Tag Archives: building

Abandoned Weyerhaeuser Headquarters

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When we visited the Pacific Bonsai Museum, the parking lot was by a large office building that seemed pretty strange.  It was settled in a valley between two ridges with multiple levels with much greenery attached.  I was curious about it when we arrived and decided to look further when we came back.  It appeared that you could almost see through the building on some levels.  When we got closer, it was clear that the building wasn’t in use – at least on the level we were.

When we got home, Nancy did a little more research on it.  It used to be the headquarters of the Weyerhaeuser company.  It was considered quite a cutting edge place when it was built but the company has moved downtown and I am not sure whether anyone is using it now.  It does appear to be maintained and there are security patrols but not much seems to be going on.  We debated whether it would be a nice place to work or a bit far from stuff and isolated.

Building a Big Box

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I have stayed in the same hotel in Addison TX a couple of times recently for work trips.  The view from my window has been of a building site that has been progressively developing on each visit.  On one morning, I was just getting ready to check out when I could see the crew getting ready to lift a concrete panel into place.  The crane they were using was a substantial beast.  The crew were scattering to different locations to carry out their roles and then they started lifting the panel.  They had several lift lines which could be controlled individually to allow the, to rotate the panel as required.  Sadly I had to go before they finished.  I should be back before too long, though, so I shall see how progress is going.

 

Stadium Construction Update

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A previous post showed the start of construction of the new stadium in LA.  When I was on that trip, my arriving flight had passed right by the construction site but I didn’t have a camera to hand at the time.  I made another LA trip more recently and, this time, I had a camera at hand as we made our final approach.  Obviously the construction process has moved on a bit but there is still plenty to be done.  Maybe I will make some more trips and get further updates in the future.

Wolf Point Development

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Wolf Point sits at the place in the Chicago River where it splits into the north and south branches.  When I lived in Chicago, it was a park.  It sat in front of the a building with a Holiday Inn and the Sun Times located within.  It had a great view along the river in all directions.  That view was obviously too valuable.  The park is gone a some towers are now going up.  One was already there when I visited and work is underway on the others.  I’m afraid this is a shame to have lost a nice location.  Also, if you were in the building across the river that had a view along the main branch, I imagine you are not too pleased to have lost your view and instead be looking at another tower!

Geometry in Housing or is it Monopoly

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A quick trip to Dallas for work was necessary and I took the little camera along for the trip.  As we came in towards Love Field, we flew over ares that are in the process of being built up or have recently been so.  Seeing plots of land with the street layout showing but the plots not yet built up showed what had been there before in the areas that were now populated.  A closer look showed that the houses did have a variety of styles but, from above, the roofs all seemed to be very similar and they were close together.  It was almost like someone had grabbed a bunch of houses from a Monopoly set and lined them up next to each other.  On the ground it probably looks nice but from above it was very uniform.

Flatiron Building for Real

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When I worked in Oakland, I got some images of the building on Broadway and Telegraph that slots into the narrow wedge shaped plot of land.  In my post on that building which you can read here, I talked about the Flatiron Building in New York.  Finally, on a work visit, I got to see the original (assuming it was built first).  It happened to be right next to the place I was meeting a colleague for dinner.  Couldn’t resist taking the camera along for that.

Port Townsend

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B11I8274.jpgThe great thing about old towns is that they have interesting buildings.  (They sometimes have interesting people too but that is a separate issue.)  Port Townsend was a funky little town to look around.  As a port, it has been around for a while and obviously was quite a thriving location.  The grand design features of the buildings show that there was plenty of cash around when they were built.  If you head up the hill you come to the town hall which is pretty impressive itself so the town has obviously been a center of things for a while.

B11I8296.jpgIn the heart of the town, the buildings are of a similar style but are showing their individuality.  Getting shots of them is a little inhibited by the excessive number of power lines that are strung along the streets.  It would be nice to not have those there but nothing much I can do about that.  I imagine plenty of people wouldn’t notice them but they are the sort of thing that really catches my eye.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it.  You might not have noticed them but now I have said something, they will be conspicuous to you too!

B11I8264.jpgThere seemed to be plenty of activity in Port Townsend.  Lots of shops and restaurants with plenty of variety so I assume that the area is going to be okay.  Having lots going on means that a cool town center is likely to survive and thrive.  That is good news.

Upstairs in the Rotunda

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B11I1826.jpgI have been working in the Rotunda building for a couple of years near.  Previously we were based in the bottom of the building and I posted some shots of the atrium taken with a fisheye.  We recently moved offices to the upper floors and being up near the top of the space gave me the opportunity to explore the views from higher up.  For some reason, I hadn’t previously been upstairs to look around.

B11I1829.jpgThe top levels are restricted to the tenants of the respective space.  However, lower down you can access the space.  I figured it was still a good place for the fisheye and it was quite interesting to see what effects you could create.  The fun with the fish is choosing where to put the distortion.  You can even turn curves into reflex lines by getting them aligned appropriately.  It is amazing how much being out of center shows itself when you are using such a wide angle.  Something that looks symmetric to the eye results in a clear asymmetry with a fisheye.  At least with digital you see the result quickly if you chimp a little.

Old Style Hotel in Pueblo

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B11I8786-Pano.jpgBefore the days of the big hotel chains, towns and cities used to have local hotels.  These were in the heart of the city and dealt with travelers passing through or staying for a while.  The level of comfort was a function of what you were able to pay but the nicer ones were pretty grand looking structures.  If a city has enough traffic, places like this can still survive.  They often go way upmarket to justify choosing somewhere different.  Otherwise, they have tended to wither away.  The buildings can live on though.  The Vail Hotel in Pueblo now appears to have been converted for other uses.  Some things seem to suggest it is still a hotel but I wasn’t able to verify this.  Whatever the use now, a cool looking place has survived.  So many of its like have been demolished over the years so it is nice to see that it is still being taken care of.