Architecture Thread

[Johnny Ryall]

The Shard is the only decent looking tall building in London.

What? London has a few iconic tall buildings.

Is this the building on the cover for that Hundred Reasons album?

[Return_of_the_STAR]

The topic of my dreams has become reality at last .

You should come and work in my office. There are architects at the north end of my floor and transport planners above me.

Does that mean I can post this in here?:



It's the Flipper bridge between China and Hong Kong (as cars in China drive on the right whereas cars in Hong Kong drive on the left).

Such a simple way of sorting it out

Wow. I've always wondered how that could possibly be done, if indeed there were such bridges or connections that do so.

That's a clever design as it's elegant and the curves and constantly changing elevation should keep speeds down.

It's amazing that since China took back Hong Kong that they haven't forced them to start driving on the right instead. I know that Hong Kong is technically still given individual run but we all know that china still holds the power there.

[Qikz]

The Shard is the only decent looking tall building in London.

What? London has a few iconic tall buildings.

Is this the building on the cover for that Hundred Reasons album?

The Lloyds building looks even cooler when you're looking at it from right next to one of the walls looking up. Much like the gherkin.

[jamcc]

I love thr Broadgate Tower (only just found out that that's what it's called):



It looks really different from each side. Unfortunately I cannot prove this with pictures as seemingly every bloody photo on Google images has been taken from that angle.

Edit - that photo doesn't even do it justice. Here's a couple more:

[jamcc]

So I've joined Skyscraper City. I kinda wish I hadn't. Seeing was London used to look like and the shite that we build nowadays just kills me.

[Alvin Flummux]

Most of the more interesting gems of London's architectural history were demolished over the past hundred years or so. It's hardly the fault of this generation of architects that city planners half a century ago decided to get rid of so much. Not sure who you were blaming there, , but I suppose it would be rather counter-intuitive to simply rebuild Old London Town and get rid of the new buildings.

What I'm waiting for is the day when all new buildings are required by law to be energy self-sufficient, and all the ways designers will incorporate that into the design of new structures.

[jamcc]

Yes but it is their fault that what we are building now is still shite.

[Alvin Flummux]

Yes but it is their fault that what we are building now is still shite.

Whose fault is a trend? Who do you blame for it? Everyone taking part? The instigator?

At least we're not getting any more 1950s style flats, christ those things are ugly.

[jamcc]

I don't get why we don't build stuff in pre-war style though. If it ain't broken don't fix it, etc.

[Alvin Flummux]

Chrome looks futuristic. They'd have build Churchill a chrome and glass monolith if they had had the technology!

[SEP]

Does that mean I can post this in here?:



It's the Flipper bridge between China and Hong Kong (as cars in China drive on the right whereas cars in Hong Kong drive on the left).

Such a simple way of sorting it out

That's brilliant! Just shows that the simplest solutions are often the best, and the most elegant.

[The People's ElboReformat]

Does that mean I can post this in here?:



It's the Flipper bridge between China and Hong Kong (as cars in China drive on the right whereas cars in Hong Kong drive on the left).

Such a simple way of sorting it out

When I looked at the picture I thought "quite cool, but pointless"

Then read what you put there.

Awesomes.

[jamcc]

Found this image of St Pancras station:



strawberry floating gorgeous.

[Peter Crisp]

St Pancras station did have a lot of love poured into the regeneration and I love the fact that they kept the massive glass ceiling in the main arrivals hall.

[jamcc]

What are we gonna do about this awful post-war architecture PC?

[Dual]

Here's some bloody weird Soviet Bloc Space Race buildings. They are all real.


Druzhba Holiday Centre (Yalta, Ukraine, built 1984)


The architecture faculty at Minsk polytechnic, with a succession of overhanging lecture theatres (Minsk, Belarus, 1983)


The Ukrainian Institute of Scientific and Technological Research and Development (Kiev, Ukraine, 1971)


The Georgian Ministry of Highway Construction (Tbilisi, Georgia, 1975)


mmmm you can almost smell the asbestos

[Peter Crisp]

What are we gonna do about this awful post-war architecture PC?

Erm, You're going to hate me forever for this but I really like the Walkie Talkie .
I like old buildings and I agree that some of the new stuff is just rubbish (the proposed rotating tower in Dubai being a prime example) but some of the new stuff can be magnificent if it's done right and I think the Olympic Park in London is an example of great modern design.

Here's the crappy twisty tower .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Tower

[jamcc]

I think the Walkie Talkie is pretty cool. In fact, I like most of the high-profile glass structures that are proposed for/being built in London at the moment.

e.g.


The Quill, over by London Bridge. Looks awesome.

The problem is though that they are only a tiny proportion of the buildings that are being built now. It's all the other buildings that disgust me, mainly new-build housing. They look so strawberry floating bland and just lazy.

As good as some of the new glass-facaded buildings we're getting in London now are, I really think we reached architectural perfection in Victorian times. It really bugs me that we build such shite these days when, in my opinion at least, all we have to do is emulate the architecture from those times.

I mean, would you rather have something like these:





Or these:





It's not a difficult decision.

[degoose]

The Shard is the only decent looking tall building in London.

What? London has a few iconic tall buildings.

Is this the building on the cover for that Hundred Reasons album?

thats a fugly building, i hate walking past that

[Frank]

Here's the crappy twisty tower .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Tower

What the hell is that?