Home Posts tagged "architecture" (Page 4)

Tag: architecture

Puzzle: Notre-Dame Basilica, Montreal

Notre-Dame Basilica, Montreal, med
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.5 cm x 35.5 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle: A beautiful puzzle, a close-up view of the Basilica, with a larger view available in a 1000-piece puzzle I have assembled. The support beams at the top, and the spiky frame in the bottom are good places to start. The golden figures, the red/orange and purple columns, and the blue background areas can follow. The rest should fall into place easily – the puzzle is small and pieces fit well together.

Notes:

Puzzle: Hong Kong Harbour, China

Hong Kong Harbour, China, med
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.5 cm x 35.5 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle: Somewhat damaged by bad puzzle glue and long storage, this is one of the first puzzles I have assembled. Not trivial due to a large number of similarly-coloured regions. Areas of distinct colour are easiest to approach first (such as the blue, red, and white lights). The two skyscrapers to the right of the centre, and the lights along the waterfront are good regions to follow. From that point on, the black of the water is equally complex as the black of the skyscrapers with the yellow and green windows, but due to the small size of the puzzle and the Sure-Lox pieces fitting together well, it is not very complex to complete.

Notes: Victoria Harbour (or Hong Kong Harbour) is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The harbour’s deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea were instrumental in Hong Kong’s establishment as a British colony and its subsequent development as a trading centre. Victoria Harbour is home to most of the port facilities of Hong Kong, making Hong Kong amongst the world’s busiest. An average of 220,000 ships visit the harbour each year, including both ocean going vessels and river vessels, for both goods and passengers. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Tower Bridge, London, England

Tower Bridge, London, England, med
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.5 cm x 35.5 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle: One of the first puzzles I have assembled, it has some glue damage from storage. The good regions to start are the water, the bright lights, and the railing on the bridge, followed by the borders between the bridge and the sky. The bridge top and towers, as well as the sky framed by the bridge can follow, leaving the remaining black of the sky to be filled in. Good lighting is a plus for the last part.

Notes: Tower Bridge (built 1886–1894) is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London which crosses the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name, and has become an iconic symbol of London.

The bridge consists of two towers tied together at the upper level by means of two horizontal walkways, designed to withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sides of the towers. The vertical component of the forces in the suspended sections and the vertical reactions of the two walkways are carried by the two robust towers. The bascule pivots and operating machinery are housed in the base of each tower. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany, med
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.5 cm x 35.5 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle: Another puzzle of the Neuschwanstein Castle, in addition to the 500-piece, the Ravensburger 500-piece, the 1000-piece, and another 500-piece puzzles I’ve assembled previously. Not the greatest view, as the castle takes up only a third of the picture, and the uniform black of the forest and blue of the mountains comprise most of it. Other than that (and a little glue damage, due to this puzzle being quite old in my collection), it’s not too boring to assemble. The sky and the mountains can be tackled first, followed by the castle itself, and the trees might present a bit more of a challenge, albeit offset by the small size of the puzzle.

Puzzle: Carl’s Church, Vienna, Austria

Carl's Church, Vienna, Austria, med
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.5 cm x 35.5 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle: One of the earlier puzzles I have assembled, and it unfortunately has a bit of glue damage. A very simple puzzle to assemble: the water, the bright windows, the green dome, the dark arches, the brighter main tower and two pillars are all easy regions to start with. The sky with fireworks is a bit more tricky, but due to the small size of the puzzle and the Sure-Lox pieces fitting together well it does not present too much of a challenge.

Notes: Karlskirche (St. Charles’s Church) is a baroque church located on the south side of Karlsplatz in Vienna, Austria. Widely considered the most outstanding baroque church in Vienna, as well as one of the city’s greatest buildings, Karlskirche is dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo, one of the great reformers of the sixteenth century. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Winter Worship

Winter worship, med
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.5 cm x 35.5 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle: A simple puzzle to do due to its small size. The orange of the buildings, and the flowing green of the river are good places to start, and the bridge railing serves as a horizontal guide separating the picture into two regions. The borders of snow-laden trees, the building, and the sky makes the top easy to assemble, and the rest of the puzzle shapes itself around the bridge and the river. Festive and pleasant to the eye.

