Sunday, May 29, 2011

House of Blues.....And Hands

Blue hand building... Grand Canary Island

“Architecture is a social act and the material theater of human activity.” ~ Spiro Kostof (Architectural historian, 1936 - 1991)
More pictures of the strange -- "unusual" architecture found on the Grand Canary Island. These were photographed by my brother when he performed in an opera there a couple of years ago. The stunning shades of blue covering the stucco walls are eye-catching on their own; but then you begin to see three dimensional sculptured shapes on the sides -- hands!


(You may click the pictures to get a larger view)

These remind me of words or phrases delivered in sign language, however, my knowledge is limited to the ABC's. Molding surrounds some of the hands like picture frames. Honestly, at first, the sight of hand "gargoyles" protruding from the walls of a building creeped me out a bit; but with time, the beautiful positions with their touch of grace and poise gave a more fluid and soft look to the structure. You could say the hands "speak" to me. Perhaps that was what the architect and designer was going for.

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Carmi's Theme: "got the blues".
Blue Monday