Tag Archives: architecture

Puzzle: Passage to San Marco by Bob Pejman


Size: 300 pieces
Dimensions: 67cm x 48cm
Producer: Hasbro, EZ Grasp
Painting: photo
Artist: Bob Pejman – “In his works, Pejman creates idyllic, tranquil worlds. “There are no people in my paintings, so you can imagine yourself in the scenes”, explains the artist. “The scenes are already romantic, but my idea is to make them even more so”. In doing so, he pushes the colors to make them more intense and exaggerates the sunlight. “I don’t simplify the shapes. You get into the cracks and feel the structures and the stones”, he says, considering them to be marks of cultivated wisdom rather than declination. There is romance in history, and Pejman reminds the viewer of classic beauty and emotions that transcend time, all inherent to such places as the Mediterranean.” [Bob Pejman bio]
Notes: “I was inspired to paint this oil painting of Venice in July of 2000, when I was visiting Italy.

On a sunny afternoon on my way to the San Marco Square, I passed through a narrow passage way by the Grand Canal. There was a trattoria on the corner and a gandola tied to a post in the narrow canal. This quiet and romantic spot captivated me to the extent that I stopped for a short while to do a rough sketch of this site, as I knew that I would paint a large scale oil painting of this location upon my return to the States.” [Bob Pejman site]

Puzzle: Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, London, England


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles
Notes: Covent Garden is a district in London, England, located on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin’s Lane and Drury Lane. It is mainly associated with the former fruit and vegetable market located in the central square which is now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as “Covent Garden”. The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre; north of which is mainly given over to independent shops centred on Neal’s Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers, and most of the elegant buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the London Transport Museum. [Wiki]

Puzzle: San Pietro by Rod Chase


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer:  The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox
Artist: Rod Chase, Photorealist
Painting: The Glory of San Pietro
Notes: This view is from across the Tiber River looking toward St. Peter’s. I spent the evening photographing this scene during the twilight hours on our last night in Rome. The composition is based on one specific photo while dozens of additional photos were used to provide details for the architectural features. I especially enjoyed painting the reflections on the water, an exercise in abstract line and shape. The colors were muted to faded blues and Terra Cotta tones, which provide a more monochromatic color scheme representing the incredible history and beauty in Rome, and Italy in general. [Rod Chase]

Puzzle: A wave of colour, County Cork


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 68cm x 48.1cm
Producer:  Mega Brands, Windows of the World series
Artist: Fine photography by John and Debora Scanlan
Notes: County Cork (Irish: Contae Chorcaí) is one of the twenty-six traditional counties of the Republic of Ireland and one of the thirty-two traditional counties in the island of Ireland. The southernmost of the Irish counties, it is located in the province of Munster. It is Ireland’s largest county and is the second most populous county, with a population of 481,295 in 2006. Named after the city of Cork (Irish: Corcaigh), Cork is colloquially known as “The Rebel County”. In recent times, the name has referred to the prominent role Cork played in the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) when it was the scene of most of the fighting; in addition, it was an anti-treaty stronghold during the Irish Civil War (1922–23). [Wiki]

Puzzle: Shaped castles


Size: 1000 pieces, multiple pieces missing
Producer: Sure-Lox

Thank you to Renee for providing the size and the producer as I do not have the box for this puzzle anymore.

Notes: Shaped puzzle on black background depicting multiple castles in a single collage, surrounded by a white border.

A castle (from Latin castellum) is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified, from a fortress, which was not always a residence for nobility, and from a fortified town, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Usage of the term has varied over time and has been applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls and arrowslits, were commonplace. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Sydney Harbour Bridge


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69cm x 39.37cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Wonderful World series
Notes: The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic image of both Sydney and Australia. The bridge is locally nicknamed “The Coat Hanger” because of its arch-based design.

Under the directions of Dr J.J.C. Bradfield of the NSW Department of Public Works, the bridge was designed and built by English firm Dorman Long and Co Ltd of Middlesbrough, and opened in 1932. According to the Guinness World Records, it is the world’s widest long-span bridge. It is also the fifth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world, and it is the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 metres from top to water level. [Wiki]

Puzzle: 1000 Islands


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69cm x 39.37cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Wonderful World series
Notes: The Thousand Islands is the name of an archipelago of islands that straddle the Canada-U.S. border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about 80 km downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario. The U.S. islands are in the state of New York. The islands, which number 1,793 in all, range in size from over 100 km2 to smaller islands occupied by a single residence, to even smaller uninhabited outcroppings of rocks that are home to migratory waterfowl. The number of islands was determined using the criteria that any island must be above water level all year round, have an area greater than 1 square foot (930 cm2), and support at least one living tree. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Via dell’Amore by Rod Chase


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox
Artist: Rod Chase
Video: The Love Story behind Via dell’Amore
Notes: The Cinque Terre towns were extremely isolated until the last century. Villagers rarely married anyone from outside their town. After the blasting of the second train line in the 1920s, a trail was made between the first two towns: Riomaggiore and Manarola. A gunpowder warehouse was built along the way, safely away from the townspeople. (That building is today’s Bar dell’Amore.)

