Richmond VA - A Photo Essay

In March 2010, I made a two-day visit to Richmond, capital city of the Commonwealth of Virginia to attend the Virginia Architectural Society A.I.A. Design Forum IX. Most of my time was spent in the impressive, ornate interior of the Byrd theater for the conference, but I did take a few moments each day to take pictures of the city in order to create this 'Photo Essay'. Here are some of the scenes I captured.....

Scenes from Colombo, Sri Lanka

One of the first things to strike me about Colombo was how similar it is to a West African city. Having grown up in West Africa, I couldn't help but notice trees and shrubs I'd known all my life, flourishing in Colombo. From the palm trees, to the 'forget-me-nots' and indian almonds, the environment made me feel right at home! There was also a considerable amount of chaos on the streets and in the built environment along some streets that also seemed vaguely familiar. One conspicuous difference was the use of motorized rick-shaws (known as 'tuk-tuks') that are yet to hit the streets of West Africa.

Colombo is an interesting city with a mix of colonial style buildings dating from the 'British era', to more modern, high-rise contemporary buildings, juxtaposed with each other in a seemingly haphazard manner.

Our time in Colombo was memorable and we had the chance to visit some lovely restaurants and hotels, the national museum, Galle Face Park, shopping centers and the nearby Bentota Beach Resort.

Hopefully, we'll have the chance to visit again someday to spend more time on this delightful and enchanted island.

Dubai - city of (architects) dreams...

Late last year (August of 2009) my family and I made a brief stopover in Dubai on our way from Sri Lanka, en route to the US. We spent one night and two days only and planned to make the most of our short visit. Dubai doesn't disappoint! From the perspective of an architect and someone fascinated by the built environment, Dubai is a bit of a paradise. I had my camera clicking almost non-stop.. taking brief breaks, only to shoot short video clips on a camcorder!

After going through the high-tech, ultra modern Dubai International Airport, I was initially stunned by the heat that greets you as you make your way from the cool air-conditioned airport to your vehicle outside! Temps were well over 100 deg F (or 40 deg C). I hadn't experienced such heat ever! But that was the one of the few times we spent outside an air-conditioned environment! (Everything in Dubai is done indoors - even the bus-stops on the side of the streets are air-conditioned!).

We were based at the impressive Emirate (Twin) Towers, a short distance from the famous Burj Dubai, which at the time was not yet officially opened but exciting nonetheless. Places of interest we visited include the Dubai Mall (largest in the world) with it's impressive aquarium and ice rink, the Wild Wadi Water Park, Burj Al Arab Hotel and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The city is extremely clean and the streets downtown are lined with impressive glass and steel towers of all shapes and forms. Though we didn't see much of the out-lying suburbs, the parts we did visit were also impressive and well laid out. A modern light rail system was nearing completion at the time of our visit (it has subsequently been commissioned and opened to the public).

Scenes from this impressive city are incorporated in this blog!

The Blizzard of 2010 - Falls Church Virginia

This year, we saw the worst snow fall in the Washington DC area for many years. The blizzard of 2010 made us realize how unprepared we are in this part of the US for anything over a few inches of snow fall. This time around, we measured snow in Feet! Though we did have snow in both December '09 and Jan 2010, February definitely stole the show! At least 2 feet of snow on two occasions. With one storm closely following the first, there was snow piled on snow weeks on end. We dug trenches for the car to reach the street in front of the house. The snow banks on either side of the trench were about 3 to 4 feet high. The blizzard left us with some beautiful scenery and I took quite a few pictures that I want to share on my blog. Normally, I document trips I make on this blog but the snow we had turned home into an entirely different landscape that felt like all together another world. Here are some scenes from Falls Church after the great blizzard of 2010. Enjoy!