The Architecture Thread

[Find Finn]

Will it take a 150 years to finish this as well?

 

[Medwed]



Will it take a 150 years to finish this as well?

Just a lot of taxpayers money. I wonder how long is the tax abatement on that ******* thing?

P.S. Looking at his website, it appears that Calatrava does not built anything else but awful spindly things. I have heard his name before, but never actually looked for his buildings. What an awful architect he is.

 

[Find Finn]

A project like that probably costs around 500 million, so pending on who's paying 0-50 years.

 

[Medwed]



A project like that probably costs around 500 million, so pending on who's paying 0-50 years.

The New Yorker wrote that it is over 3.2 billion figure for this project. Part of it, I hope, spent on Path and Subway.

 

[Tried and True]



it appears that Calatrava does not built anything else but awful spindly things. I have heard his name before, but never actually looked for his buildings. What an awful architect he is.

Not a big fan either for the most part though I kinda like his never built Chicago Spire.

 

[Find Finn]



The New Yorker wrote that it is over 3.2 billion figure for this project. Part of it, I hope, spent on Path and Subway.

It is, below ground construction is always very expensive, the above ground building it self, can't be more than the 500 mill.

It will contain a 365,000 sq.ft. Westfield, even at 500 it will be an insanely expensive project for what it is and the rent will have to be astronomical for it to make sense for the owner.

 

[Find Finn]



Not a big fan either for the most part though I kinda like his never built Chicago Spire.

Most contemporary prestige projects aren't very good looking and are essentially pea cocking at it's worst.

Just see what they have done to London, the Walky-talky is atrocious.

 

[Tried and True]



Most contemporary prestige projects aren't very good looking and are essentially pea cocking at it's worst..

You don't need to *****foot around, just say Frank Gehry.

Just see what they have done to London, the Walky-talky is atrocious.

That one makes the Canary Wharf critics wonder what they were complaining about.

 

[Find Finn]

Renzo Piano and Rafael Vinoly are really ******* up London.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Renzo Piano and Rafael Vinoly are really ******* up London.

I'd agree that the latter is just a terrible architect. But Renzo Piano is a genius and both the Central St Giles complex and the Shard are excellent, the latter being by far the most beautiful tall building in London. But f you really want to name the thing that's "******* up London", it's the same thing that drives everything in central London: finance capital.

 

[Find Finn]

You can't seriously think Central St. Giles is good looking, I looks like someone has tried to gentrify a housing estate.

I will give the Lloyds building and master plan for Battersea powerstation are good, but the proposed new tower in Paddington?

Piano's work is much better fit for somewhere like Miami, his Eighty Seven Park project in Miami actually looks like it fits in.

London is driven by direct foreign investment by mainly sovereign wealth funds and big foreign developers ie. Battersea Powerstation.

 

[sugarbutch]

Little House with a Big Terrace
Takuro Yamamoto
Tokyo, Japan
2015

 

[StephenHero]

^ Such an odd design. For a city that's so prohibitively expensive, using a sizable chunk of the lot's space for something as relatively nonfunctional as an unenclosed patio seems bizarre. I have no idea why they wouldn't increase the square footage by using sliding partitions and turning it into a 3-season space or just enclosing the entire floor and the putting the patio on the roof where they can have greater privacy, 360 degree views, and maximized natural light without sacrificing one for the others. And the hermetic living room without external views along its length is a head scratcher.

 

[StephenHero]

Re: Calatrava's WTC design: The finish is terrible, but that's due to the fact they they didn't properly sandblast the concrete before painting it. From what I remember reading, the city balked at the cost after the design specified a better finish and they ended up cutting corners in prepping the surface, so I wouldn't necessarily blame Calatrava for an ugly design, but rather a poor effort to make the design cost-effective. If the design itself is poor, it's due to how unpractical stubborn its formal aspirations were, which seems like fair criticism given his recent track record. I really want to like the guy, because he's certainly a genius in many ways, but he needs a co-pilot that can help deliver his genius sensibly, and it appears he lacks that right now.

Re: The Shard: Gorgeous.

Re: Rogers' Central St. Giles: Awful awful awful

Re: Rogers' Bankside Development in London: Pretty crappy looking.

 

[Find Finn]

I actually like Neo Bankside, the only real gribe I have with it, is that it looks a little too much like One Hyde Park he did 10ish years ago.