Pretty universities worst buildings

Reply 200

Maid Marian

20

I just can't get my head around what could have appealed to people about brutalist architecture. :confused:

Looking at these pictures, it's such a shame :frown:

Reply 201

Gogregg

14

Original post by Quantex

The first picture of Durham is the castle, which is not the main building, it is used as student accommodation.

Durham has been spending a lot on improving its buildings in last few years:

Although their maths department has been neglected, as has the God-awful student union:

I don't know why, but I really quite like the second one...
It just has this charm to me, which makes it seem actually quite pretty...

Reply 202

Fullofsurprises

20

It sounds like the rat-infested housing at UCL has been one of the high points of studying there. Now it seems some of their students are on a rent strike.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jan/25/london-students-refuse-to-pay-rent-and-demand-40-cut

Reply 203

nulli tertius

21

Original post by Fullofsurprises

It sounds like the rat-infested housing at UCL has been one of the high points of studying there. Now it seems some of their students are on a rent strike.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jan/25/london-students-refuse-to-pay-rent-and-demand-40-cut

There is a trip adviser review for one of these halls from a Welsh lad up with a school party during the summer vac last year

it was horridwhen we arrived people wehn into instant stress and panic. there wher people crying due to the unsafe look the place gave. My schhol mates where to scared to sleep in their own room therfore we had to move our matressess.

Reply 204

Puddles the Monkey

21

it was horridwhen we arrived people wehn into instant stress and panic. there wher people crying due to the unsafe look the place gave. My schhol mates where to scared to sleep in their own room therfore we had to move our matressess.

Oh my, this is amazing.

I've stayed in UCL halls before too.... I didn't think they were *that* bad....

Reply 205

Noodlzzz

OP

21

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

Oh my, this is amazing.

I've stayed in UCL halls before too.... I didn't think they were *that* bad....

Which ones did you stay in?

Reply 206

Puddles the Monkey

21

Original post by Noodlzzz

Which ones did you stay in?

Ramsey Hall? :holmes:

Reply 207

Noodlzzz

OP

21

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

Ramsey Hall? :holmes:

I used to live at Astor, just around the corner.

Reply 208

Joinedup

20

Original post by nulli tertius

No.

Dodgy political deal meant another swimming pool got the extra metres.

Leeds?

I went as a small lad and it made a strong impression on me - despite having several swimming badges I was afraid to go in the deep end there. It was a lot larger than my local pool but the architecture made it seem unlikely the familiar laws of buoyancy could be reliable there.

Wasn't paying attention and they pulled it down before I had a chance to revisit it as a grown up.

Reply 209

nulli tertius

21

Original post by Joinedup

Leeds?

I went as a small lad and it made a strong impression on me - despite having several swimming badges I was afraid to go in the deep end there. It was a lot larger than my local pool but the architecture made it seem unlikely the familiar laws of buoyancy could be reliable there.

Wasn't paying attention and they pulled it down before I had a chance to revisit it as a grown up.

No. Nottingham

Reply 210

Joinedup

20

Original post by nulli tertius

No. Nottingham

Well I've learned something... is there a list of Paulson's wrong sized swimming pools somewhere online because I've not found it.

Reply 211

nulli tertius

21

Original post by Joinedup

Well I've learned something... is there a list of Paulson's wrong sized swimming pools somewhere online because I've not found it.

No. There seems to be virtually nothing available about his architecture. A man with the largest architectural practice in Europe must have had some impact on the built environment but you wouldn't think so from the material out there.

Architectural critics go on and on about Peter and Alison Smithson when they talk about brutalism but they built less in their careers than Poulson's office did every six months. The Smithsons may have been better architects but surely Poulson did more to define the age?

There are plenty of books about Howard's Letchworth and Welwyn, Lutyen's New Dehli, Neimeyer's Brasilia, Le Corbusier's Chandigarh and even Prince Charles' Poundbury but has anyone written up Poulson's Aviemore, Britain's only true ski resort?

Reply 212

Fullofsurprises

20

Original post by nulli tertius

No. There seems to be virtually nothing available about his architecture. A man with the largest architectural practice in Europe must have had some impact on the built environment but you wouldn't think so from the material out there.

Architectural critics go on and on about Peter and Alison Smithson when they talk about brutalism but they built less in their careers than Poulson's office did every six months. The Smithsons may have been better architects but surely Poulson did more to define the age?

There are plenty of books about Howard's Letchworth and Welwyn, Lutyen's New Dehli, Neimeyer's Brasilia, Le Corbusier's Chandigarh and even Prince Charles' Poundbury but has anyone written up Poulson's Aviemore, Britain's only true ski resort?

Is this the Poulson Aviemore?

Looks really inviting! :lol:

Reply 213

Fullofsurprises

20

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

Oh my, this is amazing.

I've stayed in UCL halls before too.... I didn't think they were *that* bad....

My sis did a postgrad at UCL and she heard loads of horror stories there about bizarre things happening in different halls and buildings. They have a lot of stuff that's basically in a terrible state - something to do with it being old and badly maintained I suppose.

Reply 214

florabritannica

9

Original post by Gogregg

I don't know why, but I really quite like the second one...
It just has this charm to me, which makes it seem actually quite pretty...

That building, Dunelm, made a lot more sense when it was built, because the riverside was a mishmash of buildings with pitched roofs, so it actually kind of fitted in. Then those other buildings were ripped down and replaced with big dull flatter-roofed things, which I spent not enough time in doing my degree - I spent FAR more time in Dunelm working on the student newspaper and other things and it was a pretty good building inside, all oriented towards views of the river.
Its main visual problem is that it's unfinished concrete, which might work in bright, dry climates like the Med, but just looks terrible after five years in the British maritime climate and light. When I was there parts of the inside were finally painted, and it was an instant improvement, despite the odd colours chosen. If they just painted the outside, so that what you saw were the edges not the rain stains and dirt of decades, it would be SO much better. I'd love to see someone with photoshop turn a lot of these concrete things plain white and see if they still look so grim.

Reply 215

Josb

6

Original post by Fullofsurprises

My sis did a postgrad at UCL and she heard loads of horror stories there about bizarre things happening in different halls and buildings. They have a lot of stuff that's basically in a terrible state - something to do with it being old and badly maintained I suppose.

UCL expanded rapidly and absorbed several other schools. It's possible that these buildings come from a former independent institution.

Reply 216

BlueSheep32

11

Birmingham is very pretty in Chancellor's Court, where Old Joe (clocktower) is, and University Square in front of the library, but the rest of it isn't so green & pretty - we also have Biosciences (big ugly grey tower), and Chemistry West which has bars on the windows - having a practical in there on a Friday afternoon in winter made it feel like a prison.

Reply 217

opalfruitfan

Original post by offhegoes

St Andrews University main quad:

St Andrews University maths building:

Always the case with maths. No-one likes us and ~~we don't care~~we are deeply hurt by this.

{Thanks!}

St Andrews Maths department looks like something from the seventies. At least it's nicer on the inside.

Reply 218

acupofgreentea

14

Went to the University of Liverpool open day and, as some of our friendship group were looking at different subjects, we ended up spending the day in two different buildings. The first one looked like this ...