• Facepunch Architecture & Design Discussion
    102 replies, posted
[QUOTE=SwizzChees;46897363]the holy cross church is from my home :v: it's actually quite more interesting from the inside. As a kids we we're always playing around there, jumping from roof to roof since it was so "stacked"[/QUOTE] Yeah, there are some fantastic interior pictures on that second link. That's one of the places I really want to visit if I ever get the chance.
I can reccomend CH for architecture tourists. If you ever make it be sure to visit Basel and Lucerne. They both havehotspots for buildings of famous architects. Especially the Vitra Campus which features works from Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Gehry, Herzog&Demeruon Herzog&Demeruon design there: [IMG]http://www.anothertravelguide.com/galerijas/destinations/europe/switzerland/basel/architecture/architectural_points_of_interest/vitra_campus/lielas/vitra_campus4.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=SwizzChees;46897403]I can reccomend CH for architecture tourists. If you ever make it be sure to visit Basel and Lucerne. They both havehotspots for buildings of famous architects. Especially the Vitra Campus which features works from Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Gehry, Herzog&Demeruon Herzog&Demeruon design there: [IMG]http://www.anothertravelguide.com/galerijas/destinations/europe/switzerland/basel/architecture/architectural_points_of_interest/vitra_campus/lielas/vitra_campus4.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] Vitra's the European equivalent of Herman Miller, right? They do modern reproductions of mid-century furniture, and handle manufacturing for today's prominent modernist designers? Also, I think I've seen that building in Dwell before. The interior looks amazing, and it looks even cooler at night. [t]https://cultureofdesign.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/vitrahaus-architecture-herzog-and-de-meuron-2010-photo-by-iwan-baan-yatzer_1.jpg[/t]
[QUOTE=SwizzChees;46897403]I can reccomend CH for architecture tourists. If you ever make it be sure to visit Basel and Lucerne. They both havehotspots for buildings of famous architects. Especially the Vitra Campus which features works from Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Gehry, Herzog&Demeruon Herzog&Demeruon design there: [IMG]http://www.anothertravelguide.com/galerijas/destinations/europe/switzerland/basel/architecture/architectural_points_of_interest/vitra_campus/lielas/vitra_campus4.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] Herzog & de Meuron designed the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. I can't stand the design - the texture just looks awful and the entrance looks like a giant angry face. It's a big uneven badly-textured block on top of an otherwise low-lying flat building. [t]http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/39289063.jpg[/t] [t]https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gvn4XjBMEHU/T0lJ7oXnhNI/AAAAAAAADCU/ulhG23kiZho/s1600/DSCN0745.JPG[/t]
[QUOTE=.Isak.;46897423]Herzog & de Meuron designed the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. I can't stand the design - the texture just looks awful and the entrance looks like a giant angry face. It's a big uneven badly-textured block on top of an otherwise low-lying flat building. [t]http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/39289063.jpg[/t] [t]https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gvn4XjBMEHU/T0lJ7oXnhNI/AAAAAAAADCU/ulhG23kiZho/s1600/DSCN0745.JPG[/t][/QUOTE] Yeah, that's getting a little bit Gehry-ish for me. I've never been a huge fan of that extreme of postmodernism. I mean, some of it looks okay, like the Walt Disney Concert Hall, but others... [t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Lou_Ruvo_Brain_Institute.jpg[/t] That's a center for brain health. I'm pretty sure if I went there for treatment, I'd be convinced there was something wrong with me.
Vitra campus isn't necessarily good architecuter. It's more of a collective "experimental" architecture. They invite famous architects and give them the freedom to design in sometimes unusal ways. Todays modernism is often based on the "duck building" principle where everything becomes a symbol, a self representation and unaware of its surrounding. Gehry is the the worst example of how you shouldn't do it imo.
[QUOTE=SwizzChees;46897453]Vitra campus isn't necessarily good architecuter. It's more of a collective "experimental" architecture. They invite famous architects and give them the freedom to design in sometimes unusal ways. Todays modernism is often based on the "duck building" principle where everything becomes a symbol, a self representation and unaware of its surrounding. Gehry is the the worst example of how you shouldn't do it imo.[/QUOTE] Yeah, but even then I'm not quite sure Gehry understands how buildings work on any fundamental level. He's very much a form over function guy, more of a sculptor than an architect. That's why half of his buildings are sheet metal shells over standard construction, and the other half just look like they're melting.
