Forums Forums Wirral Information Ask - Wiki Wirral New buildings

Does it take years of training for architects to lean how to combine ugliness, poor proportion, cheapness with boring?

All the new buildings on Merseyside seem to have these qualities in excess in some cases.

I feel ashamed that this is what our era will leave to coming generations. Hopefully they will demolish them and build something better.

Agreed, for large buildings steel frames and glass panels are the cheapest form of occupied construction, for warehouses its steel frames and panelling, for smaller buildings its regular brick.

However when you see what architects do when given more money it just gets wild - "lets see what ridiculous design I can come up with". Its a battle between a great architectural achievement and a great visual achievement.

Looking across at Liverpool these days, the Sandcastle building which at one time was considered abhorrent by many is lost against the other visual crimes.

To be fair, there are some reasonable attempts by some companies to do better but the bad examples stand out more. Simple things like brick colour and good brickwork can make a big difference, the low cost housing on Beaufort Road are not at all bad for budget housing despite being relatively plain https://maps.app.goo.gl/crtGzUuBp5kjjamC7

Well the new building I like best (or dislike least) is the black matchbox on the river side of the Strand near Water Street. Its is well proportioned and unfussy, unlike the triangular abortion next to it.

It may look better than it is because the other side of the dock road from Water street to the Baltic fleet is a monument to bad taste. I particularly dislike the acres of aluminium window frames. They are well suited to bus stations but little else in my opinion.

Funny you should say that because I was talking to a local Wirral builder about this very topic just last week in the pub. He was telling me how cheaply made houses are these days, and they are just basically thrown up as quaickly as possible. He also said architects love to create big ugly eye sores and squander money while they are doing it. It paints a picture of how the construction industry is these days. Its quite sad really. I still marvel at the buildings opposite McDonald's in Birkenhead. They truly are a work of art. Here's the one's I mean. Look what they used to build compared to what we have now....

[img]https://maps.app.goo.gl/LGjTHKnk9sKMbcKL6[/img]

If you look at a lot of the old workers terraced houses in the area, despite being basic houses of the era most of them have some ornate work, the gutter support, embellishments or shaping on the sandstone lintels and/or sills, ornate window supports, complex doorway etc.

I was caught in a traffic jam at Birkenhead Road today and was looking at the curved bays with the curved lintels and sills, they were obviously mass produced but some thought about appearance had occurred. Some modern houses don't have visible lintels any longer not even a run of header bricks.

Yes, I do that too. I look at the older buildings (even the older terraces like you mentioned), and you can see there was some creativity and pride back then. I think corporate greed has taken over....now it's all about profits. I've watched quite a few videos about how we're losing the skills we had in architecture in buildings etc. There are some really good videos about it if you look around. Just look at cathedrals for example. Amazing works of art. Sad isn't it