“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness,” so said architect Frank Gehry. And what could be more timeless than love?
While love has inspired innumerable works of art, poetry, and songs, its influence on architecture can often be forgotten. Here are some examples of architecture that was truly built from the heart.
Taj Mahal, India
There’s no greater or more famous monument to love than the Taj Mahal in Agra. The magnificent, majestic, marble masterpiece was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in the mid-17th century to serve as a mausoleum for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
The awe-inspiring structure features intricate carvings, inlaid gemstones, and a stunning symmetrical design that reflects in surrounding pools. Elevating its elegance even further, the Taj Mahal’s facade glows from various shades of pink through to ivory depending on the time of day or night – and even on the type of moon. The “jewel” of Muslim art in India, the Unesco World Heritage Site is described as “the greatest architectural achievement in the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture”.
Castello di Torrechiara, Italy
Perched atop rolling hills in Italy’s Parma, Torrechiara Castle – or Castello di Torrechiara – was built in the mid-15th century by married nobleman Pier Maria Rossi for his lover, Bianca Pellegrini. The Renaissance-era castle served as both a fortress and a romantic retreat, with features including frescoes depicting the couple’s love story alongside mythological and historical figures and a sprawling terrace offering spectacular vistas of the Parma valley. Considered one of the most important examples of Italian castle architecture, this storybook structure boasts not only practical, military strength, but stands as a timeless monument of devotion, where love and history are etched for eternity into its stone walls.
Petit Trianon, France
The striking ochre-toned Petit Trianon House, located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in France, is an elegant neoclassical château which was completed in 1768 for Louis XV as a retreat for his mistress, Madame de Pompadour. Later, Louis XVI gifted the building to Marie Antoinette, who, looking for a refuge from the rigidity of court life, transformed it into a private sanctuary. She redesigned the surrounding botanical gardens into then-fashionable Anglo-Oriental ones. Following the French Revolution, the Petit Trianon became a hostel, and the abandoned gardens very nearly turned into allotments. Napolean restored both the palace and the gardens to their former glory, initially for his sister, Pauline, and later giving it to his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise. Then, in 1867, Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, transformed the Petit Trianon into a museum honouring Marie Antoinette. She also curated the first-ever exhibition dedicated to the former queen.
UFO House, Puerto Rico
Like something from a science fiction filmset, the UFO House is a flying saucer-like structure inspired not by love… but a broken heart.
Perched atop of a Puerto Rican hilltop, the home not only flashes as if ready for launch but even emits the iconic tones from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The house was built by retired industrial arts teacher Roberto Sanchez Rivera, 40 years after he was dumped as a teenager by a girlfriend who believed that “he’d never amount to anything”. Romantic Roberto would send her love letters with little UFOs drawn around the edges, promising his girl that one day he would build her her very own spaceship home.
The house took 10 years to build and incorporated some unusual methods to create its effects – like using dollar store salad bowls for light fixtures around its base. Roberto also chose a very specific, elevated site. “He wanted to do it in a certain spot,” his partner, Maria Martinez, told the New York Times. “So that if she were to travel, she would see it day in and day out and regret those words.” Apparently, it worked, and his ex-girlfriend did ask for him back. But it was too late. “He had drawn pictures of this house in 1978 and shown them to his friends, and people thought he was crazy,” added Maria. “He wants to show everybody he was able to accomplish his dreams.”