[QUOTE=woolio1;46897457]Yeah, but even then I'm not quite sure Gehry understands how buildings work on any fundamental level. He's very much a form over function guy, more of a sculptor than an architect. That's why half of his buildings are sheet metal shells over standard construction, and the other half just look like they're melting.[/QUOTE] he's no form follows function guy at all. quite the opposite really, you can't read shit from his facades of what's going on inside. But like you said, he's sculpting his building from the outside and fills it in afterwards it seems. [editline]10th January 2015[/editline] wait never mind, I read that wrong. I thought you said "form follows function" :v:
[QUOTE=onebit;46897552]I believe a tall interior and a flat exterior is optimal for human perception.[/QUOTE] that's put way too simple. Haptics are just as important as simple looks.
[QUOTE=onebit;46897552]I believe a tall interior and a flat exterior is optimal for human perception.[/QUOTE] I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean.
Let's share buildings from our cities: Wells Fargo Center. Modernized art deco, beautiful at night. Pretty much defines the skyline of Minneapolis. [t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Wells_Fargo_Center_Minneapolis_night_1.jpg[/t] AT&T Tower. I really like this building - the "flares" near the top are pretty unique and visually interesting. [t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/AT%26T_Tower_Minneapolis_1.jpg/240px-AT%26T_Tower_Minneapolis_1.jpg[/t] IDS Center. [t]http://ids-center.com/wp-content/uploads/blackandwhite.jpg[/t] Basilica of Saint Mary. [t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/2008-0705-BasilicaStMary.jpg/250px-2008-0705-BasilicaStMary.jpg[/t] Cathedral of Saint Paul. Technically not Minneapolis, but too pretty to leave out. [t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/St_Paul_Cathedral_2012.jpg/250px-St_Paul_Cathedral_2012.jpg[/t] [t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Cathedral_of_Saint_Paul_Organ_Case.jpg/220px-Cathedral_of_Saint_Paul_Organ_Case.jpg[/t] Hennepin County Government Center. One of my favorite buildings in the city - it just looks nice. [t]http://blog.room34.com/wp-content/uploads/underdog/421px-hennepin_county_government_center.jpg[/t]
I'm going into town today, so I'll take some pictures and post them here when I get back.
[QUOTE=eurocracy;46897245]Apparently this is an unpopular opinion but I like brutalist architecture: [IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Buffalo_City_Court_Building,_1971-74,_Pfohl,_Roberts_and_Biggie_(8448022295).jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] They make good server farms!
I didn't end up going into town today, so I'm just going to post some pictures from my university instead. From the mid-60s until 2012, Bruce McCarty was one of the most popular architects in Knoxville. He attended the University of Michigan, where he became enamored with the works of Frank Lloyd Wright. He started attending Wright's lectures in the late 1940s, and eventually became good enough friends with him that Wright invited him to Taliesin. From there, he studied Edward Stone, a Brutalist; I.M. Pei, a Chinese modernist; and Louis Kahn, who falls somewhere between modernism and postmodern brutalism. After the war ended, he moved back to Knoxville with his family and became a draftsman at a local firm. He became a partner with the firm in the 50s, and started designing residential buildings before the city started commissioning civic buildings from him. Sometime in the late 50s/early 60s, he started getting contract work from the University of Tennessee, which was on a modernism push at the time. The Humanities complex was the first project he designed for them, which cemented his place as the premier architect for the university until the end of the century. [t]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NM4rOJ9iZik/TZYfsnTYYGI/AAAAAAAAACI/hxvSmtZBUF0/s1600/P1000560.jpg[/t] UTK Humanities Complex He did other, smaller things until the 70s, when he started his own firm, and designed the City County Building and the UT Art and Architecture building. [t]http://mediaassets.knoxnews.com/photo/2014/11/25/money_9937933_ver1.0_640_480.jpg[/t] City County Building [t]http://mhminc.asenclients.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/utaaext3.jpg[/t] [t]http://0.static.wix.com/media/59a292c269c44d8bb9d5e95d5dd4d1fb.wix_mp_1024[/t] [t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Arch_UTK4.jpg[/t] Art and Architecture Building (Sorry for the angles. It's hard to get good shots, since it's such a long building and the trees in front of it block it.) In the late 70s, he was assigned as the chief architect for the 1982 World's Fair, and his firm designed not only the park itself, but many of the hotels and convention centers that sprung up to support it. [t]http://randytreadway.com/100_0306a.JPG[/t] [t]http://thefoxisblack.com/blogimages//knoxville.jpg[/t] [t]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f-xj60Fns5g/U2ODoTPmAII/AAAAAAAAM2I/1Ty1Iwe2qtk/s1600/1982WorldsFairPostcard1a.jpg[/t] [t]http://www.billcotter.com/misc/knoxville/aug-25-11-13.jpg[/t] After that, his son took over the firm, but he continued to work there until he passed away in 2013 at the age of 92. [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_McCarty"]You can see a complete list of his works here[/URL], I've just highlighted a few.
