U.S.A. ARCHIMACHINE

In what seems like a monthly occurrence, Federico Babina has released another series of architectural illustrations: ARCHIMACHINE. Various countries are represented as "machines" with pipes, gears, and other doo-dads alongside some well-known buildings. Here is the U.S.A. ARCHIMACHINE:



I can't help but take a roll call of the buildings found in the above illustration, moving clockwise from top-left:

• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City by Frank Lloyd Wright
• Empire State Building in New York City by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon
• Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, by Louis I. Kahn
• SFMOMA in San Francisco, California, by Mario Botta
• Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, by Joseph Strauss, Irving Morrow and Charles Ellis
• Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, by Frank Gehry
• Arcosanti in Arizona by Paolo Soleri
• Chemosphere House in Los Angeles, California, by John Lautner
• LAX Theme Building in Los Angeles, California, by Pereira and Luckman
• Case Study House No. 8 in Pacific Palisades, California, by Charles and Ray Eames

What comes to mind from seeing this list? Babina has something for the West Coast, with 7 of the 10 buildings in California, primarily, and Arizona. That leaves 2 in NYC and one in Texas. No Chicago. No Pacific Northwest. No Mies. It's a very West-leaning list that could have been more American with more geographic diversity. It would have been great to see a few of these buildings in place of a few California projects, like Botta's SFMOMA (Really, Federico?):

• Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, by SOM
• Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado, by Fentress Architects
• Seattle Public Library in Seattle, Washington, by OMA
• Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, by E. Fay Jones
• John Hancock Tower in Chicago, Illinois, by SOM
• Seagram Building in New York City by Mies van der Rohe
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, by Maya Lin
• Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, by Eero Saarinen