Ugly SL Build

R O F L M F A O

oh....wow. thats the first dr pepper spewing experience ive had in a LONG long time


After looking at it a bit more, I have to give it credit for being interesting and original, i just personally dont care for it.
*tries really, really hard to be kind to the building*
it's not its fault, after all. it didnt ASK to be made that way

OMG, Siro, I laughed so hard I snorted like a piglet.

Mantra follows :
IT IS A FUCKIN TRAILER
IT IS A MOBILE HOME
HE EVEN COMMENTED ON IT'S ARCHITECTURE IN THIS FASHION IN HIS SPEECH
MAW GET ME MY SHOTGUN

I can imagine archaeologists of the future unearthing the thing, and concluding that it is a good example of how beauty in architecture has degenerated over the centuries.

It looks like it should have a conveyor belt hauling coal coming out of the end by the water. I like some neo modern stuff but this one just looks like a freeway (even has freeway type trestle supports under the building) boxed in with glass.

lol, Jauani, between the Clinton Library and the photo you posted, it's like the fictional architectural dichotomy in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Eeerk!

Personally, I think the Clinton Library looks like a mobile missile erector for a Pershing II, locked down in the travel position. Might have been a more appropriate design for the Reagan Library.

LOL.

what does it mean to dwell on an elevated ground plain?
what does that do to our relationship with the earth and the sky?
what is the experience of sitting in a reading room perched over a river?

i haven't looked at the site plan but i'm confident that this building is oriented east west and that it employs "green" technology to make the building more energy efficient.

it's tough for architecture to keep up with the modern technology . it's tougher still for people to become comfortable with the neverending revolutions at the pace we experience them in this day and age.

i'm really enjoying these responses. amongst my circle of friends this building would generally get approving nods or a little excitement from the minimalists. thats the gap that designers need to bridge with mainstream society.

the freeway analogy is interesting. why is it that we give cars the privilige of rising above our life world?

Not sure on that. Here in MN our freeways tend to be mostly dug in, landscaped, and soundwalled off (the more modern ones anyway), although some of the older ones are elevated.

When I used to live in west TX they all tended to be elevated, (those passing through the metro area), with the surface streets running underneath. Personally, I prefer the dug in type with the surface streets passing overhead. It's probably a financial decision in the end, having to build bridges for all the perpendicular surface streets is probably more spendy than simply building over the top of existing streets.

i saw it today on tv obliquely and i thought it looked much better than the photograph that cristiano psoted. but if you look carefully at that photo, there seems to be a clear glass atrium like space, perhaps a reading room, perched over the river.

think of this as well - it's almost an entirely glass box. there is a powerful symbolic association between transparency and democracy and public libraries and similar initutions are charged with democratic meaning.

if it was reagan's library it would have to be post modernist and self indulgent. maybe opaque blue and red, with doric columns and and white and black checkered floors. look up michael graves. he opitimizes reaganism.

Am I the only one who likes it?

now this is a nifty library.
its gorgeous inside, very sleek and clean. but its by no means plain- there are little suprises everywhere. i owe pierce portocarrero a huge debt of gratitude for dragging neil and i down there to check it out.

The blue round cushions in the pics of the childrens section reminded me of Skittles. And i was particularly charmed by the chartruese plastic on the escalators
Unfortunately I dont have any grand conclusions to draw like jauani:

I wish i could say something that insightful about its design, but i am no good at that
(i swear im not poking fun at you jau, i see where youre coming from and found that idea made the building much more endearing)

on that note though, symbology similar to that in architechture is fascinating, but in the case of the clinton library no amount of artful intention is going to make that design NOT look like a half-assembled trailer

Anyone know how much dwell this place gets per day? Or you might have to go by year. Yes, it is ugly. Love the pic with the for sale signs and what not.

What is that ?

Inspiration for the clinton Library:

Reagan and post-modernism.... I can see that, in the sense that the "big" architecture and statuary of Stalinist socialism and mid-century Fascism were also post-modern in their fusion of mysticism, technology, and the "divine" character of certain human traits.

But then, Clinton and modernism? And the library in character with that? Sounds tired and material and empty. A worn idea in a derivative steel box.

It's funny, the rendering of the building is beautiful! As usual though, there's a big difference between the design vision and the actual construction. The harsh light of day and the actual swampy riverside turned out to be rather unflattering.

I like minimalist stuff, so I like this. But I don't think I'd want it right next door to my house.

The Reagan Library is a much more attractive and organic building. Sorta vaguely post modern, true, but pretty much all about the stunning views around it of the Simi Valley. It's got a Spanish tile roof, but other than that it's all big windows and warm stucco and it blends into the hills.

Hmm, I don't see the minimalist in the Clinton building. It seems like they even went over the top to try and do something "different".

To me, it looks like a skyscraper that fell over onto it's side. Like it should be verticle, not horizontal. Much like the exPresident himself.