The outlandish architecture of Astana, Kazakhstan

[grey_beard]

But the "lack" is not what defines it. That's the point. To define by the lack is a problem, IMO.

These buildings - lacking in femininity, yet, suggesting making up for lesser masculinity. So it's more "boyish" than feminine.
I'd generally say when an adult male is not "acting like a man", he is not acting like a woman either, but a boy.

Don't mean to hijack, but it weirdly applies to these buildings & their aesthetics.

[MENTION=6561]OrangeAppled[/MENTION] -- leaving out tempting mentions of onnagata, castrati, boys' choirs, Beppo in The Count of Monte Cristo, and the word gamine...

Agreed not to hijack; therefore, nolo contendre. The buildings lack a certain seriousness, a certain rigor. Almost remind me of Puck or, as it were, spiteful sprites, as though they were constructed as a malevolent practical joke--which takes us back to the City Pages quote earlier.

Bowing out now.

 

[OrangeAppled]

[MENTION=6561]OrangeAppled[/MENTION] -- leaving out tempting mentions of onnagata, castrati, boys' choirs, Beppo in The Count of Monte Cristo, and the word gamine...

Agreed not to hijack; therefore, nolo contendre. The buildings lack a certain seriousness, a certain rigor. Almost remind me of Puck or, as it were, spiteful sprites, as though they were constructed as a malevolent practical joke--which takes us back to the City Pages quote earlier.

Bowing out now.

Those terms mostly denote androgyny &/or being childlike.... not boyishness being feminine.

The buildings are not androgynous, but childlike & boyish, IMO, yes.

Although I think [MENTION=15246]SD45T-2[/MENTION], you made the point with the quote about the Dicken's villain that perhaps they are lacking a humanity. A lot of modern design gets accused of this, of being "cold", but these might be too comical to correctly call "cold", which is why I refer to them being childish. But low on beauty & over-focusing on structural feats, yes, spot on.

 

[SD45T-2]

That bolded part sounds like it came right out of P.J. O'Rourke (cf What Do They Do For Fun In Warsaw? out of Holidays in Hell):

Commies love concrete, but they don't know how to make it. Concrete is a mixture of cement, gravel, and straw? No?
Gravel, water, and wood pulp? Water, potatoes, and lard? The concrete runway at Warsaw's Miedzynarodowy airport is coming to pieces. From bumpy landing until bumpy take-off, you spend your time in Poland looking at bad concrete. Everything is made of it -- streets, buildings, floors, walls, ceilings, roofs, window frames, lamp posts, statues, benches, plus some of the food, I think. The concrete that hasn't cracked or flaked has crumbled completely. Generations of age and decay seem to be taking place before your eyes.

I own Holidays in Hell (and several other O'Rourke books) and I almost posted that myself.

In the meantime, to return to the thread topic, I'll see you and raise you one: here is the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, at the Southeast corner of the Washington Avenue bridge across the Mississippi River (yes, the Mississippi cuts the campus in half):
View attachment 11823

To my mind, it looks like a cross between a roll of aluminum foil in the process of being exploded by an M-80, and the cover of Pink Floyd's The Division Bell.

That is a very peculiar building. I think variety is good and that there is a time and place for stuff like that. Just not everywhere all the time!

Although I think [MENTION=15246]SD45T-2[/MENTION], you made the point with the quote about the Dicken's villain that perhaps they are lacking a humanity. A lot of modern design gets accused of this, of being "cold", but these might be too comical to correctly call "cold", which is why I refer to them being childish. But low on beauty & over-focusing on structural feats, yes, spot on.

Yeah, and I thought the rest of article was good too.

 

[Giggly]

Is that the best the could do? Sheesh.

 

[93JC]

Astana might as well be called Little Dubai or New Vegas.

 

[EJCC]

Totally missed this -- sorry [MENTION=15246]SD45T-2[/MENTION].

Astana Music Hall looks like Q-Bert, or something:

Besides that, I like that it's mostly all of a similar style. My architecture pet peeve is not when a uniform style is bizarre, but when new buildings completely ignore the pre-existing style of the city. (Example: Frank Gehry)

 

[Anew Leaf]

The Strange, Post-Soviet Architecture of Astana, Kazakhstan

I can't help but wonder if drugs were involved.

Wow, some of those are pretty awesome looking. (With a few, wutthe????) Thanks for sharing ^_^.

 

[Hive]

Why all the negativity? I think most of them are pretty cool. Kinda like a futuristic Athenian look. The extremely bright blue is kind of an eyesore, but tone it down and you got a sweet building.

 

[FDG]

I don't like it from an aesthetic standpoint, but I appreciate that creativity was allowed.

Right, that's exactly how I felt.

Actually, it's a bit of a lie, some of those I liked from an aestetich POV

 

[WALMART]

Totally missed this -- sorry [MENTION=15246]SD45T-2[/MENTION].

Astana Music Hall looks like Q-Bert, or something:

Besides that, I like that it's mostly all of a similar style. My architecture pet peeve is not when a uniform style is bizarre, but when new buildings completely ignore the pre-existing style of the city. (Example: Frank Gehry)

I have the same sentiment regarding most of these buildings - beautiful alone, barren in context.

 

[figsfiggyfigs]

I think it looks cool. I don't know why you people are being so negative.

^

 

[Chad of the OttomanEmpire]

No, drugs were not involved. Much of this looks like a new form of Islamic architecture--spires, minarets, towers, and those bubbly-shaped things on top. You get this from Morocco to Indonesia. What they're doing in this city is giving it a "modernized" look, with lots of shiny glass windows. Blue and pseudo-gold plated windows seem to be the thing to do this millennium. So are the circular forms--I've seen this phenomenon from the Arab Gulf, to Cambodia and Thailand, to China, to Cincinnati Ohio.

So, this is actually a global trend, with some local flourishes.

I think it's great, personally. There are countries where people are actually building things and embracing creativity and the future, instead of letting it all go to ruin and dreading the future. That's kind of why I left the US.