Guest fountainhall Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 I think most people will agree that two of the most stunning buildings in the world over the last 20 or so years have been the Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Both are titanium clad, they are more like sculptures than box buildings. Both work amazingly well in achieving their objectives, and both have become iconic structures. Sydney's Opera House is another iconic building - although it seems true to say that as an opera house, it nowhere near delivers what it should have. Now, however, Frank Gehry has come up with yet another iconic structure for Sydney, a building he has designed for the University of Technology. At the building's public unveiling the University's vice-chancellor, Ross Milbourne, told the press: "We've got the Opera House, and it's hard to say we are going to beat that, but from what I've seen we'll have an equally outstanding icon at this end of Sydney." Gehry broke in: "We don't want to beat that." Too late. The entire Australian media has now announced his building as a rival for the opera house. Looking more like five scrunched up paper bags with windows, the design is certainly arresting. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jan/09/germaine-greer-frank-gehry-uts Quote
KhorTose Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 I object, his best work can be found in Seattle at the Seattle Music experience. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Sorry to say, in Vanity Fair's 2010 poll amongst 52 prominent architects and critics to name the most important pieces of architecture built since 1980, the Guggenheim Bilbao topped the list. It gained 3 times as many votes as the next highest placed building. And when this was reported in The Seattle Times, one reader wrote - "Gehry is great! Unfortunately Seattle got the clinker." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2012317085_bilbao12.html That Seattle building does look as the Pompidou Centre in Paris might after someone takes a blow torch to it Quote
KhorTose Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 That Seattle building does look as the Pompidou Centre in Paris might after someone takes a blow torch to it It has a lot of critics when it first opened, but many have changed their mind. I have been to the LA Phil and Bilbao, and I still like ours with it many colors. However, comparing it to the Pompidou Centre is just plain mean. I like modern design, but that building just plain sucks. When you view Paris from Montmartre it sticks out like an ulcer from its surroundings. Whenever I see a Gehry design, I am struck by its closeness to one of the world's greatest, if not the greatest architect of modernism. Go to Barcelona and see Gaudi for the best. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 I like modern design, but that building just plain sucks . . . Go to Barcelona and see Gaudi for the best. Hehe! Sorry about the Seattle jibe and linking it with the Pompidou. LIke you, I see no merit in the latter's design. Indeed, I'd rather like to see it blow-torched! Barcelona is sheer joy! But has any building taken so long to complete as the Sagrada Familia? Latest estimate I understand is 2026 - almost 150 years!! Quote
KhorTose Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Barcelona is sheer joy! But has any building taken so long to complete as the Sagrada Familia? Latest estimate I understand is 2026 - almost 150 years!! Several problems: 1. Money-Barcelona and the Catalins take great pride in the fact that they ask little of Madrid in the way of money. For example, their subway was paid for by local taxes. All the work and money to build the Sagrada Familia comes from private donors, tourist, and volunteers. 2. Gaudi centered his designs on what he saw in nature. The supporting pillars for the roof are a main trunk with many branching trunks. No one knew if his design would work, so they had to wait until they had a good enough computer program to find out. The answer was yes. 3. 14 years were lost during the Spanish Civil War and early Franco rule. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Whilst the Gaudi Buildings make Barcelona so special, especially the private houses just dotted around, there are others that add to the city's appeal. I loved the umbrella house, with its oriental exterior adorned with umbrellas and parasols. Quote
KhorTose Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 You are preaching to the choir. What I find the most fascinating is that what looks like it is just design will often be quite functional as well. The dragon does hold the lantern, and the windows let in just the right light, and the curves and scallops funnel the water. In Gaudi Parc the frog is the overflow for the cistern and the whole upper plaza in the collection for water to feed the cistern down below. The man was a one of a kind genius. Quote
TotallyOz Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Whilst the Gaudi Buildings make Barcelona so special, especially the private houses just dotted around, there are others that add to the city's appeal. I loved the umbrella house, with its oriental exterior adorned with umbrellas and parasols. I love Barcelona and the architecture is just one of the amazing things about the city! Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 14, 2011 Posted January 14, 2011 Can we guess the other amazing things? - oops! Other? Quote
