That's also a psychological thing..it's yours until they want to build a bypass and then invoke the "imminent domain" law. :))
Well... that's true... but my point was that it's a bit of the planet's surface I don't have to share with anyone else (granted "until a bigger boy comes along and legally chucks me off it" is valid). In a flat you don't get a bit of the Earth to call your own, however temporarily.
Lucky I bought my house when I did though, because there's no way I could afford to buy or rent here at today's prices. There's an unimpressive 2 bed flat just gone on the market down the road from me for half a million quid. The housing situation in the UK is pretty depressing.
Yup, my son has told me he's never leaving home and is just going to take over the house when me and the wife die...
So I suppose its a paradox, those that appreciate britalist architecture are not those who had to live with it.
It's interesting that some of you folks lived in the Ziggurats, and the whole concrete dust thing is intriguing. 1) is all that dust bad for you? i.e. a carcinogen. 2) wont the buildings eventually wear away if all that dust is generated, will there be a time when sustaining the building just is not possible?
With the amount of Asbestos in UEA, concrete dust wasn't a particular concern! ;-)
They've been slowly removing that over the years as things get refurbed, but it always made building maintenance an expensive task. As for sustaining the buildings, it's a huge problem. The walkways there have been reinforced multiple times because there was a genuine risk of collapse and they've gone to great lengths to prop the Ziggurats up to. I haven't been back since I left a few years ago, but I'm not sure they even use them as accommodation anymore because occupancy wasn't doing much to help the structural integrity of the place (despite numerous attempts to prevent it, students would tend to climb out the windows and use the roof of the lower floor as a balcony)
It's been a long time since I went anywhere near UEA - I only visited whilst back at school before selecting an entirely different university! Having said that, Loughborough had a twin hexagonal tower concrete accommodation block, with all the services on the ground floor, and that was a bit gloomy. Still didn't actually stay in it though.
They used to tell the typical student tale of swapping a high room's contents with a low one, then getting the resident drunk, taking him back to the lower room, and freaking him out by leaping from the window, as he believed they were 15 stories up. Clearly b*ll*cks since, due to the heating and maintenance level, the lowest student windows were still at least 20 feet above the ground.
A few years ago, house-hunting, I came across some awful concrete council houses that looked normal from the outside, but were all cold with hard and sharp edges inside as they were made from slabs of pre-formed concrete delivered flat-packed. Even in some homes that were brick clad you'd look in the loft to see the entire triangular top of the end wall was one piece of pre-formed concrete, often with a huge crack in it, or crumbling at the base and ready to drop off at any moment.
When I was a student at Aberystwyth the student village was just being built part way up the hill. I spent my final year in one of the houses in 96/97 and large cracks were already appearing in walls as they began the slide down the hill. The actual accommodation and finish of the houses wasn't that bad, but I don't think they had planned too well for subsidence. I keep meaning to find out how it's getting on now but haven't been back that way in ages.
When I was a student at Aberystwyth the student village was just being built part way up the hill. I spent my final year in one of the houses in 96/97 and large cracks were already appearing in walls as they began the slide down the hill. The actual accommodation and finish of the houses wasn't that bad, but I don't think they had planned too well for subsidence. I keep meaning to find out how it's getting on now but haven't been back that way in ages.
When I was a student at Aberystwyth the student village was just being built part way up the hill. I spent my final year in one of the houses in 96/97 and large cracks were already appearing in walls as they began the slide down the hill. The actual accommodation and finish of the houses wasn't that bad, but I don't think they had planned too well for subsidence. I keep meaning to find out how it's getting on now but haven't been back that way in ages.
Which halls was that? :)
Pentre Jane Morgan (just known as PJM or, mostly, 'Student Village' to us). I was in Ifor Evans too. Man, that was a bit basic!
I think there's a uniquely snobbish attitude towards tower blocks in the UK, which views them as only fit for the underclass, which then becomes bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you go elsewhere, they seem to be quite successful. The former East Germany is full of identical concrete tower blocks, and they're still regarded as good places to live, well-kept and full of a variety of people. I guess Germany hasn't been pervaded by the "Englishman's home is his castle" attitude, which views people who rent as second-class citizens.
When I was a student at Aberystwyth the student village was just being built part way up the hill. I spent my final year in one of the houses in 96/97 and large cracks were already appearing in walls as they began the slide down the hill. The actual accommodation and finish of the houses wasn't that bad, but I don't think they had planned too well for subsidence. I keep meaning to find out how it's getting on now but haven't been back that way in ages.
