Watch and Learn

"Remember that locals may have good reasons for their apparently-strange customs."

— Adeja's guide for travelers.

More from Adeja's guide:

• "Off the Beaten Path"
  (June 12, 2015)
• "Are You Going to Finish That?"
  (June 5, 2015)
• "A Stranger Rode Into Town One Day - - -"
  (May 29, 2015)
• "End of the Day's Journey"
  (May 22, 2015)
• " 'You Can't Miss It' "
  (May 15, 2015)

Off the Beaten Path

"Locals can be your best guides to unfrequented destinations."

— Adeja's guide for travelers.

More from Adeja's guide, plus other stuff:

• "Are You Going to Finish That?"
  (June 5, 2015)
• "A Stranger Rode Into Town One Day - - -"
  (May 29, 2015)
• "End of the Day's Journey"
  (May 22, 2015)
• " 'You Can't Miss It' "
  (May 15, 2015)
• "What a Beautiful Day for a Dragon Ride"
  (May 8, 2015)

"Metropolis," Plus 120 Years

(From King Camp Gillette, via Cornell University Library, used w/o permission.)
(Plates V and I, "Metropolis," King Champ Gillette)

"The Human Drift"
King Camp Gillette (1894)

"Under a perfect economical system of production and distribution, and a system combining the greatest elements of progress, there can be only one city on a continent, and possibly only one in the world. There would be outlying groups of buildings in different sections of the country for the accommodation of those who were, for limited periods, in the field of labor, and also others that would be occupied as resorts of pleasure in season; but the great and only 'Metropolis' would be the home of the people...."

A major problem with this proposal is in the third word of the first paragraph. It's been the Lemming's experience that humans don't do "perfect." "Not bad," "it'll do," "it could be worse," yes: "perfect," no.

To Mr. Gillette's credit, he realized that a city needs power: which is why his Metropolis was set east of Niagara Falls. Humans still draw energy from water flowing downhill, which helps explain Las Vegas. As usual, where humans are involved, it's more complicated than that.

"...The Whole World Would Contribute...."

"...Here should be located the great central city, which would be the home of all; and to the artistic beauty, grandeur, and magnificence of this wonderful production of the combined intelligence of a united people, the whole world would contribute its wealth and treasures...."

King C. Gillette was a smart man. He invented a very practical safety razor — he's that Gillette — and put quite a bit of thought into the physical design of his Metropolis.

He was also a utopian socialist, and thought all industry in the United States should be owned by one company, with everyone living in one city.

Bear in mind that this was back in the 19th century: long before anyone tried putting his nifty ideas into practice.

It's possible to build a city in some arbitrary spot, and make it work. Brasília, for example, is east of the Tocantins River headwaters, more or less, because Brazil's national government said that's where the country's capital should be.

Most cities, though, grow where humans are getting something done. Some of Earth's largest cities are break-in-bulk points, where humans haul stuff from one form of transportation to another.

That's why humans have been building at Londinium for some 10,000 years now. The locals are calling it "London" now, and it'll probably be a population center 10,000 years from now.

Crossroads are another favorite, and some cities grow because there's a valuable natural resource nearby that's needed for some industry.

But enough about real cities. Let's look at Gillette's Metropolis again.

"Sitting Rooms" and a Zigzag Outer Wall

(From King Champ Gillette, via Cornell University Library, used w/o permission.)
(Plates VI and IV, "Metropolis," King Champ Gillette)

Most American houses and apartments don't have "sitting rooms" these days, but Gillette's floor plan has features that could be used today.

That zigzag outer wall, for example, gives each apartment a dozen windows on the side walls: without having tenants staring into the neighbor's home.

Gillette's paper showed how these huge apartment blocks could be built, one tower at a time: presumably with the central dome added after the ring was complete.

Social and economic aspects aside, Gillette's residential blocks strike the Lemming as having workable features. That hundred-yard-tall domed atrium could be a really nice feature this time of year: where the Lemming lives, in Minnesota.

On the other hand, one of those 25-story apartment buildings would have 450 units. At six people per unit, that's 2,700 folks living in one building. Two of them would have room for everyone living in the Lemming's town, with room left over.

It's a little hard to imagine a good reason for going to the trouble of building something that size here, though.

More posts that aren't completely unrelated:

• "World Architecture Festival Entries: Big, Small, Shiny, and Otherwise"
  (October 3, 2014)
• "London: Holborn Overhaul and De-Fencing the Street"
  (April 4, 2014)
• "Chicago, City of Lights: Maybe"
  (January 24, 2014)
• "Chengdu's Huge New Mall, and a Musing Lemming"
  (August 30, 2013)
• "Santa Monica Place, Famous Architects, and Why Minnesota Malls Have Roofs"
  (May 2, 2012)

More about cities and hexagons:

• Chapter 4 - The Mid-Atlantic and Megalopolis
  Alan A. Lew (2004)
• "City Plan"
  Charles R. Lamb, The Craftsman (April 1904)
• "The City of the Future: Hexagonal Building Concept for a New Division"
  Rudolf Müller [Trans. by Eric M. Nay, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Cornell University. Spring 1995.] (1908)

World Architecture Festival Entries: Big, Small, Shiny, and Otherwise

(From Wingårdh Arkitektkontor AB, via CNN, used w/o permission.)
("Until Aula Medica was built, there was no large auditorium at the Karolinska Institutet (a medical university in Solna, Sweden). The building houses a 1,000-seat auditorium and other facilities.
"Category: Higher education and research
"Architects: Wingårdh Arkitektkontor AB (Sweden)")

"In Pictures: Spectacular buildings from Singapore's World Architecture Festival"
Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN (September 28, 2014)

"Zaha Hadid's spaceship-like Dongdaemun Design Plaza, an avant-garde new home for Singapore's oldest Buddhist Temple, and a private bunker sprawling on top of a lake are some of the shortlisted entries competing for architectural honors at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore this week.

"Now it its seventh year, the event is the world's biggest celebration of building design.

"Hundreds of firms from more than 50 countries will be presenting and competing across 27 categories (Hotel and Leisure, Education and Display, others) in the three-day event...."

Some of the entries, like that Swedish auditorium, are shiny. Others, not so much.


(From Aedas, via CNN, used w/o permission.)
("The Administration Information Building is part of a joint international university founded by Xi'an Jiaotong University and Liverpool University. It's in Suzhou Industrial Park in China.
"Category: Higher education and research
"Architects: Aedas (Hong Kong, China)")

They're not all huge, or trying to look huge, either.


