mxleader on 7/9/2023 at 20:39
Quote Posted by Azaran
The original had been demolished by the communist East German government in 1950, and replaced with this eyesore
They replaced a nice building with a communist eastern block nation style Macy's. :laff:
Azaran on 7/9/2023 at 20:59
Quote Posted by mxleader
They replaced a nice building with a communist eastern block nation style Macy's. :laff:
And they had the audacity to call it "
Palace of the Republic"
heywood on 7/9/2023 at 21:08
Yeah, that does look like a giant 1960s department store. It reportedly had to be torn down in 1990 because it was full of asbestos. I'm sure the new government was eager to get rid of the symbol as well.
The contrasting block-like section on the river-facing side of the Humboldt Forum is curious. It's a museum, so I'm guessing it's to pay some historical respect to the DDR period?
Pyrian on 7/9/2023 at 22:49
Quote Posted by heywood
...this pavement sore...
Is that, like,
for anything? It's a very large space to just kinda
be there, and yet I can't imagine what sort of public event it would be in any way suited to.
Azaran on 7/9/2023 at 23:00
Quote Posted by heywood
Nicker's post got me thinking about brutalism and what I like and don't like about it.
(Sorry Azaran)
I don't like most brutalism, save for concrete interiors like I'd previously mentioned; that last auditorium doesn't look too bad, but I'd do away with that ceiling and fluorescent lights.
There's a few brutalist projects I find interesting, like Habitat 67
Inline Image:
https://www.mtl.org/sites/default/files/styles/playlist_banner_big/public/2018-07/37436.jpgThis house complex in France has potential too, I'd live in it, and even keep the exterior intact (I could put aside my urge to have decorative crenelations/battlements installed :p)
Inline Image:
https://www.wowhaus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/b1-49.jpgNicker on 8/9/2023 at 03:15
Quote:
It occurred to me that Douglas Cardinal's style is basically brutalism with curves. It also occurred to me that Canada has some of the best of brutalism.
That's a bit bruta... harsh.
I can see where Cardinal's work might intersect brutalism in some of it's approaches, un-adorned materials, striking shapes and a kind of imposing, slightly menacing presence, spilling over its foundations, rather than sprouting politely and vertically from it.
But if anything, Cardinal is a rebellion against the stark, boxy, extroverted functionality of real brutalism. Cardinal's materials are earthy and his shapes are organic. His buildings are domesticated landscapes, rather than working enclosures. The lavish "wasted space" in and around them is a direct challenge to brutalist simplicity and utility.
I think St. Mary's was partly supposed to evoke the caves where early Christians secretly convened but the real genius is the natural light falling directly on the altars (and all the symbolism that involves).
Loved the Norse Temple and of course anything Art Deco. There's a ton of it hidden around my town since Victoria was largely developed during Egyptomania.
Lurking under it's coat of ivy is the very Egyp-sheen Bay Street Substation.
Inline Image:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Bay_Street_Substation%2C_Victoria%2C_Canada_01.jpg/800px-Bay_Street_Substation%2C_Victoria%2C_Canada_01.jpgInline Image:
https://www.historicplaces.ca/hpimages/Thumbnails/41806_Large.jpgSorry. No historical photos available.
The offices of the BC Power Commission have been kept in better trim.
Inline Image:
https://www.historicplaces.ca/hpimages/Thumbnails/84678_Large.jpg