Notes: Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English weorþscipe, meaning worship, honour shown to an object, which has been etymologised as “worthiness or worth-ship”—to give, at its simplest, worth to something. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Santa Maria Della Salute, Venice, Italy

Santa Maria Della Salute, Venice, Italy, med
Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69 cm x 39.37 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle:  This puzzle is a bit challenging due to large areas of almost uniformed-coloured sky, and the tightly-fitting side-view of the buildings with many small details, but Sure-Lox pieces come to the rescue by fitting into place unambiguously. The domes of the church, its walls, and the border between the sky and the buildings are good places to start. The blue and white poles in the water, the lower building in the bottom left corner, the water, and the buildings in the bottom right are some of the easier regions to complete next. From that point on, the rest of the puzzle can be assembled.

Notes: Santa Maria della Salute, commonly known simply as the Salute, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. It stands on a narrow finger of land between the Grand Canal and the Bacino di San Marco making the church visible when entering the Piazza San Marco from the water. The Salute is part of the parish of the Gesuati and is the most recent of the so-called plague-churches.

In 1630, Venice experienced an unusually devastating outbreak of the plague. As a votive offering for the city’s deliverance from the pestilence, the Republic of Venice vowed to build and dedicate a church to Our Lady of Health (or of Deliverance, Italian: Salute). The church was designed in the then fashionable baroque style by Baldassare Longhena, who studied under the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi. Construction began in 1631. Most of the objects of art housed in the church bear references to the Black Death. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Sydney, Australia

Sydney, Australia, med
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.5 cm x 35.5 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle: A simple puzzle to do, and due to Sure-Lox well-fitting pieces a fast one. The uniform colour of the sky and the highlights on the water are good places to start, as well as the larger white/lilac building. The orange flags and the building behind them, as well as the darker skyscrapers pave way for the rest of the pieces to fall into place.

Notes: Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. It is on Australia’s south-east coast, on the Tasman Sea. Inhabitants of Sydney are called Sydneysiders, comprising a cosmopolitan and international population.

The site of the first British colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet, as a penal colony. The city is built on hills surrounding Port Jackson, which is commonly known as Sydney Harbour, where the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are prominent structures. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Garden’s Gate

Garden's Gate, med

Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69 cm x 39.37 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle: A serene puzzle to do, and being smaller with well-fitting together Sure-Lox pieces, is not too challenging. The red of the maple leaves on the tree, the lantern, the gate, the bright white/yellow regions of sunlit sky, and the wall with smaller rocks are good places to start. Once the wall is complete, tree trunks and leaves, as well as darker tree areas can be filled in.

Puzzle: Old Mill

Old mill, med
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73 cm x 48.57 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group

Puzzle: A serene puzzle, not very challenging. The bridge, the waterfall, the flowers in the bottom left corner, the mill building, and the rocks are good places to start. The tree trunks provide vertical guides, the dark area with the wheel at the bottom of the building is distinct, and the rest of the grass, forest, and sky pieces can be filled in without much trouble.

Notes: A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping (rolling, grinding or wire drawing).