(From a21studio, via CNN, used w/o permission.)
("Vietnamese coffee shop Salvaged Ring is built from a collection of scrap wood stockpiled over the years by the owner, who is also a carpenter.
"Category: Small projects
"Architects: a21studio (Vietnam)")

Xi'an Jiaotong University and Liverpool University's Administration Information Building looks cool, and it's a good-sized structure: but it's not as big as those horizontal elements at the corners imply.

It's easy for an observer to see those alternating light and dark lines as rows of windows: which would make the building something like a hundred stories tall. Look at the windows at the center of each side, and the scale changes a bit.

It's a nifty optical illusion, in the Lemming's opinion: sort of like the strong vertical elements in Victorian mansions that made them look taller.

The entry shown in Maggie Hiufu Wong's article that particularly caught the Lemmings eye was the Salvaged Ring coffee shop. It's good to see someone making good use of "scrap" lumber. Long before "sustainable" design — real or imagined concern over resource management — became fashionable, folks were re-using wood, brick, or just about anything else that was lying around. And that's another topic.

More:

• World Architecture Festival
  (www.worldarchitecturefestival.com)
• "Salvaged style"
  Laurie Grano, Chicago Tribune (December 12, 2003)

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Rediscovering Timber Construction, and a Rambling Lemming"
  (August 22, 2014)
• "London: Holborn Overhaul and De-Fencing the Street"
  (April 4, 2014)
• "Chicago, City of Lights: Maybe"
  (January 24, 2014)
• " '...Charming, Quiet Neighborhood' "
  (January 3, 2014)
• "Chengdu's Huge New Mall, and a Musing Lemming"
  (August 30, 2013)

Rediscovering Timber Construction, and a Rambling Lemming

"Rethinking construction: introducing timber into our commercial buildings [video]"
Geraldine Chua, Architecture & Design (August 21, 2014)

"Following on from our series of articles looking at the possibilities and benefits of building with timber, we spoke to Rod Pindar, a principal at Fitzpatrick + Partners (F+P), about some of the work the practice is doing, with a focus on their Macquarie Park project.

" In this interview, Pindar shares why Australia's building and design industry will move towards mass timber construction (MTC) in coming years even though it has a long way to go.

" 'We think it's important that the knowledge of timber is out there and freely available,' he says.

" 'We'd like to see buildings get built in timber, we'd like to see multi-storey commercial buildings built in particular. We know CLT has been proven in the residential market and that will continue to grow, but the commercial market really is the tough nut to crack.'..."

"CLT?" That could mean Charlotte Douglas International Airport; Chile Standard Time; or the Oprah Winfrey Network, a Canadian TV channel that's now called Canadian Learning Television.

None of those make sense in this context, so the Lemming figures that Geraldine Chua means cross laminated timber, or glulam. It's plywood, only different: apparently.

Most readers of Architecture & Design might see "CLT" and immediately think Cross Laminated Timber. Then again, they might not. Surely the Lemming isn't the only reader whose interests span more than one specialty.

Acronyms, Pronoun Trouble, and a Latvian Bridge

Acronyms are useful when all readers realize what, say, ACK, BLS, CALABARZON, DTs, or ead. mean — and gibberish when they don't.

It's the acronyms that are gibberish for autochthons marginalized from the requisite cognoscente. And that's another topic. Topics.

The Lemming applauds Pindar on realizing that timber, in fact, actually does grow on trees: and was used by humans in the construction of large structures long before other traditional products like steel, fiberglass, or prestressed concrete.

There's a reason why timber isn't used in skyscrapers or long suspension bridges. Short ones — that's yet another topic.


(From Igors Jefimovs, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(A suspension bridge in Ozolnieki, Latvia: photo by Igors Jefimovs.)

Very-nearly-related posts:

• "London: Holborn Overhaul and De-Fencing the Street"
  (April 4, 2014)
• "Sochi, Winter Olympics, Lint, and a Rambling Lemming"
  (February 7, 2014)
• "Chicago, City of Lights: Maybe"
  (January 24, 2014)
• "Chengdu's Huge New Mall, and a Musing Lemming"
  (August 30, 2013)
• "Javits Center: Green, Then Gone"
  (January 25, 2012)

London: Holborn Overhaul and De-Fencing the Street

(From Architects Journal, used w/o permission.)

"Farrell unveils Holborn overhaul vision"
Merlin Fulcher, Architects Journal (June 14, 2012)

"[First look] Terry Farrell and Partners has revealed his masterplan to revamp the Holborn, Bloomsbury and St Giles areas of London

"Re-branded 'Midtown', the district is expected to undergo major regeneration with the arrival of Crossrail in 2018.

"Farrell's vision centres on the area's three major hubs: St Giles Circus, Holborn Crossroads and Holborn Circus – setting out roadmap for improving public realm, the urban environment and pedestrian and transport congestion.

"Proposals include phasing out High Holborn's one-way system, creating new pedestrian crossings and expanding the cycle network.

"Tass Mavrogordato, chief executive of project-backer InMidtown BID, said: 'We will be more impacted than anywhere else by the opening of London's two biggest Crossrail stations in Farringdon and Tottenham Court Road...."

That aerial view of Farrell's proposed London makeover is an attractive picture.

Making a nifty picture is one thing, planning a detailed renovation of even part of a city is something else. The Lemming didn't know whether this was one of those visionary projects that nobody really expects to work: or something that Londoners could actually use.

As it turns out, project planners seem quite serious about Farrell's St. Giles Circus — Holborn Crossroads — Holborn Circus project.

Trees, Umbrellas, and No Fences in the Streeet

(From Architects Journal, used w/o permission.)

Judging from those before-and-after pictures from the Architects Journal article, it looks like Farrell's idea is to take some of the fences out of the street, add trees, and set up a sidewalk cafe or two.

The sidewalk cafe may or may not work out; the trees look nice, but will need watering; and — how did anyone think that putting fences in a street was a good idea in the first place?!

No matter. Another four years, and at least one London street can be used as a street again. That's progress, the Lemming supposes.

Related posts:

• "Students and Duluth City Planning: Fresh Ideas"
  (December 14, 2012)
• "Lemming Tracks: Designing Better Street Lighting"
  (March 21, 2012)
• "New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art Makeover, et Les Mots Français (Mais Oui!)"
  (February 8, 2012)
• "Houston, Texas; Civic Pride; Futuristic Architecture; and Admiral Horatio Nelson"
  (February 1, 2012)
• "Minneapolis Skyways: Warm Winter Walking"
  (November 9, 2011)

Chicago, City of Lights: Maybe

(City of Chicago, via Archinect News, used w/o permission.)