I love totalitarian architecture From the Soviet Union: [QUOTE]Unapologetic in their colossal scale and glorification of the totalitarian state, these gigantic structures dominate urban landscapes of the former Eastern Bloc countries, still capable either to inspire dreams of imperial grandeur, or resurrect ghosts of dark abuses of power. Unlike much of German architecture created in the Nazi period, buildings and other structures from the Stalinist era are still are very much with us, some being built after Stalin’s death in 1953, but in the same style as that prevalent in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Examples of Stalinist architecture, mostly in Russia and the former Soviet republics, but also in Eastern Europe, are quite well known. This article examines a selection of the more notable buildings and monuments, as well as some of the planned projects that never materialized.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]The champions of the communist world made a point of expressing the perceived superiority of their political system at the 1937 International Exposition, when the pavilions of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union defiantly faced each other in Paris:[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-VFdh6K6GX7I/UP9CfWS3B_I/AAAAAAACDCc/ZPPJx5WPvD8/s900/aa1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7kLYLWpAERg/UP9CgD7M3KI/AAAAAAACDCk/NVS1MYrplzs/s900/aa2.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]The Palace of the Soviets was to have been a huge congress facility and administrative building located close to the Kremlin. Had the final version been completed, it would have been the world’s tallest structure:[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--d6oSiACph4/UP9ChM63FhI/AAAAAAACDC0/pMhZFAoNSbM/s900/aa4.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]The contest to choose a winning design for the Palace ofthe Soviets took place between 1931 and 1933. Here are a few of the ideas that were considered: perhaps the most grandiose was the entry by Boris Iofan, Vladimir Schuko and Vladimir Gelfreich (1934-35 version):[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-t1oA0Vjt5VU/UP9Cjqo2AYI/AAAAAAACDDU/uLDS3GEL4Go/s900/aa8.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]Very interesting proposal by Italian architect Armando Brasini, displaying quite different approach:[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PNBFsfqENH0/UP9CofjIz0I/AAAAAAACDEU/JIquZ1NShsg/s900/aa16.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-uw6Y1_RNggs/UP9CpEtlOqI/AAAAAAACDEc/xJl7b5JDun8/s900/aa17.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]Here is the very impressive interior hall proposed for the Palace, filled with radiant light:[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n1tx1AogYxM/UP9CkJhHPvI/AAAAAAACDDc/NAiGpY2XU8s/s900/aa9.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]The historically rich area around the Palace was supposed to be razed to the ground and filled with new huge buildings... thus becoming one of the biggest unrealized architectural projects in history - and a symbol of the Victorious Socialism and the new Moscow:[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xkR0C-ublrI/UP9Cph0Mt_I/AAAAAAACDEk/Gr3En0_K3ms/s900/aa18.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]Artists of Social Realism School began to include the Palace of the Soviets into their propaganda paintings:[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-joZSw5aptlM/UP9ClaWbHQI/AAAAAAACDDs/nGKS5Kke5ts/s900/a11.jpg[/IMG] [url=http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2013/01/totalitarian-architecture-of-soviet.html]More architecture from the Soviet Union.[/url] From Nazi Germany: [QUOTE]Fascist and communist governments in the first half of the twentieth century both created monumental architecture, largely to intimidate their people and showcase the regime's strengths. In a totalitarian system such as existed in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, the government attempted to control every aspect of daily life. It used architecture to some degree to achieve this, to firmly establish its authority leaving no doubt as to who was in charge. One of the chief aims of Nazi architecture was also to reflect the beliefs of National Socialism, celebrate the German national identity and glorify the idea of the master Aryan race, as perceived by Hitler and his associates.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZus8bDmq8I/AAAAAAAA6cA/0cqV8NLSyMU/s800/tyjery6jtrjyg.