long lost greats
I'm stealing this thread idea from Skyscraperpage.com's hometown's forum. What are some awesome buildings that have been torn down or destroyed some other way? So that includes buildings like the Temple of Solomon, etc. In 1889 Paris hosted the World's Fair (just called the Paris Exhibition) & the Eiffel Tower was built for it, and the arches at the bottom served as the entrance. The Gallerie des Machines was even more incredible though; at the time the biggest iron & glass vault was at St Pancras Station in London. Its span was 73m & was 25m high. The span of the Gallerie des Machines (aka Palais des Machines) at the 1889 Paris Exhibition was 115m, 45m high & 420m long. Here's what Wikipedia says:
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...le_de_1889.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposit...verselle_(1889) Swiss historian & architecture critic Siegfried Giedion thought it "represented an entirely unprecedented conquest of matter." He agreed with fellow critic Frantz Jourdain who wrote that tearing it down on purpose was "artistic sadism." It must have been the same vile Paris NIMBYs who fought the construction of the Eiffel Tower who were to blame. Here's an interior pic: http://www.vitruvius.com.br/entrevis.../walker_10.jpg http://www.vitruvius.com.br/entrevis...r/walker_7.asp |
wow i havent seen that pic in a while... i am kicking my self for not buying a book that had all these plates in it showing various site drawings renderings and photo graphs comemerating that worlds fair 10 years later
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did it say whether or not the Paris NIMBYs were the ones responsible?
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Crystal Palace built for the 1851 Great Exhibition and attracted 6 million visitors, some of whom walked from 300 miles away to see the fruits of the British Empire. It was the first great cast iron, mass produced building of its size, 1851 ft long but grew in size when dismantled and rebuilt in Sydenham. It was destroyed by fire in the 1930s.
For a sense of scale the water towers at either end were 300ft tall. The worlds largest fountains were displayed in the front, with jets 250ft high. http://www.london-architecture.info/...e.sydenham.jpg http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Crystal...%20Palace1.jpg http://www.gardenvisit.com/assets/ma...e_original.jpg http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/C...Large_1851.jpg Interiors http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/hi...tal_palace.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...e_interior.jpg the concert hall http://www.hberlioz.com/London/Cryst...eInteriorA.jpg Destruction - wild parrots were found all over London after its destruction, but soon died from the cold. http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/images...-00032-640.jpg http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Crystal...talPalace2.jpg http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/images...-00830-640.jpg Today a 730 ft radio mast stands on its remains: http://www.urban75.org/london/images...-palace-10.jpg http://www.urban75.org/london/images...-palace-05.jpg |
that's another good one... Giedion started with Crystal Palace, which was the first building of its kind, & looked at how the structure changed over the decades. Crystal Palace had a barrel vault, which had been done before in other buildings & with other materials (wood, stone, etc) but not iron. It also had a bunch of small/thin iron columns, as opposed to the huge iron piers of the 1889 Gallerie des Machines.
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http://vrc-caup-uw.blogspot.com/2008...9-iron-or.html |
Larkin Admin Building by FLW. 1st building with air conditioning, 1st building with metal-bound plate glass doors & windows... demolished in 1950
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http://www.terrastories.com/bearings...n-building.jpg http://www.terrastories.com/bearings...king-admin.jpg http://www.terrastories.com/bearings...ght-larkin.jpg http://www.terrastories.com/bearings...-abandoned.jpg http://www.terrastories.com/bearings...arkin-building http://www.buffalorising.com/upload/...flw-larkin.jpg http://archives.buffalorising.com/st...rt_1_the_ghost |
let's hope this gas station doesn't get demolished:
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http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/wp-co...5/imgp9725.jpg http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2007/...-urban-blight/ |
The Larkin company was so happy with their building that they held no grievances with Wright despite the project being late and almost twice the original budget. I am appalled that place was pulled apart.
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In my opinion threads like this while interesting, tend to be quite depressing. Its a shame to see some of the incredible buildings that, more often than not, were replaced with something far less desirable. |
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here's a similar related threads from a few years ago:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=120874 and http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=128523 Demolished in 1968 as part of a "revitalization effort to improve downtown commerce": Erie County Savings Bank Building http://wnyheritagepress.org/photos_w...bank/loc_6.jpg http://wnyheritagepress.org/photos_w...bank/loc_2.jpg |
brutal. i wonder how much it would cost to build penn station (1st link) today?
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^^^
Nothing was lost there. That parking garage is absolutely beautiful and much better looking than that old italianate structure. |
on a Seattle Underground tour I found out that the white metal arches on the parkade are there as a reminder of the windows on the old building that got torn down, iirc
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Ever see photos of the 1893 " WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION " in Chicago? What a tragic shame that, although built to be a temporary exhibition, ALL of it couldn't have been kept intact and preserved. Below are just, some photos of that magnificent showcase....
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/resear...03i2241l01.jpg (image from www.brooklynmuseum.org) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rand_Basin.jpg (image from upload.wikimedia.org) http://americanheritage.com/assets/i...05-640-480.jpg (image from americanheritage.com) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ition_1893.jpg (image from upload.wikimedia.org) |
The main exhibition hall at the Philadelphia Exposition 1876
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/7...escan3akr3.jpg |
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Anyway, the great American example is of course New York's old Penn Station
http://gothamist.com/attachments/gar...n_Station3.jpg http://www.moynihanstation.org/newsi...ing%20room.jpg |
"[Through Penn Station] one entered the city like a god. Now one scuttles in like a rat."
- Vincent Scully "There was no such act of vandalism in the history of New York City as the destruction of the original Pennsylvania Station." -Daniel Patrick Moynihan http://tbn0.google.com/hosted/images...3dcdfe_landing http://www.caryconover.com/uploaded_...ide-750316.jpg http://www.caryconover.com/uploaded_...ics-726993.jpg Today's Penn Station's main "hall": http://nymag.com/images/2/daily/inte...station_lg.jpg |
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