Category: Architecture

Piling On

Architecture

I don’t know how much more of this I can stand:

The White House on Tuesday reportedly fired members of Washington, D.C.’s Commission of Fine Arts, which advises on architectural developments in the capital, including the White House.

The White House has fired all six commission members who were installed under former President Joe Biden, and whose terms were expected to end in 2028.

“We are preparing to appoint a new slate of members to the commission that are more aligned with President Trump’s America First Policies,” a White House official told The Hill.

So… does this mean no more government buildings that look like this?

Fire away, then.

Old-Time Marvels

Architecture, Beauty

I recently saw this SOTI:

…and I was immediately reminded of a pic of some medieval town I’d seen at C.W.’s place a while back, which triggered a similar response from me:

Add “Without aerial photography or observation”  to the above list.

I don’t know how they did it, but they did, and it’s wonderful.  I stand in awe.

This “Western civilization” is a fine thing, isn’t it?

Renaissance Man

Architecture, Beauty, Classic Beauty, Culture, Fine Art

What do you call a man who was a professor of Architecture at Turin University, photographer, writer, skier, inventor of engines and designer of race cars, acrobatic pilot and mountaineer?  Carlo Mollino.

I have to say that I’m not enamored of his exterior architecture designs — there’s way too much Gropius and not enough Athens, never mind art nouveau;

…although not all the time:

His interiors are a little too Scandi and not enough Edwardian:

…although his Teatro Regio in Turin is incredible:


…from the inside;  the outside?

…and of his furniture we will not speak.


(Follow the link above for a full exposition of all these, and more.)

But how can you not enjoy his design of something as mundane as a bus?

And then there was his Basiluro race car, which at Le Mans 1955 (yes, that Le Mans race) managed to reach 135mph with a 750cc engine (!) until it was forced off the track into a ditch by a Jaguar:

However, it was Mollino’s photography which first caught my attention (guess why):

And my favorite:

His ultimate expression was this statement:

“Humans matter only insomuch as they contribute to a historic process; outside of history, humans are nothing.”

And Carlo Mollino sure left his mark on the historical process, in so many fields.  Che uomo!

Not Just Chrysler, Not Just Manhattan

Architecture

I wailed about the difficulties facing the people trying to fix up / sell New York City’s Chrysler Building, and saw the possibility of the disappearance of that wonderful structure.

Well, it’s not just Manhattan.  Heeeere’s London:

A number of major London office blocks costing more than £300million each have recently been put up for sale at the same time.

The four buildings have hit the market at a time where deals have been extremely rare due to rising interest rates and continuous uncertainty about working from home.

All the same issues facing the Chrysler.

Unlike the Chrysler, however, the four London skyscrapers are anything but wonderful:

The first three are of the Le Corbusier-Gropius-Modernist ilk — and frankly would be no great loss to any skyline, let alone London’s — while the last, the aptly-nicknamed Can of Ham, is an architectural carbuncle of the direst kind, but at least it has something of a sense of fun about it.

And while I and many others would dearly miss the Chrysler Building, these British edifices would not only not be missed, but applauded in their implosion.

So mote it be.

Failed Landmark

Architecture, Corporate Fuckery

This just sucks:

The future of the iconic Chrysler Building in New York City is uncertain as its owners face eviction – leaving the crown jewel of Gotham’s high-rise at risk of falling into disrepair.

The owner of the land on which the skyscraper stands said it has terminated the building buyer’s ground lease and taken control of the Art Deco gem in Midtown Manhattan.

To call the Chrysler a “gem” is to do the building a great injustice.  Alone among all the skyscrapers in New York, it’s a building worth saving because its beauty makes it truly a work of art rather than just another grubby office building.

The problem with a building — any building, no matter how well constructed or of what durable materials it was built — is that it needs constant care and refurbishment, which clearly has been neglected by this lovely structure’s various owners over the decades. And to be frank, all of them need to be whipped at the post.

A cursory glance at what the landowners have been demanding for rent over the years, however, may be a clue as to why the neglect has occurred.

But like all downtown buildings, the Chrysler was nuked by Covid and its aftermath of “work-from-home” and empty offices thereby.  So its chances of survival at this point seem remote, unless some super-billionaire with imagination can think of a way out.  (One thinks of the much-maligned Donald Trump, who could probably pull off the miracle;  but he has other things to occupy him at the moment.)

So the Chrysler will probably be taken down like some exhausted Las Vegas casino, except that unlike the typical Vegas eyesore, a piece of great architectural beauty will disappear, and Manhattan will lose, in my opinion, far more of its soul than it lost when the Twin Towers fell.

Might as well look at it while we still can:

Fugly Replacements

Architecture

Back when I posted Fugly Houses (follow the link for the full flavor) wherein an entire subdivision in Britishland was ordered to be demolished because of “foundation issues”, I said this about the demolished houses:

“However, I will not offer odds that the rebuilt houses will look any different from their predecessors.”

And sadly, my prophecy has proved to be correct:

Ugh.  They look like the cell blocks in a Level 3 penitentiary.