Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Astoria

Plaque, fancy civic numbers, LivornoThe “Residenza Astoria” is a quite new condominium built off “Via Ricasoli” in the center of Livorno. I really don't remember why the name, the place has always been called this way.Plaque, Astoria Residence, LivornoNothing peculiar about the building except for the location: it was built in a large space inside a city block, with only a private street leading to it.Building of the Astoria Residence, LivornoIt faces the tiny “Parco Centro Città”, featured in an old post. A friend of ours will be happy to see that this place has a palm tree just in front (and many more in the adjoining park).Prickly pears and agaves, Astoria Residence, LivornoPrickly pears and agaves complete the Mediterranean setting of this sunny building. This once was a “Hotel Astoria”, built in the 50's and definitely closed in the early 80's. It was transformed into an apartment building a few years ago.

See also: Parco Centro Città

28 comments:

brattcat said...

This looks interesting. Can you take us inside?

mo_inoh said...

cool blog. i really love the pictures and would like to go to some of those places some day.

Lowell said...

Not a striking building, but it looks solid and functional. The name is something of a puzzle...I don't think John Jacob Astor was hunting beaver skins in Livorno...

Yes, I see the palm tree. Messy old thing. I've got a few others I could ship over to you!

tapirgal said...

Your Astoria is even smaller than ours, but like ours it has to be a little strange, yes? It's located INSIDE of a city block? At least they had the good sense to have pretty tiles for the numbers. Thanks for pointing out the palm trees :) We actually have none in our Astoria, but I grew up with them in California.

Leif Hagen said...

I wonder what it looks like INSIDE! The outside is "middle of the road." The building is lucky that you're such a good photographer!

James said...

I love palm trees and I'd like to have a peek inside too.

Kate said...

It has clean lines and looks like it would be a comfortable place in which to live. I noticed that the lamps along the sidewalk are very modern and contemporary.

Tash said...

Fancy & new. I would like living there. As a kid in Bosnia, I thought that highrise living was the ultimate (even when we had to walk up 7 flights of stairs during power outage). So when I came to California, with single family homes all over suburbia, I was not impressed. :)

Andreea said...

Looks like a nice place to live. Central, park nearby, not to mention the palm tree :)

Unseen Rajasthan said...

Beautiful and Cool Place !! Great..Unseen Rajasthan

VP said...

Our usual apartment building faces a busy street with a narrow pavement, usually occupied by parked cars and scooters.
If it has windows on the sides, which is true only for the newer ones, they look just inside the windows of the adjacent building.
The windows on the back usually see no more than a small court inside the block and more windows.
So, for our cramped standards, this may not be a fancy building, but it is quite good.

Wolynski said...

Living here would be very nice. You can't tell a building from the outside - lots of buildings, especially in New York, look so-so from the outside, but are fabulous inside.

Cezar and Léia said...

Beautiful and perfect pictures!What a fabulous sunny day there and I loved the decorated tiles at the first shot!
Thanks for sharing!
Léia

Tinsie said...

Indian figs? Is this what prickly pears are called in Italian? In Greek we call them "Frankish figs".

I thought you might appreciate this tiny bit of information :-)

VP said...

@ Tinsie - Ooops, it slipped out my fingers... Yes, in Italian we call prickly pears fichi d'India.
Thank you!

Benikos place said...

I like the style of this building very much!!Regards

B SQUARED said...

I could see this building In my city but it does not look like it belongs in yours.

Tinsie said...

A ha! Another word to add to my Italian vocab (you never know when I might have a craving for prickly pears in Italy). Grazie!

tapirgal said...

That's interesting about the windows. Yes, here they have a view. That makes such a difference and would certainly make this a good place to live. Maybe someday you will meet someone who lives there and we can see the inside. It could be very nice!

amatamari© said...

Can I buy the building in many small payments?
:-)

Copenhagen said...

I wonder what it looks like inside.

Unknown said...

The building looks great and very well preserved but what I most like here is the succulent small garden! :-)

stromsjo said...

That's my kind of number plates. Way to go, tiles!

VP said...

@ Per - I have to admit that those funny tiles aren't placed on the building itself, but on a nearby one.

Gunn said...

Residenza Astoria is my favorite ! So elegant and sooooo nice!:-)

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stromsjo said...

As for the tiles we should allow ourselves some artistic latitude now and then. And they're just as fine anyhow.