Posted on 12/08/2004 4:17:02 PM PST by Republicanprofessor
Has anyone else seen architecture that looks like this? Its proper name is 30 St Mary Axe, or the Swiss Re Headquarters, in London, but it’s colloquially called the Gherkin. Supposedly, the spiral shape allows more fresh air than is normally true of (stuffy) office buildings. It also makes the most of natural light. It thus saves a great deal of energy (like 50% less than most high-rises). There is even less wind to trouble pedestrians. But it still looks really ugly to me. What do you all think?
HA! Gherkin = Looks like a pickle!
It's not a building. It's a 96,784.50 caliber JSP bullet.
I'll bet there are plenty of people who colloquially call it something else.
I think the architect is compensating for something.
Now, repeat loudly: THIS IS NOT A PHALLIC SYMBOL!
Most all of them are.
I like it. I'm for anything that adds some variety to the stale architecture of the last several decades. I'm not certain whether Howard Roark would design anything like it though.
It is an interesting design, although being used to (relatively) square lines in buildings the shape is vaguely unsettling. I wonder about the original cost of construction - it seems that more structural material would be used in the helix, but perhaps if the floors are hung from the central core that would not be the case.
I also wonder what the impression is first hand. Sometimes a building appears quite different to the on-looker than it does in images from a distance.
I don't like it. I think it is the dark stripes that get me. If it was all pale blue it would be fine and probably not hardly noteworthy to the casual onlooker.
Thanks for showing it. I am interested in architecture.
I think it's the bomb!
What do i think? Other than the obvious, it doesn't fit into the overall skyline. No synergy with the rest. And it's not proportional to the other buildings.
Yeah, that's what it looks like. Doesn't suggest anything else. Not at all. Nope.
This is the water tower in Ypsilanti, MI. The sign at the bottom used to say "Erected in 1890," but has been changed to "Built."
I see michael graves has visited.
'Bet it'd be right up his draftsman table - but he probably wouldn't be able to get it built - too many hangers on who would want their stamp on it for vicarious acclaim.
but seriously, other than looking like it's ready for takeoff - I rather like it, particularly since the design has practical function, not just for being different.
(I think maybe Wright would've liked it too - no bowing to conventional namby pamby design. Definitely outside the box.)
Everytime I see an Art-Deco building I think of that being his design style, not sure why. I really dig Art-Deco design too. Still, what I'd really like to see is the death of that scourge of middle-class America over the last three decades, the dreaded split-foyer house.
I don't see a heckofa lot of "synergy" in the rest of the city!
or anything approaching connectedness///
looks more like the other buildings should come down and the skyline rebuilt to be more in "synergy" with this new one.
Certainly Wright's Guggenheim doesn't meld into the 5th ave skyline - it's the best building there...and it certainly DOES utilize natural light - He designed it specifically for that...and to thumb his nose at NYC...which needed it
LOL - excellent work!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.