Typically, water is diverted from a river or impoundment or mill pond to a turbine or water wheel, along a channel or pipe (variously known as a flume, head race, mill race, leat, leet, lade (Scots) or penstock). The force of the water’s movement drives the blades of a wheel or turbine, which in turn rotates an axle that drives the mill’s other machinery. Water leaving the wheel or turbine is drained through a tail race, but this channel may also be the head race of yet another wheel, turbine or mill. The passage of water is controlled by sluice gates that allow maintenance and some measure of flood control; large mill complexes may have dozens of sluices controlling complicated interconnected races that feed multiple buildings and industrial processes. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Sri Mariamman Temple

Sri Mariamman Temple, med
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 48.1 cm x 67.95 cm
Producer: Mega Puzzles, Structures series, 2013, No. 50941AAN, A 27053 PP

Puzzle: Another puzzle from the Structures series (see Astronomical Clock, Prague, Czech Republic, Galleries Lafayette, Paris, and Church of the Savior, St. Petersburg for more). A delight for the eyes, this puzzle is complex due to many similarly-coloured small regions and a large number of small detail. It requires some time and attention, but is definitely a pleasure to do. Any small uniformly-coloured areas are good places to start: be that the red dress of a figure in the bottom right corner, the blue steps at bottom right, the blue figure in the middle, and so on. Other good regions to do is the borders between areas – such as the vertical dividers on the left side and the balcony ledges. The various geometrical patters decorating the building can also be assembled. Putting all these pieces together requires focus and reveals many small details not easily noticed from just looking at the picture on the box.

Notes: The Sri Mariamman Temple is Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple. It is an agamic temple, built in the Dravidian style. The Sri Mariamman Temple was founded in 1827 by Naraina Pillai, eight years after the East India Company established a trading settlement in Singapore.

Built in the South Indian Dravidian style, this temple features a gopuram that rises above the main entrance along South Bridge Road. It is richly embellished with six tiers of sculptures of Hindu deities, other figures and ornamental decorations. The tower tapers up towards to a moulded ornamental ridge. The scale of each tier and its sculptures is slightly smaller than that of the tier immediately below it. This helps to create the illusion of height and adds to the symbolic importance of the building. Flanking the gopuram are a sculpture of Murugan on the right and Krishna on the left (as one enters). The sculptures are all of plaster, which allows for fine detailing. They are painted in a variety of bright colours, which adds to the visually spectacular quality of the gopuram. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Church of the Savior, St. Petersburg

Church of the Savior, St. Petersburg, med
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 67.95 cm x 48.1 cm
Producer: Mega Puzzles, Structures series, 2013, No. 50941AAN, A 27053 PP

Puzzle: Another eye-candy puzzle from the Structures series (see Astronomical Clock, Prague, Czech Republic and Galleries Lafayette, Paris for more), with many distinct regions. There are many ways of approaching it: top semi-circle with windows, bottom light yellow semi-circle, central piece in reds, oranges, and yellows, winged by distinct blue regions, the chandeliers, the top corner regions separating distinct regions of colour by diagonal guides, flower border outlining the central area, the pillars with figures and horizontal flower borders, circles with faces. Once the distinct regions are done, they can be put together, and the rest of the pieces easily fit in. Beautiful puzzle, very enjoyable to do.

Notes: The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg, Russia. It is also variously called the Church on Spilt Blood and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, its official name. This Church was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated and was dedicated in his memory.

The Church contains over 7500 square metres of mosaics—according to its restorers. The interior was designed by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day—including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel — but the church’s chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, was relatively little-known (born in St. Petersburg in 1842 in a Baltic-German Lutheran family). The walls and ceilings inside the Church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Galleries Lafayette, Paris

Galleries Lafayette, Paris, med
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 67.95 cm x 48.1 cm
Producer: Mega Puzzles, Structures series, 2013, No. 50941AAN, A 27053 PP

Puzzle: A non-trivial puzzle from the Structures series (see Astronomical Clock, Prague, Czech Republic and Church of the Savior, St. Petersburg for more), with a repeating radial pattern. Due to many similar regions and repeated geometrical patterns, this puzzle is challenging. The easiest place to start is the top left corner with the distinct orange, green and blue part of the dome, followed by its golden border and brown and golden thick supports that fan out of the dome, with flower patterns inside. Several white supports spreading from the dome can be used as guides. The yellow centres of the large flowers within the stained glass pattern can be positioned based on their differences, and the blue and green flowers can be assembled in place. The circular brown guides supporting the white and blue glass make it easier to complete the bottom right corner. Overall not a quick but an enjoyable puzzle to do, natural light is a plus.

