The Beautiful Architecture Thread

[Ulysses]

4 hours ago, King prawn said:

Thanks for posting these.

 

When I moved to Spain 5 years ago I started a competition with my friends whilst we were stood in Plaza de España in Sevilla - for those that haven’t been they have a mosaic for all of the provinces (and 2 autonomous cities). The first person to compete them all (by having a menú del día in each one) would win.

 

Ive completed 40 of them now and seen some truly brilliant places, been to numerous village parties and got to learn a bit about each region. 
 

Recently moved to Valencia and the modern architecture is fantastic. They’re situated in the old river that’s now a  park and a great place to spend time exercising, reading or having a rest. 

 

I have great admiration for Spanish design, and their engineering is pretty impressive as well.

 

I was in Valencia last week, staying near the Quart Towers.  We really liked it.

[New Town Loafer]

Difficult to beat:

 

Edited October 3, 2024 by New Town Loafer

[Watt-Zeefuik]

I'm not much on skyscrapers or modernism but the Petronas Towers consistently blow me away.

 

 

My childhood hometown of Asheville, currently flat on its back from Helene, has a real trove of art deco buildings and I think they really impacted my view of architecture.

 

The Jackson Building

 

The old S&W Cafeteria

 

 

 

My spouse's former workplace, Duke Chapel. IMO one of the finest Gothic Revival cathedral-style buildings built in the 20th century.

 

Edited October 3, 2024 by Watt-Zeefuik

[New Town Loafer]

10 hours ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

I'm not much on skyscrapers or modernism but the Petronas Towers consistently blow me away.

 

 

My childhood hometown of Asheville, currently flat on its back from Helene, has a real trove of art deco buildings and I think they really impacted my view of architecture.

 

The Jackson Building

 

The old S&W Cafeteria

 

 

 

My spouse's former workplace, Duke Chapel. IMO one of the finest Gothic Revival cathedral-style buildings built in the 20th century.

 

I spent most of my childhood growing up in south-east Asia, and the Patronus Towers were the original ‘twin towers’ for me and my siblings. Cracking looking buildings.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

10 hours ago, New Town Loafer said:

I spent most of my childhood growing up in south-east Asia, and the Patronus Towers were the original ‘twin towers’ for me and my siblings. Cracking looking buildings.

 

The Petronas Towers beat the shit out of the old New York World Trade Center towers architecturally. 9/11 was a horrible, horrible day that ruined so many lives and it's vulgar to try to identify an upside but I won't week any tears for the architecture that fell down that day.

 

IM Pei is such an overrated wank.

[New Town Loafer]

3 hours ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

 

The Petronas Towers beat the shit out of the old New York World Trade Center towers architecturally. 9/11 was a horrible, horrible day that ruined so many lives and it's vulgar to try to identify an upside but I won't week any tears for the architecture that fell down that day.

 

IM Pei is such an overrated wank.

Agree with that.

[Kalamazoo Jambo]

3 hours ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

 

The Petronas Towers beat the shit out of the old New York World Trade Center towers architecturally. 9/11 was a horrible, horrible day that ruined so many lives and it's vulgar to try to identify an upside but I won't week any tears for the architecture that fell down that day.

 

IM Pei is such an overrated wank.

I may be losing my mind but what does IM Pei have to do with the New York World Trade Center? Or were they two unrelated thoughts?

 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

41 minutes ago, Kalamazoo Jambo said:

I may be losing my mind but what does IM Pei have to do with the New York World Trade Center? Or were they two unrelated thoughts?

 

Damnit, that's not the first time I've done that.

 

The old NYWTC was Yamasaki, not Pei. At some point in my life I got Pei in my head as the WTC architect and it keeps sneaking back in even though I know it's not the same. I think I got it scrambled with the Hancock tower.

 

Should have known it wasn't Pei. If it was him, he would have stuck a pyramid in it somewhere for some unknown reason.

[Kalamazoo Jambo]

1 minute ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

Damnit, that's not the first time I've done that.

 

The old NYWTC was Yamasaki, not Pei. At some point in my life I got Pei in my head as the WTC architect and it keeps sneaking back in even though I know it's not the same. I think I got it scrambled with the Hancock tower.

 

Should have known it wasn't Pei. If it was him, he would have stuck a pyramid in it somewhere for some unknown reason.

No worries.

 

I’m reserving judgement on his Louvre pyramid(s) until I go there in person some day. The only time I visited the Louvre (as a kid), the pyramid hadn’t been built yet, which makes me feel old

 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

27 minutes ago, Kalamazoo Jambo said:

No worries.

 

I’m reserving judgement on his Louvre pyramid(s) until I go there in person some day. The only time I visited the Louvre (as a kid), the pyramid hadn’t been built yet, which makes me feel old

 

 

Heh, it was a long time ago that I saw the pyramid. But what startled me about it was that it was just a canopy. Everything in that entryway is under street level. So you just go in the pyramid and it's a bunch of down escalators and elevators.

 

Seemed like a really silly reason to chuck that thing right in the main viewshed of the old palace.

 

And I dunno, maybe there was supposed to be something of the revolutionary spirit in sticking something modern right in the midst of Bourbon extravagance. But still. A pyramid? Why?

 

But it's not Pei's only dalliance with pyramids. He ended up sticking them on like four other projects IIRC.

[Jacques de Gatineau]

On 03/10/2024 at 10:46, Lovecraft said:

 

Todaiji Temple in Nara, Japan.

 

World's largest wooden structure made without using nails.  

 

That's nice.

 

Here's another wooden building, no nails construction. Sorry for the poor quality - my hands were freezing!

 

[Ulysses]

Aerial view of Valletta, Malta.

 

 

 

Auberge de Castille, Valletta.

 

 

 

 

Interior of St Paul's Cathedral, Mdina, Malta.

 

 

[FWJ]

On 01/10/2024 at 23:06, New Town Loafer said:

Couldn’t actually find a photo that did it any justice but Cologne Cathedral was spectacular when I was over for the football in the summer.

Funny, was just going to post exactly the same.

[il Duce McTarkin]

On 03/10/2024 at 19:58, Watt-Zeefuik said:

I'm not much on skyscrapers or modernism but the Petronas Towers consistently blow me away.

 

 

 

I stood on that we bridge, one upon a time.

[New Town Loafer]

2 hours ago, FWJ said:

Funny, was just going to post exactly the same.

Was brilliant to look at. My dad, who is very much a lapsed catholic, was struck by its beauty, too.  

[New Town Loafer]

55 minutes ago, il Duce McTarkin said:

 

I stood on that we bridge, one upon a time.

Perhaps we passed each other, like ships in the night. 💭 

[FWJ]

Possibly a bit clichéd but these are genuinely two in my top 5 …