Which halls was that? :)
Pentre Jane Morgan (just known as PJM or, mostly, 'Student Village' to us). I was in Ifor Evans too. Man, that was a bit basic!
Ah that was right at the top wasn't it? I don't think I ever knew anyone who lived there at the time.
Not really Britalist as such but same era, and his work could easily be on the inside of brutalist building is the work of Verner Panton. As I kid born in the mid 70s I saw a lot of deccor, which was a very toned down versions of his ideas perpendicularly in the early 80s which by that time even a young kid could see it was out of step with current trends, orange and blue??
His work is absolute bonkers, but for some reason I love it, so much color to enjoy. Take a look at these epilepsy inducing interiors by Verner Panton..:
That track and the album its on is a real nice piece of art. I've been trying to get hold of a US copy and not got one yet. It had it's 30th birthday recently.
That track and the album its on is a real nice piece of art. I've been trying to get hold of a US copy and not got one yet. It had it's 30th birthday recently.
A lad I know went to see Fish perform it live, recently. Fish said that this is the last time he's going to tour or perform with this album as he's knocking on a bit now and he doesn't think it's particularly relevant to the way he thinks or feels these days..
Random bit of trivia - I'm pretty sure that the guy who wanders in at 2:47-ish on the video and gets kicked out is Alan Cumming, who's pretty famous these days.
(He was Boris the hacker guy in 'GoldenEye', the rich bloke at the end in 'Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion' and most recently Eli Gould, the campaign manager in the TV show 'The Good Wife')
Typical Soviet architecture which you can see in any Russian city...
Smolenka River Embankment, St. Petersburg.
My hometown.
(Fortunately, historical districts of the city are much more beautiful =)
If Brutalism were coffee Russia and Germany would have the extra bold kind. Some of there structures are incredible, but sometimes they took it very far.
That track and the album its on is a real nice piece of art. I've been trying to get hold of a US copy and not got one yet. It had it's 30th birthday recently.
A lad I know went to see Fish perform it live, recently. Fish said that this is the last time he's going to tour or perform with this album as he's knocking on a bit now and he doesn't think it's particularly relevant to the way he thinks or feels these days..
To be fair he's right to retire, his voice is shot to pieces these days, got quite a few boots of current tour and you can hear he's struggling.
Anyway I'm still off to see him perform it next month in Aylesbury and then later on in the year off to see Marillion perform at the same place (Waterside Theatre).
That track and the album its on is a real nice piece of art. I've been trying to get hold of a US copy and not got one yet. It had it's 30th birthday recently.
Not the album cover but check out just below the bookshelf...
That track and the album its on is a real nice piece of art. I've been trying to get hold of a US copy and not got one yet. It had it's 30th birthday recently.
A lad I know went to see Fish perform it live, recently. Fish said that this is the last time he's going to tour or perform with this album as he's knocking on a bit now and he doesn't think it's particularly relevant to the way he thinks or feels these days..
To be fair he's right to retire, his voice is shot to pieces these days, got quite a few boots of current tour and you can hear he's struggling.
Anyway I'm still off to see him perform it next month in Aylesbury and then later on in the year off to see Marillion perform at the same place (Waterside Theatre).
I don't know if Fish is actually retiring (he might be, not sure), but he's retiring the album (which is why the tour was called "Farewell to Childhood") for it's 30th anniversary. Kind of weird that he and Marillion have gone off on different tangents but still play the same music.. (Although I guess it's a bit like Roger Waters and Pink Floyd).
That track and the album its on is a real nice piece of art. I've been trying to get hold of a US copy and not got one yet. It had it's 30th birthday recently.
A lad I know went to see Fish perform it live, recently. Fish said that this is the last time he's going to tour or perform with this album as he's knocking on a bit now and he doesn't think it's particularly relevant to the way he thinks or feels these days..
To be fair he's right to retire, his voice is shot to pieces these days, got quite a few boots of current tour and you can hear he's struggling.
Anyway I'm still off to see him perform it next month in Aylesbury and then later on in the year off to see Marillion perform at the same place (Waterside Theatre).
I don't know if Fish is actually retiring (he might be, not sure), but he's retiring the album (which is why the tour was called "Farewell to Childhood") for it's 30th anniversary. Kind of weird that he and Marillion have gone off on different tangents but still play the same music.. (Although I guess it's a bit like Roger Waters and Pink Floyd).
