September 2011 | Eyesore

Architectural Abortions from the USA and Around the World (And Sometimes Other Miscellany Infecting the Landscape)

Presenting the proposed National Music Center in Calgary, Alberta Province, yet another Canadian museum tumor overtaking the organs of a city, designed by Allied Works. Note the blank facades of tile-clad cement and the gravity-defying sky-bridge for people who enjoy counting cars in lanes of traffic. I hope it's engineered for a heavy ice-load. The interior of the NMC is composed of many ambiguous, illegible spaces, like the wannabe Bridge of the Starship Enterprise (below), another levitating structure encased in more blank tile. Contemporary architecture eagerly thrusts us into a dehumanized robotic future. The good news is, that is not our true destination. These redundant monumental gestures are the last gasps of the cheap energy fiesta. The closer we get to the end, the more soulless they get. Thanks to Steve Dearlove for sending this.