The Tilla-Kari Madrasa stands as a seventeenth-century educational complex situated on Samarkand's Registan square which features a central courtyard surrounded by vaulted arcades and an iwan that accesses a mosque with its interior surfaces adorned with luxurious gold decorations. The building exterior displays Central Asian decorative elements through its blue tile patterns and geometric and floral designs. The interior mosque area features gold leaf decorations which create a light-reflecting effect on the muqarnas and decorative paintings. The courtyard provides access to the domed sanctuary through which visitors experience a transition between educational areas and sacred areas. The construction of Tilla-Kari as part of a grand architectural complex demonstrates how Islamic education maintained its high status during the Bukharan era while enhancing the ceremonial value of the Registan area.]]> Architects unknown (Bukharan court workshops)
]]> Image 2: Creative Commons
Image 3: Creative Commons
Image 4: Creative Commons]]> Longitude: 66.9750 E]]> The funerary complex of Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand features a narrow processional corridor that contains mausoleums that display their exterior walls through intense turquoise and cobalt tilework. The complex follows a sequence of vaulted spaces and pointed arched portals, which produce a visual rhythm to lead visitors through the passage toward the tomb chambers of Central Asian nobles and religious leaders. The mosaic faience surfaces display Timurid decorative elements through geometric stars and floral motifs, and Quranic inscriptions, which create sacred identity through repetitive color patterns. The pilgrimage site of Shah-i-Zinda served a dual purpose to honor religious figures and display imperial power, which demonstrates how Timurid Samarkand used funerary architecture to create religious experiences and preserve imperial history.]]> Individual architects and patrons unknown]]> (restorations continued into the 19th–20th centuries)]]> Image 2: Creative Commons
Image 3: Creative Commons
Image 4: Creative Commons]]> Functional type: Funerary / Pilgrimage]]> ]]> ]]> Longitude: 66.9989 E]]> The dynastic mausoleum of Timur exists at Gur-e-Amir in Samarkand with its tall ribbed turquoise dome resting above a brick chamber which is accessed through a monumental iwan entrance. The interior design of the space features marble walls and muqarnas transitions and fine blue tile decorations which showcase Timurid artistic elements while leading viewers toward the dome. The building design leads visitors through its entrance portal to reach a single domed room which functions as a dedicated funeral area for Timur and his family members. The mausoleum served as a royal burial ground during the early 1400s to showcase political power and ceremonial functions while developing architectural elements which became central to Timurid and Central Asian sacred building design.]]> Builders/Architects: Unknown (Timurid court workshops)]]> Image 2: Creative Commons
Image 3: Creative Commons
Image 4: Creative Commons]]> Longitude: 66.9754 E]]> The Shah Mosque in Isfahan stands as a large four-iwan congregational mosque which faces Naqsh-e Jahan Square from its southern position through its massive turquoise dome and its tall minarets and its ornate tiled entrance that faces diagonally toward the square. The mosque design follows traditional Iranian courtyard architecture which guides devotees from the entrance portal through vaulted prayer spaces to the expansive domed worship area where illumination highlights both the architectural dimensions and decorative tilework. The entire structure features Safavid glazed tile artwork which displays religious meaning through its use of colored floral and geometric patterns and written calligraphy. The mosque built during Shah Abbas I's reign showcases how Friday prayer facilities served as vital elements in Safavid urban design for political and ceremonial purposes while showcasing the peak of royal support for decorative tile art in Islamic architecture.]]> Patron: Shah Abbas]]> Completed: 1629]]> Image 2: Creative Commons
Image 3: Creative Commons
Image 4: Creative Commons
Image 5: Creative Commons
Image 6: Creative Commons
Image 7: Creative Commons
Image 8: Creative Commons
Image 9: Creative Commons
Image 10: Creative Commons
Image 11: Creative Commons]]> Longitude: 51.6772 E]]> The Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque stands as a royal mosque which occupies a small space on Naqsh-e Jahan Square through its single cream-colored dome and its lack of minarets. The bent corridor leads visitors toward a domed sanctuary which receives its light through filtered daylight. The interior tilework features complex arabesque designs and calligraphic elements and the famous peacock design which becomes visible under the dome when sunlight hits the tiles at specific times. The mosque was constructed by Shah Abbas I for royal court activities instead of public worship purposes to showcase Safavid artistic values through its precise design and controlled illumination and ornate tilework.]]> Patron: Shah Abbas]]> Image 2: Creative Commons
Image 3: Creative Commons
Image 4: Creative Commons
Image 5: Creative Commons
Image 6: Creative Commons
Image 7: Creative Commons
Image 8: Creative Commons
Image 9: Creative Commons]]> ]]> Longitude: 51.6760 E]]> Inside, Ben’s Chili Bowl preserves a rare authentic mid-20th-century dinner interior. The long counter, classic stools, narrow circulation path, and textured wall surfaces remain largely intact, accompanied by new layers of cultural memory: photographs of civil rights leaders, musicians, and presidents who have visited the restaurant. Renovations in 2008 strengthened the building’s structure and systems while keeping its historic materials and language design intact.
