Wichita, Kitsai, and Caddo tribes who were united in their hatred of the Apache. The Nortenos were also trading partners and sometimes competitors whose territories covered a huge swath of the Southern Plains and into the forests of East Texas. In March of 1758 a large force of Nortenos attacked, looted, and burned Mission San Sabá, less than one year after its founding (see the Texas Beyond History exhibit on Mission San Sabá). The mission was never rebuilt, however, the presidio lived on for another 14 years until hope for silver riches waned. The presidio was abandoned in 1772 by order of the Viceroy of New Spain. info from Texas Beyond History Historic Marker data: Real Presidio de San Saba / Marker Title: Real Presidio de San Saba / Address: US 190, at Menard Country Club / City: Menard / County: Menard / Year Marker Erected: 1936 / Designations: na / Marker Location: 1.5 miles W of Menard off US 190 about .5 mile (on grounds of Menard Country Club) / Marker Text: Originally established on the San Gabriel River as the Presidio of San Francisco Xavier in 1751 moved to the present site in 1757 as a protection to the Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba known as the Presidio de San Luis de Las Amarillas 1757-1761. After March 1761 the name was real Presidio de San Saba the stone building was completed in 1761.(source: Texas Historical Commission) National Registry of Historical Places data Site of Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas * (added 1972 – Site – #72001369) / Also known as Real Presidio de San Saba’ / Address Restricted, Menard / Historic Significance: Information Potential, Event / Area of Significance: Religion, Military, Historic – Non-Aboriginal / Cultural Affiliation: American Indian / Period of Significance: 1750-1799 / Owner: Local Gov’t / Historic Function: Defense / Historic Sub-function: Fortification / Current Function: Recreation And Culture / Current Sub-function: Sport Facility / / Camera info / Canon EOS Rebel T1i / Canon 18-55mm lens / F-stop f/9.5 / Exposure 1/180 / ISO 100 / Focus 36mm HDR data* / tripod, 1 RAW image, Photomatrix Pro 3.2
Old windmill by PhotosByG

An old windmill in Brisbane on the outskirts of the CBD. The sails have long since been removed and the building was constructed in 1828 and is now Queensland’s oldest building. Featured in “Unique Buildings Of The World” November 2009.
Carillon by Graham Schofield

Featured: “Unique Buildings Of The World” group National Carillon, Canberra. Canon EOS 30D, Canon 18-55mm Image straight from camera with no manipulation
Abandoned Station on Old Hwy 67 by Terence Russell

This wonderful ruin of an old gas station made of petrified wood and wonderful brickwork used to be a striving station in Glen Rose, Texas until they changed the route. It is now without any roof and the only occupants you might find are likely snakes, mice, and insects. Night photo taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T1i HDR Info / tripod, many RAW images taken, 4 different HDR images were made using different white balances, then merged, Photomatrix Pro 3.2
Bell Tower - high key by Karen Stackpole

The Perth Bell Tower, home of the Swan Bells. The Swan Bells are a set of eighteen bells hanging in a specially built 82.5 metres (271 ft)-high copper and glass campanile in Perth, Western Australia. Taking their name from the Swan River, which their tower overlooks, and forming a sixteen-bell peal with two extra chromatic notes, they are one of the largest sets of change ringing bells in the world. Twelve of the set are historic bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square in London; six others, cast in recent times by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, round off the set. The St Martin-in-the-Fields bells were donated to the State of Western Australia as part of the 1988 Australian bicentenary celebrations; the additional bells were cast with a subsequent donation of metals mined in Western Australia. The six newer bells include five which were presented to the University of Western Australia, the City of Perth and to the people of Western Australia from the City of London, the City of Westminster and a consortium of British and Australian mining companies, and one bell commissioned by the Western Australian Government. An inlaid path made of ceramic tiles surrounds the tower. These come from nearly every school in Western Australia and are arranged alphabetically by school name. Each school’s tile lists students at that school in the year of 1999. Each child has written his or her name as a contribution to the Swan Bells. The site is now a tourist attraction for the City; since its opening on December 10, 2001, almost 1 million people have visited. Fuji F6500 camera ( tone adgustment only)
Jacaranda Tower by Erik Schlogl

Sydney Tower framed by a jacaranda tree (Jacaranda mimosifolia) in full bloom, October 2009, Hyde Park, Sydney. The jacaranda tree is native to tropical and sub-tropical South America, but grows well in many parts of Australia, especially on the east coast. It is regarded as an invasive species (i.e. a non-native species with adverse ecological impact) in Queensland and in South Africa. Nikon D300, AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm at 40mm, ISO 200, f/11 at 1/160 sec, VR on. Featured in Unique Buildings Of The World.
Towers of Stone by Charles Buchanan

