Are we building Public buildings "on the Cheap"

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ChapelHillSooner said:
I have a Facebook friend who often posts about how much she loves brutalist architecture. I guess there has to be one person who likes it.
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I’ve seen some photos of brutalist architecture that looked decent/good.
But…
  1. They are the exception
  2. Even if they do look good, every building shouldn’t be the same style. As of now, damned near every government building in downtown Raleigh is brutalist.
 
He's Not Here said:
I’ve seen some photos of brutalist architecture that looked decent/good.
But…
  1. They are the exception
  2. Even if they do look good, every building shouldn’t be the same style. As of now, damned near every government building in downtown Raleigh is brutalist.
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One problem is that if you don’t constantly sandblast (or at least pressure wash) the concrete they start looking dingy quickly. So even if the building gloomed good when built it won’t look that way for long.
 
hedge said:
Is Ovens Auditorium still operational?
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Oh yes. Still a great place to see a show. The symphony has moved uptown to Belk Theater which is a jewel box with a little over 2000 seats. Ovens seats 2400 but still has those great acoustics suitable for an orchestra. Since we moved back to Charlotte 4 years ago, I have seen several shows there including Boz Skaggs, Toto, David Nail, and Tedeschi Trucks Band.
 
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Centerpiece said:
This is what I'm talking about. These are some pics I took back when I lived in Europe. First one built in 1467 (renovated in 1675); second one built in 1593 (latest reno in 1979); Third built in 1640 (no markings for reno). Perhaps I should share these on the thread "Photos I took" or whatever. But my point is, when you walk into each one of these buildings they've been totally renovated and updated with all of the modern conveniences. And yes, that's my reflection in the glass...

olde door 1467.jpg1593 doorway.jpgOld door 1640.jpg
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I do wonder if some of the motivation to keep many of these very old buildings in Europe can be attributed to how relatively few buildings survived WWII without significant damages that required replacement. Had there been no mass bombing/artillery throughout Europe would there be the same desire to retain as many of these structures.
 
My brother and I went to see Lou Reed at Ovens in 1989, we went over there in the afternoon hoping to see and maybe talk to Lou before the show. No such luck, but we were able to ramble around the place, including the backstage area and halls behind the stage (think Spinal Tap in that one scene where they keep trying and failing to find their way to the stage).

At some point I saw a rack of work shirts with patches on them that had Ovens Auditorium on one breast and the worker's name on the other. I grabbed one with the intent of donning it after the show and going backstage posing as an Ovens staff member. It worked and I got backstage with no hassles but then a worker came up to me wearing the same shirt. Busted! He wasn't pissed or anything and I told him why I had done it and gave him $20 for the shirt (even though it wasn't really his to sell, but he could've called security I guess) and then mingled backstage with the band. I still have that shirt...
 
mpaer said:
I am old enough to see "big" public buildings built in my life get demolished-cause they are worn out. Lots of NC Govt buildings in downtown Raleigh are being demolished-or there is plan to demolish them. Great big multistory"icons" of the 60s
Where I went to high School the next year a new High School opened.Now it has been replaced (50 years)
Meanwhile they are still Public buildings built 70-80-90 years ago that stand-much longer than that in some cases
Is this because in the growth of Public buildings (including UNC Campus-say Hamilton Hall) in the 60s-70s we just built them Cheap?
Can we do better in the future?... It will be interesting to see how the gazilion dollars worth of Health care buildings built the last 30 years -in the Triangle for example hold up over time..How will the new Centential campus at NC State hold up-versus the 200 year old buildings at UNC main campus /
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We're building everything on the cheap. They throw houses up faster than than a hiccup.
 
I enjoy when they repave I-40- with 3 inches of low bid asphalt..................................
 
mpaer said:
I am old enough to see "big" public buildings built in my life get demolished-cause they are worn out. Lots of NC Govt buildings in downtown Raleigh are being demolished-or there is plan to demolish them. Great big multistory"icons" of the 60s
Where I went to high School the next year a new High School opened.Now it has been replaced (50 years)
Meanwhile they are still Public buildings built 70-80-90 years ago that stand-much longer than that in some cases
Is this because in the growth of Public buildings (including UNC Campus-say Hamilton Hall) in the 60s-70s we just built them Cheap?
Can we do better in the future?... It will be interesting to see how the gazilion dollars worth of Health care buildings built the last 30 years -in the Triangle for example hold up over time..How will the new Centential campus at NC State hold up-versus the 200 year old buildings at UNC main campus /
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The days that Hamilton Hall, Greenlaw, the Law School, and ESPECIALLY Davie Hall are demolished will be great ones!

That eyesore Davie Hall is in one of what should be prettiest parts of campus.
 
dcphx said:
I do wonder if some of the motivation to keep many of these very old buildings in Europe can be attributed to how relatively few buildings survived WWII without significant damages that required replacement. Had there been no mass bombing/artillery throughout Europe would there be the same desire to retain as many of these structures.
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It’s a good question. These photos are of Switzerland. No bombs there.
A lot of France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal. Luxembourg, etc was also spared a lot of bombing raids. Of course Germany got the shit bombed out of them… except Heidelberg.

But to answer your question, The motivation to keep many of these very old buildings, is because they were built like a brick shit house. Out of concrete and stone. They were built to last for centuries and they have. In America, we say it’s cheaper to tear it down and build new. But in Europe it is cheaper to renovate these old stone and concrete buildings, than to build new.
 
Davie could be reskinned and look pretty cool, IMO.

There's no saving Hamilton. Believe it was designed after the Berkeley protests to be riot resistant.
 
Last time I was in Madrid (2016) we stayed in a Hotel near Plaza Mayor. Directly across the street from us was a building literally covered in scaffolding. They were keeping the entire façade of the building - all of the external walls, bits and pieces - all of the really intricate carvings and architectural elements: the entablature, architrave, frieze, cornice, columns, quoins, keystones, portico, arches, etc.

However, they gutted, tore down, replaced and reconstructed everything else... a lot of the guts, the bones inside, the skeletal structures, the joists, beams and rafters... it was an engineering marvel. Of course the building was only about 5 stories tall (Sky scrapers are not that common in a lot of olde world Europa) but the idea was to "modernize" the building while keeping it's original - and hard to reproduce - exterior.
 
hedge said:
My brother and I went to see Lou Reed at Ovens in 1989, we went over there in the afternoon hoping to see and maybe talk to Lou before the show. No such luck, but we were able to ramble around the place, including the backstage area and halls behind the stage (think Spinal Tap in that one scene where they keep trying and failing to find their way to the stage).

At some point I saw a rack of work shirts with patches on them that had Ovens Auditorium on one breast and the worker's name on the other. I grabbed one with the intent of donning it after the show and going backstage posing as an Ovens staff member. It worked and I got backstage with no hassles but then a worker came up to me wearing the same shirt. Busted! He wasn't pissed or anything and I told him why I had done it and gave him $20 for the shirt (even though it wasn't really his to sell, but he could've called security I guess) and then mingled backstage with the band. I still have that shirt...
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Lol, I was just going thru my closet and look what I found:

IMG_7167.jpeg
 
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