Archives for the month of: November, 2011

Photos: Khan As’ad Pasha, Damascus

November 25, 2011 //

Courtyard of Khan As'ad Pasha Damascus, Syria. Photo: Quintin Lake

The khan or Caravanserai of As’ad Pasha al-Azem is situated along Suq al-Buzuriyyah in the old city of Damascus. It was built between 1751 and 1752 by the city governor As’ad Pasha al-Azem. It is one the most prominent khans of the old city, and covers an area of 2500 square meters.

The building follows a typical khan layout with two floors giving onto a central courtyard. The Khan is entered from Suq al-Buzuriyyah, through a monumental gateway lavishly decorated with stone carvings and roofed by a muqarnas semi-dome. The entrance leads to a square courtyard with shops on the ground floor, used for commerce and storage. The second floor, accessible by a staircase located to the right of the main entrance was used mainly for loadging, and has eighty rooms arranged along a gallery facing the courtyard.

Looking up to the domes of Khan As'ad, Damascus, Syria. Photo: Quintin Lake

The space of the courtyard is divided into nine equal square modules, where each module is covered with a dome raised on a drum pierced with twenty windows. The domes are supported by pendentives that transfer the load onto four piers and to the courtyard walls. An octagonal marble fountain occupies the center of the courtyard below the central dome. Each of the four courtyard walls has three doorways on the ground floor, flanked by two rectangular windows. The symmetry is maintained on the second floor where each gallery façade has three archways flanked by two smaller ones. The khan is built of alternating courses of basalt and limestone.

Three of the courtyard domes were destroyed in an earthquake seven years after the khan’s completion. The openings were covered with wooden planks until 1990 when the khan was restored and the domes rebuilt. No longer used for commerce at the beginning of the twentieth century, the khan was used for manufacture and storage until it was restored in 1990 winning the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Click Here for More from this Photoshoot >>

All images available as fine art prints or for publication / licensing contact me for pricing and to arrange use. Photographs © Quintin Lake

Tags Architectural Photography, Architecture, Damascus, Syria

Categories Architectural Photography, Delight, Photography, Travel Photography

Photos: Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria

By Quintin Lake

November 23, 2011 //

Umayyad Mosque, Damascus viewed from Mount Qassiun

Courtyard and The Minaret of the Bride at dusk after prayers, Umayyad Mosque

Ablution fountain in front of the main prayer hall decorated with mosaics said to depict paradise.

Roman arch east of Umayyad Mosque and sheesha cafe, Damascus, Syria

Birds fly by the Minaret of Qaitbayt, Umayyad Mosque, Damascus

The Umayyad Mosque also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus is the first monumental work of architecture in Islamic history; the building served as a central gathering point after Mecca to consolidate the Muslims in their faith and conquest to rule the surrounding territories under the Umayyad Caliphate. It is considered the fourth-holiest place in Islam.

Click Here for More from this Photoshoot >>

Photographs © Quintin Lake

Tags Architectural Photography, Damascus, Mosque, Syria

Categories Architectural Photography, Documentary Photography, Photography, Travel Photography

Delight: Museum of Liverpool Facade

By Quintin Lake

November 22, 2011 //

Museum of Liverpool Facade with Royal Liver Building behind topped with the iconic Liver Bird.

The Museum of Liverpool façade’s relief pattern puts forward a new interpretation of the historical architectural detail in the ‘Three Graces”, the UNESCO listed maritime buildings adjacent to the museum. The new building is somewhat underwhelming inside but externally the bold contrast of old and new is very exciting giving the city a modern European feel. The wave form was inspired by origami and to give the façade an element of variation, as the changing light and shadow affect the facades appearance. The building opened to the public in July 2011.

Click Here for More from this Photoshoot >>

Photographs © Quintin Lake

Tags Architectural Photography, Architecture, Liverpool

Categories Architectural Photography, Delight, Photography

Photos: Krak des Chevaliers, Syria

By Quintin Lake

November 6, 2011 //

Krak des Chevaliers Castle from the south West, Homs Gap, Syria. Photo: Quintin Lake

“The Krak of the Knights [Krak des Chevaliers], described by T.E. Lawrence as ‘the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world,’ is the easternmost of a chain of five castles sited so as to secure the Homs Gap…The castle stands upon a southern spur of the Gebel Alawi, on the site of an earlier Islamic ‘Castle of the Kurds.’ In 1142 it was given by Raymond, Count of Tripoli, into the care of the Knights Hospitallers, and it was they who, during the ensuing fifty years, remodelled and developed it as the most distinguished work of military architecture of its time.”Sir Banister Fletcher. A History of Architecture

Tags Architecture, Castle, Krak des Chevaliers, Middle East, Syria

Categories Architectural Photography, Documentary Photography, Photography, Travel Photography

Berman Guedes Stretton Architects: Brochure & Photography

By Quintin Lake

November 4, 2011 //

I designed this brochure and produced photography for architects Berman Guedes Stretton with a wrap-around cover which allows them flexibility to update their project pages or add specific pages in the brochure for a particular presentation. The wire bound format also has the advantage that the document lies flat on a desk when opened.

BGS architects pride themselves on their green credentials and this was carried through into the brochure design with uses 100% recycled paper, eco inks and no plastics, laminates or glazes over the print. This was also a factor in choosing the smaller A5 brochure size as it uses less paper.

I’d previously designed their corporate identity based on the beautiful typeface Bliss designed by Jermey Tankard and a green and dark grey colour scheme which are here printed as spot colours lithographically but were chosen to translate well in four colour printing if required.

When photographing their architectural projects for inclusion in the brochure, visualising the format of printed page and the colour scheme the images were intended to work with helped to create suitable photographs on site.

I’m currently documenting each month the major design and redevelopment project Berman Guedes Stretton are undertaking for Pembroke College, Oxford University. The project involves a new quad in Oxford, a radical new bridge, an Art Gallery, Theatre, Cafe and Accommodation due to be finished summer 2012.