I visited Cardiff a few times, quite like the millennium centre to be honest, has that been influenced by being a Doctor Who fan all my life??? I dunno it's kinda impressive yeah

A house not far from me , in a posh road I must add that was "done up" , I bloody love the wood in it , the windows , the angles .

Border_Mind said:

Sparky said:

I'm a Wholigan, too Border_Mind, but I still haven't got round to Cardiff yet. Got to do The Experience!

Wholigan, that's a new one with me, I've heard the term Whovian, but not that one. A Doctor Who thread wouldn't be a bad idea ;)

Whovian sounds like Lesbian, and much as I love lesbians, I invented Wholigan to better describe my passion for Doctor Who. I'm too big and hairy to be a real geek....

Reawakening the spirit of a thread that deserves life (as opposed to the multiple ones talking about overpaid racist sex offenders football imo) . I would probably spend an illegal amount of time just touching these cupboards under the stairs .

For anyone interested in 21st century architecture, this book is a must - http://www.phaidon.com/store/architecture/the-phaidon-atlas-of-contemporary-world-architecture-9780714843124/

I have spend hours going through it.

I also have a casual interest in architecture and design, so know just about nothing about the industry. One thing that concerns me with many designs, particularly buildings, is how buildibgs age. I'm not talking about style or architectural period, but how weather, environment and time affect the appearance of buildings. I would like to believe that architects take this into consideration when designing a new building. I know also that sometimes there isn't much that can be done to stop a building from ageing, apart from regular and proper maintenance, which can be costly.

I get quite desponded when you see a new building going up, or visit a new building and you just know that in less than 10 years it is going to look a bit grim if not properly maintained.

I'm convinced at times that it has to do with the building material used in construction. It is why I get so disappointed when I see concrete used extensively in construction of new buildings. Concrete does not age well. It is probably cost affective in the short term, but in the long run you just know that the building will become an eye-sore. Eventually it will be torn down. I have seen this so often, particularly in London.

I really wish architects would stop designing concrete buildings. I love Zaha Hadid, but I can just see a number of her buildings ageing terribly. Probably five years after her ski-ramp was completed in Innsbruck, I went to see it. It looked quite grim, and that was just after five years. I would hate to think what it looks like by now.

Several years ago I visited Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation in Marseille. I was really disappointed to see how it had aged (though it is inevitable) and how it had been neglected. I was thrilled when I heard they were restoring it. So earlier this year I went back to see how the results of the restoration. I came back thinking that it still looked better, but essentially because of the concrete, the building will never ever look good again.

It was the same with Le Corbusier's Chapelle Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp. You see images of it and it looks great, but when you are there, it looks really tired.

I have come to the conclusion that Le Corbusier is responsible (indirectly and in some cases directly) for the worst phase in architectural history. I know he is a major figure in architecture, but I hold him responsible for many of the ugliest concrete monstrosities we live with to this day.

But to be fair, it's not just concrete that suffers the effects of time. For more than a decade now Nicolas Grimshaw's Eurostar Terminal at Waterloo (which almost seems to have been abandoned since Eurostar moved to St Pancras) has looked terrible. When you look at the state the roof is in, you just want to cry.

Sartori said:

Reawakening the spirit of a thread that deserves life (as opposed to the multiple ones talking about overpaid racist sex offenders football imo) ....

cw36frapp said:

Obviously Anfield is my fave building. ....

Comedy gold

Looks like a shoe.