The Decline of an American City

Up and down Detroit’s streets, buildings stand abandoned and in ruin. French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre set out to document the decline of an American city. Their book “The Ruins of Detroit“, a document of decaying buildings frozen in time, was published in December 2010.

The ballroom of the 15-floor art-deco Lee Plaza Hotel, 

an apartment building with hotel services built in 1929 and derelict since the early 1990s.

Detroit's Vanity Ballroom with its unsalvaged art deco chandeliers. 

Duke Ellington and Tommy Dorsey once played here.

United Artists Theater

William Livingstone House

 East Side Public Library

 Michigan Theatre

 Luben Apartments

Add Norway to places you must see. seriously.

In 2005, Norway initiated a massive 15-year agenda to generate more tourism. The government turned to architects and designers to develop and build tourist routes and architectural rest stops to enhance the experience of the stunning Norwegian landscape.

The ongoing project has been aptly named The National Tourist Routes In Norway and features an array of architects including Margrete Friis, Peter Zumthor, PUSHAK arkitekter, Code Arkitektur, Manthey Kula, Snøhetta AS, and Jensen and Skodvin to name a few. The architects have worked together to connect the dots throughout the country and form a network of breathtaking valleys, farms, rivers, and mountain cliffs.

This Chicana Tejana has a mad crush on Northern Europe. 

From its politics to its films, design and architecture, I am seriously digging these people. 

Feel free to refer back to these pictures 

when its 110 degrees in Texas this Summer.