JHK’s Three-Act Play
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Behold the renovated Edmonton, Alberta, downtown main library… or is an alien invasion under way? It’s hard to imagine a more aggressively menacing building than this intergalactic war-wagon. Message: Surrender, you miserable earthlings! Your way-of-life is over. So it goes with the unending quest for cutting edge novelty in the mind-fucked precincts of contemporary architecture.
This humdinger cost $84 million (Canadian).
See below, the original Edmonton Library… and below that, the miserable interim replacement that the current “skin-job” renovation covered up. What you’re witnessing is western civilization incrementally losing its dignity, along with its heart, soul, and mind.
Thanks to John MacKinnon for the nomination!
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Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page Behold the renovated Edmonton, Alberta, downtown main library… or is an alien invasion under way? It’s hard to imagine a more aggressively menacing building than this intergalactic war-wagon. Message: Surrender, you miserable earthlings! Your way-of-life is over. So it goes with the unending quest for cutting edge novelty in more »
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page Behold, the stupid fucking idea du jour! The Penn15 Tower proposed for mid-Manhattan — as if the city needs another megastructure that will be transformed from an asset to a liability overnight in the long emergency ahead. Penn15 will be nearly the same height as the Empire State more »
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page Behold, the Vancouver House condominiums by the Bjarke Ingels Group (“BIG,” as they style themselves — no grandiosity there). Does the building appear to want to topple over and crush you? Isn’t that cute? Beware of what you wish for, especially with the Cascadia Fault lurking in the more »
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page The real estate website Zillow sez: “this contemporary home has a European flare with a Manhattan feel. Perfect for entertaining….” Actually, I’d say it has a Soviet flare with a recycling bin feel, perfect for opening a large vein in a warm tub. It’s in a Hudson Valley more »
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page Behold the new world headquarters for the Danish clothing firm Bestseller in the tiny town of Brande (pop. 7,000): set to be the tallest building in Europe. What a breathtakingly stupid idea! I suppose they think it will minimize the human footprint on the terrain. Wrong. (Typical “gadget more »
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page Behold, the new $100,000-per-night hotel suite at The Palms resort in Las Vegas, featuring artworks by the international art-and-design maestro Damien Hirst, plus design motifs by same to liven up the despondency-inducing gray color scheme and the nausea-inducing view of a city that is composed of at least more »
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page Behold the Burj al Babas, a $200 million ensemble of wannabe French castles in the Turkish town of Mudurnu, about 150 miles east of Istanbul. The castle-ettes are all empty. (No cassoulet for you!) The project, by a money-laundering outfit, called the Sarot Group pulled the plug on more »
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page Behold, the new San Diego Superior Court tombstone… er, light box… er, hydroponic grow station… er, Pez dispenser (remember them?)? Nominator Joshua Hardgrove says: “It ironically consolidates San Diego County’s criminal trial, family, and civil courts into a 25-story monstrosity. Bringing all your problems into one central location, more »
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page Behold London’s latest shwingin’ skyscraper, the proposed “Tulip” designed by starchitect Norman Foster as a companion for the already-built “Gherkin” and “The Shard.” London has decided to make itself a freak show city in these waning days of techno-industrial narcissmo. Obviously, the Tulip’s slender stem does not allow more »
Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page Behold, the zippy new sidewalk treatment in downtown Austin, Texas, outside a corporate parking lot that is empty much of the day. Since there will never be any human pedestrians here to liven up the scene, the zig-zag pavement will have to provide all the excitement. (I get a more »
