Architecture

[blocho]

This is a new topic to discuss all matters architectural.

One of my favorites: Henry Hobson Richardson's Trinity Church, 1877, Boston)

[OldAle1]

That is nice. The way the stairway almost seems like a gaping wound in the side of the house - but a beautiful gaping wound of course.

The Xanadu building in Alcante, Spain, visible in several films

[blocho]

Yah, both fairly ugly buildings all in all. Universities - at least the ones I'm most familiar with - seem to have gone from mostly Gothic or Victorian styles straight into late modernism and alas I don't usually find either all that entrancing.

And how! I immediately thought of the University of Edinburgh, where I spent a semester studying. The central campus around George Square is a bit of an atrocity. Half of the Georgian architecture in that area was torn up in the 1960s and replaced with brutalist monstrosities. You can see a juxtaposition of the two styles below:


Appleton Tower at the University of Edinburgh is one of the two ugliest buildings I've ever seen. This is how it appeared when I attended, though it's been renovated since and looks better now. At the time, there was a student campaign to get it entered into a contest for ugliest building in the UK.


The other ugliest is the Standard Hotel in New York:

[blocho]

That is nice. The way the stairway almost seems like a gaping wound in the side of the house - but a beautiful gaping wound of course.

It's pretty rare to see a staircase that is also an arcade. Here's an image of Trinity Church from the front:


I did a research paper on HH Richardson in college and focused on his train stations. He designed 12 in all. The few that survived, unfortunately, are not usually in good condition. Here's one in disrepair, though I think it's possible to see how good it would have looked when new:

[blocho]

The Xanadu building in Alcante, Spain, visible in several films

Never heard of this building or architect before. Very interesting.

[xianjiro]

oh, fun! I too am interested in architecture as public art. I'll join in when I have a bit more time to hunt for some stunning buildings' glamour shots.

[Knaldskalle]

Universities - at least the ones I'm most familiar with - seem to have gone from mostly Gothic or Victorian styles straight into late modernism and alas I don't usually find either all that entrancing.

I guess we should start an architecture thread or something already.

Indeed. My alma mater:

Spoiler

It's nicknamed "Rust-burg." The student newspaper was simply called "Rust." Apparently the building was inspired by a Mexican University, but instead of using wood they used raw iron plates to simulate wooden planks. Of course, someone somewhere made a mistake in calculating just how thick the metal plates need to be to withstand the corrosion, so the plates corrode through and have to be replaced every 10 years or so at a price of $150 apiece. And to make matters worse, the architectural firm that designed the place has a clause in the contract that no modifications to the building can be made without their prior approval - including interior changes. That's why the walls inside are grey despite everyone hating it. The firm said no to painting them white.


They've since added to the original building and kept it raw concrete and glass.

Spoiler

[peeptoad]

Gaudi. Got to visit several of the buildings he designed and a park area that was way cool when I visited Barcelona years ago...

[peeptoad]

The other ugliest is the Standard Hotel in New York:

This one reminds me of the one of the buildings on the Mass Art campus in Boston (I see it every day I cut through there when I get off the train for work).
eta.this one:

[xianjiro]

This is my alma mater (pffewie)



I believe this was the first building to inspire the trend of Bhutan on the Border



Modern images have palms which make it much more difficult to see the architectural theme.

I like these two comparisons, first Bhutan, second El Paso, Texas:





And finally the explanation of "why":

One of the most important decisions in the University’s history was made by its first leader, Steve Worrell, who took his wife’s suggestion and requested that the buildings emulate the architecture found in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. Kathleen Worrell had noted the beauty of Bhutanese architecture with its massive, sloping walls and deep, inset windows in an April 1914 issue of National Geographic Magazine. Almost every campus building has since followed that design.

from https://universityoftexas-elpaso.myuvn. ... hitecture/

[Knaldskalle]

Spoiler

Gaudi. Got to visit several of the buildings he designed and a park area that was way cool when I visited Barcelona years ago...

La Sagrada Familia was the highlight for me on a trip to Barcelona many years ago now. Love it and love his other buildings too.

