Luigi De Marchi, Author at CulturalHeritageOnline - CHO

Dragon Bridge (Zmajski most), Ljubljana

Four copper dragons guard a river crossing built from a brand-new material — and quietly became the emblem of a city.

A public swimming bath built like a cathedral — the biggest in the world when it opened, and a gift to the people who could least afford one.

The quietest building Gaudí ever made — and the only one his own city ever gave a prize.

Gaudí built a castle on the ruins of a real one — a private house disguised as the memory of a king.

A merchant’s house remade into a fantasy palace — one facade a carved Gothic screen, the other an almost modern wall.

In the same year, on neighbouring streets, two architects opened Brussels Art Nouveau. One was Horta. The other built this.

A house designed for a painter, where the front wall does what the rooms behind it ask — and nothing the rule book wants.

Not a palace and not a church — a shared workshop, given the golden doorway of a temple.

Guimard built it for a friend, a maker of lace — and worked his whip-line ornament through every room.

The dining room where the Belle Époque saw itself in the mirror — and liked what it saw.