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    Failed Architecture

    failedarchitecture.com · Publication · on HN since 2013

    Online platform publishing essays on architecture, urbanism, and the built environment, including failed or utopian projects.

    Visit blogHN submissions
    Design & UXHistoryCulture & Society
    What HN says

    HN commenters point to its detailed article on living in the Nakagin Capsule Tower and its piece on Barcelona's superblocks.

    Stats for nerds
    29HN people shared it
    22linked in comments
    370story points
    Jun 2024last shared
    2015people per year2024

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    What HN people wrote when they linked it

    • mozumderOct 2015

      The best one is the Bangladesh National Assembly Building: http://architectuul.com/architecture/national-assembly-building-of-bangladesh

      I think a lot of brutalist architecture gets a bad rap because it became so commonplace in the mid 20th century. Just like anything that's done "too-much", it became overdone as lesser and lesser architects created less inspirational designs.

      PS. Also loved the old Best stores, with ACTUAL crumbling facades as a self-aware statement of consumerism: http://www.failedarchitecture.com/the-ironic-loss-of-the-postmodern-best-store-facades/

      So good.. you could say they were the Best.

    • fennecfoxenJan 2020

      Elevated pedestrian catwalks are a recurring architectural fad. They don't tend to work out very well outside of a few specific areas, though, as pedestrians traffic is most popular in situations where pedestrians also have access to lots of street-level homes and businesses.

      Consider further coverage and commentary such as

      https://www.academyofurbanism.org.uk/streets-in-the-sky-the-urban-idiot/

      https://failedarchitecture.com/the-downfall-of-londons-streets-in-the-sky/

      https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/campaigns/notopia/notopia-the-fall-of-streets-in-the-sky/10006944.article

    • kibwenMay 2021

      A fantastic article from the last time this topic came up: https://failedarchitecture.com/2014/06/a-year-in-the-metabolist-future-of-1972/ It goes over the history of the tower, the experience of the author living there, and has better shots of the interiors featuring a variety of tenants.

    • david-givenOct 2016

      (How can you have an article about a building with just one picture of the building?)

      Here's a more in-depth article, with lots of photos, of the Tower, written by a couple of architects who lived there for a year:

      http://www.failedarchitecture.com/nakagin/

    • rchJul 2017

      It's also an example of failed city planning! The original Cerdà Plan was considerably more human friendly:

      https://www.failedarchitecture.com/behind-four-walls-barcelonas-lost-utopia/

    • john-doeMar 2022

      Barcelona’s superblocks ended up a little different than planned: https://failedarchitecture.com/behind-four-walls-barcelonas-lost-utopia/

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