Comments
With the amount of Asbestos in UEA, concrete dust wasn't a particular concern! ;-)
They've been slowly removing that over the years as things get refurbed, but it always made building maintenance an expensive task. As for sustaining the buildings, it's a huge problem. The walkways there have been reinforced multiple times because there was a genuine risk of collapse and they've gone to great lengths to prop the Ziggurats up to. I haven't been back since I left a few years ago, but I'm not sure they even use them as accommodation anymore because occupancy wasn't doing much to help the structural integrity of the place (despite numerous attempts to prevent it, students would tend to climb out the windows and use the roof of the lower floor as a balcony)
They used to tell the typical student tale of swapping a high room's contents with a low one, then getting the resident drunk, taking him back to the lower room, and freaking him out by leaping from the window, as he believed they were 15 stories up. Clearly b*ll*cks since, due to the heating and maintenance level, the lowest student windows were still at least 20 feet above the ground.
A few years ago, house-hunting, I came across some awful concrete council houses that looked normal from the outside, but were all cold with hard and sharp edges inside as they were made from slabs of pre-formed concrete delivered flat-packed. Even in some homes that were brick clad you'd look in the loft to see the entire triangular top of the end wall was one piece of pre-formed concrete, often with a huge crack in it, or crumbling at the base and ready to drop off at any moment.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
So you haven't told him you're leaving it to the Wos community? :))
Which halls was that? :)
But yeah, I love a bit of Brutalist concrete.
Ah that was right at the top wasn't it? I don't think I ever knew anyone who lived there at the time.
His work is absolute bonkers, but for some reason I love it, so much color to enjoy. Take a look at these epilepsy inducing interiors by Verner Panton..:
http://www.artfund.org/assets/art-news/2013/competitions/1536L_Pantone-barbican-pop-art-design.jpg
http://www.formidablemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/vernerpanton+400.jpg
http://www.verner-panton.com/imgPrj/Panton_pic647/1680.jpg
http://www.daniellaondesign.com/uploads/7/3/9/7/7397659/5068442_orig.jpg
http://www.minimumblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Vitra-Design-Museum-Pop-Art-Design-Verner-Panton-in-Hamburg-4.jpg
http://assets.yellowtrace.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/yellowtrace_Verner-Panton-Interiors_02.jpg
So, if you have ever seen this on the wall of a hipstet, you know it's a Verner Panton design.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sWqB0a-yDMU/URLEqsWf8YI/AAAAAAAAXQ4/mxIdSx14gx0/s1600/Verner-Panton-Mira-x-Wave-Fabric.jpg
A lad I know went to see Fish perform it live, recently. Fish said that this is the last time he's going to tour or perform with this album as he's knocking on a bit now and he doesn't think it's particularly relevant to the way he thinks or feels these days..
Smolenka River Embankment, St. Petersburg.
My hometown.
(Fortunately, historical districts of the city are much more beautiful =)
Yeah, wonder when that look's coming back.. :P
Random bit of trivia - I'm pretty sure that the guy who wanders in at 2:47-ish on the video and gets kicked out is Alan Cumming, who's pretty famous these days.
(He was Boris the hacker guy in 'GoldenEye', the rich bloke at the end in 'Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion' and most recently Eli Gould, the campaign manager in the TV show 'The Good Wife')
If Brutalism were coffee Russia and Germany would have the extra bold kind. Some of there structures are incredible, but sometimes they took it very far.
Like this one reminds me of the place Winston is taken in the book 1984.
http://www.shlur.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/brutalist-berlin.jpg
http://www.shlur.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/fem_2.jpg
@luny@mstdn.games
https://www.luny.co.uk
Probably the intention. UEA's Ziggurats are supposed to look a bit like ships in a harbour from the right angle (and sort of do if you squint a bit)
Anyway I'm still off to see him perform it next month in Aylesbury and then later on in the year off to see Marillion perform at the same place (Waterside Theatre).
I don't know if Fish is actually retiring (he might be, not sure), but he's retiring the album (which is why the tour was called "Farewell to Childhood") for it's 30th anniversary. Kind of weird that he and Marillion have gone off on different tangents but still play the same music.. (Although I guess it's a bit like Roger Waters and Pink Floyd).
Both pics are signed, I think they were given away with 1st thousand copies sold for the live album box sets they released a few years ago.
http://katejackson.co.uk/art