"A bright idea: City aims to light up architecture to boost tourism"
Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times.com (January 22, 2014)

"Chicago would be turned into a Midwest version of Paris — La Ville Lumiere, the City of Light — under a mayoral plan showcased Wednesday to boost tourism by spotlighting the city's architectural wonders.

"Even as his Infrastructure Trust launches a $13 million plan to make 60 government buildings more energy-efficient, Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to use a spectacular citywide light show to accomplish a new and 10 percent higher goal of attracting 55 million annual visitors by 2020.

"It will start with an 'international design competition' that invites teams of artists, architects, engineers and designers to envision ways to light up Chicago's 'buildings, parks, roads and open spaces.'..."

If this works, Chicago will look different in a few years. That'll probably upset purists of the architectural and economic sort.

As long as Chicago city planners don't try to make the city a Paris knockoff, the Lemming doesn't see a problem.

Dubai has become famous for architecture that's innovative, bizarre, or garish: depending on your point of view. Seeing folks build an indoor ski resort with resident penguins doesn't bother the Lemming a bit: and neither does an ultra-high-end hotel shaped like an arabian sailboat.

It doesn't hurt, in the Lemming's eyes, that Burj Al Arab's over-the-top decor gives tightly-wound architecture critics fits.

Getting back to Chicago, the Lemming expects that the usual suspects will get conniptions over the dreadful waste and extravagance of lighting up some of North America's most spectacular buildings. They might have a point, if the city lights up with old-style incandescent bulbs.

In the Lemming's opinion, that's about as likely as La Ville Lumiere by Lake Michigan using Yablochkov candles, and that's another topic.

Other folks, the Lemming included, will sit back; enjoy the show; and hope that Chicago attracts more tourists and investors with this makeover.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Santa Monica Place, Famous Architects, and Why Minnesota Malls Have Roofs"
  (May 2, 2012)
• "Multimedia at the Symphony, and Skateboarding Meets Opera"
  (April 11, 2012)
• "Here's Looking At You: Chicago Gets the Eye"
  (July 4, 2010)
• "Fairy Castle in Museum of Science and Industry"
  (March 28, 2010)
• "Burj Dubai: Record-Setting Superscraper Opens Today - With the Usual Complaints"
  (January 4, 2010)

"...Charming, Quiet Neighborhood"

("The Abbey in the Oakwood/Abbey among Oak Trees/Abtei im Eichwald," Caspar David Friedrich, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)

Handyman special: secluded, charming, quiet neighborhood.

Is it just the Lemming, or do those trees look like they stopped moving a moment ago?

Allegedly-related posts:

• "A 'Bookish' Librarian, Art, Words, and a Rambling Lemming"
  (November 8, 2013)
• " 'Fountain of Abundance' and the Psychedelic Buffalo"
  (April 27, 2012)
• "April 6, 1912: Manitoba; the Titanic; Atlantis; a Painting; and a Car"
  (April 6, 2012)
• "Gingerbread, Fruitcake, and Eggnog Nightmare #2"
  (December 23, 2011)
• "Zinnias, in Gardens Ablaze, Sound Good Enough to Eat: But Don't"
  (August 14, 2010)

Chengdu's Huge New Mall, and a Musing Lemming

(From ETGCN, via International Business Times, used w/o permission.)
"Inside the shopping area of the New Century Global Center."

"World's Largest Building, New Century Global Center, Opens In Chengdu, China"
Mark Johanson, International Business Times (July 01 2013)

"Whenever you're talking about the world's biggest, largest, tallest or fastest, chances are China is somehow involved. After all, the People's Republic boasts the world's biggest shopping mall and museum, tallest statue and highest observation deck, among other superlatives. And, as of this week, you can add the world's largest freestanding building to the growing list.

"The New Century Global Center in Chengdu, in Sichuan in western China, is so big that it's got its own artificial sun. Indeed, at 500 meters (1,640 feet) long, 400 meters (1,310 feet) wide and 100 meters (325 feet) high, it's massive enough to hold 20 Sydney Opera Houses or three Pentagons, according to local authorities.

"Of course, you won't find any Sydney Opera Houses or Pentagons inside this 1.76 million-square-meter (18.94 million-square-foot) space. The colossal structure, which opened June 28 under the management of Exhibition and Travel Group, is like an enclosed town, with businesses, offices, shopping malls, theaters, two five-star hotels, a skating rink and even a water park called Paradise Island with an “indoor beach.” The New Century Global Center also boasts a faux Mediterranean village, following the bizarre trend in China for copycat European towns...."

Mark Johanson's article is fairly upbeat, which is just as well since it's in IBT's Media & Culture/Travel section. When was the last time you read something unglowing in that a 'places to go' publication?

That said, the Lemming's impressed with Chengdu's new shopping mall. It's not just big: architects did a good job of making it look good. In the Lemming's opinion.

Where Chengdu's new shopping mall goes in lists of 'world's biggest shopping malls' will depend on who makes the list. Minnesota's Mall of America is 23rd in a 'biggest shopping malls' list on Wikipedia.

That's because whoever put the list together didn't count an amusement park that's inside the mall. Credit where credit is due: there's a notation that the Mall of America would be #11 on the list, if all the interior space counted.

The West Edmonton Mall, several hours north and west of the Lemming, is big, too: and was the biggest in the world until 2004. These days the really big shopping malls are in Asia and the southwestern Pacific, and that's almost another topic.

Marine Theme for an Inland Mall, and Smog

(From ETGCN, via International Business Times, used w/o permission.)
"The hotel rooms are seen in the New Century Global Center."

"The exterior of the new mega-structure is shaped like a wave, while the interior has a marine theme, despite the fact that the nearest ocean is some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away. The Japanese-designed artificial sun, meanwhile, will shine 24 hours a day and offer a welcome respite from the thick smog that typically blankets Chengdu's streets.

"The building forms the centerpiece of a recently developed area known as Tainfu New District on the outskirts of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. Like many Chinese megacities, this hub of 14 million is rapidly expanding, with a growing subway system and a new airport planned for 2020.

"Officials had hoped to have the New Century Global Center completed in time for a global forum hosted by the U.S. magazine Fortune that brought presidents and CEOs of some of the world's largest companies to the city for two days in early June. That didn't pan out, but the government isn't shy about its desire for Chengdu to become the economic capital of western China. Chengdu's GDP reached 800 billion RMB ($130.48 billion) by the end of 2012, according to state media, ranking it third among China's sub-provincial cities...."
(Mark Johanson, International Business Times)

"Not shy" is a pretty good way to describe a promotional video the Lemming found. The audio isn't distorted, but you might want to turn the volume down before playing it:

• "The largest building in the world: New Century Global Center in Chengdu"
  GoChengdoo, YouTube
  video, 17:51

Chengdu probably does have smog. China has been running its industrial and commercial development in fast-forward, and may better air-quality standards in a few years. Then again, maybe not.

