The Shard

TTony

Was it my pronunciation?

holnrew

I think it's incredible, and the feat of building it.

monquixote

I like the Shard. 

People complained about St Pauls because it was too modern and out of place. 

ICBM

I dislike it because it's ugly and looks unfinished, not because it's modern or out of place. I like a lot of modern buildings, including ones that don't "fit" with their surroundings - which is usually a good thing.

The proportions are wrong - to make it look 'shard' like, it needed to be thinner and/or taller (preferably both). The surface appearance is crude and cheap-looking too, and the top just looks a mess.

It does't look as bad at night, I admit.

As as for being the tallest building in western Europe, the Eiffel Tower is taller and was built over a hundred years ago. (Yes, I know it's technically not a "building".) It's tiny compared to many recent skyscrapers.

j_r

bertie said:

its London,  how the hell can it be stunning ?  :-q

Not a Londoner then? 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/01/st-pauls-cathedral-300-years-on

chillidoggy

TTony said:

Was it my pronunciation?

No, my eyesight.

chillidoggy

stickyfiddle said:

I feel like the only person who likes the Shard. I like Orbit too, having had a view of it being built from my old flat. In any case, the Burj Khalifa is better

 

That looks like a screenshot from Sim City.

stickyfiddle

chillidoggy said:

stickyfiddle said:

I feel like the only person who likes the Shard. I like Orbit too, having had a view of it being built from my old flat. In any case, the Burj Khalifa is better

 

That looks like a screenshot from Sim City.

The rate they're building it almost looks like it in real-time too. That was taken about a year ago; the top half of the picture would have twice as many towers now.

chillidoggy

I'm curious: What's it like living there? I always imagined that you'd have to move from one air-conditioned building/car to the next in order to stave off dying from dehydration/heatstroke/sunburn for as long as possible.

stickyfiddle

chillidoggy said:

I'm curious: What's it like living there? I always imagined that you'd have to move from one air-conditioned building/car to the next in order to stave off dying from dehydration/heatstroke/sunburn for as long as possible.

Sounds about right. At the moment it's a bit ridiculous. 40 degrees most days means you can't realistically go outside for more than 15 minutes or so at a time, but everything's air-conned so it's not a major problem. Ramadan has just finished too, which is good- no eating & drinking in public is a hassle when it's this hot.

But when it's a bit cooler it's fantastic- hot but not daft in the day and beautiful in evening. Plenty of places to go and eat/drink outdoors too, which is great. 

We should get our new car in the next couple of weeks, so planning trips to the zoo and mountains...

chillidoggy

Ooooh! I'm thinking Nissan R37, or maybe Porsche GT3RS looking at that awesome road.

stickyfiddle

Yeh. I fancied a Golf GTI but the waiting list is till Christmas. A regular Golf has to do for now