Hello, similarly-named person. I had exactly the same thought. And also that they should just convert it directly into a slum, install the loudspeakers for the call to prayer, and skip the pesky in-between stage.
So nice the "worn" building is getting a very necessary remodel to save the planet as well!!
I bet the view is nice up at the top but not for me.
The remodel looks like several buildings in Reston Virginia, except no gardens. Reston Virginia and Tysons Corner have a collection of ugly buildings just blossomed over the past 35 years.
When we moved to Alexandria in the 80's Tysons corner was just a cross roads with a small strip mall on one side.
Anyway, Wow, that advertisement at the bottom for Sage Restoration? That is the ugliest Chalet I have everrrrr seen.
As one who lives on the frozen tundra of Northern Minnesota, that chalet looks very liveable. The steep roofs are a luxury in deep snow regions. Very common in parts of Canada and the nordic countries.
This horror of HVAC porn was my daily office view until I retired in 2016. It is the Weisman museum of "art" in Minneapolis. The only thing uglier than the outside is the inside, which is filled with nightmarish grotesques that fill me with
Who has commissioned the external rethink of the Tour Montparnasse? Probably a malfunctional government-architectural-commercial "alliance" that can't even agree about setting the thermostat in their conference room.
So, in typical bureaucratic fashion, they default to the only solution that gets more than a single supporter: hire a whiz-bang A-list architect with a long history of defacing cities by his creative designs, invariably praised by Establishment lackeys and pretty much no one else. Yes, the king of Postmodern Grotesque himself, Renzo Piano. Responsible for, among other offenses, the Centre Pompidou Art Warehouse and London's "The Shard." That ought to silence critics of the Montparnasse tower!
Nobody involved with the building's born-again look seems to grasp that what those critics hate isn't, primarily, its color or finishing. It's the height, stupid! Violating the surrounding context! A fuck-you to Paris's Haussmann-inspired architectural character!
If Renzo Piano wanted to ensure his immortality and place in the hearts of Parisians, he would have said, "Thank you all for the honor that brings me here this morning. Ladies and gentlemen, let us face it: this monstrosity is a piece of shit, always has been, always will be no matter how much we tinker with it. Let's do the honest thing and tear it down to widespread cheers and take an oath never again to bugger the beautiful City of Light, however much it's been degraded already. Can anyone recommend a good restaurant for lunch in this neighborhood?"
There are clear glass or plexi “fences” around that green terrace. As one who has watched more than a few home and business rehabs/builds, that’s what is going on. To not restrict the view. You can vaguely see the line when pulling the image closer. It still can’t beat the useless uglery of the obumma library.
One of the best places in Paris in the 1980s used to be the restaurant atop the Tour Montparnasse: You had a fantastic view of Paris but not of the thing itself. 😉
When I read your subtitle, I felt sure the Eyesore would be the Centre Pompidou but upon reflection, I'd have to say the Montparnasse Tower is the worse of the two. So sad. I wish they had demoed it.
It looks nothing so much as Man givng the middle finger to God. Now it will be a shiny, reflective middle finger.
Hello, similarly-named person. I had exactly the same thought. And also that they should just convert it directly into a slum, install the loudspeakers for the call to prayer, and skip the pesky in-between stage.
🤣
“Quelle horreur” et “La pire chose qui soit arrivée à Paris depuis les Nazis.”
(What horror --The worst thing to happen to Paris since the Nazis.)
...heard from numerous sidewalk cafe tables...
I predict in a few years Enrichers will be busting out those mirrored windows to let out the smoke from their dung cooking fires.
The Paris Phallus.
And it is one more than anyone thought Paris had ...
03/04/26: "BOTH US?!"
03/04/26: Suitable for the future headquarters of Black Lives Matter (Paris).
So nice the "worn" building is getting a very necessary remodel to save the planet as well!!
I bet the view is nice up at the top but not for me.
The remodel looks like several buildings in Reston Virginia, except no gardens. Reston Virginia and Tysons Corner have a collection of ugly buildings just blossomed over the past 35 years.
When we moved to Alexandria in the 80's Tysons corner was just a cross roads with a small strip mall on one side.
Anyway, Wow, that advertisement at the bottom for Sage Restoration? That is the ugliest Chalet I have everrrrr seen.
As one who lives on the frozen tundra of Northern Minnesota, that chalet looks very liveable. The steep roofs are a luxury in deep snow regions. Very common in parts of Canada and the nordic countries.
This horror of HVAC porn was my daily office view until I retired in 2016. It is the Weisman museum of "art" in Minneapolis. The only thing uglier than the outside is the inside, which is filled with nightmarish grotesques that fill me with
angst. https://share.google/CqJE0CqMuu3bKS9nw
"HVAC porn" is perfect!
Frank Gehry is our no. 2 scoundrel architect, right behind Piano. Sometimes they switch places, depending on whose temple to ugliness is most recent.
We might call that..
"A diamond in a goat's ass"..... it's a Southern slang thang from years ago.
Who has commissioned the external rethink of the Tour Montparnasse? Probably a malfunctional government-architectural-commercial "alliance" that can't even agree about setting the thermostat in their conference room.
So, in typical bureaucratic fashion, they default to the only solution that gets more than a single supporter: hire a whiz-bang A-list architect with a long history of defacing cities by his creative designs, invariably praised by Establishment lackeys and pretty much no one else. Yes, the king of Postmodern Grotesque himself, Renzo Piano. Responsible for, among other offenses, the Centre Pompidou Art Warehouse and London's "The Shard." That ought to silence critics of the Montparnasse tower!
Nobody involved with the building's born-again look seems to grasp that what those critics hate isn't, primarily, its color or finishing. It's the height, stupid! Violating the surrounding context! A fuck-you to Paris's Haussmann-inspired architectural character!
If Renzo Piano wanted to ensure his immortality and place in the hearts of Parisians, he would have said, "Thank you all for the honor that brings me here this morning. Ladies and gentlemen, let us face it: this monstrosity is a piece of shit, always has been, always will be no matter how much we tinker with it. Let's do the honest thing and tear it down to widespread cheers and take an oath never again to bugger the beautiful City of Light, however much it's been degraded already. Can anyone recommend a good restaurant for lunch in this neighborhood?"
There are clear glass or plexi “fences” around that green terrace. As one who has watched more than a few home and business rehabs/builds, that’s what is going on. To not restrict the view. You can vaguely see the line when pulling the image closer. It still can’t beat the useless uglery of the obumma library.
One of the best places in Paris in the 1980s used to be the restaurant atop the Tour Montparnasse: You had a fantastic view of Paris but not of the thing itself. 😉
Unfortunately, architecture reflects the culture of the times. The external primping is the very essence of lipstick on a pig.
There should be prosecutions for something that horrid.
Sort of like "the Line" in Saudi Arabia, just on a smaller scale.
I first saw this in 2001 A Space Odyssey
When I read your subtitle, I felt sure the Eyesore would be the Centre Pompidou but upon reflection, I'd have to say the Montparnasse Tower is the worse of the two. So sad. I wish they had demoed it.