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]There was no official Nazi architectural style although most of the structures and monuments designed by Albert Speer and others imitated Imperial Rome. Hitler was an admirer of the Roman Empire and imagined himself to be creating a realm to both rival and then surpass that of the Caesars. The Nazis, who dismissed much of the customary decoration and used only the raw, muscular elements, exaggerated the classical Roman style, which portrayed their ideal image of a strong, warlike state. This was known as stripped classicism and was not only used in Germany, but was relatively popular in other countries as well in the inter war period.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZus4yuVaCI/AAAAAAAA6as/xRLLVmy2XvM/s640/ryhjrsthsrfthf.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusm1bL5XI/AAAAAAAA6W4/18iSEwRRurI/s640/erthrwthwert.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]Hitler had Speer, his favoured architect, design plans for the rebuilding of Berlin. This was a monumental task in itself, to create Welthauptstadt ("World Capital") Germania, the new city, which would be the capital of German-dominated Europe. The photographs of the plans for Hitler's city survive to this day in the German federal archives.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZuseVxEdKI/AAAAAAAA6Uo/eZLKp7BDLPc/s800/qwerqwerwer.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]A grand boulevard, three miles in length, to be known as Prachtstrasse, ("Street of Magnificence") would run from north to south. A huge arch would be located at the southern end, which would be almost 400 feet high and able to fit Paris' Arc de Triomphe inside it. At the northern end would be the Volkshalle ("People's Hall"), an enormous domed building designed to be the centrepiece of the new Berlin.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusgz5tlpI/AAAAAAAA6VM/pZIfior6o3Y/s640/ertherthdgfgd.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusgL-OcBI/AAAAAAAA6VA/OZqcvUVBgc4/s800/swgtrhwegtregtfrd.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]An even bigger stadium, the Deutsches Stadion, designed for some 400,000 people, was planned for Nuremberg, but the project was abandoned shortly after the foundations were completed. Had the stadium actually been built it would still be the largest arena of its kind in the world.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusyEFts-I/AAAAAAAA6Yo/2ejuGdlEqws/s640/ryjrthjrtrhyt.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE][B]The Reich Chancellery, built to intimidate:[/B] [B] Another building that was actually finished was the new Reich Chancellery, which was built in only nine months after Hitler asked Speer to design it in early 1938. The structure's Marble Gallery alone was twice as long as the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles and measured 480 feet in length. The complete collection of rooms making up the approach to Hitler's reception gallery was 725 feet long, while Hitler's private office was 400 square metres.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZuskJPZXYI/AAAAAAAA6WI/cK291-gqdD8/s640/sdtrhswethewgtrde.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZuswe-CdBI/AAAAAAAA6YE/gTWvZPtNH-8/s640/tyjeryjrtgf.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZus7abZD4I/AAAAAAAA6bo/LOMZpCBrSW8/s640/tyjeryjtyjgt.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]Allied bombing took a huge toll on German cities and Berlin suffered greatly in the Soviet assault in the spring of 1945. Some buildings however survived intact or are still visible as ruins. Some of the better known structures are in Nuremberg, site of the huge Nazi rallies throughout the thirties. The Zeppelinfield Arena was one of Speer's first projects for the party in 1934 and was based on the Pergamon Altar, an ancient Greek structure, which has featured in lists of wonders of the world. Used for the enormous Nazi rallies and party ceremonies, the arena was built on a huge scale and could hold 240,000 people.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusw1hTd6I/AAAAAAAA6YQ/luo5NR-oMIo/s640/ery6jurtherthrf.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SZusipmW28I/AAAAAAAA6V8/LmqXc9LQhkM/s640/etrhertherthwefd.jpg[/IMG] [url=http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/02/totalitarian-architecture-of-third.html]More architecture from Nazi Germany.[/url] [/B][B] [/B]
I still prefer Le Corbusier's Palace of the Soviets to the mix-and-match version they chose, but I can kind of understand why they didn't choose it. Traditionalism displays power much more effectively than modernism. Nazi Germany created some of the best Imperialist architecture probably ever conceived. Everything was so grand and opulent, yet surprisingly clean and well-defined. I love it so much. Shame the country was run by a power-hungry genocidal dictator, but I don't think they would have developed the style so much if it weren't.