[blocho]

I believe this was the first building to inspire the trend of Bhutan on the Border

Bhutan on the border!!

What a great story. Thanks for sharing this.

[blocho]

Spoiler

Gaudi. Got to visit several of the buildings he designed and a park area that was way cool when I visited Barcelona years ago...

La Sagrada Familia was the highlight for me on a trip to Barcelona many years ago now. Love it and love his other buildings too.

I have to admit that I dislike Guadi's work generally, but the Sagrada Familia is an exception. It's an amazing building.

[tirefeet]

Krasznahorkai in his Seiobo, There Below notes down several buildings, one of them being Gaudi's Casa Mila. One of my favorite sections in the book is about Alhambra though, where he poses the question what just is it and is it accurate to address it as "Alhambra". Goes onto detail about how it came to be and also references academic material regarding "Girih", which are decorative geometric patterns used in Islamic architecture.

An example of Girih which is on the ceiling of the Ambassador's Room at Alcazar of Seville: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alc% ... 019-11.jpg

[blocho]

This is a new park that's opening this weekend in New York City. It's a billionaire's $260 million "gift" to the city. I write gift in quotation marks because the city will eventually have to foot the considerable maintenance costs. I also think private development of public land can be problematic for all sorts of reasons. It should be noted that it's adjacent to another park in a neighborhood that's already overrun by tourists and the hyper-wealthy. And that there are plenty of much less wealthy parts of the city that actually need a new park.

That being said, the design itself is eye-pleasing. I think the only mistake is the white concrete pillars supporting the structure, which I think are going to become heavily discolored by river water in ensuing years.

[blocho]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/arts ... -dead.html

Fascinating obit about the federal government's architecture chief for a long stretch.

[BulldogDrummond]

Hallgrímskirkja Church in Iceland looks like it's going to take off any minute now.

[blocho]

Hallgrímskirkja Church in Iceland looks like it's going to take off any minute now.

I was in Reykjavik a little more than a year ago. That building has a spectacular facade.

[3eyes]

Frank Furness

https://philly.curbed.com/2017/11/13/16 ... ss-history

My daughter is a graduate.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... elphia.jpg

I used to be a member here. His father, William Henry Furness, was minister for 50 years and preached on abolition of slavery.
The building had originally had a porte-cochere. It was later removed and the sanctuary dumbed down into drab colors. In the 1980s it was restored to the Islamic colors Furness typically used: Terra-cotta hammer beams with gold beveling, peacock-blue vault with gold stars.

[blocho]

Frank Furness

A professor I had as an undergrad is a Furness specialist. This is his main book.

[3eyes]

Wow, thanks, Blocho. I'll look for it. I actually know more about his father than him.
Furness taught Sullivan who taught Frank Lloyd Wright. I was married in a Wright church, kids dedicated in a Furness one.

Has anyone heard of the Chicago firm of Perkins & Will? Will was a kinsman of mine, responsible for my handle 3eyes in a way.

[blocho]

This is a new park that's opening this weekend in New York City. It's a billionaire's $260 million "gift" to the city. I write gift in quotation marks because the city will eventually have to foot the considerable maintenance costs. I also think private development of public land can be problematic for all sorts of reasons. It should be noted that it's adjacent to another park in a neighborhood that's already overrun by tourists and the hyper-wealthy. And that there are plenty of much less wealthy parts of the city that actually need a new park.

That being said, the design itself is eye-pleasing. I think the only mistake is the white concrete pillars supporting the structure, which I think are going to become heavily discolored by river water in ensuing years.

I finally passed by Little Island, whose opening I wrote about here almost two years ago.



As anticipated, the white concrete pillars have become slightly discolored by river water and biofouling. Wood pillars like in the old Hudson River piers would have done better but not provided the visual quality that the white concrete does, so I understand the choice. In any case, it's a minor problem. Little Island is, indeed, little (only 2.4 acres). Perhaps the most impressive thing about it is how the architects and landscape designers built up the tiny park's verticality in order to make this small piece of land seem larger and provide space for looping walkways.



