Architecture

Hotel du Cap

Gerald and Sara Murphy, a young American couple who had expatriated to France in the 1920s, once rented the Hotel du Cap for an entire summer, a unique event for the era as the French Riviera was not a summer destination at the time, but a winter escape for the wealthy. With the Murphys came many legendary writers and artists of the Lost Generation, including F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. The hotel was for many years famously known for not accepting any kinds of credit cards. Cash only was accepted though most guests wired money ahead of their stay.

Wieliczka Salt Mine

The Wieliczka Salt Mine continuously produced table salt from the 13th century until 2007, as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines.

Hôtel Lambert

The Hôtel Lambert is a grand mansion townhouse in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. In 1843, the hôtel particulier was bought by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, member of the powerful family of Polish magnates. In 1969, Baron de Redé staged his most famous ball, the Bal Oriental, with guests such as Jacqueline de Ribes, Guy de Rothschild, Salvador Dalí, Brigitte Bardot, Dolores Guinness, and Margrethe II of Denmark. In 1975, the Czartoryski heirs sold the Hôtel Lambert to Baron Guy de Rothschild. In September 2007, the Hôtel Lambert was sold by the Rothschilds to Prince Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, brother of the Emir of Qatar for the purported sum of 80 million euros.

Peristyle

A peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building surrounding a court that may contain an internal garden.

Peau d’Espagne

In the 16th century, tanners used to scent chamois with essences of flowers, herbs and fruits and as a final step smear it with civet and musk. It is said by some, probably with a certain degree of truth, that Peau d'Espagne is of all perfumes that which most nearly approaches the odor of a woman's skin.

Minar-e-Pakistan

Minar-e-Pakistan is a tall minaret in Iqbal Park Lahore, built in commemoration of the Pakistan Resolution. The minaret reflects a blend of Mughal and modern architecture, and is constructed on the site where on March 23, 1940, seven years before the formation of Pakistan, the Muslim League passed the Pakistan Resolution.

Miller House

The Miller House was designed by Eero Saarinen in 1957 and is an important residential representation of the International Style. Of equal significance, the landscape of the Miller House, designed by famed landscape architect Dan Kiley, was one of the first and most important Modern designs in residential landscape architecture.

Het Loo Palace

Het Loo Palace is a palace in the Netherlands. The private garden is situated in the back. It is often mislabeled the Versailles of Holland but actually serves to show more differences than similarities.

Villa Garzoni

Villa Garzoni is a villa in Tuscany. The water garden is constructed at the foot of a series of balustraded terraces and a suite of grand symmetrical staircases connecting the lower water gardens at the base of the hill, with the house, the cascade, the teatro di verdura and other garden features above.

Nemo 33

Nemo 33 is the deepest swimming pool in the world. Its maximum depth is 35 meters. It contains 2,500,000 liters of non-chlorinated, highly filtered spring water maintained at 30 °C and holds several simulated underwater caves at the 10 m depth level. There are numerous underwater windows that allow outside visitors to look into the pools at various depths. The complex was designed by Belgian diving expert John Beernaerts as a multi-purpose diving instruction, recreational, and film production facility.

Opus

Encyclopædia of the sublime