The Lemming decided to settle outside metropolitan areas, partly because the air is cleaner out here. Most of the time, anyway. Now and then a manure pit's turned when the wind is just right, and a very organic fragrance permeates the Lemming's abode. More topics.

Another View of a Smoggy, Phoney,  . . . You Get the Idea

(From STR/AFP/Getty Images, via CNET, used w/o pemission.)
"The New Century Global Center (top) looms over the Export-Import Bank of China in Chengdu, in southwest China's Sichuan province."
"China opens city-sized shopping mall, with fake sun"
Tim Hornyak, CNET (July 3, 2013)

" The international tallest building arms race has been dominated by Dubai, with its Burj Khalifa, for several years, but China has upped the ante by unveiling what it calls the world's largest building.

"The New Century Global Center building opened recently in Chengu, a city of more than 14 million people in southwest China's Sichuan province. It's described as 'the world's largest standalone structure' by Chinese officials and is 328 feet high, 1,640 feet long, and 1,312 feet wide.

"While Boeing's plant in Everett, Wash., is the world's biggest building by volume, the Chinese mall seems to be tops in floor space. Almost the area of Monaco, its 420 acres of floor space could fit nearly three Pentagons, four Vatican Cities, or 20 Sydney Opera Houses.

"The cavernous structure will feature a mix of retail outlets, a 14-screen movie theater, a university complex, offices, hotels, a water park called Paradise Island, a skating rink that's big enough to host international competitions, a pirate ship, 15,000 parking spots, and even a fake Mediterranean village...."

Did the Lemming mention that the New Century Global Center is huge? That's a common denominator in these articles. Also the smog.

Given time, the Lemming thinks that China's leadership will get around to cleaning up their country's air. That's not just empty optimism. The powers that be over there seem to have decided that putting China back on the map for world commerce is a good idea.

If they don't know that folks notice smog now, they soon will. "Soon" by the Lemming's standards, anyway.

"Ersatzery?"

"...Oh, and there's an artificial beach, too.

"But the ersatzery doesn't stop there. While Chengdu's factories, which include a Foxconn plant that turns out Apple gizmos, regularly contribute to the city's smog problem, visitors will enjoy an artificial sun that gives off light and heat 24 hours a day and a 164-yard-long LED screen serving as a stand-in for the horizon...."

Tim Hornyak can't seem to get over the artificiality of Chengdu's new megabuilding.

Artificial light, air at a controlled temperature, and efforts to make indoors feel like outdoors doesn't bother the Lemming quite so much. But then, the Lemming lives in Minnesota, where water is a mineral for several months each year. "Artificial" and "habitable" are far from mutually incompatible here. Yet more topics.

Related posts:

• "Santa Monica Place, Famous Architects, and Why Minnesota Malls Have Roofs"
  (May 2, 2012)
• "Taipei 101: Shopping Center, Offices, and a 728-Ton Sculpture"
  (January 18, 2012)
• "Lemming Tracks: China, Internet Traffic, and Why It Matters"
  (November 18, 2010)
• "Wiggly Buildings and Other Weirdness"
  (September 13, 2010)
• "China Olympics and Algae: Bad News, Good News, Bad News"
  (July 3, 2008)

Students and Duluth City Planning: Fresh Ideas

"Architecture students create designs for a better Duluth"
John Myers, Duluth News Tribune (December 13, 2012)

"University of Minnesota architecture and landscape architecture graduate students showed Duluth civic and business leaders what their finished projects might look like once the city's trouble spots are turned into treasures.

"Imagine waking up in your bedroom in what had been an idle ore dock on Duluth's waterfront - with stores, offices and restaurants down the hall and an outdoor skating arena just outside your door.

"Imagine turning an abandoned granite quarry in West Duluth into a world-class ice-climbing destination and speed-skating oval....

"...An effort by 36 graduate students in the University of Minnesota's College of Design did more than just imagine those scenarios - they spent the fall quarter of their final year in school designing and planning the projects. On Wednesday, the grad students in architecture and landscape architecture showed Duluth civic and business leaders what the finished projects might look like...."

Duluth, Minnesota, across from Superior, Wisconsin, is half of a port city at the west end of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Taconite pellets get transferred from rail cars to ore carriers on a series of huge ore docks. One of those docks isn't in use.

Some See Ore-Loading Chutes - - -

Some of the students saw that expanse of unused ore dock, and started thinking. They propose "...transforming the massive structure of wood and steel into a multi-use destination with condos, shops and public recreation space. Their concept even turns the giant ore-loading chutes into bleachers for an outdoor skating arena...."
(December 13, 2012)

Others have plans for parts of Duluth that are unused or hard to maintain. Then there's old Casket Quarry in West Duluth. It's already being used for ice climbing - unofficially. What some students suggest is officially recognizing what's already being done, and re-engineering the place a bit.

Sounds like a plan to the Lemming.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Lemming Tracks: Designing Better Street Lighting"
  (March 21, 2012)
• "Houston, Texas; Civic Pride; Futuristic Architecture; and Admiral Horatio Nelson"
  (February 1, 2012)
• "Ohio City Dusting Off 1978 Restoration Plan"
  (December 21, 2011)
• "Minneapolis Skyways: Warm Winter Walking"
  (November 9, 2011)
• "This Post is Not About the Royal Wedding"
  (April 28, 2011)

Houses: Expensive; Famous; Not Necessarily Big

"Mad for Mod: 10 places to get serious house envy"
George Hobica, FoxNews.com (May 08, 2012)

"Anyone with a pile of money can build a big pile of a house, and back in the day, that's what you did. (See, for instance, Downton Abbey.) But during the 20^th century, a group of architects staged a controversial revolt. Why, they asked, couldn't less be as impressive as more? Across North America, sensational - but often reasonably-sized and usually deceptively simple - homes stand as their legacy. Here are ten of the best. All of them are open to the public, but make advance reservations...."

The article lists each of these houses:

• Farnsworth House, Plano, Illinois
• Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania
• Phillip Johnson Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut
• Eames House, Los Angeles, California
• Miller House, Columbus, Indiana
• Luis Barragan House, Mexico City, Mexico
• 7 Neutra VDL House, Los Angeles, California
• Gropius House, Lincoln, Massachusetts
• Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona
• Sunnylands, Rancho Mirage, California

Each entry comes with a one-paragraph description: and a link to 'low air fares' to the area, in case you want to plan a trip.