Over time, the building transitioned from a silent movie theater to a family-run dinner that withstood the 1968 riots, economic decline, and urban renewal. Today, Ben’s Chili Bowl stands not only as a beloved local landmark but also as an architectural marker of continuity in a rapidly changing city, its preserved storefront and dinner interior embodying the cultural and social history of Washington, D.C.’s U Street corridor.
]]>
Builder - Early 20th-century construction commissioned for the Minnehaha Theater (specific contractor not widely documented)]]> https://photos.cinematreasures.org/production/photos/292680/1575353793/small.jpg?1575353793
Source
https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/AP5378600343143507-benschilibowl-1560.jpg
]]> - Wilson, K., 2020. Why Ben’s Chili Bowl, Home of the Half-Smoke, Is Hallowed Ground in D.C. AFAR [online]. 17 February. Available at: https://www.afar.com/magazine/why-bens-chili-bowl-in-washington-dc-is-a-dining-destination
[Accessed 8 December 2025].
Source
- Minnehaha Theater in Washington, DC - Cinema treasures (no date). https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/18967.
Source
- Robinson, E. (2025) 'A Washington landmark: Ben’s Chili Bowl,' Boundary Stones [Preprint]. https://boundarystones.weta.org/2017/12/07/washington-landmark-bens-chili-bowl.
Source
- Andrews, D. (2023) 'Ben’s Chili Bowl offering free Half Smokes to celebrate 65th anniversary,' WTOP News, 22 August. https://wtop.com/dc/2023/08/bens-chili-bowl-offering-free-half-smokes-to-celebrate-65th-anniversary/.
]]> Inside, the redevelopment preserved the building’s monumental warehouse volumes: large open floors supported by repetitive concrete columns, exposed mechanical systems, and raw industrial textures. The 2014 transformation carved this structure into a mixed-use urban center anchored by the Central Food Hall, where new wood, steel, and glass interventions respect and highlight the original factory character. Offices and residential lofts occupy the upper floors, while the building’s rooftop has become a civic attraction featuring leisure amenities and panoramic views of Atlanta.
Over time, Ponce City Market has transitioned from a bustling Sears logistics hub to a nearly abandoned industrial shell to one of the most ambitious adaptive-reuse projects in the United States. Its restoration reactivated historic windows, repaired brickwork, reintroduced daylight, and created a multimodal connection to the Atlanta BeltLine, all while preserving the site’s architectural integrity. Today, Ponce City Market stands as a model for revitalizing industrial heritage into vibrant contemporary urban life.
]]>
Redevelopment – Jamestown Properties with design input from S9 Architecture and Surber Barber Choate + Hertlein Architects
Builder - (Original): Sears, Roebuck & Co. construction division
]]> https://poncecitymarket.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/photo_1-1728x972.jpg
Source 2
https://poncecitymarket.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Citizen-Supply-at-Ponce-City-Market_Courtesy-of-Jamestown.jpg
Source 3
https://cdn2.atlantamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2012/07/0812_Feature_PonceCityMarket.jpg
Source 4
https://www.jamestownlp.com/uploads/images/_2250x1266_crop_center_75_none/PCM-04.jpg
]]> [Accessed 8 December 2025].
Source
- Jamestown LP (no date). https://www.jamestownlp.com/properties/ponce-city-market.
Source
- Burns, R. (2016) Ponce City Market - Atlanta Magazine. https://www.atlantamagazine.com/2012/ponce-city-market/.
Source
- Clark, T. (2017) Ponce City Market - The Georgia Trust. https://www.georgiatrust.org/preservation-awards/ponce-city-market/.
]]> ]]> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Todaiji_Culture_Center.JPG)]]>