Architecture - the good, the bad and the ugly

Love the AON center and all of Millennium Park! Great acoustics at Pritzker, too. I've taken way too many pictures of that place.
Will have to get more Gehry, Lloyd Wright and others up as well as the un-pretty buildings...celebration time right now, though.

 

I am a fan of the traditional Singaporean shophouse. It's a practical building.

Typically there is retail or merchant space in the bottom and residences on the top. Pretty standard. Where they take a step up for me is in the following:

1) Scale: They are typically two to three stories tall and don't tower over the streets. They are usually found on narrower streets and aren't set too far back giving an intimate homey feel to a neighbourhood.

2) Inner courtyard that provide natural light, ventilation and a space to gather. Ventilation being key when you live on the equator.

3) The five-foot way. This is the overhang on the front of the building. It is a public space meant to offer both shade from the unrelenting sun and cover from the torrential downpours that are so frequent here. This design feature is actually a part of the original city planning code set in place by Stamford Raffles (the Brit who founded Singapore). Another example of how building codes can shape the look of a city.

Here is a tour of the insides of one that has been preserved: ONG&ONG Corporate

Here is a tour of one that has been restored and modernized... I really want to live here and if anyone has several million for me to buy it I am game: 55 Blair Road / Ong & Ong | ArchDaily

A contrast to modern Singapore.


Not all have these fire escapes but you have to agree, they are pretty and functional.


Scale and intimacy - recipe for vibrant Urban living.


The Five-Foot Way


Inner Courtyard

 

I just have to say, again, how much I love this space.

55 Blair Road / Ong & Ong | ArchDaily

 

I can see why. Everything about it is to fall in love with. It's magnificent.

 

Zaha Hadid, who is most recently notable as the architect behind the Qatar stadium that looked a lot like a vagina, is a very interesting architect. Her lines are fluid and her structures alive.


Riverside Museum - Glasgow


The Galaxy Soho - Bejing


Another angle... same building


Cultural Centre - Azerbaijan




Inside


She's also good at masterplans. This one is for one north, an area in Singapore that held my old office. This design is well underway to becoming reality.

 

back to brutalism!

Pirelli Tire Building, New Haven


Plaza de Espana, Santa Cruz. Tenerife
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Unité d'Habitation by Corbusier
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It's weird that I love brutalism so much because, in general, I am not attracted to harsh and severe imagery in art, but something about the stark, matte, symmetrical shapes of a lot of the buildings really appeals to me. In fact, even the oppressive, decaying buildings in ghettos and public housing complexes (particularly in Eastern Europe) appeal to me on a certain level.

That Pirelli building on the top, though, it's a perfect building by my estimation.

 

This is a great thread!
When I am alloowed to post oictures, I'll have a few to add to teh collection.

 

So, when do new members become eligible to post pictures?

 

after 10 "real" posts, the typical spammer does not get that far.

 

Not-pretty buildings in Chicago.

SOURCE:

Wow--that sort of looks like a partially disassembled Lego structure.


Skybridge

MCA

The Museum of Contemporary Art -- I just don't see the appeal. It's bland and imposing. Do not like.

SOURCE:

 

I just spent 20 minutes putting together a post inspired by this photo of an Israeli apartment building designed by an architect named Zvi Hecker and the cat walked across my keyboard and closed my browser. Damn cat. Look at her. Sitting on my lap looking all innocent and shit.

Anyway, here's the building. I will add the rest later.
Apartment Building, Ramat Gan, Israel, 1960-65

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One of his buildings has a sort of interesting story.

 

That is very reminiscent of the Habitat in Montreal:

From Wikipedia:

Habitat 67, or simply Habitat, is a model community and housing complex in Montreal, Canada, designed by Israeli–Canadian architect Moshe Safdie. It was originally conceived as his master's thesis in architecture at McGill University and then built as a pavilion for Expo 67, the World's Fair held from April to October 1967. It is located at 2600 Avenue Pierre-Dupuy on the Marc-Drouin Quay next to the Saint Lawrence River. Habitat 67 is widely considered an architectural landmark and one of the most recognizable and significant buildings in both Montreal and Canada.


The development was designed to integrate the benefits of suburban homes, namely gardens, fresh air, privacy, and multilevelled environments, with the economics and density of a modern urban apartment building.[1] It was believed to illustrate the new lifestyle people would live in increasingly crowded cities around the world





Built for the World's Fair in 1967 (Expo'67)



The concrete doesn't age well:

 

I even like it all weathered and beat-up looking.

 

I'm a big fan of Habitat.

...

The world could really benefit from more giant cartoon humans striding around downtown.

They can be freestanding or integrated into the structures themselves. Way gnarly.



You know, just to remind us how tiny and insignificant we really are.

 

Ramot Polin designed by Zvi Hecker.
Built in Israel in the late 1970s, the structure is a beauty to look at but an obvious failure, Apparently they were a nightmare to live in and the tenants took to making their own modifications so that today it bears very little resemblance to it's former self.

Here's a far more compelling recounting of the story.







What the buildings look like today.

 

A great example of form over function.

 

The Chicago Tribune Tower. It is so beautiful to pass by at night.
By day, you can spend your time checking out the wild collections of artifacts from around the world that are attached to the outer wall of the building. It has this odd appeal.




Designed by the winners of a Chicago Tribune contest--architects John Mead Howells and Raymond M. Hood--the design of this 1925 Gothic tower was influenced by cathedrals in France and Belgium. The structure de-emphasizes horizontal lines and accentuates the vertical, creating the illusion that the building soars well above its 36 stories. The outer walls of Indiana limestone are studded with more than 150 stones and artifacts from around the world, including the Taj Majal and Great Wall of China. Carved into the walls of the soaring entrance are famous quotations expressive of the ideals and obligations of the press. The Tribune Tower is headquarters of the multimedia Tribune Company.

 

Speaking of Habitat... here is a condo that is nearing completion in Singapore. It's not too far from my house. I haven't read any documentation about the project but it does seem to pay homage to Habitat.

 

Another building I really love in Singapore is the Lasalle School of the Arts.

The building is like a large black box that has been cracked down the middle and pulled apart to reveal a juicy, glass-filled centre of bustling activity.

Sadly, at present, you can't really see it from a distance as there is a massive construction site planted right in front of it. The site is for a new subway line being built, so one day it will be less shrouded from the street.