Reply With QuoteI saw a few like this in Bucharest recently that keep the facade but nothing else.
Uncompromising compromise; I love it.
As someone left cold by 99% of pretty much all modernist architecture post 1920, many of the buildings posted like the Brunswick and the Birmingham Library would make my most detested list. The Belgian Art Nouveau houses and the two houses by FLW are much more appealing.
I saw a few like this in Bucharest recently that keep the facade but nothing else.
Uncompromising compromise; I love it.
That’s challenging to my eyes - seems to me that each building detracts from the other and they’d look far better as separate structures (though I do understand that space restrictions are the likely reason for this sort of solution).Originally Posted by raysablade
I saw a few like this in Bucharest recently that keep the facade but nothing else.
Uncompromising compromise; I love it.
I'm largely with you. The key for me is balance (golden ratios etc) and coherence to its surroundings. The problem is that too many architects want to make a statement which roughly translates as 'sticks out like a sore thumb'.
There are of course talented modern architects, but for every Frank Gehry or Norman Foster, it seems like there are many more times that miss the mark. The fact that 1 Poultry was just made a 2 star listed building is horrendous, especially so since what it replaced was already listed.
Probably my least favourite modernish building is the Queen Elizabeth II centre in Westminster. Ugly; check. Not in keeping; check. Ungainly proportioned; check. And that's despite me thinking Parliament is an ugly carbuncle.
That said there are some that I think work well. I must be one of the few who has always thought Centrepoint above Tottenham Court Road is a handsome building. Also, by parliament, I think Portcullis House is great
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Understandably, most posts above are buildings that folk like.
Just came to reflect on 4 detestable buildings in Bristol that don't just sap the spirit, they seem to have been calculating to offend :
1 - Colston Tower
An egregious example of poor town planning as well as architect's small dick syndrome. It dwarfs the adjoining neoclassical Catholic church which is something of a Victorian gem. If ever a building deserved a fire insurance renewal followed by a bolt of gypsy lightning this is it.
2) Bristol Haymarket Premier Inn
It makes the shonky new student block adjacent look OK - no mean feat. 1960s brutalism at its most pathetic.
Do you think it's too late to arrange a return visit by the Luftwaffe?
3) Clifton cathedral.
Nestling among some of the UKs finest late Georgian and Victorian domestic architecture is this slurry tank of a building.
It dominates the local skyline with its 2-fingered tower-thingy. To save men's souls, you must first stomp on them with your poor aesthetic appreciation. Obviously.
4) the Dickinson Robinson Building
It's Friday afternoon and the client needs design by close of business ...
(-gazes across office and is inspired by the recycling bin next to the photocopier)
On a site close to the elegant Bristol Bridge, the historic Welsh Back waterfront and visible from virtually all parts of the City. WTAF were they thinking?
some lovely brutalist architecture there, that cathedral is sublime.
That cathedral:
...makes me think 'Transformers'.
The University want to rebuild Dunelm House, an eyesore since it was thrown up in the 1960s, one of their few sensible projects these days. However there's a movement afoot to have it listed and retained, despite a £30 million pound bill looming to stabilise and repair the concrete. (Yes, that is Durham Cathedral in the background) Filed away in my "Unf******believable" folder.
F.T.F.A.
A very interesting thread this has proven to be - keep the contributions coming!
One of my favourite structures is the Palace of Westminster and its clock tower.
I mentioned it in a similar thread back in 2013 (http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ourite-designs) and I'll requote the raitonale I gave back then: 'I’ve been in this building a few times and it never ceases to enrapt me. It’s truly awe-inspiring and I find it hard to imagine that those who frequent it every day grow tired of it. An eccentric piece of gothic revival dating from the 1870s, it is a complex combination of crenellations, towers and steeples. Yet somehow it retains a beautiful and cohesive look and helps facilitate the government of this country.'
It's going through a lot of renovation at the moment, but I hope it will still be standing for many centuries to come.
Just a poor man's Hungarian Parliament!A very interesting thread this has proven to be - keep the contributions coming!
One of my favourite structures is the Palace of Westminster and its clock tower.
I mentioned it in a similar thread back in 2013 (http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ourite-designs) and I'll requote the raitonale I gave back then: 'I’ve been in this building a few times and it never ceases to enrapt me. It’s truly awe-inspiring and I find it hard to imagine that those who frequent it every day grow tired of it. An eccentric piece of gothic revival dating from the 1870s, it is a complex combination of crenellations, towers and steeples. Yet somehow it retains a beautiful and cohesive look and helps facilitate the government of this country.'
It's going through a lot of renovation at the moment, but I hope it will still be standing for many centuries to come.
free screen capture
Hopefully the Palace of Westminster will prove to be a more fruitful setting for democracy than the Hungarian Parliament building has been over the last few years! ;-)
I don't particularly rate Gehry or Foster. Gehry in particular has always struck me as someone trying much too hard to be cool. I disagree with your assessment of 1 Poultry. I think it's an acceptable building. It's in the wrong place, and personally I'd have very much preferred it if Belcher's Mappin and Webb building hadn't been demolished, but it's not awful. The QEII centre is an utter abomination, but in my view the Palace of Westminster is sublime. Centrepoint is a much better building than is often given credit for, and Portcullis House is one of the best buildings built in London in the late 20th century. It's a masterpiece.
Completely agree. His buildings are gimmicky and in poor taste and I don’t believe they’ll stand the test of time.
I tried to convince my kids (it worked when they were younger) that this was Optimus Prime’s house.
When I clapped my eyes on this when in Bulgaria, I both loved and hated it:
IMG-20180516-WA0001.jpg
It's the Buzludzha monument
Alder Hey in the Park. A special place full of light in more ways than one.
You're right on Frank Gehry. When I wrote the first message I got him mixed up with Frank Lloyd-Wright, which is who I meant. I still like some of Fosters work though, particularly the Milleu Viaduct.
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Celine Dion's house is one of the wonders of the universe. https://goo.gl/images/gzcfmb
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I know theres some lovers of Brutalism on here, so heres one of my favourites. Its in the Strahov area of Prague by the massive stadium. It was built 1980-1 designed by Jiri Trnka and was the control centre building for the Strahov tunnel. Its now seen better days but still remains a great sci-fi/70s influenced structure. This is a photo from last week when I was out there..
^^^
Like that, the glass makes it look like a giant Tiffany lamp and not at all 'brutal'.
Not a bad spot to have your weekend holiday home. From a book called Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed (CCCP) full of fascinating and slightly deranged Soviet brutalist architecture.
JLake-Sevan-006.jpg
As reviewed in the Guardian: link.
See what you make of these: Historic post-war pubs given listed status
Be prepared to see more than a handful of horrible architectural achievements... https://www.instagram.com/uglybelgianhouses/?hl=nl
Millau Viaduct is an amazing structure and triumph of Engineering IMO
I also love the Atomium in Brussels.
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