Soviet era monoblocks have like some kind of magic to them Maybe that's because I played too much STALKER But really, they are iconic. Whenever I see one of those in a real life video, I instantly think "Ex URSS"
[t]http://sslarchitects.com/images/projects/in_progress/Pac-Tower-01.gif[/t] I love seeing pacific tower every time I drive by it. Also seen in Meet the Medic, I believe.
For the game I'm working on, I generally like to make architecture that's polygonal and mathematical with a lot of different colors. [QUOTE=.Isak.;46897786]Let's share buildings from our cities: Wells Fargo Center. Modernized art deco, beautiful at night. Pretty much defines the skyline of Minneapolis. [t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Wells_Fargo_Center_Minneapolis_night_1.jpg[/t] [/QUOTE] When I was a kid, I used to think it looked like a lion/camel thing pez dispenser at night whenever I was far from it.
I got some pretty weird and cool stuff : [IMG]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/S4eTDglOQEI/AAAAAAABQTg/F6Q9GRK7lng/s720/we54yew4rgtewarw.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/S4eTNfbGBuI/AAAAAAABQVE/Hhe_580w5Bg/s720/t67r6ur5tes5re.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/S4eS5kjJz0I/AAAAAAABQRg/EUlSwRZJE-o/s720/e546ue4w5yretr.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/S4eS9IzzpSI/AAAAAAABQSQ/X1t2H2zNfwU/s720/ey6uerw5yewtge.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/S4eTQISzMBI/AAAAAAABQVk/0cFUukqehIk/s720/destiny-aerial-mark-goener.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/S4eTHjKPqWI/AAAAAAABQUI/6g2lWrQxQco/s720/0028-1196046663069.jpg[/IMG] [img]http://lh5.ggpht.com/abramsv/SLOuPA5xi9I/AAAAAAAAb5Y/e71k_BeaDuo/s720/356354yerrtrsdgsdfsg.jpg[/img] [IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/abramsv/SLOuN8p_uxI/AAAAAAAAb5A/Xzhb3agJ2M0/s720/234523tertwerwe.jpg[/IMG]
I always love seeing what people used to think the future would look like, and seeing how that changes over time. The "endless expanse" cityscape always seems to be a recurring theme. For some reason, people always seem to go bigger, which never corresponds with anything that happens in reality. I wonder what causes that?
i love brutalism irl and i go to school at a university that was fundamentally founded on it. we have such things as this: [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/UMass_Amherst_Campus_Center_1.jpg/800px-UMass_Amherst_Campus_Center_1.jpg[/img] and other interesting things like this, which is our arts center [img]http://www.krjda.com/Images/U%20Mass%20Images/umass_side_430.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=.Isak.;46897308]That's because brutalism isn't good at all for neighborhoods. It's amazing for military structures and shit that you want to awe people with, but if you're going to base the design for a place where humans live on an art style that almost inherently goes against classic values of aesthetics that humans like, you're terrible at picking designs. [t]https://i.imgur.com/W4lazlx.jpg[/t] [t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/de/University_Library_at_Northwestern.jpg[/t] These are great examples of brutalism working well - and they're both libraries.[/QUOTE] Yeah. I go to the University of Toronto, and Robarts Library is generally seen as an intensely impressive and authoritarian looking building from the outside, but labyrinthine and soul-crushing on the inside. It is open 24 hours a day, and is designed so that large portions of the library are completely deprived of outside light. It's an oppressive-feeling place. I've also lived in a brutalist, quasi-soviet style apartment block, and I can say for absolute certain that the psychological effect of living in a structure built in that fashion is definitely significant. Not fun.