The house in the photo up there is Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Two things that folks with the budget for a 'landmark' house like that might want to remember is that the architect is likely to be remembered longer than the original owner; and that bold, imaginative, innovative, houses can have serious maintenance issues.


(Phillip Johnson Glass House, via FoxNews.com, used w/o permission)
"You'd expect a man like Phillip Johnson, one-time associate of Mies van der Rohe and later an architectural legend in his own right, to live in a pretty amazing house. And he did, in a section of Connecticut's...."

Then there's the Phillip Johnson Glass House, where the original owner's name is associated with it. Possibly because Mr. Johnson stood out in 1940s America as someone who literally lived in a glass house. Or owned one, anyway.

The article's got eight more photos, one for each of the houses. It's a pretty good 'tour' for someone like the Lemming, who doesn't get out much. Not for transcontinental sightseeing jaunts, anyway.

Related posts:

• "The Varma Mansion: Revisited" (May 23, 2010)
• "These Houses aren't Invisible: They're Underground" (June 25, 2009)
• "The Varma Mansion: One Big, Fancy, House" (March 8, 2009)
• " 'Monte Silo' - Cool House" (January 13, 2009)
• "Skyway Retreat" (September 21, 2007)

Santa Monica Place, Famous Architects, and Why Minnesota Malls Have Roofs

"Venice Designer of Santa Monica Place Mall Honored"
Paul Chavez, Venice-MarVistaPatch (May 1, 2012)

"David Rogers, a Venice-based architect, has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects in the design category. Rogers most recently was the principal designer of the Santa Monica Place mall.

"David Rogers, a Venice-based architect whose most recent works include the Santa Monica Place open-air shopping mall, has been named as one of 105 fellows of the American Institute of Architects in the design category.

"Rogers is the co-design director of The Jerde Partnership, an international architecture and design firm based in Los Angeles...."

The rest of the article is mostly about David Rogers: which figures, since the Venice-MarVistaPatch reporter is writing about a 'home town celebrity.' David Rogers has done work outside California: like the Beursplein in Rotterdam, Zlote Tarasy in Warsaw, and something in the Kuntsevo district of Moscow. Rogers isn't quite 'world-wide, though: He seems to have missed South America, Australia, Greenland, and Antarctica.

The Lemming's more interested in Santa Monica Place, though. In this post, anyway.

That's a Big Makeover

"Santa Monica Place Swaps Gehry for Airy"
Marissa Gluck, The Architect's Newspaper (August 6, 2010)
"Stodgy mall by starchitect transformed into luxury galleria hocking sunlight and sea breeze"

"Thirty years ago a little-known architect named Frank Gehry designed a three-story indoor mall near the beach in Santa Monica while working at Gruen Associates. It was a far cry from the sumptuous buildings he creates today, but the use of metal, glass, and expressive forms was still there, in its infancy.

"Now, little of the original Santa Monica Place remains, as it has been renovated and reconfigured into an outdoor luxury shopping center by Dallas-based Omniplan. Save for some chain link signage, it is an entirely different place, less jazzy and more natural, less claustrophobic and more connected, a classy joint-at least by mall standards-that the developer hopes will attract the crowds that never flocked here before...."

Happily, this article includes photos. Quite a few of them. Including this set, shrunk down to fit in this blog.

Here's what Santa Monica Place looked like, 'before:'


(Bobak Ha'Eri/Wikimedia Commons, via The Architect's Newspaper, used w/o permission)

That's what Frank Gehry's atrium for Santa Monica Place looked like. It was like a lot of other shopping malls built around 1980. Nothing wrong with that, in the Lemming's opinion, but the place apparently needed some pepping up.

Here's the same place, 'after:'


(Marisa Gluck, via The Architect's Newspaper, used w/o permission)
"Few of Gehry's flamboyant flourishes remain, but the roofs of the escalators do recall the mall's prior architect."

It's amazing, what taking the roof off a room will do for its appearance. Folks here in Minnesota don't have that option. Actually, we do: but the room would get really, really, cold during winter.


(Marisa Gluck, via The Architect's Newspaper, used w/o permission)
"Looking out toward the promenade."

That looks like a really nice place. There's room to walk, those tiny trees almost provide shade, and there isn't too much room to walk. The Lemming remembers vast concrete expanses of - concrete - back when Modernism was new.


(Marisa Gluck, via The Architect's Newspaper, used w/o permission)
"The dining deck, with upscale eateries and views of the ocean, is a main attraction."

This is the sort of architectural photograph that the Lemming appreciates. The camera is near a human's eye level - and placed where someone might actually be standing. That is how everybody except some acrobatic photographers is going to see the area. A tip of the Lemming's hat, for this 'you are here' photo.

Related posts:

• " 'Fountain of Abundance' and the Psychedelic Buffalo"
  (April 27, 2012)
• "Taipei 101: Shopping Center, Offices, and a 728-Ton Sculpture"
  (January 18, 2012)
• "Santa Monica Place, Cool New Mall in California: It Would be Even Cooler Here"
  (August 10, 2010)
• "Frank Gehry's 'Curvy' Buildings"
  (July 2, 2010)
• "Antoni Gaudi - Buildings With That Home-Cooked Look"
  (July 15, 2008)

"Fountain of Abundance" and the Psychedelic Buffalo

"Fountain in West Acres Shopping Mall, Fargo, N.D."
Digital Horizons, Photo Gallery for the North Dakota State University Institute of Regional Studies (1977-08)


(Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo (35mm-0560.8), used w/o permission)
"View of shoppers seated around a courtyard in West Acres Shopping Center. A fountain and hanging plants decorate the area. In the background is visible the storefronts for Daytons and Flagg...."

"... The fountain is entitled 'Fountain of Abundance' and was created by P. Richard Szeitz...."

Looks like you could order a copy of that photo. A link on that page goes to http://library.ndsu.edu/archives/collections-institute/photography/reproductions/. Not the catchiest name in the world, maybe: but your browser should be able to find it. And that's another topic.

West Acres has been around since around 1972, and started out with that sculpture as a sort of centerpiece. They removed it for a while, but looks like it's back in public view. Along with a very strange bison.

The West Acres website, www.westacres.com, says that the psychedelic buffalo is in Buffalo Court, which makes sense. That's the one near Herbergers, at the west end of the original Mall.

