The Banality of Contemporary Architecture - Page 2 - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#14872482
Yours is a great example Thunderhawk.

I wonder though. Do you think that a more true to the period addition could even be built these days? I wonder, not only about the cost but also the expertise and material availability.

I never liked the pyramid at the Louvre either though it is better integrated.
#14872568
Rugoz wrote:I don't think it works :hmm:

We have a similar "modern addition" at the Landesmuseum in Zurich, which looks like a bunker from a Star Wars movie :lol:

Image


You know what, the more I look at this particular “modern addition” the more I think it might work. It’s not the worst..
#14872636
I find it amusing that we are supposed to compare random office buildings with cathedrals.


Why not though? Even if we had to subsidize it a bit I think it's worthwhile to have office buildings that lend a positive aesthetic to a city. It's not the most pressing issue facing society sure but I think it's a worthwhile thing to do for a community.
#14872639
Pants-of-dog wrote:I find it amusing that we are supposed to compare random office buildings with cathedrals.

If you want some examples of good contemporary architecture, you should look at museums and galleries.

I'm just curious about your opinion. I also don't understand why random office buildings are okay to screw public spaces.
#14872644
mikema63 wrote:Why not though? Even if we had to subsidize it a bit I think it's worthwhile to have office buildings that lend a positive aesthetic to a city. It's not the most pressing issue facing society sure but I think it's a worthwhile thing to do for a community.


Because it is not realistic to spend the same time, money, and energy on every building as we did on cathedrals during the medieval era. Many office buildings are built by developers who then turn around and sell the building to the people who end up occupying it. And they are trying to make a profit, which means they will spend as little as possible.

Incidentally, this is why I do not like to work for developers. I prefer institutional architecture.

Beren wrote:I'm just curious about your opinion. I also don't understand why random office buildings are okay to screw public spaces.


To me it looks like any other recently built office building. It has a glass and aluminium curtain wall, a multistorey atrium at its entrance, and a non-dramatic use of angles.
#14872786
Pants-of-dog wrote:I find it amusing that we are supposed to compare random office buildings with cathedrals.

It's because we don't build cathedrals anymore. We build office towers. We believe in money now.

Victor Hugo once said that every building contains two parts: its beauty, which belongs to everyone. And its function, which belongs to its owner.

Since WW2, owners have decided to screw the public and the 'beauty' buildings were supposed to provide them with. Corbusier went as far as ordering architects to 'kill the street,' and many modern buildings do that.

The fascists also wanted to kill the street (the culture, the community, social capital) and the short-term trendy/long-term ugly aesthetic of the vast majority of post-WW2 buildings has its parallel in the ugliness and brutality of car-based suburbia and mass media zombiehood.
#14872929
If we were going to make an honest comparison between medieval cathedrals and modern buildings, I would compare the cathedrals to museums and galleries, as they are the closest thing we have. And we tend to make them as beautiful as possible.

I quite like the Cree Cultural Institute, or as the Eeyou call it: aanischaaukamikw.

Image
#14873077
I didn’t mean in a distasteful way. Nothing wrong with using some metals that were used traditionally as a feature..it’s very, um wooden. If you want to stick to the native feel of it then incorporating some natural fibres would have been genius and eco friendly.
#14873294
Vienna University of Economics and Business

Old campus:
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New campus:
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Without 19th century historicist architecture Vienna wouldn't look anything like it does today. All of Ringstrasse was built in this style. Most of the buildings contain flats, offices and shops.

Schubertring:
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Stubenring:
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Schottenring:
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Rossauer Barracks:
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#14873324
The OP suggests that most Modern Architecture is banal. But it's much worse than that: it's harmful.

The reason Vienna is so beautiful is because the architecture is human scaled, and money has been invested in quality materials and public aesthetics.

Even when Modern buildings are aesthetically pleasing, the cheapness of the materials and lack of respect for surrounding buildings makes them harmful to the streetscape and to the sense of community and shared values.
#14873401
Pants-of-dog wrote:THat looks like weathering steel on the new campus building closer to the foreground. Nice, but you would need some good detailing to not stain all that white landscaping.

It's an eyesore as far as I'm concerned. Horrid.
#14873408
The old campus was much nicer :hmm: So what happened to the old building? I’m sure it’s still in existence but isn’t used as a university anymore?
Some of these old buildings can be quite run down and their up-keep expensive so it just makes sense to build a new one.
I suppose it isn’t right to copy the old style, but to stray so far from it isn’t logical either. There’s leaps and bounds and then there’s just, well, whatever the opposite to continuity is :hmm:

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