Love Goes To A Building Not On Fire...

[molly bloom]

Perhaps not 'love' exactly, but esteem and the R.I.B.A. Stirling Prize, for the building voted to have made the greatest contribution towards British architecture in the past year.

This evening on Channel 4 the successor to the Gherkin in St. Mary Axe will be announced, from a shortlist including a building for B.M.W. by Zaha Hadid, the new parliament building for Scotland, a library, a children's centre among others.

Voice your choice, as the song said:

The People's Choice
This year you the viewer have the chance to vote for your favourite building on the shortlist in the 'people's choice' award.

Kevin McCloud will announce the people's winner live on Channel 4 on 15th October, just prior to the main prize.

To have your say simply call 09011 19 19 19.

Calls cost 25p, mobile and other network rates may vary. The phone lines will close just prior to the announcement live on Saturday 15th October.

Need some help to decide before then? Take a look at galleries and video tours of each nominee here.

And here are the galleries:

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/microsites/S/stirling_prize/galleries.html

Vorsprung durch B.M.W. & Hadid:

[Spiffor]

Looks fairly nice

Reminds me of the Stuttgartian school of thought though.

[molly bloom]

And here's where lots of blethering takes place:

[Spiffor]

The Scottish Parliament is the best inductee IMO. Really creative, and really pleasing to the eye. I like it

[C0ckney]

the scottish parliament (see outrageous wastes of public money)

[Last Conformist]

Looks like a nice terrorist target.

[:) Smiley]

Originally posted by C0ckney
the scottish parliament (see outrageous wastes of public money)

There are far bigger wastes than elaborate buildings, but I'll keep that out of this thread.

---------------------------------------------------------



This building was designed with a ying-yang shape, with one half building the other half water. Normally stuff that's designed with a cute floorplan looks tacky but this one's quite elegant.

[molly bloom]

And the winner (Spiffor you'll be pleased to know your taste is in accord) was:

The Scottish Parliament.

Hurrah- now they can again boast- 'Wha's like us ?'

Previous winners:

1996- Centenary Building, University of Salford. Hodder Associates

1997- Stuttgart Music School, Germany. James Stirling Michael Wilford and Associates

1998- American Air Museum, Duxford. Foster and Partners

1999- Natwest Media Centre, Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. Future Systems

2000- Peckham Library, London. Alsop Architects

2001- Magna, Rotherham. Wilkinson Eyre Architects

2002- Gateshead Millennium Bridge. Wilkinson Eyre Architects

2003- Laban Centre, London. Herzog & de Meuron

2004- 30 St Mary Axe, London. Foster and Partners

[C0ckney]

Originally posted by Smiley


There are far bigger wastes than elaborate buildings, but I'll keep that out of this thread.

not than this one. seriously, read up on it...

[Sandman]

It won another prize? Well, that's that £400 million well spent.

[Az]

We need a new parliament building.


:wreckingball:

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Az
We need a new parliament building.


:wreckingball:

It's charming in its own Tetrarch Herod Antipas's outside lavatory kind of way...


What CNN and some judges had to say:

[QUOTE] EDINBURGH, Scotland (CNN) -- The Scottish Parliament building, which was completed three years late and 10 times over budget, has won the UK's most prestigious architecture award.

The $757 million Edinburgh landmark was chosen from a shortlist of six buildings to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize.

The judges described the Parliament as a "statement of sparkling excellence" and praised its late architect Enric Miralles' "extraordinary architectural ambition and design vision."

"In its context the building manifests itself as an attempt at an organic transition between the city and the drama of the Scottish countryside surrounding it," the judges said in a statement.

Spaniard Miralles died in 2000, before the building was completed. His widow, Benedetta Tagliabue, attended the award ceremony in Edinburgh on Saturday to collect the $35,000 prize.

The Scottish Parliament's Presiding Officer George Reid said that the Stirling Prize "confirms the Scottish Parliament as Britain's most important new building.

"The judges have decided that Holyrood is not just a working legislature but a work of art -- constructed on a world heritage site where the history and land of Scotland fuse together."

[QUOTE]

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/10/17/scotland.stirling/

A detail of the Parliament building:

[Az]

757MilUSD is ridiculous.