The fountain is at the 'far end' of the mall, in - what else? - Fountain Court. That's the southwest end of the mall. It's also a whole lot brighter there, than when the Lemming last visited. Which was - quite a while ago.

The color photos are from West Acres' "Regional Showcase" page, by the way. The shopping mall seems to be presenting itself as a sort of cultural center.

The east end of the mall "...is where you'll find West Acres' 1,000-gallon freshwater aquarium filled with African cichlids. Pipedream, a spiral-like, soaring interactive sculpture made of 100 brushed and beveled steel pipes, engages young and old alike. In concert with Pipedream is a similar glass sculpture within the aquarium...."

The Lemming thinks it's okay for a shopping mall to attract shoppers with sculptures, aquariums, and other 'cultural stuff.' Your experience may vary. This photo shows where the "abundance" sculpture started out:

"....Center Court near Macy's is a great place to relax for a bit. Browse through our great collection of books that either feature our region or are penned by local authors (or both), and peruse photographs taken throughout the region...."

If you're still reading this post: thanks for your patience. The Lemming grew up across the river from West Acres, and enjoyed sharing a virtual visit to the place. It's still a lively regional shopping area: with no empty store fronts, the Lemming's been told.

Allegedly-related posts:

• "Mayan Apocalypse Transition: Book a Galactic Cruise; or Take the Cosmic Bike Tour"
  (February 3, 2012)
• "Taipei 101: Shopping Center, Offices, and a 728-Ton Sculpture"
  (January 18, 2012)
• "St. Paul, Minnesota, and The Curious Case of the Cherished Carousel"
  (November 16, 2011)
• "Wiggly Buildings and Other Weirdness"
  (September 13, 2010)
• "Santa Monica Place, Cool New Mall in California: It Would be Even Cooler Here"
  (August 10, 2010)

What do a wedding dress, an opera house, some purses, and a torch have in common?

"Olympic Torch Voted Design of Year Before London’s Games"
Farah Nayeri, Bloomberg (April 24, 2012)

"The Olympic torch was voted Design of the Year in a U.K. contest, as judges chose to reward the sporting emblem in the year of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Designed by London-based Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, the tapered rod has 8,000 holes representing the 8,000 bearers who will carry it over 8,000 miles (12,874 kilometers). Runners-up in the 'Design of the Year 2012' announced today included Catherine Middleton's wedding gown, a Zaha Hadid opera house in China, and Vivienne Westwood handbags made in Kenya...."

The Bloomberg article doesn't say how folks judged the relative merits of a ventilated torch, a wedding dress, an opera house, and some handbags. Sure, they were looking at 'design' in each case: but design criteria for an opera house and a wedding gown aren't all that similar. Come to think of it, though, the torch and the handbags may be roughly the same size: and both are designed to be carried.

Maybe that odd lot of entrants isn't so unrelated, after all. Still: a wedding dress and an opera house?

Here's a photo of the opera house in question. Looks pretty cool, in the Lemming's opinion.


(Iwan Baan/Design Museum, via Bloomberg, used w/o permission)
"The Guangzhou Opera House, designed by Pritzker Prize winner Zaha Hadid. The building is nominated for the Design of the Year award, organized by the Design Museum in London. Photographer: Iwan Baan/Design Museum via Bloomberg"

The Guangzhou Opera House looks very impressive from this angle, but the photo raises some questions. Is the camera at eye level? If so, why aren't there any handrails on the left side of that - is it a walkway? And if that's a reflecting pool to the right, what does it look like when there's a breeze?

Oh, well: It's still a cool photo.

Related posts:

• "Olympic This, Olympic That, and Chobham Academy"
  (March 14, 2012)
• "And Now, For Something Completely Different: Portable Buildings; and an Octopus Cartoon"
  (March 7, 2012)
• "Eco-Bridge or Not, This Looks Like a Good Idea"
  (February 20, 2009)
• "The 2008 Olympics 'Water Cube:' Looks Cool, Retains Heat, and Keeps Itself Clean"
  (August 22, 2008)
• "China's Cool New Buildings: Eco-Aware, Too"
  (October 15, 2007)

Multimedia at the Symphony, and Skateboarding Meets Opera

"Six new spots for architecture lovers"
Katia Hetter, CNN (April 10, 2012)

"The Eiffel Tower. The Colosseum. The Taj Majal. The Pyramids.

"Massive architectural marvels from times past, they are often stopping points on a tourist's journey.


(turner.com/CNN, used w/o permission)
"The New World Symphony performs the premiere of 'Polaris' in January at the symphony's New World Center home in Miami Beach, Florida."

"Although these grand sites aren't always why globe-trotters say they're going on vacation, some of history's great works of architecture star in the returning traveler's photos. Did you get that smiling shot in front of Buckingham Palace or the photo 'pushing' the Leaning Tower of Pisa upright?

"Despite a tight economy, a new generation of architects is giving the traveler reasons to jump on a plane to see modern masterpieces. Many of the new structures are public projects, designed to welcome the resident and tourist alike...."

There's an echo or two of the 'let's make buildings look like packing crates' era, but what impressed the Lemming about this set of structures is that they don't all look alike.

Just a suggestion, but check out the picture captioned "People take in the warm weather at the High Line, Manhattan's newest park constructed on a former elevated railroad track." The photographer and editors get points for keeping the camera at eye level - giving readers a look at the place as seen by folks actually using it.

Skateboarding and Opera

(turner.com/CNN, used w/o permission)
"Part of a development project to connect the waterfront to the rest of the Norwegian city, the Oslo Opera House's design encourages visitors to walk up the building to a public space on the roof."

About the Oslo Opera House roof/ramp:

"...For the architecture geek: If you think the outside of the Oslo Opera House would be an excellent skate park, it's no accident. Skateboarders were consulted about the exterior design and surfaces and have enjoyed the results, according to Wired magazine..."
(Katia Hetter/CNN)

That's an impressive-looking structure. From a distance. It's not likely that the Lemming would ever be in a position to test this: but dark glasses might help cut the glare from that vast white surface. Or maybe it isn't quite as dazzling-bright as it looks in this photo.

Still - that's an impressive-looking structure. And the Lemming's repeating himself.