Notes: The Galeries Lafayette (is an upmarket French department store company located on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. In 1895, Théophile Bader and his cousin Alphonse Kahn opened a fashion store in a small haberdasher’s shop at the corner of rue La Fayette and the Chaussée d’Antin, in Paris. In 1896, their company purchased the entire building at 1 rue La Fayette; in 1905 they acquired the buildings at 38, 40 and 42, boulevard Haussmann and 15 rue de la Chaussée d’Antin. Bader commissioned the architect Georges Chedanne and his pupil Ferdinand Chanut to design the store at the Haussmann location, where a glass and steel dome and Art Nouveau staircases were finished in 1912. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Golden Hall, Edoras, 3D

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, closeup, med

Size:  742 pieces (foam-backed), 29 cardboard accessories
Dimensions: 42 cm x 49.5 cm x 22 cm
Producer: Wrebbit 3D, Lord of the Rings series, 2012, #02003, made in Canada

Instructions:

  1. Remove and sets aside red dotted pieces (they are not a part of the actual puzzle).
  2. Assemble puzzle sections flat as you would a 2D puzzle.
  3. Once all sections are assembled, build the 3D puzzle using the supports provided and embellish with decorative pieces.

Puzzle: I have made this puzzle a few months ago, but did not get around to documenting it until now. It carries sentimental significance to me because I love all things Tolkien, and the designs are tugging at my heart strings, but the implementation could be better. Foam is not the greatest material to hold up a 3D puzzle, as I have previously found out with a Taj Mahal puzzle made by Wrebbit (not to be confused with the CubicFun one made of paper), and after discovering the CubicFun puzzles earlier this autumn I don’t think I would assemble another foam 3D one, unless the subject was as attractive to me as the Golden Hall of Edoras.

Below are the progress photos of the assembly – the process itself was not easy since foam does not hold together that well, so the intermediary stages of the structures being attached to each other have no photos to them: I had enough trouble keeping them holding together.

Here is the base surrounding the hall:

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, base surrounding, med

And here is the overview of all the rest of the assembled components, followed by close-ups:

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled pieces whole, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled pieces 6, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled pieces 5, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled pieces 4, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled pieces 3, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled pieces 2, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled pieces 1, med

The assembled hall looks good from far away, but pieces do not fit together very well, making for a choppy composition and crooked angles. Additionally, some of the embellishment pieces on the roof are printed only on one side which I find a disappointing approach: cutting corners on such little details makes the entire building look unfinished.

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled front, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled side 2, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled side 1, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled back, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled back side, med

Golden Hall, Edoras, LotR, assembled angle, med

Notes: The city of Edoras was built on a hill in a valley of the White Mountains (Ered Nimrais) by Rohan’s second King, Brego son of Eorl the Young. Before this, Rohan’s capital was at Aldburg in the Folde.

As Rohan consisted of mostly small villages and farmsteads, Edoras was Rohan’s only real city, and holds the Golden Hall of Meduseld. It was here that Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf meet with King Théoden. They were admitted by Hama, the door warden who permitted Gandalf to keep his staff with him. [Lord of the Rings wiki]

Puzzle: Gateway Solitude

Gateway Solitude, med
Size: 500 pieces, 1 missing
Dimensions: 33.9 cm x 45.4 cm
Producer: Wrebbit, Perfalock foam puzzle series, 2003, 22406

Puzzle: I felt like assembling a foam puzzle which I haven’t done lately. The fit is unique and takes getting used to, but quite pleasant. A good starting point was the walkway, since it provided a vertical guide and split the bottom of the puzzle into three distinct regions. The gate and the brick pillars came afterwards, followed by the flower bunches, the trees, and the sky. Simple and enjoyable puzzle to do.

