Post

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
Click again on or Share Via icon
Click on Copy Link to Tweet
Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
More info at Twitter Help

Culture Explorer

Feb 21, 2024 • 19 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

🧵America's Architectural Legacy: Gothic!

Gothic architectural beauty in the U.S. spans beyond churches to include skyscrapers, universities, and homes.

Imagine if we continued to build like this! 🧵⤵️

1. Washington National Cathedral (Washington, D.C.) - A masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture, known for its stunning stained glass and intricate carvings.

2. St. Patrick's Cathedral (New York City, NY) - A Neo-Gothic marvel in the heart of Manhattan, famous for its spires and rose window.

3. Yale University Sterling Memorial Library (New Haven, CT) - A collegiate Gothic building with elaborate stonework and stained glass, embodying academic grandeur.

4. University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) - The campus is adorned with Gothic Revival architecture, highlighted by the Rockefeller Chapel's craftsmanship.

5. Princeton University Chapel (Princeton, NJ) - One of the world's largest college chapels, celebrated for its Gothic design and intricate stained glass.

6. Duke University Chapel (Durham, NC) - This Collegiate Gothic chapel is known for its spires, carvings, and role as the campus's spiritual center.

7. Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York City, NY) - An impressive blend of Gothic Revival and Romanesque styles, it stands as one of the largest Christian churches globally.

8. Riverside Church (New York City, NY) - Famous for its towering Gothic spire overlooking the Hudson River.

9. Boston College (Chestnut Hill, MA) - Gasson Hall is a symbol of the university's Jesuit Catholic tradition, with its notable Gothic architecture.

10. Grace Cathedral (San Francisco, CA) - A modern interpretation of Gothic architecture, known for its doors and labyrinth.

11. Woolworth Building (New York City, NY) - A pioneering Gothic skyscraper, combining commercial utility with Gothic elegance and once the tallest building in the world.

12. Tribune Tower (Chicago, IL) - A Neo-Gothic skyscraper adorned with flying buttresses and a detailed façade, home to the Chicago Tribune.

13. The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis (St. Louis, MO) - This basilica is celebrated for its Gothic architecture and stunning interior mosaics.

14. West Point Cadet Chapel (West Point, NY) - A military Gothic architectural gem, featuring a towering spire and detailed interior.

15. Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning (Pittsburgh, PA) - A soaring example of Gothic Revival architecture, central to the University of Pittsburgh's campus.

16. Lyndhurst Mansion (Tarrytown, NY) - A fine example of Gothic Revival architecture in a residential setting, known for its picturesque estate and role in American history.

17. Sather Tower (Berkeley, CA) - Also known as the Campanile, this is the University of California, Berkeley's most iconic structure, offering panoramic views and showcasing a blend of Gothic elements with its grand bell tower.

From spires to towers, Gothic architecture weaves a timeless tapestry across America's landscape.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @CultureExploreX

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Sep 17

Some restaurants serve food.
These places serve awe and beauty.

Here are 20 of the world’s most breathtaking dining experiences.

Which one would you choose for an Anniversary? 🧵

1. Le Train Bleu, Paris, France

A Belle Époque palace hidden in Gare de Lyon—frescoes, chandeliers, and royalty in spirit.

2. Café New York, Budapest, Hungary (1894)

A café dressed as a palace—dripping gold, frescoes, and overwhelming grandeur.

Read 23 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Sep 13

Why do we stare at faces painted centuries ago?

Because portraits aren’t just about how someone looked. They show us who mattered. What power meant. What beauty was.

Here are 22 portraits that shaped how we see the world — and ourselves. 🧵

This isn’t just a pretty girl.

Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665) is quiet, almost plain.

But her gaze follows you. Her lips are parted. She’s thinking something.

We just don’t know what.
Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands

Not seductive. Not smiling.
But absolutely unforgettable.

John Singer Sargent’s Madame X (1884) shocked Paris.
He had to repaint the strap to stop the scandal.
She became the most famous woman nobody knew.

Met, NYC

Read 23 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Sep 12

In 2004, Navy Cmdr. David Fravor chased a white “Tic Tac” that dropped 50,000 feet in seconds, hovered, and darted off faster than a missile.

Radar and infrared confirmed it.

Physics can't explain it.

What if this sighting and others like it connect to visions in scripture? 🧵

Ezekiel, 6th century BC.

He described “wheels within wheels” of fire, full of eyes, rising and darting across the sky.

Scholars call it prophecy.

Yet the imagery—rotating forms, luminous movement—matches reports from pilots millennia later.

Were they both seeing the same reality?

Fatima, 1917.

Seventy thousand people in a Portuguese field claimed the sun spun, plunged, and threw rainbow colors across the sky.

Eyewitnesses included skeptics and reporters.

Miracle? Mass hallucination?

Or the same luminous disc phenomenon tracked today by pilots and radar?

Read 16 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Sep 11

9/11 didn’t just collapse towers, it collapsed belief.

In Institutions and In purpose.

24 years later, what’s rising in its place isn’t chaos.

It’s something more seductive and far more dangerous. 👇

Historians William Strauss and Neil Howe called it The Saeculum — a four-phase cycle of human history:

• The High
• The Awakening
• The Unraveling
• The Crisis

We are now deep inside the last one. The Crisis.

Every few generations, society hits a Fourth Turning, a total crisis that tears through its myths and rebuilds from the ashes.

• Revolution
• Civil war
• Depression
• Global war

Each cycle ends the same way: something must be reborn.

Read 15 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Sep 7

What if the greatest British export isn’t the language or the empire…

…but a sense of timeless beauty etched in stone and paint?

Most people don’t realize how bold British art and architecture really is.

Let me show you the masterpieces they never taught you about: 🧵👇

Most cities hide their secrets underground.

London built its greatest secret above ground.

The Royal Naval College in Greenwich looks like something out of ancient Rome yet it was designed by Christopher Wren to be “the Versailles of the sea.”

Its twin domes once trained the world's most powerful navy.

How do you immortalize love, sorrow, and empire… with one sculpture?

Answer: the Albert Memorial.

Critics mocked it when it was built. Now they quietly admit it’s one of the most emotionally overwhelming monuments in Europe.

Gothic, golden, and unapologetically romantic.

Read 17 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Sep 5

Poland just became a $1 trillion economy without open borders, without giving up religion, and without tearing down its traditions.

What did Poland do that the West won’t? (a thread) 🧵👇

Back in 1990, Poland was broke and gray.
Fresh out of Soviet control, it had crumbling factories, dull housing blocks, and a weak economy.

No one expected it to become the EU’s quiet success story.

Image: Warsaw (Then and Now)

Today, Poland has become a vibrant society.

Old towns have been rebuilt with care.
Churches restored.

Soviet scars replaced with colorful facades and cobbled streets.

Poland proved something no one talks about:
You can build prosperity without destroying beauty.