Bytes: Readers Write and March Dates

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Readers Write . . .

Thanks to all those who have sent me emails and comments.

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Ugly buildings . . .

From Tobye P:

Ooooh-UGLY! Selfridges looks like an enormous caravan-but the Landmark Theatre looks like a nuclear plant. Selfridge’s may be worse by a slight margin-but they’re all awful all the time!

I hope you’re recovering nicely and out of danger-enjoy the weekend!

Regards, Tobye

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From Jay:

Hi Otto, saw this building two years ago in Hyderabad, India.

http://www.inspirefusion.com/fish_shaped_building_indi/

Cheers, Jay.

The building is a regional office for the National Fisheries Development Board located near Hyderabad, India. It comprises 4 storeys, was opened in 2012 and uses the pectoral fin as a canopy over the stairs. It was apparently inspired by Frank Gehry’s sculpture “Fish” in Barcelona:

The building has been criticised for taking an ugly image of a fish and turning it into an ugly building, without any creativity or abstraction. It has also received critical comment for making the elderly and disabled manage the stairs to reach reception. One person has observed that if this is the office of National Fisheries, what must the offices of the sewer authority look like?

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From Steve and Diane M:

Enjoyed the ugly buildings segment, Otto. How subjective is our appreciation or otherwise when it comes to architecture (and the arts in general). We are surprised that you missed out that monstrosity in Federation Square, Melbourne! It certainly goes ahead of most of the buildings you showed according to our votes.

As I pointed out in the post, there is more to come, the post was only Part 1.

Steve and Diane’s nomination is of Federation Square, designed by Peter Davidson and Don Bates. It has been described as being so ugly that, as a mother can only see beauty in a child that looks like a monkey, so only the designers themselves could hold fondness for the structure. Conversely, others love it!

From Wikipedia:

In 2009, Virtual Tourist awarded Federation Square with the title of the 'World's Fifth-Ugliest Building'. Criticisms of it ranged from its damage to the heritage vista to its similarity to a bombed-out war-time bunker due to its "army camouflage" colours. A judge from Virtual Tourist justified Federation Square's ranking on the ugly list claiming that: "Frenzied and overly complicated, the chaotic feel of the complex is made worse by a web of unsightly wires from which overhead lights dangle." It continues to be a "pet hate" of Melburnians and was recently discussed on ABC's Art Nation.

The designers of Federation Square did not get any work for six months after the completion of the A$450 million public space, but did receive hate-mail from people who disliked the design.

The Australian Financial Review later reported that Melburnians have learned to love the building, citing the record number of people using and visiting it. In 2005 it was included on The Atlantic Cities' 2011 list of "10 Great Central Plazas and Squares".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_Square

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My hospital stay . . .

From Tim B

Otto, glad that you are now at home and best wishes for a speedy recovery. My 95 year old Mom has been in the hospital for the last 6 weeks and I know a lot of what you have been going though, right down to the strange room mates.

Tim

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Dave Allen . . .

From Steve and Diane M:

Forgot to mention Dave Allen, Otto. How did he lose his finger?

From Wikipedia:

Allen lost the top of his left forefinger above the middle knuckle after catching it in a machine cog. However, he enjoyed inventing stories to explain the loss, which became a minor part of his act. One version was that his brother John had surprised him by snapping his jaw shut when they were children, resulting in him biting it off. A further explanation he gave on his programme, Dave Allen at Large, was that he often stuck his finger in his whiskey glass, and it had been eaten away by strong drink. He also said it was worn away from repeatedly brushing the dust from his suit. One of his stand-up jokes was that, when he was a boy, he and his friends would go see a cowboy movie at the local cinema, then come out all ready to play Cowboys and Indians. Staring down at his truncated finger, he would mutter, "I had a sawn-off shotgun." On his show he told a long, elaborate ghost story, ending with "something evil" attacking Allen in a dark and haunted house. Allen grabbed and bit the attacker, the studio lights came back up, and it was his own left hand.