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Gus Mears

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I have a real fascination with massive buildings, brought on both because they are incredibly impressive feats of mankind and the fact that I went to school directly next to this fucker.

 

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That's Salisbury Cathedral to those who haven't travelled to the thrilling world of East Wiltshire recently.

 

Anyway, last week a new wacky building called 'The Big Bend' was proposed, which is essentially a loop skyscraper. 

 

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Manhattan developers keep building skyscrapers taller and taller, but Greek architect Ioannis Oikonomou hopes to break a new kind of record.

His firm, Oiio Studio, has designed a U-shaped tower called the "Big Bend" that aims to become, what Oikonomou calls, "the world's longest building" (if you were measure from end to end of the U, which would total approximately 4,000 feet). 

The design calls for a super-tall, skinny skyscraper bent in half, to form what looks like the first drop of a roller coaster. From the sidewalk to the building's peak, it would stretch about 200 feet taller than One World Trade Center, the largest tower in the city.

For now, the Big Bend is merely a design. Oikonomou tells Business Insider he has sent the design to a few developers, and is currently seeking investment.

The residential building would be located on the southern border of Central Park, an area that's known as "Billionaire's Row" and contains many luxury skyscrapers.

Oikonomou is confident that plans for the Big Bend could move forward since many developers will  do whatever it takes to get a better return on investment, he says. In a  huge skyscraper that doesn't take up much space, more people would pay mortgages or rent.

 

 

Shit hot. Also, because Burj Khalifa isn't tall enough, the Saudi Arabian's are building Jedddah Tower, which will clock in at over 1km in height and is due to be finished in 2019. 

 

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Though we all love a big'un, it's not all about size. I recently went to Cologne Cathedral, clocking in at a paltry 157m. But it is truly a tour de force of Gothic architecture. Imposing, dark, beautiful. 

 

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I'm also probably going to write up something on proposed megastructures that didn't make it. That's a cracking subject in its own right. One of the better books I've ever read was Albert Speer's 'Inside the Third Reich' where he writes at length about loony proposals for buildings Hitler put forth. Champs Elysee but three times as big and a stadium that would fit 250,000 people being personal favourites. 

 

Anyhow, I am rambling. Buildings! Any favourites? Why? Cool proposals? Arcology? 

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Ooh good thread idea. I think when you hit 30 or so you begin to appreciate architecture a lot more.

 

I saw pics of the Big Bend over the weekend, if/when it is built it will be the most impressive for me in many ways- certainly from an engineering perspective. It looks, from the artist impressions, so flimsy compared to other skyscrapers- which would be a testament to how impressive the structure will be.

 

Since working in the city I've been looking up all the proposed skyscrapers around here. The Scalpel is really coming along at the moment, and will look quite nice once completed. 22 Bishopsgate is also coming along and although it will look ok, the previous planned design looked much better:

 

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Like something you'd expect in Dubai, whereas the revised design looks more like a larger version of the Willis Building in Lime Street.

 

 

Barcelona probably blew me away the most when it comes to buildings. I've seen stunning buildings from all different periods in London, Paris, Rome, Prague etc- but the Gaudi style of architecture used in Barcelona is so unique. From the Sagrada Familia (which has taken 1,000 years to build and is still going) to Park Guell- so many buildings have a quirky Gaudi signature. Even the lamp posts out there are stunning!

 

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Another building I absolutely love (and is yet another reason why Brighton is fucking awesome) is the Royal Pavillion. I mean, look at this- how on earth is a building of this style and grandeur sitting on the south coast of England? This could easily be a palace in Calcutta. Just absolutely stunning.

 

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Some of my other favourites include St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (ok an obvious one, but it's the ideal example of the stunning architecture in the former Soviet states) and of course Tower Bridge, which both go to prove that colour can be so effective. Both would be stunning if they were not painted, but the colours add so much more.

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Any cathedral is spectacular ... I love a flying buttress me.  Scacre Couer in Paris is rather special, considering it's only about 150 years old, & way out-ranks Notre Dame in my opinion.

 

You have to marvel at the splendour of Caernafon Castle, too ... again, most intact castles are pretty awesome.  The ruins of some can be special an' all.

 

The Empire State Building is rather marvellous too, as is the Chrysler building.

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Absolutely agree with you PunkStep with regard to the Royal Pavilion. I had never even heard of it before visiting some friends in Brighton a few years back and was stunned to find a corner of India nestled between the lanes and pier. The garden is also lovely though inevitably completely jam-packed with people smoking spliffs or hacking shotties. 

 

My favourite memory of the Pavilion was about two years back when I was walking through while they held THE INTERNATIONAL MORRIS MEN COMPETITION. Which was, of course, superb.

 

Here are a couple of pics of the proposed Nazi Stadium I referred to in the OP. They actually got as far as laying a bit of the foundation until the war kicked in. Hitler had a real penchant for architecture and they actually continued building his vanity structures quite a way into the war (obviously based on the false assumption it would all be won quickly).

 

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That Nazi Stadium design, although it feels weird to admit, is quite spectacular. The Olympic stadium in Berlin reminds me of that, in that you have the open front. That's probably no coincidence, seeing as the stadium was built for the 1936 Olympics- Hitler's big willy-waiving extravaganza.

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I do love a good stadium, I'm still gutted they never held that Wrestlemania at the LA Coliseum in 1991, thanks terrorists (wink).

 

The acoustics and views probably would have been shite for wrestling, but imagine the opening overhead shot of this place as Vince screams himself hoarse about Sergeant Slaughter and Hulk Hogan:

 

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With the set laid out here:

 

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and we'd see that Macho Man vs Warrior classic that would end with that tear-jerking reunion amidst something like this:

 

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bloody Basil de Vito

 

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 Duomo di Firenze

 

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Like everything in Florence, it's fucking beautiful and breathtaking. It's gigantic too. When I stayed in Florence, our hotel was about 2 minutes from here, it was a joy to walk passed it every day. 

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Duomo di Firenze

 

bg_duomo02.jpg

 

Like everything in Florence, it's fucking beautiful and breathtaking. It's gigantic too. When I stayed in Florence, our hotel was about 2 minutes from here, it was a joy to walk passed it every day.

We went to Florence a couple of years ago and our hotel was only about five minutes away. Much like you, we went past it every day we were there and it is beautiful.

 

Rome is one of my favourite cities I've ever visited. St Peters in Vatican City is fantastic and if you ever go, do the climb to the top of the dome.

I took this shot from there (if it looks a little wonky, I've just had to take a photo from one of our photo books, hence my arm of another shot up there in the corner).

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The Vittorio Emanuele monument (while not a monument to the star of many an erotica) is beautiful too.

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And all over Rome, there are foundations that have been there for centuries, as if they've just been dropped there. A favourite of ours was the Fontana sell' Acqua Paola

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Oh yeah, and there's The fucking Pantheon

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