Related posts:

• "Olympic This, Olympic That, and Chobham Academy"
  (March 14, 2012)
• "Architecture of Star Wars: a List of Favorites"
  (February 29, 2012)
• "Houston, Texas; Civic Pride; Futuristic Architecture; and Admiral Horatio Nelson"
  (February 1, 2012)
• "A 21st Century Look at 19th Century Visions of the 20th Century"
  (January 4, 2012)
• "Wiggly Buildings and Other Weirdness"
  (September 13, 2010)

Mies van der Rohe: Born 126 Years Ago, Yesterday

"Google honors architect Mies van der Rohe with latest 'doodle'"
Culture Monster, Los Angeles Times (March 27, 2012)

"Benevolent Internet masters Google released the latest logo-tweaking tribute to an artist on Tuesday, honoring the 126th birthday of the late German American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

"With the letters to the search titan's name squared off and tucked behind the glass of a boxy rendering that evokes Mies van der Rohe's S.R. Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology (pictured), the doodle honors the modernist architect commonly associated with the aphorisms 'Less is more' and 'God is in the details.'

"Part of the German avant-garde who was also part of the Bauhaus design school in the 1920s and '30s, Mies van der Rohe immigrated to the U.S. in 1937 to head the architecture department at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he would design many of the campus' buildings...."

What set Mies van der Rohe apart from architects who played 'hide the entrance,' in the Lemming's opinion, is that van der Rohe knew what he was doing. "Less is more" makes sense as a reaction to 19th century decorative exuberance. But when the "less" extends to making a building's door look like just another spot on a featureless wall?

Anyway, that Los Angeles Times post talks about van der Rohe, buildings, and has a photo of one of the master architect's pieces: the S.R. Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Part of it, anyway.

Happily, architects seem to have gotten past the "lets make a glass box" idea, and that's almost another topic.

Actually, the Lemming likes the 'glass box' style. When it's done sensibly. Steel and glass don't look like, or act like, stone and wood: something that Victorian-era architects didn't seem to appreciate. Seriously: metal support beams shaped to resemble Greek or Roman stone work? More topics.

Sort-of-related posts:

• "Sydney Opera House: Lego Version"
  (February 22, 2012)
• "Leonardo GlassCube Building"
  (January 16, 2008)
• "Farnsworth House: It's Not Practical, and That's Not the Point "
  (September 21, 2007)
• "Skyway Retreat"
  (September 21, 2007)
• "Chicago Architecture and Miscellaneous Relevance: A Blog"
  (September 13, 2007)

Olympic This, Olympic That, and Chobham Academy

"London Olympics Architecture : Buildings Information + Images"
e-architect.co.uk

It's basically a link page, where you can go to photos of the London Olympics Shooting Venue, Olympic Aquatics Centre, an areal view of the Olympic Park (under construction), Olympic Stadium, and Olympic Village.

And, for reasons that weren't immediately clear to the Lemming, Chobham Academy.

Related posts:

• "And Now, For Something Completely Different: Portable Buildings; and an Octopus Cartoon"
  (March 7, 2012)
• "Houston, Texas; Civic Pride; Futuristic Architecture; and Admiral Horatio Nelson"
  (February 1, 2012)
• "Rogers Centre / SkyDome, Toronto, Canada"
  (July 16, 2010)
• "Eco-Bridge or Not, This Looks Like a Good Idea"
  (February 20, 2009)
• "China's Cool New Buildings: Eco-Aware, Too"
  (October 15, 2007)

And Now, For Something Completely Different: Portable Buildings; and an Octopus Cartoon

"Athletic builds: the architecture of the London 2012 Olympics"
Steve Rose, Culture > Art and design > Architecture, theguardian (UK) (March 5, 2012)

"You've seen the pool, the stadium and the velodrome – now here's the octopus-tentacle shooting range and the multicoloured rubber bridge. Steve Rose looks at the hidden architectural highlights of London 2012


"Olympic octopus … Magma's shooting gallery. Photograph: J.L.Diehl
(via guardian.co.uk, used w/o permission)

"For the first half of the 20th century, architecture featured as an Olympic event. Medals in the 'culture games' were also awarded for sports-related endeavours in the fields of music, painting, literature and even town-planning. But the practice was abandoned after the 1948 games, when the last gold medals for architecture went to an Austrian ski-jump and an athletics centre in Finland...."

There's more, partly about the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Velodrome, Zaha Hadid, and why London in 2012 won't look like Beijing in 2008. Also a refreshing bit of common sense labeled as "sustainable:" a basketball area and shooting venue that event organizers can move around the world. Or to Glasgow.

By far not the worst idea the Lemming's seen.

This Video has Nothing to do with the Olympics

And now, for something completely different: an animated cartoon about two octopuses. Octopi. Octopods. Oh, never mind.

"Octopus cartoon"

elgreco01, YouTube (November 25, 2008)
video, 2:26

Enjoy.Related (?) posts:

• Apocalypse, Olympics, architecture, and all that
  
  • "Mayan Apocalypse Transition: Book a Galactic Cruise; or Take the Cosmic Bike Tour"
    (February 3, 2012)
  • "Olympic Committee Rules for Social Media: Common Sense; or Signs of a Vast Conspiracy of Space Aliens?"
    (June 27, 2011)
  • "Wiggly Buildings and Other Weirdness"
    (September 13, 2010)
  • "Rogers Centre / SkyDome, Toronto, Canada"
    (July 16, 2010)
  • "China Olympics and Algae: Bad News, Good News, Bad News"
    (July 3, 2008)
• Octopi - octopuses - octopods - whatever
  • "A Somewhat Paranoid Look at Cute, Deadly, Animals"
    (February 5, 2010)
  • "Dumbo Octopus: Two Eyes, Eight Tentacles, and Wings"
    (February 1, 2010)
  • "And Now, for Something Completely Different: Animated Octopuses - Octopods - Octopi - More Than One Animated Octopus"
    (November 13, 2009)
  • "The Answer You've Been Waiting For: How Many Arms Does an Octopus Have?"
    (August 16, 2008)
  • "Forget Henry the Eighth: Meet Henry the Hexapus"
    (March 4, 2008)

Architecture of Star Wars: a List of Favorites

"The Architecture of Star Wars"
Sebastian J, ArchDaily (June 16, 2009)

"Many of us, long before we even knew about architecture[,] dreamed about a fantastic world in a galaxy far far away. Nowadays, Star Wars continue to surprise people all around the world, and we can now see the movie with a different eye. Perhaps, the architect's eye.

"At The Architect's Journal, they selected the best Star Wars buildings. The top ten, after the break...."

"...4. CORUSCANT, THE WHOLE THING. Like adding New York to Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, then squaring the result. The capital of the Old Republic takes urban sprawl to the extreme and realises the vision of Greek City planner Constantinos Doxiadis of an ecumeonpolis: a single city that covers the whole of a planet. The 'New Architecture' style common to the Senate Area of Coruscant is characterised by Manhattan-like skyscrapers nestled among blade-thin obelisks that resemble the soaring minarets of Cairo...."