Ellis County Courthouse, Waxahachie, Texas. A Gothic turrented and towered courthouse.
John Knox House, Edinburgh. by Finobub

Image taken June 09. Nikon D90 Lens / AF-S DX / Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR / f/3.5 / 1/4000 sec. / ISO-1250 / +1 step / 18 mm / 3.6 / 27 / John Knox House. The John Knox House is an historic house in Edinburgh, Scotland, reputed to have been owned and lived in by Protestant Reformer John Knox during the 16th century. The house itself was built in 1490, featuring a fine wooden gallery and hand-painted ceiling. Over the next few centuries many decorations and paintings were added, and the house and its contents are now a museum. The original 15th century house has been largely unaltered since the 1550’s when the Mosman family, Goldsmiths to Mary Queen of Scots, remodelled the house. John Knox, leader of the Scottish Reformation and founder of the Presbyterian Church, lived here for a short time before he died here in 1572. / The building is owned by the Church of Scotland and is now administered as part of the new, adjacent Scottish Storytelling Centre. / / Located On the Royal Mile between Edinburgh Castle & Holyroodhouse.
A place for contemplation by jchanders

Here another shot of the cloisters of the old cathedral of Utrecht, the “Dom”, this time showing the cloister gardens. On this Saturday morning early this November it was a very peaceful place in a bustling town again. The tourists had gone, and the students who sometimes sit and study here, obviously kept to warmer places, while autumn was giving its special touch to the garden. Under these conditions it was certainly still a place to take a moment of rest and to contemplate. Utrecht, 7th November 2009, 0.07 pm / Panasonic TZ3, 4,6-46 mm at 4.6 mm / F 3.3, 1/30, ISO 100 Here the older shot again which you know already: /
Triumphal Arch in Krasnoyarsk by Susan Chandler

The triumphal arch in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia The photo was taken with a Leica M6 camera with a 50mm lens. The film was Agfa APX 100.
Windows of Lisbon by Adri Padmos

Here we are in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. / It is a beautiful city with many painted and tiled facades, like this here….. Camera Maker=NIKON CORPORATION / Camera Model=NIKON D80 / Lens=Nikkor 18-135mm / Exposure Time=1/200 sec / F-Number=F7,1 / ExposureProgram=Normal / ISO=200 / Date Time Original=2007:06:16 14:15:02 / Metering Mode=MultiSegment / Focal Length=24,00 mm / User Comment=(C)ADRI PADMOS / CustomRendered=Normal Process / ExposureMode=Auto
Mezquita by Lina Woods

The Great Mosque Aljama of Cordoba is the most splendid Islamic monument in the western world. / Its construction commenced in 785, when Abd-ar-Rahman established Cordoba as capital of al-Andalus, on the site of an ancient church dedicated to San Vicente and was extended during successive periods by Abd-ar-Rahman II, Al-Hakam II and Almanzor. O Mosque of Cordoba / Creation of man’s passion / Born of love with no past / A drop of blood turns / Even a stone into a heart / The heart’s voice is joy / You illuminate the heart / My song burns the breast / You draw man’s heart / To the presence of God / But the passion of love / For God is man’s alone / I spark man’s fire / His harp and speech / Though his sight is finite / His heart is wider than the sky / So what if God has rights / He doesn’t earn the pain / I am an infidel from India / Love is my flute / In my heart prayers / On lips blessings / In my bone’s marrow / “God is God” (poem by Iqbal) Historic Center of Cordoba is a part of UNESCO World Heritage

Recent Work

Laundry Hobbit by LavenderMoon

In case the power goes out, a practical-minded Hobbit always makes sure there is another way to dry his linens… Number sixty-nine in the Hobbit Hut series. LavenderMoon~ Surrealtor
Aging Okie by LavenderMoon

This is a reworked version of ‘Okie Hobbit’ (number forty-three in the Hobbit Hut series) that I did in honor of one of my friends, who told me just this morning that it is one of her favorites of the series. For you, Amanda… LavenderMoon~
Sacre Coeur - a detail by Lina Woods

Wikipedia link
Paris Boutique at Night by Susan Chandler

A designer boutique in St. Germain-des-Pres. Taken with a Leica M6, a 50mm lens and AGFA 400 film.
The Parthenon by Susan Chandler