Happy with the trail, the villagers asked that it be improved as a permanent connection between neighbors. But persistent landslides kept the trail closed more often than it was open. After World War II, the trail was reopened, and became established as a lovers’ meeting point for boys and girls from the two towns. (After one extended closure in 1949, the trail was reopened for a Christmas marriage.) A journalist, who noticed all the amorous graffiti along the path, coined the trail’s now-established name, Via dell’Amore: “Pathway of Love.” [Smithsonian.com site]

Puzzle: Sagrada Familia


Size: 141 pieces (101 crescents, 40 border edges)
Dimensions: 43.18cm x 66.04cm
Producer: Imagination Project, Panda Enterprises, Tesselz, Crescent series
Notes: The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (English: Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family), commonly known as the Sagrada Família, is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [Wiki]

Tesselz is a new series of jigsaw puzzles where the SHAPE of the pieces is as important as the image itself! Tesselz have unusual shaped pieces that “tessellate” or tile together every way you turn them, adding a unique twist to jigsaw puzzles.

The brain-teasing twist of Tesselz’s repeating identical shapes will revolutionize the way you’ll think of puzzles. No longer is fitting shapes together enough – you need to take a good look at the lines, colors, and patterns to get the right pieces in place! The curious nooks and details of this wondrous architectural master-piece ensure a fun and thrilling challenge. [Puzzle box]

Crescent Series Notes: The emphasis on structure within the puzzle’s design ties perfectly to the thematic link of this series: Designs in Architecture. Take our selected image here as one example and then begin to see on your own how the elements of geometry, symmetry, and asymmetry have been utilized throughout history in the buildings and structures erected by man, to form monuments of enduring and inspiring beauty.

The designer, Dr. Haresh Lalvani, based in the field of architecture is a leading researcher in morphology. He is known for his use of higher dimensions as a means of visualizing new geometries for architecture and mapping transforming structures. He is a tenured professor at the School of Architecture at the Pratt Institute, where he has been teaching since 1970. Today, he continues his exploration of advanced geometry at the Pratt Institute and as an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St.John the Divine in New York. [Puzzle box]

Sagrada Facts – Did you know??

  • The Sagrada Familia is one of the longest running construction projects under way in the world today.
  • In the Middle Ages, cathedrals routinely took centuries to build.
  • The tower representing Christ, which has not been built yet, is shown in some drawings to be nearly twice the height of the existing towers.
  • Construction is being aided today by computer-guided saws that can chisel granite in one-sixth of the time it takes by hand.

[Puzzle box]

Puzzle: La Santorini, Greece


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: MB Puzzles, Big Ben
Notes: Santorini (Greek: Σαντορίνη) is a volcanic island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km southeast from Greece’s mainland. A giant central lagoon, more or less rectangular, and measuring about 12 by 7 km, is surrounded by 300 m high steep cliffs on three sides. The island slopes downward from the cliffs to the surrounding Aegean Sea. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the sea by another much smaller island called Therasia; the lagoon merges with the sea in two places, in the northwest and southwest. The water in the centre of the lagoon is nearly 400 m deep, thus making it a safe harbour for all kinds of shipping. The island’s harbours all lie in the lagoon and there are no ports on the outer perimeter of the island; the capital, Fira, clings to the top of the cliff looking down on the lagoon. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Plaza de España, Spain

Plaza de Espana, med
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.6cm
Producer: Impressions, Sure-Lox
Notes: The Plaza de España is a building in Maria Luisa Park, in Seville, Spain built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It is a landmark example of the Renaissance Revival style in Spanish architecture. The Plaza de España, designed by Aníbal González, was a principal building built on the Maria Luisa Park’s edge to showcase Spain’s industry and technology exhibits. González combined a mix of 1920s Art Deco and ‘mock Mudejar’, and Neo-Mudéjar styles. The Plaza de España  complex is a huge half-circle with buildings continually running around the edge accessible over the moat by numerous beautiful bridges. In the centre is a large fountain. By the walls of the Plaza are many tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain. [Wiki]

