The Paris Metro. Over the years, when visiting cities, one of my favorite pastimes has been to roam deep underground in the metropolitan transit systems of today’s dense urban capitals. Be it Chicago, Berlin, Hong Kong, London, New York, Tokyo, or Paris and metro, métro, MTR, tube, underground or U-Bahn, navigating below street level is fascinating and a reality check on a city’s identity.

About miniature metal buildings. While the practice of architecture can be traced back to the first architectural treatise by Roman architect and author Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, the education of an architect is rather recent in the history of our profession. Morphing from the French Ecole Royale des Arts into the famous Parisian institution of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, this 19^th century schooling became the world’s first educational system to train architects. Based on a rigorous curriculum where the professor was master, most future graduates were expected to serve their professional careers completing governmental projects under France’s President Napoleon III.

Church Architecture of Arantzazu, Basque region. I remember it being a cold and windy November day when I first visited this site; a place of pilgrimage that I had never heard of before. Located in the Basque region of Spain, a short hour north of the medieval city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Arántzazu (1955) is situated at the end of a road, just before touching the clouds and the sky.

National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. There are many moments in one’s life where emotions take over, but few are so powerful that no matter what you think or what you do, feelings, sentiments, and memories become one in mind and body.

In part 1, I explored the work of Tita Carloni. Now I would like to study the church façade of Sant’Antonio Abate (1999-2003) designed by internationally recognized architect Mario Botta, a disciple of Tita Carloni.

Tita Carloni Church facade in Ticino. Since the founding of the Federal Charter of 1291, Switzerland has remained an open-minded country that has sought to balance tradition with innovation. This is true in many aspects of Swiss life, and is particularly visible in matters related to art, religion, education, and perhaps most importantly, Switzerland’s principle of federalism.

La Tourette by Le Corbusier. If you travel to Lyon for either the cultural sites or for a once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience (in 2010, UNESCO added France’s gastronomy tradition to the “world intangible heritage”) you may wish to stay a half-day longer to visit an icon of modern architecture.

Situated 25 miles in the hillside west of Lyon and easily accessible by train or car, the Dominican monastery of La Tourette (1956-61) overlooks the town of Eveux-sur-l’Arbresle, and is the creation of famed Swiss architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, commonly known as Le Corbusier (1887-1965). Completed in 1961 and recognized in 2016 as part of UNESCO “World Heritage Sites,” the Architecture –yes, with a capital A, remains one of the most recognizable works of Le Corbusier’s oeuvre, and continues to welcome neophyte visitors, students, and faculty in architecture from all over the world.

The Igualada Cemetery. Since the 18^th century, cemeteries have been part of the design repertoire of many architects. These design interventions continued to raise the proverbial question: Are burial grounds a metaphor for the city of the dead, or the city of the living.