Photo Of The Day: The Walt Disney Concert Hall In Los Angeles

One of Downtown Los Angeles‘ great treasures is the Walt Disney Concert Hall, a Frank Gehry-designed structure home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the Los Angeles Major Chorale. It is captured brilliantly in today’s Photo of the Day, taken by Flickr user Nan Palmero using a simple Canon Powershot S95. The sky’s brilliant blue casts a cool hue upon the structure’s stainless steel exterior, illuminating what is truly a building of the future.

Do you have any photos of great architecture? Upload your shots to the Gadling Flickr Pool and your image could be selected as our Photo of the Day.[Photo Credit: Nan Palmero]

Minneapolis’s outdoor art experience

Two summers ago we spent a few days in Minneapolis visiting friends, a visit several years after my first trip here. Both times it struck me how lovely the city is. Minneapolis is one of those gorgeous urban spots in the world that pays attention to how public and private space work together to create an environment everyone can enjoy.

The architecture in Minneapolis is a large part of its visual scene. Its buildings often end up winning awards for their design. Here are a sampling of what you’ll find of particular note. These are new buildings that were commissioned as a tribute to Minneapolis’s dedication to the arts: Children’s Theatre Company; Guthrie Theater, Central Library, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center and Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum.

All featured on the Meet Minneapolis Web site and are places you might consider putting on your itinerary. Here’s a link that leads to the descriptions. The Weisman Art Museum was designed by Frank Gehry thus is my particular favorite.

However, my favorite aspect of visual pleasure was when we spent an evening walking among the sculptures at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden outside the Walker Arts Center. This is an eclectic mix of styles set in among flower beds, a conservatory, an arbor and wide open spaces.

This year marks 20th year since the garden has been open. Jaunted tipped me off to the two artist designed mini-golf courses that have been added to the space as part of the celebration. It costs to play the courses but you can see them for free. The rest of the garden is free as well.

Here’s another opportunity for a public art feast, you can also tour the University of Minnesota’s campus where there is an extensive public art program. Tours are available from May and October. Here’s the link for that info.

Ode to Sidney Pollack: Travel where his movies were made

Sidney Pollack died of cancer yesterday. When I heard the news, along with feeling sad about his death, I flashed to a certain restaurant in Hurley, New York that’s one of my favorite “when I go back home for a visit ” eateries,although it’s changed hands since Pollack used it as one of the settings for Tootsie.

The Hurley Mountain Inn where Dustin Hoffman bellied up to the bar with Charles Durning has been serving up family fare for years. My mom always headed here with friends for the spaghetti and meatballs. The last time I was there, my son was happy playing video games without the money to actually have them do anything.

Hurley is near Kingston in the Hudson Valley and the restaurant is worth the drive. Nothing fancy, but you’ll feel like you’re in a place that means something to the people who eat there. Along with Hurley, if you do a Sidney Pollack film tour of the world, you’ll see a lot. Consider these alone and you’ll be busy:

  1. Sketches of Frank Gehry–Pollack followed Frank Gehry around with a camera and captured the architectural genius found in the Vitra Museum in Germany, Maggie’s Centre, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, and the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
  2. Out of Africa–The Africa scenes were filmed in the Ngong Hills in Kenya. The Denmark scenes were in Surrey, England.
  3. The Electric Horseman–For the gorgeous scenery seen in the film, head to Zion National Park and other places in Utah. For the rest, head to Las Vegas.
  4. The Way We Were–Bask in a bit of opulence at Ballston Spa, New York and in front of The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

Hotel of Twists and Turns

Many travelers have heard of the Bilbao, Spain, Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry. But not many know of Gehry’s first hotel project, El Hotel Marques de Riscal, owned by the winery of the same name.

Gehry is well-known for his dramatic, twisting, turning, sweeping designs, including the “Dancing House” in Prague and Seattle’s Experience Music Project building. Now, his characteristic lack of right angles will make finding your room a challenge in the vineyards of Spain.

The hotel is operated by the Starwood chain, and features all the latest immenities, plus Gehry-designed windows that tilt outward, rooms with undulating wall fixtures, and furniture that matches the style.

Maybe your breathlessness at the design can be soothed by their multitude of spa treatments, including “wine therapy.” Yum!