KCRag Forum

I was here in 2004 when they were constructing the London City Hall. At the time, I wasn't sure what it was going to be. I'm usually not a fan of this kind of architecture, but it's actually kind of cool.







Photos obtained from http://www.hughpearman.com/illustration ... ection.jpg and http://www.londonarchitecture.co.uk/

FangKC, thank you for posting the Arcosanti images.  *swooooon*

I'd not heard of this project until you brought it up, and seeing these pics moved my heart the way Gaudi's structures do.  I love- literally love- structures that have an outright organic sensibility, and I love how that kind of beauty affects me.  I think this stuff moves me because there's something so obviously personal about it; it says so much about the architect who designed it...their boldness, their soul, the way their mind works.  Everyone has a song in their heart, and it's so kickass when they're able to "sing" it out so beautifully, so well. 

So, yeah, thanks for introducing me to something wonderful and new.   

You're quite welcome. I'm glad someone enjoyed it.

While it's a completely different animal, you might enjoy looking at photos of Jerome, AZ, a former mining town atop a hilltop in Northern Arizona. It's neat in a completely different way, but has an mystic quality about it as well.  The town has that "lost in time" feel to it.

http://www.azjerome.com/

http://azjerome.com/cgi/photo-album/PhotoVisitor.cgi

I also recommend the charms of Bisbee, AZ.

http://www.discoverbisbee.com/

http://www.city-data.com/city/Bisbee-Arizona.html

http://www.theshadydell.com/rates.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/garde ... hante.html

http://eliphante.org/

taxi wrote: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/garde ... hante.html

http://eliphante.org/

Wow!

Long live the troglodytes! 

Charminar, built in 1591 by King Muhammad Quli Quth Shah, in Hyderabad, India, the Capital of Andbra Pradesh.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charminar

Charminar (Devanagari: चार मीनार, Nastaliq: چار مینار) (translation: Four Towers), or a mosque of the four minarets, is a monument located in the City of Hyderabad, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.

Charminar is one of the most important landmarks of Hyderabad.

The monument was built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 to commemorate the eradication of plague, shortly after he had shifted his capital from Golkonda to what now is known as Hyderabad[1]. Legends has it that the emperor Quli Qutb Shah prayed for the end of plague and took the vow to build a masjid on that very place. He ordered the construction of the masjid which became popular as Charminar because of its four characteristic minarets (possibly depicting the first four khalifs of Islam). The top floor of the four-storeyed structure has a masjid which has 45 covered prayer spaces and some open space to accommodate more people in Friday prayers. Madame Blavatsky reports that each of the floors was meant for a separate branch of learning - before the structure was transformed by the imperial British administration into a warehouse for opium and liqueurs.

State:  Andhra Pradesh
Significance: Temple dedicated to lord Venkateshwara (Vishnu)
Best time to visit : September to February

Tirupati is located in the southeastern part of Andhra Pradesh, in Chittoor district. Known as the abode of the Hindu god 'Venkateshwara' (Lord Vishnu), Tirupati is famous for the 10th century Venkateswara temple (11kms) located on the seventh peak Venkatachala, in the sacred Tirumala hills at an elevation of 860m. The Puranic conception of the hill is that it represents the body of Adisesha (a seven hooded serpent) the seven hills being his seven heads, on top of which Lord Vishnu the protector of the world rests. One of the most important pilgrimage centers in India, the temple draws millions of  pilgrims and is believed to be the busiest pilgrimage centre in the world.

http://www.webindia123.com/tourism/pilgrim/tirupati.htm

Milan Cathedral in Milan, Italy.

How about a little color on our skyline? Maybe on the riverfront?

In Vitoria-Gasteiz, a town in northern Spain, a housing block has created 242 apartments for the socially disadvantaged.

http://www.frameweb.com/news/242-social ... n-salburua

architects: http://www.acxt.net/

Here's how to make a parking garage look sexy.

http://www.frameweb.com/news/herma-parking-building

Morpheus Hotel in Macau. Imagine if our new convention hotel looked like this.







https://www.archdaily.com/896433/morphe ... architects

Look at how many rooms will have no practical windows. That's a hotel to put somewhere without a view.

flyingember wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:59 am Look at how many rooms will have no practical windows. That's a hotel to put somewhere without a view.

LOL. No. Views are fine. Rooms are specifically designed to maximize the view and the exoskeleton together.

This sort of architecture just isn't appealing to me. A lot of excess expenditure that does little to make the building more beautiful and arguably makes it worse, just for the sake of grabbing attention.

It's more of a structural engineering achievement than anything. That said, the design is at the cutting edge of that field in the way that late 19th century skyscrapers and gothic cathedrals once were. Advancements in fabrication and 3d printing almost guarantee that there will be more of this kind of exploration in the future.

It's extremely functional for a building that wants to maximize the internal space - especially large meeting rooms/ballrooms. This hotel was built on a relatively small pad for an 800 room hotel. In order to be competitive, they need uninterrupted meeting/event space. The external structure allows them to have large rooms with no support columns.

I agree it screams "look at me - I'm cool" - and that can be off-putting. But it is extremely functional as well.

TheLastGentleman wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 1:59 pm This sort of architecture just isn't appealing to me. A lot of excess expenditure that does little to make the building more beautiful and arguably makes it worse, just for the sake of grabbing attention.

I imagine the architect protesting, "But this one goes to eleven..."

Honestly, most cities could use a couple of these to balance the scores of developer-grade glass boxes. Variety, spice, etc.

Arquitectonica’s The Ursa is a collaboration with Daniel Arsham inside and out

Miami’s Design District is set to get its first new Class A office tower, with the reveal of The Ursa on March 7. Designed by Arquitectonica, the 15-story tower will stand out from its glassy, balcony-wrapped peers thanks to a gridded concrete superstructure and monumentally scaled, antiquity-inspired reliefs designed by Daniel Arsham.
...
Of course, Arsham’s biggest contribution to The Ursa is undoubtedly the exterior sculptural reliefs that will run around the base of the tower’s exoskeleton. Inspired by Greek and Roman examples as well as sarcophagi carvings, the stone sculptures (with the largest reaching 36 feet tall) will be artificially weathered to lend a sense of history to them.
...

https://www.archpaper.com/2022/03/arqui ... e-and-out/