I've been admiring the images in a lot of architecture books lately and thought that seeing as we're all pretty scattered the forum would be a good place for many of us to take pictures of some well and less well known buildings and share them? With comments?
I do like the pristine images in books but they are lacking in the real life of a building and are too perfect, I'd love to see the warts and all of things like Lake Shore Drive, the cracked tiles, the ad hoc alterations...that sort of thing.
Barry, there is a mad looking building by Edward Durrell Stone in Minneapolis, do you know it? Very tall mushroom columns, I think it was the headquarters of an insurance company and if anyone lives in Detroit the Lafayette development would be great to see 50 years later.
Good idea, Heath. I always en...
Good idea, Heath. I always enjoy it when folks post shots of buildings/residences to Design Addict - seems like these type of postings are much more common, say, on places such as the 'lottaliving' website. The 'images' box that P & A have added to the template here seem to be encouraging more of these type of posts.
I'll hit it off with...
I'll hit it off with this...
Geisel Library at the U of C-San Diego. One of my favorite Brutalist bulidings. It's a bit of an illusion...while apperaing large, the interior is quite small in comparison. I think of Buckminster Fullers floating communities. Wwki link immdeiately after the photo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisel_Library
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oops sorry Barry, I was wrong, it looked like one of his but was actually designed by the architect who did the World Trade Centre, Japanses name...in a rush no time to look it up, it has a huge portico, white colums which don't really mushroom as join to form vaults. Perhaps its been knocked down.
I quite like Brutalist buildings, feeling anonymous around them anyway.
Will post some of the museum and arts centre in my capital city soon, only part of that city I really enjoy.
Heath: It's Yamasaki's Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance building
Built in 1964. Still standing.
http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Minnesota-Monthly/July-2009/Modern...
Re: the Northwest Life Insurance Building above
It a nice building but sometimes the 'powers that be' allow a building to be built in a location that screws up the entire neighborhood.
In Minneapolis around 1959, the city fathers decided that the best way to 'fix' the entire Gateway section of downtown Minneapolis - which was mostly run down with lots of flop houses and old decaying movie theaters, as well as a handful of historically important ones - was to clear cut over 15 blocks, detroying the few important buildings (including the world-famous Metropolitan Building).
Hennepin Avenue and Nicollet Avenue originally met at the sight of Gateway Park and it should have stayed that way. Instead, they remove the Gateway Park and removed the one block of Nicollet Avenue and built the above building, ruining the original street plan. Bad mistake.
Regardless of how nice the building is, it should be torn down and the Gateway Park should be recreated with Nicollet and Hennepin meeting like it used to.
Sometimes you have to reverse a bad urban renewal decision.
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The real story from a local behind a building, thanks Barry.
I drove through Hove years ago, can't remember that building though. Can't really put my finger on why I like so many brutalist buildings, they're pretty unpopular, probabaly just an affection I have for sci-fi film sets.
This is part of the Southbank centre in Brisbane, there are a few theatres,a cinema, a museum, two art galleries, the library and heaps of parklands, the original development of which the library is a part has aged really well.
Anyone here in London?
The old Tricorn Centre...
The old Tricorn Centre shopping centre in Portsmouth has been mentioned on here before. This building received so much bad press over the course of it's life. Notable 'accolades' include Britain's 3rd ugliest Building, and the most hated building in 2001. The last ten year's of it's life was spent decaying and suffering from vandalism before it was demolished a few years ago - now home to a flat open car park.
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