Cool Buildings around the world

[SunDevil]

I just wanted to start a thread that if people found cool buildings that they could post an image of them.

Dubai, UAE (Middle East)
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/dubai.jpg

[SunDevil]

Reichstag, Berlin

http://p.vtourist.com/2336172-Reichstag-Berlin.jpg

http://p.vtourist.com/2968814-Reichstag-Berlin.jpg

http://p.vtourist.com/2968810-Reichstag-Berlin.jpg

[VPI97]

http://www.fof-gefl.com/upload/VPI97/big_chicken.jpg

The Big Chicken, Marietta, GA

[Logan]

Not quite as fancy, but I always loved the architecture of the base of the Grace Building in NYC. Very cool to look straight up at.

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID78A.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID078-03.jpg

Pics taken from here, with some more: http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID078.htm

My company had two high floors in the building for the first 3 weeks I was on the job before we moved a block over. This was a pic I took from one of the conference rooms:

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267/terps54424/000_1191.jpg?t=1184337349

[Castlerock]

Down the street from me (Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology):
http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/6733/statacenter53qm2.jpg
http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/3200/stata1xx9.jpg

[Logan]

Down the street from me (Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology):
http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/6733/statacenter53qm2.jpg
http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/3200/stata1xx9.jpg

First thing that came to my mind was the clusterfuck "Earthquake" mini golf hole in Happy Gilmore.

[thesloppy]

All of Frank Gehry's buildings look like clusterfucks of varying degrees.

http://www.brianrose.com/journal/gehry01.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/101/286686815_3208398ba4_m.jpg
http://photos5.flickr.com/10552671_2cedf33a4f_o.jpg
http://www.eckhartarnold.de/images/Haeuser.jpg
http://rossignol.cream.org/new/nnb.jpg
http://images.salon.com/people/bc/1999/10/05/gehry/bilbao.jpg

[Swaggs]

http://www.myorlandoinfo.com/images/wonder_works.jpeg
WonderWorks in Orlando, FL

I've never visitied it, but have noticed it while driving by several times and it always catches my eye.

[scooter]

http://www.thorncrown.com/Photogallery1/p7hg_img_1/fullsize/gallery1-1_fs.jpg

http://www.thorncrown.com/Photogallery1/p7hg_img_1/fullsize/gallery1-8_fs.jpg

Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, AR by E. Fay Jones

I've never seen it in person, but I've always loved this building.

[MJ4H]

It is breathtaking in person.

[Swaggs]

It is breathtaking in person.

Is it open-air?

[scooter]

Is it open-air?

As far as I know, the entry doors are the only opening. There is glass everywhere else.

[MikeVic]

Winnipeg has shitty buildings compared to these. Everything is a square or rectangle. But that foot-bridge at the Forks is the only thing I can think of that looks a bit different. Don't have a pic though.

[MikeVic]

Dola, here it is.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Esplanderiel.jpg

Yay. :P

edit: no, I don't like it... but it's the only different looking thing in Winnipeg I can think of.

[MJ4H]

As far as I know, the entry doors are the only opening. There is glass everywhere else.

Yeah, a lot of glass. Check this out. You can do a fullscreen virtual tour of it. Very cool.

http://www.thorncrown.com/tour.htm

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

As far as I know, the entry doors are the only opening. There is glass everywhere else.

Correct. It's fully enclosed with glass between the metal beams.

[Desnudo]

Around Seattle, I've always liked the wamu tower.

http://www.washingtonmutualtower.com/images/wamu_tower.jpg

[scooter]

Correct. It's fully enclosed with glass between the metal beams.

Actually, the whole thing is made out of wood (and glass). From what I've read, all the materials were carried by hand to the site and contructed there.

[scooter]

I'm also a fan of just about anything that Santiago Calatrava does (bridges or buildings). Here are a few examples:

http://www.turtlebay.org/sundial/images/SDBOpening191.jpg

The Turtle Bay "Sundial" Bridge

http://mam.org/images/main_thebuilding.jpg
http://www.calatrava.info/images/buildings/mam/calatrava06.jpg

The Milwaukee Art Museum

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Actually, the whole thing is made out of wood (and glass). From what I've read, all the materials were carried by hand to the site and contructed there.

You're probably right. I went there about 5 years ago. I'm forgetful now that I'm over 30. :)

On a sidenote, if you have the chance to go to Eureka Springs, stay at the Crescent Hotel. Also, if you plan months in advance, ask for one of the haunted rooms. They're very active and people usually get their money's worth. Also, they have a ghost tour that is a lot of fun and gives a good history of the hotel and area.

[mckerney]

All of Frank Gehry's buildings look like clusterfucks of varying degrees.

Agreed. This doesn't belong in a "Cool Buildings" thread, but Frank Gehry is unfortunately responsible for this tin covered eye sore on the University of Minnesota campus

http://www.wholeo.net/Trips/Travel/MN/3-19jun1Weisman.jpg

[Lorena]

Architectural photography ranks right up there with sports photography for me. I'm fascinated by tall buildings and one of my favorites is in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, "The Petronas Towers":

http://eyeonmalaysia.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/p1030100-copy.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Torres_Petronas_Mayo_2004.jpg/250px-Torres_Petronas_Mayo_2004.jpg

http://klcc.stsite.com/image/Twtrnpark.jpg



http://almarks.com/lorena/KUL%20Petronas%20Twin%20Towers%20vertical%20view_b.jpg


I would love to go there one day and take tons of pictures.

[dawgfan]

Agreed. This doesn't belong in a "Cool Buildings" thread, but Frank Gehry is unfortunately responsible for this tin covered eye sore on the University of Minnesota campus
I have a love/hate opinion of Gehry. I find his style works for some things and is ridiculous for others. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain and the Pritzker Pavilion in Millenium Park, Chicago, IL are beautiful IMO. On the other hand, the buildings at MIT and the University of Minnesota I find to be awful. Much of it is form vs. functionality - for something like an art museum or a performance pavilion, I love how wild they look with their free-flowing lines that defy convention and say "look at me" - they are after all buildings devoted to art. For more functional purposes though, I can't help but imagine how weird they must be inside to accommodate his design aesthetic, and I really don't like in those cases how they seem to place far more value on the whole "look at me" aspect than they do functionality.

To me, that church in Eureka Springs is a great example of a perfect mix of form and function - beauty that is also functional, where the design itself doesn't supersede everything else.