Architecture

Lisnaholic · 05-31-2018, 06:12 AM

The population of Romania is slightly less than the pop of Greater London, both being round the 20 million mark. But if you're running the kind of repressive regime that Ceaușescu was operating, you need a pretty big office to operate from. Here's the totally OTT Government Palace in Bucharest:-

(i) unimpressive rear entrance showing the scale of the building: (check out the size of the cars):

(ii) main facade, like a Vegas hotel:

In comparison, the Mayor of London administrates from one small office block; (check out the size of the people ):-

Bottom Line: For admin, Bucharest wins on architecture but loses on governance.

~~MicShazam~~ · 05-31-2018, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

^Damn, that's overkill. Half of those rooms are probably just filled with pool tables and/or spiderwebs.

Lisnaholic · 05-31-2018, 07:40 AM

^ HaHa! Apparently it has 1,100 rooms, so they could probably squeeze in a pool table somewhere. Other surprising stats:-

* After the Pentagon, it's the biggest admin building in the world.
* It has eight levels underground, incl nuclear bomb shelters, which makes it the heaviest building in the world.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Parliament)

~~Cuthbert~~ · 05-31-2018, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

The population of Romania is slightly less than the pop of Greater London, both being round the 20 million mark.

Do you mean the London metropolitan area or another boundary?

~~MicShazam~~ · 05-31-2018, 10:21 AM

For some reason, the number of floors seems way more excessive to me when 8 of them are underground. Makes it seem like some kind of bond villain hideout.

Lisnaholic · 05-31-2018, 10:22 AM

These are the figures I found on wiki before I posted that comparison:-

Quote:

London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region.[43] Its estimated mid-2016 municipal population (corresponding to Greater London) was 8,787,892,[3] the largest of any city in the European Union[44] and accounting for 13.4% of the UK population.[45] London's urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census.[46] The city's metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 14,040,163 inhabitants in 2016,[note 4][2] while the Greater London Authority states the population of the city-region (covering a large part of the south east) as 22.7 million.[47][48] London was the world's most populous city from around 1831 to 1925.[49]

On a related map, London was shown as pretty much everything inside the M25, but yeah, figures vary a lot depending on where you define the boundary.

Lisnaholic · 05-31-2018, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

For some reason, the number of floors seems way more excessive to me when 8 of them are underground. Makes it seem like some kind of bond villain hideout.

^ Yes, it seems excessive, but that's what wiki says. I count, at its highest, ten floors above ground, and of course the bit below ground is presumably much smaller in floor area. Wiki mentions an anti nuclear bunker with conc walls 1.5m thick, so yes, a classic Bond villain hideout!

DwnWthVwls · 05-31-2018, 03:15 PM

Vincent Callebaut has some amazing designs.. I'm not sure how many have been realized.

TAO ZHU YIN YUAN proj Vincent Callebaut

Lilja · 05-31-2018, 10:42 PM

Those apartments kind of remind me of the turning torso in Malmö

Anyway,other architecture greats. I always liked the moorish palaces of Southern Spain because of how they integrate nature and geometry. I mean, they are so detail rich.

Alcazar in Seville, Spain

The Alhambra, Granda

(The neat thing about this place is that there is a Parador in the Alhambra. A Parador is a state hotel where you can stay for the night. I know that Washington Irving stayed there (the guy who wrote the "Headless Horseman" tale).

And , for another area of the world:
The Giger bar in Switzerland (for those Alien fans)

It's all in the details.

DwnWthVwls · 06-01-2018, 01:29 PM

I think you mean Moopish, not Moorish.

05-31-2018, 06:12 AM	#181 (permalink)
Lisnaholic ...here to hear... Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: He lives on Love Street Posts: 4,444	The population of Romania is slightly less than the pop of Greater London, both being round the 20 million mark. But if you're running the kind of repressive regime that Ceaușescu was operating, you need a pretty big office to operate from. Here's the totally OTT Government Palace in Bucharest:- (i) unimpressive rear entrance showing the scale of the building: (check out the size of the cars): (ii) main facade, like a Vegas hotel: In comparison, the Mayor of London administrates from one small office block; (check out the size of the people ):- Bottom Line: For admin, Bucharest wins on architecture but loses on governance. __________________ "Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953 Last edited by Lisnaholic; 05-31-2018 at 06:18 AM.

05-31-2018, 07:40 AM	#183 (permalink)
Lisnaholic ...here to hear... Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: He lives on Love Street Posts: 4,444	^ HaHa! Apparently it has 1,100 rooms, so they could probably squeeze in a pool table somewhere. Other surprising stats:- * After the Pentagon, it's the biggest admin building in the world. * It has eight levels underground, incl nuclear bomb shelters, which makes it the heaviest building in the world. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Parliament) __________________ "Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

05-31-2018, 10:42 PM	#189 (permalink)
Lilja Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 521	Those apartments kind of remind me of the turning torso in Malmö Anyway,other architecture greats. I always liked the moorish palaces of Southern Spain because of how they integrate nature and geometry. I mean, they are so detail rich. Alcazar in Seville, Spain The Alhambra, Granda (The neat thing about this place is that there is a Parador in the Alhambra. A Parador is a state hotel where you can stay for the night. I know that Washington Irving stayed there (the guy who wrote the "Headless Horseman" tale). And , for another area of the world: The Giger bar in Switzerland (for those Alien fans) It's all in the details. Last edited by Lilja; 06-01-2018 at 12:37 AM.

05-31-2018, 10:21 AM	#185 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	For some reason, the number of floors seems way more excessive to me when 8 of them are underground. Makes it seem like some kind of bond villain hideout.