Aberdeen has some truly terrible buildings!
I know Architects from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester and London and they snigger whenever they visit Aberdeen. Is that what we have been reduced to? A laughing stock?
Oil company headquarters are amongst the worst buildings, fake mock schlock victoriana haciendas swimming in acres of tarmac in the once glorious west end. Mega pavilions of cheap, glitzy anonymity slotted into faceless, lifeless out of town business parks.
I spend a great deal of time annoying my wife by talking about 'how I could do this building or that building a whole lot better than the joker who was chosen to screw it up'. Why do clients choose Architects? what are the criteria? Is it just about money? One example is the new fox lane garden centre at Westhill - Not a truly terrible building by any standards but a real missed opportunity; why is there so much opposing geometry? why didn't the designer pick up on the archetype of the polytunnel or glasshouse and run with it? That building could have been so much more. Don't even get me started on the exhibition centre!
The worst part of the story is that for the most part, the monstrous creations are the work of local practices who should know better. My plea to any potential clients thinking of hiring one of the many substandard designers peddling their generic crap is please, please, please, for the good of the city, give one of the many design based practices a call.
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3 comments:
I totally agree with you about the state of architecture in Aberdeen. Each time I pop back for a visit I despair at the new buildings I see. How can Dundee be getting urban regeneration right and Aberdeen be getting it SO wrong...
Anways, glad to see that some home-grown talent is sticking around to right the wrongs...good luck!
(p.s. I think I went to primary school with you, and I've stumbled upon your site from a friends reunited update...not in a stalkery way, I promise!!)
Hi Schmee
Sorry I didn't respond to your comment, I just noticed I had turned off the 'notify me' option so was blogginh blind.
Were you at Newburgh Primary? I did have a look at your profile and the self portrait drawing and I'm afraid I'm none the wiser to your mystery persona (reflecting badly on my memory rather than on your artistic skills)
cheers,
DW
Gosh, hello, I'd totally forgotten about this (and have let me blogging dwindle away to nothing as well).
Yes, I went to Newburgh Mathers, and was Ailsa Cowie back in the day. The drawing is crap, and I've let that slide too because of a timetabling clash between my daughter wanting to go to Rainbows and me wanting to go to my art class in town...oh the martydom of parenthood! Anyway, it was a good ruse to keeping my secret identity intact, so am now feeling vaguely uncomfortable about unmasking myself...
Glad all is good for you, and here's to a year of climbing out of the recession, fingers crossed!
Ailsa
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