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Puzzle: Architecture, Puri, India by Jim Zuckerman


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Painting: photo
Artist: Jim Zuckerman left his medical studies in 1970 to pursue his love of photography and turn it into a career. He has taught creative photography at many universities and private schools… The work of Jim Zuckerman has been used for packaging, advertising and editorial layouts in more than forty countries. He has been published in calendars, posters, greeting cards and corporate brochures and annual reports, and his work is also sold as fine art prints in scores of furniture store outlets across the United States. [Jim Zuckerman site]

Notes: Puri is a city situated about 60 kilometres south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Odisha. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple (built in the late eleventh century). It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages. It is considered that a pilgrimage of the temples of India is not complete without making the journey to Puri. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Catherine Palace, Pushkin, Russia


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: MB Puzzles, Big Ben
Notes: The Catherine Palace (Russian: Екатерининский дворец) was the Rococo summer residence of the Russian tsars, located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), 25 km south-east of St. Petersburg, Russia.

The residence originated in 1717, when Catherine I of Russia engaged the German architect Johann-Friedrich Braunstein to construct a summer palace for her pleasure. In 1733, Empress Anna commissioned Mikhail Zemtsov and Andrei Kvasov to expand the Catherine Palace. Empress Elizabeth, however, found her mother’s residence outdated and incommodious and in May 1752 asked her court architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli to demolish the old structure and replace it with a much grander edifice in a flamboyant Rococo  style. Construction lasted for four years and on 30 July 1756 the architect presented the brand-new 325-meter-long palace to the Empress, her dazed courtiers and stupefied foreign ambassadors. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Le passage by Vadik Suljakov

Le passage, med
Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.70cm x 39.37cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Painting: photo
Notes: Since arriving in the United States over a decade ago, master Russian artist Vadik Suljakov (pronounced Shul-ya-kov) has established himself as one of the most distinguished young impressionists in the country. Suljakov, born in the cultural center of Moscow in 1960, comes from an intellectual family with many generations of artists and writers. [Monsoon Gallery]

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Puzzle: L’Avoset by Vadik Suljakov

Lavoset, med
Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.70cm x 39.37cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Painting: photo
Notes: While in college Vadik Suljakov was given the opportunity to visit Italy and France, thus enchanted by the awe-inspiring cities and towns steeped in history. He began to paint the beautiful landscapes and city scenes that he admired on his travels. [Wiki]

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Puzzle: Bremen, Germany


Size: 500 pieces, 3 missing
Dimensions: 35cm x 48cm
Producer: Canada Games, Windsor
Location: The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area (2.4 million people). Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.

Bremen is connected with a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the Town Musicians of Bremen, although they never actually reach Bremen in the tale. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Chambord Château


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Notes: The royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures.

The building, which was never completed, was constructed by King François I in part to be near to his mistress the Comtesse de Thoury, Claude Rohan, wife of Julien de Clermont, a member of a very important family of France, whose domaine, the château de Muides, was adjacent. Her arms figure in the carved decor of the château. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Machu Picchu, Peru


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 86.36 cm x 30.48 cm
Producer: Panorific, Sure-Lox
Box: photo
Notes: Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres  above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”, it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

The Incas started building the “estate” around AD 1400 but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Twilight in the Park by Rod Chase


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer:  The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox
Artist: Rod Chase, Photorealist
Painting: Twilight in Central Park
Notes: Rod Chase is known to his collectors for producing photo-realism at its finest. The talented artist says, “Being a photorealist, I am dependent on finding accurate reference material for each painting.” Chase works with acrylics on canvas, spending hundreds of hours on each painting with the ultimate goal of presenting a fresh, unique, and elegant approach to familiar subjects. The detail in each painting is remarkable, but the mood each is equally impressive. [Rod Chase site]

Puzzle: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Impressions, Sure-Lox
Notes: Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of 412 ha of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over 5 km long east to west, and about half a mile north to south. With 13 million visitors annually, Golden Gate is the third most visited city park in the United States after Central Park in New York City and Lincoln Park in Chicago.

The 2 ha Japanese Tea Garden is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States. The garden was designed by Makoto Hagiwara for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, including still-standing features such as the Drum Bridge and the tea house. Subsequent additions included a pagoda and Zen garden. It is the site of the introduction of the fortune cookie to America. [Wiki]