Tag Archives: building

The still under construction Lieban International Building in Guiyang, China – a 121m tall tower block with a 106m waterfall designed into it.

Sadly, the projected annual running costs of €860,000 generated by 4 huge pumps and building maintenance means the waterfall will only flow a few times a year and not constantly, as envisaged by the designers.

Boo.

awesomer

From top: Priory Hall; Kevin Hollingsworth, chartered building surveyor

This morning.

On RTÉ One’s Morning Ireland.

In her fourth of a four-part series on the construction industry in Ireland, journalist Jackie Fox recalled the sub-standard housing developments that were built during the boom, namely Priory Hall and Longboat Quay.

In her report, Ms Fox sought to find out if standards are being met today and spoke to Cian O’Callaghan, from the Geography Department at Trinity College Dublin, and Kevin Hollingsworth, chartered building surveyor.

Ms Fox said that, over the past three years, Mr Hollingsworth has been involved in the remediation works of 29 developments which she did not name.

During the report, Mr O’Callaghan recalled:

“One of the main problems during the boom was that there was so much being built, from 2006, there was something like 90,000 housing units built in the country so local authorities didn’t actually have the staff to regulate the standards properly and what was happening then is there was a process of certification that was brought in to play, where developers would hire their own architect, their own surveyor to sign off on the safety standards for the building, the building regulations.

“So, in the 1990s, the building control regulations relaxed and this kind of allowed developers to self-certify. So this is quite an unusual circumstance. You wouldn’t have it in the UK for example. You’d have an independent body who would be responsible for building controls and responsible to ensure that the quality of things was being kept.”

And Mr Hollingsworth said:

The building control amendment regulations have been put in place and they’re a large step forward. The assigned certifier has to be there to sign off on critical things so that’s a massive step forward.”

But, he added:

The assigned certifier can be an employee of the developer, the assigned certifier is also just a professional – they do get paid by the end user. They don’t act independently. They’re supposed to act independently but, once there’s that financial link, that leads to a lack of independence.”

Sigh.

Listen back to the report in full here

An extensive (and doubtless expensive) array of architectural elements by ltalian artist Edoardo Tresoldi commissioned as part of a royal event in Abu Dhabi.

Constructed from wire mesh, lit from above and below to create the ghostly effect, the installation took Tresoldi three months to put in place with the help of Dubai-based Designlab Experience.

Previously: Is There Anything To Be Said For Another Mesh?

colossal

“Mäusebunker,” Freie Universität, Berlin.

Francisco Javier Sáenz de OizaHabitat ’67, Montreal, Canada.The Torre Velasca in MilanWestern City Gate, Belgrade, SerbiaWibautstraat is an Amsterdam Metro statioExamples of Brutalist architecture from the 50s to the mid 70s.

Despite their apparent Soviet Bloc cachet, most were built in the West.

Above: “Mäusebunker,” Freie Universität, Berlin; Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza, Madrid; Habitat ’67, Montreal, Canada; The Torre Velasca in Milan; Western City Gate, Belgrade, Serbia and Wibautstraat Metro station in Amsterdam.

Related: Brutal In Belgrade

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