tantramar

Brand's Buildings

This is an old picture of Stewart Brand from 1961. Over the last week I've been watching his How Buildings Learn TV series. It's an old BBC series from 1997. I don't know how I discovered it, probably through this guy, or this guy.

It's a really nice series of six shows about the various ways buildings change and grow over time. Growing via natural rhythms of interactions with humans more than erosion or physical extensions.

It has great stories littered throughout the 6 episodes and vastly improved my week. Brand has the best delivery of almost any documentary narrator I've heard, poignant, thoughtful and rhythmic.

The series is based on his book in the same vein if you fancy a read. Brand also created the Whole Earth Catalog, which I wrote about here. Here's the first episode of How Buildings Learn. Enjoy.

Insania

This is the worlds biggest swimming pool...
It is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, has a 115ft deep end and holds 66 million gallons of sea water. Yes sea water, it's pumped in at one end and sucked out at the other. It cost $1B to build and will require $2M a year to maintain. It's in Chile. I'm hoping that you're now as pissed off as I am by this point.

I mean seriously, $2M / year (in Chile)! That's a lot of employed lifeguards that could have patrolled the beach, a lot of free rubber rings for kids. This of course isn't even thinking about the environmental factors and monies that resorts like this should be spending to maintain the beaches and sea life they have an effect on. They could have done something amazing here. Well, I guess they have, something amazingly bad. I haven't even mentioned what could have been done with the $1B build money. Unbelievable.

Size matters in Chile apparently? Shame that practical thought doesn't.

Barajas Airport In Madrid

The Barajas Airport in Madrid is a bit of a wonder to behold. I passed through there on my way back from Costa Rica. Designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership the building won RIBA building of the year last October. No small feat. According to The Sunday Times, Rogers said building the airport terminal was “the greatest experience I’ve had in architecture since the Pompidou Centre [in 1970].” Anyway the building kicks ass as hopefully my pictures show.

East German Tower Thing

If you go to Berlin I recommend you go up the Fernsehturm tower, which is a very large television mast thing. There are killer views at the top of this 368m monster from a rotating viewing platform or a restaurant if you have money to burn. It’s the third tallest structure in Europe!

The DDR (GDR) built it in the 1960s as a symbol of the DDR administration and to demonstrate how great they were. It looks nuts - straight out of a Gerry Anderson TV show.

All the interiors are very 1960s and the lift holds about 6 people. The poor dude that operates the lift has to sit in it all day while it goes between two stops and travels the 360 odd meters over 40 seconds. The worst job in Germany? His ears must be popping 60 times an hour. That must suck.

Obligatory art shot.

Photo by Miles Donovan.