Each of the countdown's 10 items has a picture - some of which look like clips from the Star Wars movies. It's mostly fun, but the Lemming thinks Sebastian J made an important point with that first sentence. It's likely that some architects got interested in that field after going 'wow!' during a Star Wars movie. Or seeing a warehouse getting built.

It's a huge stretch to call the Star Wars movies 'inspirational:' but the Lemming thinks it's okay for folks to let their imaginations get fired up by shows like that.

"Ecumenopolis?"

Here's what Wikipedia says about the word: "Ecumenopolis (from Greek: οικουμένη, meaning world, and πόλις (polis) meaning city, thus a city made of the whole world; pl. ecumenopolises or ecumenopoleis) is a word invented in 1967 by the Greek city planner Constantinos Doxiadis to represent the idea that in the future urban areas and megalopolises would eventually fuse and there would be a single continuous worldwide city as a progression from the current urbanization and population growth trends...."

It's a cool idea, and one that's been a science fiction staple for generations. We've got something that's almost like part of an ecumenopolis today: the stretch of urbanized land between Washington, D.C., and New York City, on North America's east coast. A word for real-world analogs to Isaac Asimov's Trantor, or Lucas's Coruscant, is "megalopolis." That's "a very large urban complex (usually involving several cities and towns)." (Princeton's WordNet) There's one on the east coast of North America, running from around Boston to Washington, D.C..

The Lemming's discussed whacking great cities in science fiction, in another blog:

• "Daniel Boone and the Megalopolis"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (March 5, 2010)
• "Getting Details Right: The Vast, Huge, and Very Large City Of The Future"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (June 25, 2009)

What Star Wars' architecture has going for it is partly that it borrows from more-or-less familiar science fiction art of the 20th century - and that someone saw to it that structures in the movies looked like someone might actually be able to use them.

And that's another topic.

Not-entirely-unrelated posts:

• "Sydney Opera House: Lego Version"
  (February 22, 2012)
• "Houston, Texas; Civic Pride; Futuristic Architecture; and Admiral Horatio Nelson"
  (February 1, 2012)
• "A 21st Century Look at 19th Century Visions of the 20th Century"
  (January 4, 2012)
• "Minneapolis Skyways: Warm Winter Walking"
  (November 9, 2011)
• "Shanghai World Financial Center: Amazing Architecture, a Disgruntled Dragon, and Getting a Grip"
  (October 19, 2011)

Sydney Opera House: Lego Version

"Sydney Opera House honoured with Lego Architecture model"
David Wheeldon, Architecture & Design (February 17, 2012)

"The Sydney Opera House is being made into an official Lego product, joining a select few architectural icons recreated in miniature architecture collection.


(Architecture & Design, used w/o permission)

"The Opera House is one of seven brick-built models in the new architecture range, which will also include New York's Empire State Building and Seattle's Space Needle. It's due to be released in March.

"Of course people have been making their versions of the iconic building with the famous toy for many years, although it is often cited as one of the most challenging of buildings to replicated in Lego...."

The article says this Lego model of the Sydney Opera House has 260 pieces. It doesn't look a whole lot like the original: but that's probably not the point. Folks who like snap-together models of famous buildings should like Lego's new contribution to world culture. The thing would probably be fun to assemble.

Parents might buy Lego's Sydney Opera House in hopes that it would be 'educational.' As a recovering English teacher, the Lemming thinks that kids would probably enjoy the model anyway. They might find creative ways of re-arranging the components, too. Some of the roof segments look like they'd look good on a giant robot.

According to the article, Lego's got a small line of 'famous buildings' models:

• Jorn Utzon
  • Sydney Opera House
• Mies van der Rohe
  • Farnsworth House
• SOM
  • Burj Khalifa
• Frank Lloyd Wright
  • Fallingwater
  • Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
  • Robie House

Parking? What Parking?

New South Wales has a pretty good history of the Sydney Opera House on its website:

• "Archives In Brief 28 - A brief history of the Sydney Opera House"
  NSW (New South Wales) State Records

They don't, understandably, emphasize a curious point about the Sydney landmark: parking. But - hats off for government transparency - the website's chronology has the facts:

• 1955
  • (September 13)
    International competition for Opera House design opens, attracting
    • 233 entries
    • 32 counties
• 1957
  • (January 29)
    Jørn Utzon wins first prize
• 1966
  • (February 28)
    Jørn Utzon resigns
  • (April 19)
    Utzon replaced by a government panel
    • E.H. Farmer, Government Architect
      Peter Hall, Design Architect
    • D.S. Littlemore, in charge of supervision
    • Lionel Todd, in charge of contract documents
• 1972
  • (December 17)
    First test concert
• 1973
  • (September 29)
    First public concert
• 1993
  • (March 17)
    Parking for Sydney Opera House built

Two decades before parking facilities were retrofitted into the Opera House area? That was a long wait for a parking spot. Seriously, the Lemming is sure that folks in Sydney found a way to park somewhere within walking distance of the place - or that there was a really big demand for taxi service before the in-house parking came. If memory serves, Minneapolis, Minnesota, realized that their Metodome might need parking accommodations after it was built, too. There's a lot of parking lots around that place now: where a neighborhood or two used to be. And that's another topic. Vaguely-related posts:

• Buildings behind the Lego models
  • Burj Dubai/Dubai Tower/Burj Khalifa
    • "Burj Dubai: Record-Setting Superscraper Opens Today - With the Usual Complaints"
      (January 4, 2010)
    • "Explosion and Evacuation at Burj Dubai / Khalifa - and Lots of Silence"
      (February 10, 2010)
    • "Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Tower: Points of View"
      (February 10, 2010)
  • "Frank Lloyd Wright - - - LEGO Sets?!"
    (May 20, 2009)
  • "Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Fallingwater' A Hyper Detailed Architectural Model"
    (October 4, 2007)
  • "Farnsworth House: It's Not Practical, and That's Not the Point"
    (September 21, 2007)
• Architecture, art, and stuff
  • "A 21st Century Look at 19th Century Visions of the 20th Century"
    (January 4, 2012)
  • "Shanghai World Financial Center: Amazing Architecture, a Disgruntled Dragon, and Getting a Grip"
    (October 19, 2011)
  • "Milwaukee Art Museum: 'It's Alive!!' "
    (November 2, 2010)
  • "The Eiffel Tower: Still Pretty Cool"
    (April 23, 2010)
  • "Rodin's The Thinker: What Were They Thinking?!"
    (May 11, 2009)