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

Sep 16, 2024 • 21 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

Wow, they actually made it better!

Here are 20 remarkable revivals proving that breathtaking architectural restoration is possible. 🧵

1. Dresden (1983 and 2019)

2. Boston before and after the "Big Dig." They took the freeway and buried it underground.

3. In 2010, a new Beaux Arts building in New York City replaced a 1950s shop building.

4. Hereford Square, London (Before and After)

5. A mall in Budapest, Hungary (Before and After the fall of communist regime)

6. Warsaw, Poland (1945 and Now)

7. Chróstnik Palace 2009 vs. now. Chróstnik, Lubin County, Poland

8. Sometimes nature takes over the beauty that existed. Revealing it is a net positive.

Chichen Itza 1892 and 2020

9. Sas-Bahu Temple, Gwalior, India (1869 vs 2019)

10. Warsaw, Poland (Then and Now)

11. Harlem, New York (Then and Now)

12. Berlin Kreuzberg (1985 and 2018)

13. Kossuth square, Budapest (Then and Now)

14. Dubai (1990 and 2021)

15. Ziggaurat of Ur (Before and after excavation)

16. Mahabulipuram (Then and Now)

17. Remodeled health clinic in Csenger (before and after)

18. Hiroshima (1945 to 2020)

19. Walkways at Ohio State University were paved based on the student's desired paths.

20. Tsaritsyno Palace, Moscow, Russia (Before and after 2005)

• • •

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

Apr 3

Latin America isn’t just beautiful; it’s breathtaking.

Its churches, cathedrals, and palaces tell stories of empires, revolutions, and dreams carved in stone.

Which of these structures leaves you speechless? 🧵⤵️

1. Las Lajas Cathedral, Colombia (1949)

2. Teatro Amazonas, Brazil (1884)

Read 24 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Apr 2

The British Empire gave the world railways, civil service systems, and a common language.

But their greatest creative contribution might be something unexpected: Indo-Saracenic architecture.

A bold fusion of East and West! 🧵

In the late 1800s, British architects in the Indian subcontinent faced a dilemma.

Neoclassical and Gothic buildings felt foreign in tropical cities with rich local traditions.

So they began blending Islamic, Hindu, and Victorian styles into something new.

Thus, Indo-Saracenic was born.

This style wasn’t just cosmetic.

It was a political gesture — an attempt to legitimize British rule by visually aligning it with South Asia’s imperial past: the Mughals, the Marathas, the Rajputs.

Domes, minarets, chhatris, jalis — all reimagined in modern stone and steel.

Read 17 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Apr 1

The Minnesota State Capitol has something no other in America can match:

The second-largest unsupported marble dome in the world.

Only the Pantheon in Rome is bigger. 🧵👇

That’s not a coincidence.

Architect Cass Gilbert studied in Europe and came back with a bold goal—build a temple of democracy to rival the ancients.

Completed in 1905, the Capitol is pure Beaux-Arts elegance.

Its dome, supported by hidden iron trusses, feels weightless.

Its marble was sourced from Georgia, Italy, and around the world.

Read 19 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Mar 31

The Roman Empire didn’t just conquer lands—it built the world we live in today.

By 100 A.D., its citizens enjoyed running water, heated floors, and public libraries—while much of the world lived in huts.

Here’s how ancient Rome shaped our modern civilization 🧵⤵️

Roads that made an empire move.

Over 250,000 miles of stone-paved roads connected the farthest provinces.

So well-built that many are still visible today—and their design inspired modern highways.

Roman concrete was practically immortal.

They didn’t invent it—but they perfected it.

Their secret mix of lime and volcanic ash made structures like the Pantheon last 2,000 years.

Modern engineers are still trying to match it.

Read 20 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Mar 30

The Birth of Venus is a painting of beauty, grace, and myth.

But behind it was a bold act of defiance — Botticelli painted pagan gods in a Christian city ruled by fear.

It nearly got him erased from history for 300 years.

Here’s the story no one tells. 🧵

Botticelli painted gods. But behind the canvas was a man tangled in power, politics, and faith.

To understand why he painted the way he did—you need to see what he lived through.

He started with nothing.

Born around 1445 in Florence as Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, Botticelli was the son of a tanner.

No fancy lineage. No early fame.

His first job? Apprentice to a goldsmith.

But he didn’t want metal—he wanted color.

Read 18 tweets

Culture Explorer

@CultureExploreX

Mar 28

Italy’s beauty isn’t just in Rome, Florence, or Venice.

It’s in the quiet towns where time slows down.

Which of these hidden gems made you fall in love with Italy all over again? 🧵