Riya's Riyaaz

As summer ends the American excitement of going to the beach reduces resulting in lesser crowds, which made it a perfect excuse to visit Cape May, a popular destination in New Jersey for a day/weekend trip. Cape May is famous for its historic Victorian style architecture, the city claimed to be America's first seaside resort. The city sits at the southern tip of New Jersey and is tiny enough to walk around on foot. It was an impromptu plan so I looked up briefly what to do when we get there. We found parking easier than expected and started walking towards Washington Street Mall. Every street was adorned by Victorian style houses, with bright colors, steep roofs, bay windows, the classic porch, small gardens and ornamental wood carvings. Most of the houses served as Bed and Bath, they have attracted people from the East Coast - New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The weather was perfect while the winds made it cooler.  The Washington Street Mall is an open mall with multiple sto...

You must be aware of the thin paper lamps made quite famous by Ikea. Well, a few years back I came across a video ' Production of Akari Sculptures, Isamu Noguchi, 1951 ', this is when I learned about the man behind these lamps. Isamu Noguchi hand crafted these lamps aka Akari out of Shoji paper wrapped over a bamboo skeleton. Throughout his life, he kept reinventing Akari, as a result we see a variety of these lamps. I have always been interested in craft, whether it was a new project in high school or model making in architecture school. Learning about the world of craft is something that I am interested in, so when I stumbled upon this video, I wanted to learn more about Noguchi's work.  Noguchi was a sculptor. He believed in making with one's own hands to create art, using materials like paper, stone, clay and wood. He created many sculptures during his life in the States. On the day of Remembrance, the Noguchi museum was open for a free visit. My friend Tam and I ha...

Last year during the beginning of Fall, me and my friends decided to take a road trip to FallingWater, designed by F. L. Wright. Even though it was my second year in the States, it was the first time I paid attention to this weather. The change in the color of leaves on the East Coast has its own charm. Our trip couldn't have been scheduled at a more perfect time. The weather was transitioning beautifully (aka leaves were turning every warm shade on the palate); it had only been a few days since I bought a new phone and was excited to see the fancy world of Apple, goes without saying I took over 200 photos and videos. We drove from NJ after work on Friday and reached PA right before midnight as our tour was scheduled next day morning. At the end of our tour we had extra time, on recommendation of some people visiting from Pittsburg we decided to grab lunch near Carnegie Melon University and check out the neighborhood. FallingWater is one of a kind. It is one of those masterpieces i...