Architecture

I love being in a city with beautiful, interesting buildings. The Europeans get major points for the preservation of their architectural legacy and poor marks for most of the modern buildings I've seen. Graz is typical. It has some of the ugliest modern buildings I've ever set eyes on, with the Kunsthaus (House of Art) downtown as the prize winner. It's a hideous purple blob, completely alienated from the other buildings around it. And then near Griesplatz (where the laundromat is located), they built a high rise, where all the surrounding buildings are no more than three stories, that is monumentally ugly and is totally out of place. What were they thinking? Aside from that, Graz is exceptionally pretty. The neighborhood where the Heim is located was built up in the late 1800's and there are entire streets of neo Renaissance façades, many with Italianate wooden shutters, and stylish villas. It is a delight to walk around here. One photo is the Seebachergasse which I pass every morning on my way to my studio in the Volksschule Elizabeth; the other (with the flowers) is behind the Grazer Dom (cathedral).