Notes: IntroducingPerfalock, the first puzzle that goes anywhere without going to pieces! Make it, move it, mount it, and it won’t fall apart. Precisely crafted out of flexible foam, Perfalock pieces fit together so perfectly you can barely see the seams! Its unique backing material means that Perfalock puzzles stay together without messy glue. Perfalock from Wrebbit. We make great puzzles happen. [Puzzle box]

Puzzle: Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany, med
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 36.0 cm x 49.3 cm
Producer: Ravensburger, Otto Maier Verlag, 1984, #14 138 8

Puzzle: Yet another puzzle of this beautiful castle, in addition to the 500-piece, the 1000-piece, and another 500-piece puzzles I’ve assembled previously. This one features clear photography, good angle, and pieces that fit together well. The easiest places to start are the sky and clouds, the orange part of the castle, the green of the grass, the boundary between the castle and the sky, and the sky and the trees, followed by the rest of the castle. The houses in the background and the trees around the castle can then follow.

Puzzle: Spectacular Interior

Spectacular interior, med
Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69 cm x 39.37 cm
Photographer: Tibor Bognàr
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, 2006, #42510-41

Puzzle: Not an easiest puzzle to make – good lighting is a bonus. Easiest places to start are the blue of the dome, the bright gold of the centre, the figures in the alcoves, the darker parts on the edges, and the golden pillars. Pillars provide good vertical guides, and pillar tops can serve as horizontal ones. The pieces fit together well making for a fun but a bit challenging puzzle to assemble.

Notes: It is unfortunate that no information is given on the box on where this photo was taken. If you know where this is, I would love to know.

Puzzle: Trevi Fountain, Italy

Trevi Fountain, Italy, med
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.3 cm x 35.6 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group, #42210-17

Puzzle: This puzzles was a little more challenging than a usual 500-piece puzzle, since so many parts of the building look alike and carry the same colour scheme. However, with Sure-Lox pieces fitting snugly into place, it was very pleasant to do nonetheless. The sky and water are best places to start, as are the dark areas on the edges. The windows, the balconies, the archway, the roof, and the regions close to the water are distinct enough to follow. The rest are a matter of completing the gaps between the earlier-placed pieces. I have done another 500-piece puzzle of a close-up of the Trevi Fountain.

Puzzle: Ludwig’s Castle, Bavaria, Germany

Ludwig's Castle, Bavaria, Germany, med

Size:  500 pieces
Dimensions: 45.5cm x 35.5cm
Producer: Leap Year

Puzzle: Not a bad puzzle as far as the picture goes, but the manufacturing process appears to be faulty: many pieces are bent out of shape and do not fit together well, taking away from the assembling experience. The puzzle itself is relatively easy to put together: the sky, the fields, and the castle are good places to start. The trees are a little more challenging, so good lighting is good to have for assembling the bottom part. Overall, nothing special: showing more castle and less of the tree area would make this puzzle more enjoyable. There are better puzzles depicting this castle, I’ve previously put together two: in 1000 pieces and 500 pieces.

Notes: Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, not with Bavarian public funds. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Astronomical Clock, Prague, Czech Republic

Astronomical Clock, Prague, Czech Republic, med
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 48.1 cm x 67.95 cm
Producer: Mega Puzzles, Structures series, 2013, No. 50941AAN, A 27053 PP

Puzzle: Beautiful puzzle, somewhat complex due to many similar grey parts: good lighting is a plus. The obvious areas to start with, are the blue and yellow circles of the clocks and the framing surrounding them. The colourful figures on the sides and the wall can follow. The rest of the pieces are then easier to fit in, guided by the completed coloured areas – one can use the vertical and horizontal guides of the columns and the ledge between the two parts of the clock.

Notes: The Prague astronomical clock, or Prague orloj, was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working. The Orloj is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town City Hall in the Old Town Square. The clock mechanism itself is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; “The Walk of the Apostles”, a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures—notably a figure of Death (represented by a skeleton) striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months.  [Wiki]