jools posted:
yeah i like the stuff built next to the docks because its just so fucking horrible
also ken my ex's dad was some kind of london planning bigwig (and a trot) and he said they wanted to put a massive fountain on the top of the gherkin. if only
lmao if they'd done that..... when it was finished didnt they have a bunch of fireworks "cum" out of it or something
deadken posted:
i had an internship at the independent, its offices are just south of canary wharf and after three weeks working there i can confirm that the whole area is a soulless hellscape made even worse by the revolting fringes of landscaped grass and smug public sculpture. the bright barren underground network of malls that underlies the whole complex like a rhizome from which the towers protrude could have been built as franz kafka's own personal ironic hell. the smugly ubiquitous little references to the area's dockland history only cement the total erasure of the isle of dogs' proletarian history, instead they focus almost exclusively on the cargo, the goods, the profits. the grey piazzas, the pseudo-rustic pubs full of braying thatcherites, the dinky little pedestrian bridges.... canary wharf needs to be carpet-bombed, burn it all down
Agreed, also add the jaunty little ye-olde nautical themed directional signs, yuk yuk yuk.
I’m a massive nerd so on our European holiday while my girlfriend was shopping I would go out to Docklands, and La Defence in Paris and even EUR in Rome which is unbelievably slummy, I’ve never seen so much wet garbage on the ground in a business district.
I kinda liked La Defence but again the scale was just wrong, the plazan too monumental for the toy-skyscrapers. I’m coming to the conclusion that Europe just can’t do skyscrapers properly, it’s not their natural vernacular and most of the time they just look wrong.
Basically though the problem is the kind of architects who look at Dubai and think that London or Paris need some “iconic” developments like that.
And as much as I like the idea of forcing muscular modernism on twee old romanticism, the Pompidou centre is laaaaaame.
My favourite building in London to be honest was probably the Barbican complex, I’ve never seen or been in anything like it before.
Ironicwarcriminal posted:
Hahaha oh yeah I noticed them in Naples, that makes sense.
Basically though the problem is the kind of architects who look at Dubai and think that London or Paris need some “iconic” developments like that.
And as much as I like the idea of forcing muscular modernism on twee old romanticism, the Pompidou centre is laaaaaame.
My favourite building in London to be honest was probably the Barbican complex, I’ve never seen or been in anything like it before.
yes the barbican and the south bank centre own. did you see trellick tower
jools posted:
the worst/best recent building is that fucking terrifying one with giant fans in the top, it looks like the combine tower from halflife 2
in elephant and castle? i kinda like it, it got named carbuncle of the year by the mail or whatever
jools posted:Ironicwarcriminal posted:
Hahaha oh yeah I noticed them in Naples, that makes sense.
Basically though the problem is the kind of architects who look at Dubai and think that London or Paris need some “iconic” developments like that.
And as much as I like the idea of forcing muscular modernism on twee old romanticism, the Pompidou centre is laaaaaame.
My favourite building in London to be honest was probably the Barbican complex, I’ve never seen or been in anything like it before.yes the barbican and the south bank centre own. did you see trellick tower
I've seen pictures but didn't get to see it when I was there, it looks cool though. Have they sold all the flats in there off to yuppies?
Central London really is still a remarkable mix of rich and poor compared to santitized Paris, yuppified Manhattan and gentrified Sydney (all of our worst estates are on the suburban fringe). I don't imagine that that will survive the next ten years though.
deadken posted:jools posted:
the worst/best recent building is that fucking terrifying one with giant fans in the top, it looks like the combine tower from halflife 2in elephant and castle? i kinda like it, it got named carbuncle of the year by the mail or whatever
i like it in the same way i like that hitler wanted senate house to be his headquarters
actually iwc senate house is cool too
jools posted:deadken posted:jools posted:
the worst/best recent building is that fucking terrifying one with giant fans in the top, it looks like the combine tower from halflife 2in elephant and castle? i kinda like it, it got named carbuncle of the year by the mail or whatever
i like it in the same way i like that hitler wanted senate house to be his headquarters
actually iwc senate house is cool too
Just looked at it on wikipedia and yeah it was cool, I remember admiring it when i went out the back of the British museum next to (Russell?) square......a few more gargyles and spikes and it could almost be one of the Moscow seven sisters hahaha.
British Library was cool in a weird way too. The Tate is sweet but slightly off angle with the bridge over to St Pauls which grated on me in a fussy, low-key sort of way.
Goethestein posted:
london is a cool place. when i went it was full of moslem ppl. there was a lady wearing a burka irl and i laughed
Yeah but don’t you live in like Ely, Nevada or something where a dude not wearing a cowboy hat is grounds for mocking mirth?
Ironicwarcriminal posted:Goethestein posted:
london is a cool place. when i went it was full of moslem ppl. there was a lady wearing a burka irl and i laughedYeah but don’t you live in like Ely, Nevada or something where a dude not wearing a cowboy hat is grounds for mocking mirth?
i live in boston and have for the last two years. please update goatsteinfacts.xls
Impper posted:
jesus christ stop talking about london!
the whole area round st pauls is awful, esp pasternoster square, and one new change is the crown turd. cool views from the roof though i guess. also: what's the deal with the north bank
deadken posted:Impper posted:
jesus christ stop talking about london!the whole area round st pauls is awful, esp pasternoster square, and one new change is the crown turd. cool views from the roof though i guess. also: what's the deal with the north bank
you mean like embankment? you got MI5 and shit there m8
jools posted:
i bet you wore big white trainers and trousers with an elastic waistband w/an old navy polo shirt tucked in
and yet as long as you were on the island i wouldnt be the whitest man in england
Goethestein posted:jools posted:
i bet you wore big white trainers and trousers with an elastic waistband w/an old navy polo shirt tucked inand yet as long as you were on the island i wouldnt be the whitest man in england
lmao
jools posted:deadken posted:Impper posted:
jesus christ stop talking about london!the whole area round st pauls is awful, esp pasternoster square, and one new change is the crown turd. cool views from the roof though i guess. also: what's the deal with the north bank
you mean like embankment? you got MI5 and shit there m8
i mean the entire north bank,. theres literally nothing of worth there between westminster and the tower. city of london school? that blue monstrosity with all corners and shit? various anodyne low-rise offices? they should raze the whole strip and build a park or something
Impper posted:
jools spent most of his time in chicago in the cliche hipster neighborhood. the one day i invited him out to the "real shit" full of mExcian hIpsters he slept thru the nite
Mexican hipsters don't sound very impressive, why didn't you take him to the south side wicker park boy
deadken posted:
boston has a lot of irish rite. im just imagining kilburn high road, except an entire city
yeah its got more micks than a rolling stones lookalike convention
Ironicwarcriminal posted:Impper posted:
jools spent most of his time in chicago in the cliche hipster neighborhood. the one day i invited him out to the "real shit" full of mExcian hIpsters he slept thru the niteMexican hipsters don't sound very impressive, why didn't you take him to the south side wicker park boy
mexican hipsters own, + the south side isnt exactly dangerous unless you're talking the south south side. but you can get stinking drunk in bridgeport, around 30-35th, and you'll be fine. maybe a hobo will offer to suck you off for $10