The principal architect, Thomas Heatherwick, has developed a reputation for designing baubles for billionaires. And that's what this park is, a "gift" to New York from billionaire power couple Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg. Heatherwick's other notable New York design has been a disaster. The Vessel, another billionaire's "gift" to the city, is closed indefinitely after becoming a suicide magnet.

No such problems have occurred at Little Island, though like The Vessel, it seems mostly intended for tourists rather than New Yorkers. When I visited, about 90% of the other parkgoers were tourists. That was midday on a Friday, and I'm guessing the ratio leans a little more NY on the weekends, but the structure's placement a block away from the Whitney Museum and the High Line mean the primary visitors here will always be out-of-towners. Even when it comes to locals, this is a part of Manhattan that does not lack parks.



Diller and Furstenberg paid for Little Island and the first two decades of upkeep. After that, the city foots the bill. Meanwhile, New York's Parks Department has suffered cutbacks for the past few years that are likely to get worse. There is no doubt that these billionaires could have done more for New York by donating money to the upkeep/improvement of existing parks or building a park in a location with less access to green spaces.



For all that, Little Island is nice. And one thing I noticed is how happy everyone there seemed to be. If this tiny park puts a smile on people's faces, then that's a success.

[blocho]

A brief, apt satire of modern architecture:

[xianjiro]

this popped up in my newsfeed



from Wikipedia (though some of this I already knew)

The New Mexico State Capitol is the seat of government of the U.S. state of New Mexico, located in its capital city of Santa Fe. It houses both chambers of the New Mexico Legislature and the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of State. The building is one of only eleven state capitols without a dome, and the only circular state capitol in the United States, for which it is commonly known as "the Roundhouse".

The New Mexico State Capitol was designed to resemble the Zia sun symbol when viewed from above, with four entrance wings that protrude from the main cylindrical volume. Along with the Hawaii State Capitol, it is the

Architecturally, the Capitol is a blend of New Mexico Territorial Revival style and neoclassical influences. Above each entrance is a stone carving of the State Seal of New Mexico. The building has four levels, one of which is below ground.

The Wikipedia article doesn't mention it, but I was also under the (misguided?) impression that the Roundhouse was meant to evoke Puebloan kivas.

[blocho]

State capitol buildings are often quite beautiful. Most of them are classical or federalist, but there are exceptions. The capitol here in New York is enormous and Romanesque, but with mansard roofs. It's a bit of a mess, but I like it a lot.



I also kind of like Nebraska's, which is a modernist tower.

[gunnar]

Hmmmm.....

[blocho]

How about this one?

[gunnar]

There ya go. A multipurpose facility.

[Knaldskalle]

I'm getting hotel de ville de Paris vibes here...

[blocho]

I'm getting hotel de ville de Paris vibes here...

Nice connection! Looks like a clear influence.

[prodigalgodson]

State capitol buildings are often quite beautiful. Most of them are classical or federalist, but there are exceptions. The capitol here in New York is enormous and Romanesque, but with mansard roofs. It's a bit of a mess, but I like it a lot.

I love the capital in Albany -- what I remember most distinctly is the endless cavalcade of figures carved in red wood along the interior. That was an interesting day -- my grandfather used to spend summers in Albany as a kid and he was able to remember and show me his uncle's old house where the KKK once burned a cross in the yard (this was on my maternal Jewish side).

Before he died my grandfather took me on trips all around the country and we used to "collect capitals," usually including tours of the buildings, a tradition I continued with my dad on a couple of road trips. Unfortunately the Santa Fe capital was closed for construction when we passed through. I must have at least driven through Lincoln with my dad, since we took the 80 across on that trip and had dinner in Omaha, but somehow I don't remember the Nebraska capital at all. I do recall visiting the Wyoming capital in Cheyenne, which was pretty rinky-dink but did feature deer or elk grazing on the lawn out front, quite the novelty for a city boy like me.

I think my favorite capital building was in Jefferson City, Missouri, such a nondescript city I had completely forgotten it was the capital til like the day before we got there, but featuring such a palatial monument of a capital in the classical style I was completely floored. Worst so far have been Phoenix and Tallahassee, both of which look like generic office buildings.