I don’t know how I got a shot without one of the thousands of people around this building! Leica M6, 135mm lens, Agfa 100 film
The view from the Scotsman - B&W by Tom Gomez

Another attempt at something a little bit different for me. I generally stick to colour, but I thought I would try converting a few of my images into mono. The original colour version is below (click on the colour image to view it properly). This shot is taken from the North Bridge entrance to the Scotsman Building (once the headquarters for the Scotsman newspaper, but now the 5 star Scotsman Hotel). Looking past the City Art Centre on the left, to the Bank of Scotland Building with its distinctive green dome. Situated on the Mound, the former Bank of Scotland headquarters, now headquarters of the merged HBOS, has dominated the northern flank of Edinburgh’s Old Town for 300 years. The Bank of Scotland Building is an Historic Scotland Category A Listed Building (HB Number 28263). Behind the Bank of Scotland Building you can see a small part of the magnificent Edinburgh Castle on top of the rock. Edinburgh Castle dominates the city of Edinburgh like no other castle in Scotland, and Edinburgh Castle is unequalled in the whole of the British Isles. Over one thousand years of history sit on top of the famous Edinburgh rock. Camera: Canon EOS 450D (Digital Rebel XSi in the USA) / Sigma 18-200mm lens BEST VIEWED LARGER Three bracketed JPGs converted to HDR in Photomatix. Related shots can be found at: Edinburgh or you can look at all my HDR shots. Featured in : Cityscapes and City Skylines : 21 Nov 09 Click on the image below to view the shot /
St. Johns by PhotosByG

Part of St. Johns Cathedral, Brisbane.
Dark Opera by smallfox

Sydney Opera House taken from the Royal Botanic Gardens. I darkened the image a little and altered the contrast and gamma but this was only to accentuate the dramatic light of the original pic.
Therefore it is built..... by Adri Padmos

And therefore it is built: the Easter Scheldt storm surge barrier. / In heavy storm close the gates and then the people of the Zeeland delta are safely. Camera Maker=NIKON CORPORATION / Camera Model=NIKON D80 / Lens=Nikkor18-135mm / Exposure Time=1/200 sec / F-Number=F8,0 / ExposureProgram=Shutter priority / ISO=400 / Date Time Original=2008:01:19 12:17:47 / Metering Mode=MultiSegment / Focal Length=58,00 mm / User Comment=(C)ADRI PADMOS / ExposureMode=Auto / WhiteBalance=Auto
Krakow Opera House by Elena Skvortsova

Teater im. J.Slowackiego (1890-93), Krakow, Poland at sunset. The theater was designed after the famous Paris Opera
Canterbury Cathedral another look by Shaun Whiteman

Taken with a Canon 50D, Sigma 10-20 lens at 10mm, F11, shutter speed 5 seconds, ISO100, tweaked in Photoshop Whilst down in Kent a few months ago we visited Canterbury Cathedral. It is an amazing building, the archictecture is just jaw dropping, a place well worth a visit. A while back I tried to get rid of the converging verticals on the shot but ended up with several wobbly walls (lol) because each pillar converged differently so the converging verticals version it is. The Cathedral’s history goes back to 597AD when St Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory the Great as a missionary, established his seat (or ‘Cathedra’) in Canterbury. In 1170 Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral and ever since, the Cathedral has attracted thousands of pilgrims, as told famously in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site as of 9th December 1988. Please view large
Binnenhof Castle by theBFG

This is the central hall of the large complex of buildings known as the Binenhof (lit. the inner court), in the centre of the dutch city of Den Haag. The buildings were originally the palace and great hall of the counts of holland (originally even an emperial residence, undfortunately the emperor to be count william the 2nd died in a battle against the frisians before he could be crowned). It was built in the first half of the 13th century, although the great hall is slightly younger athan the palace. This medieval buildings now stand surrounded by a complex of buildings that sprang up on top of the old defensive walls around the original palace between the 13th to the 20th centuries. For centuries now, the complex has been the government centre for the Netherlands and it still houses the parliament.

Featured Members

About This Group

WHOLE BUILDINGS ONLY PLEASE
Unique buildings – just what is a unique building? A building that made you photograph it, draw it or paint it. A building that makes you say WOW

This group is about BUILDINGS, whole or large portion of buildings!

Please read all the ‘NO’ list in group rules, because your image WILL NOT BE ALLOWED if it does not comply (and we dont want to upset people)

Featured work will fly the ‘Featured Banner’