SWISS RE wins 8th Hall of Fame contest!

[Jan]

Week 08: Best New Skyscraper of 2005

1. Swiss Re, London 45 votes (51.14 %)
[IMG]http://************/15jek2[/IMG]

2. Time Warner Center, New York City 22 votes (25.00 %)
[IMG]http://************/15jyw4[/IMG]

3. Taipei 101, Taipei 15 votes (17.05 %)


4. Torre Akbar, Barcelona 3 votes (3.41 %)


-. Goldman Sachs Towers, Jersey City 3 votes (3.41 %)
[IMG]http://************/15jyu1[/IMG]

[Monkey]

The result is hardly surprising.

TWC are a cool pair of skyscrapers, but SwissRe is quite simply phenomenal and in terms of its engineering and design it's revolutionary. It's no exaggeration to say that this building has become an icon for London and has set the standard for future skyscrapers in the city.

Taipei 101 deserves to be on here for its height, and (like SwissRe) it took some damn impressive engineering to build it. Okay it's not the most beautiful skyscraper around but it's the tallest on the planet and the first to break the half-kilometre barrier. We should respect that.

Torre Agbar, for me, is an ugly stump with a terrible facade and is a very poor imitation of SwissRe. It's more obviously phallic as well. Sorry but I just can't see its appeal. I always try to give an unbiased opinion on this forum and I can honestly say that I hate T.A.

Goldman Sachs is a nice, tall, modern tower in a great location, nothing particularly special in terms of design but I can understand why it made the final five.

[Desven]

i think it's very surprising!sorry,but for me SwissRE is ugly as hell!I prefer the Time Warner Center!

[Monkey]

Please explain, what is so "ugly" about SwissRe? Sorry but I just can't comprehend how anyone can find this ugly:

I think some people in this world think a skyscraper has to be a rectangular block with reflective glass in order to look nice. At the end of the day, it's the reflection that looks nice and not the building itself.

[Ellatur]

TWC are a cool pair of skyscrapers<<<<<<<<< its connected in the bottom and is a single building
TWC is my favorite building also, and i would've preferred if it was the winner, but Swiss Re is another great building

[Desven]

@wjfox2002:
You said that you find Torre Agbar very ugly,but there are many people who think:"how can someone find it ugly?!"-you know what i mean?

[Monkey]

At least I give specific reasons for hating something. As I said: it's stumpy, with a terrible facade and is a very poor imitation of SwissRe (it tries to copy it, but fails). And it's more obviously phallic as well.

Your opinion of SwissRe is that it's "ugly as hell" which doesn't really explain much. At least give a proper explanation for why you hate it.

[Monkey]

Would somebody please try & get No. 3, Taipei 101, back into the lineup?

[Desven]

@wjfox2002:
-i really don't like this shape!!it looks like a huge egg!
-the location isn't good as well!it would look much better at Canary Wharf!
-the only thing which isn't so bad is the facade,but that's all

IMO

[Grollo]

Swiss Re was completed in 2003 :-)

[Monkey]

^ Yeah, right. That's why it won the RIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture 2004

[Blabbyboy]

you left out HK's 1IFC, which looks similar to, but bigger and better than goldman sachs. anyway, what so special about a few architects recycling their ideas over and over again with no regard for urban context? cesar pelli and norman foster are amongst the worst in this regard, IMHO.

[Meditt]

Originally Posted by wjfox2002

At least I give specific reasons for hating something. As I said: it's stumpy, with a terrible facade and is a very poor imitation of SwissRe (it tries to copy it, but fails). And it's more obviously phallic as well.

Your opinion of SwissRe is that it's "ugly as hell" which doesn't really explain much. At least give a proper explanation for why you hate it.

actually, your criticism about the Agbar is pretty lame too.. you should check out the facts first.. it's not a copy of Foster's stretched easter egg -and I call it like that only as a metaphor of an another nice Foster work-, Agbar's silhouette comes from a different source... but since probably you don't have even cared to find where it comes from I'm not gonna say it either... you must find Nouvel's architectural skills pretty terrible to ridiculize one of his works -not matter how phallic- like that..

that said, and appreciating the Agbar for what it is, there is much more interesting architecture in Barcelona than Nouvel's tower.. and, no matter how "infantile" the diamond shape of Swiss Re's facade main motive may seem.. in the end, I find it to be a fair winner...

[Grollo]

Originally Posted by wjfox2002

^ Yeah, right. That's why it won the RIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture 2004

Well then why did it win the Emporis skyscraper of the year award 2003?

http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/sa/03/tp/sm/

[Monkey]

Somehow I think RIBA (The Royal Institute of British Architects) is more of a reliable source than Emporis. Anyway, this argument is boring me sh*tless. I thought I'd explained in the other thread. I know for a 100% fact that SwissRe was completed and officially opened in April 2004 and that's the end of the argument.

[Munch]

awesome buildings, Agbar is indeed a weird and wonderful building. Not too keen on the other scrapers really, not very impressive if you ask me. Not refering to Swiss Re which i think is stunning and a fair winner, spectacular effect on the city too.

[London | Reece]

I have yet to see a photo that does the Swiss RE building justice. When you're down at ground level it looks spectacular and easily deserved to win this poll.

[MR Kingg]

Swiss Re was completed in 2003 but opened in 2004

So you are both right

[MR Kingg]

btw does any one else the 1 in barcelona copied the gherkin?