[QUOTE=AtomicWaffle;46910921]Yeah. I go to the University of Toronto, and Robarts Library is generally seen as an intensely impressive and authoritarian looking building from the outside, but labyrinthine and soul-crushing on the inside. It is open 24 hours a day, and is designed so that large portions of the library are completely deprived of outside light. It's an oppressive-feeling place. I've also lived in a brutalist, quasi-soviet style apartment block, and I can say for absolute certain that the psychological effect of living in a structure built in that fashion is definitely significant. Not fun.[/QUOTE] You know, having very little outside light is great for a library, especially one with open stacks. Reason being, sunlight deteriorates books faster than artificial light from UV-coated fluorescent light bulbs. The less light you allow in, the longer your books will last. Even modern libraries will usually have their stacks completely sealed from outside light.
Oh, that's understandable. I was merely alluding to the fact that the library seems to suck people in, not letting them leave until it has fed off of their supple university-student souls. In that lack of light and 24 hours open means that you can end up there for hours and not really have much indication of time passing.
[QUOTE=AtomicWaffle;46911121]Oh, that's understandable. I was merely alluding to the fact that the library seems to suck people in, not letting them leave until it has fed off of their supple university-student souls. In that lack of light and 24 hours open means that you can end up there for hours and not really have much indication of time passing.[/QUOTE] Hey, that's probably a good thing if you're studying. Keeps you on point and focused.
also, the second tallest library [i]in the world[/i] (bizarre record) [img]http://i.imgur.com/A4SkIMh.jpg[/img] [editline]12th January 2015[/editline] it has these diagonal and angular walls that make it look very open from the outside but when you're inside, you realize how little light floods into the floors other than the lobby, which has plate glass windows.
Have some nice librarys: Louis Kahn: Phillips Exeter Academy Library 1965 [t]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxlkgr6G3k1qat99uo1_r1_400.jpg[/t] Max Dudler: Ja•cob-und-Wil•helm-Grimm-Zen•trum Ber•lin 2009 [t]http://www.maxdudler.com/files/gbz_gl_21.jpg[/t] Santiago Calatrava: Bibliothek des Rechtswissenschaftlichen Instituts der Universität Zürich 2004 [IMG]http://www.miriamotte.de/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/uzh_calatrava_DSC3513.png?itok=hI4BuvTm[/IMG] not a big fan of calatrava but this architecture was modest enough for me to like.
I think you have to consider Calatrava as more of an artist than an architect. I love his work, but I don't love it for being architecture, I love it for being sculpture... Which is actually one of the reasons I hate Gehry, oddly enough. I think there's a very fine line between the supremely artsy-fartsy architecture and melting puddles of glass and steel. I think you would have seen Eero Saarinen doing the same stuff Calatrava does, though, if he were an architect of the late 20th century rather than the mid-century period. You can tell the theory behind their work is similar, especially in comparing the TWA terminal with something like the Auditorio de Tenerife.
I think the thing that bugs me is when architecture is turned into an object. Calatrava sure has interesting buildings and amazing engineering work but they only work as a single object. they need to stand solitary and can't interact much with other architecture. Zaha Hadid or Liebeskind also work in a same fashion. Treating it like art is one way to do it also makes it sound a bit like an excuse. My ex-boss was always worried about the surroundings and wanted to use materials that were close to the sights origin. Making use of a typology is what makes some of the best buildings imo. You can still do amazing architecture with those limitations, for example Lloyd Wright, Mies v.d. Rohe or Scarpa (young and old).
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