[HN Gopher] Why Is Canadian Architecture So Bad?
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       Why Is Canadian Architecture So Bad?
        
       Author : laurex
       Score  : 26 points
       Date   : 2022-01-20 14:56 UTC (8 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (thewalrus.ca)
 (TXT) w3m dump (thewalrus.ca)
        
       | jjkaczor wrote:
       | Apparently it is so bad that it would break camera's and
       | completely disgust any readers who might actually want to view
       | one or more photographic examples...
       | 
       | Wow... An article about a visual and real-world medium that
       | contains exactly zero depictions of it's subject matter? Is this
       | parody?
        
         | jhbadger wrote:
         | I suspect what the article was complaining about was Canadian
         | brutalist architecture for example, the Mathematics building at
         | the University of Waterloo, but really, that was mostly the
         | style of the 1960s and 1970s (although the buildings are still
         | around)
         | 
         | http://www.essential-architecture.com/IMAGES2/WaterlooMathBu...
        
           | jjkaczor wrote:
           | Growing-up in Southern/South-western Ontario during the
           | 70's/80's, I had a rare health condition which had me in and
           | out of all sorts of hospitals. I suppose that because they
           | were successful and kept me alive, this is one of the
           | fundamental reasons I love brutalism in architecture - it was
           | "futuristic / modern / high-tech".
        
           | cl42 wrote:
           | I think there's also a difference between buildings that
           | architecturally aren't aligned with today's aesthetic, versus
           | those that are truly ugly due to poor design or lack of
           | consideration for _any_ aesthetic.
           | 
           | A brutalist or Bauhaus building today could look old, ugly,
           | etc. but one can still appreciate its aesthetic in context...
           | A glass condo copy and pasted in CAD software and then
           | rotated to fit a plot of land without consideration for
           | anything... That's ugly.
        
         | alehlopeh wrote:
         | It's a Canadian website, and it's pretty clearly written with a
         | Canadian audience in mind. Presumably the intended audience can
         | drum up some mental images of what buildings look like in their
         | own country.
        
           | cl42 wrote:
           | I am Canadian and live in two major cities (split between
           | Toronto / Vancouver). I have no idea what Ottawa's central
           | library looks like... Why would I? Definitely should have
           | photos. :)
        
         | matbilodeau wrote:
         | Here are some starter pictures for you, they are from
         | architecture in Quebec. I don't think the article is right and
         | barely mentions the Montreal Old Port. There are many
         | interesting buildings here and good architecture doesn't stop
         | at the old European style visible in Montreal and Quebec City.
         | 
         | https://www.google.com/search?q=architecture+quebecoise&tbm=...
        
       | givemeethekeys wrote:
        
       | elmerfud wrote:
       | An article like this, without pictures for examples, shows a
       | complete failure in the journalist and editor. It could better
       | titled, "Why is Canadian Journalism So Bad" and it would serve as
       | it's own example.
        
         | pimlottc wrote:
         | This is the project site new Ottawa Central Library:
         | 
         | https://inspire555.ca/
        
         | wmil wrote:
         | The Walrus is kind of a weird publication... it's a respected
         | non-profit magazine.
         | 
         | It's too prestigious to just use a bunch of creative commons
         | photos.
         | 
         | It's too poor to pay for photos from real photographers.
        
         | 908B64B197 wrote:
         | I wonder how much of that is due to subsidies for culture (are
         | they considered as such?). Don't really need to attract readers
         | if the government check keeps coming in every month.
         | 
         | Architecturally speaking, I had to go to Ottawa once (for an
         | acquisition that ended up not working out) and the contrast
         | with DC was spectacular. It looked like there was no clear plan
         | for the city, despite it being an artificial one (they decided
         | to build a capital there in the 19th century if I recall).
         | 
         | Quebec city left me the feeling that every stone had a story to
         | tell. Also a lot of wedding photography.
        
         | quickthrowman wrote:
         | Agreed, I scanned to see if there were pictures of examples and
         | closed the article when I saw there were none. It's a worthless
         | article without pictures.
        
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       (page generated 2022-01-20 23:02 UTC)