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Then again the Parthenon has has been around for nearly 2,500 years (finished in 432 BC), and during that time has been considered by people from all over the w

Then again the Parthenon has has been around for nearly 2,500 years (finished in 432 BC), and during that time has been considered by people from all over the world one of the most beautiful buildings ever built. What building by modern architects will even be around 500 years from now, much less revered as an example of beautiful architecture?

carapace 8y ago
Saint Mary's Cathedral (in San Francisco) I don't say it's as beautiful as the Parthenon, and it might not last 500 years, but we moderns aren't completely shabby... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Saint_Mary_of_the_Assumption_(San_Francisco,_California) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Saint_Mary_of_the... > Its saddle roof is composed of eight segments of hyperbolic paraboloids, in such a fashion that the bottom horizontal cross section of the roof is a square and the top cross section is a cross. The interior is open.
- bschwindHN 8y ago
  That picture reminded me of a building I saw in Tokyo. Turns out it's also a Saint Mary's Cathedral: https://goo.gl/maps/R2arUkpaZeD2 https://goo.gl/maps/R2arUkpaZeD2 The top cross section is also a cross on this one.
subjectsigma 8y ago
I can see La Sagrada Familia not only being around, but being celebrated, for 500 years more. It's still under construction and has been for (almost?) 100 years. Google it, the church is absolutely beautiful. In fitting with the theme of the GP, not only is it structurally sound (to my knowledge) because of how the pillars are constructed, but it successfully pays homage to Gothic architecture and the oldest inspiration, Nature, while also being new and innovative.
- echotango 8y ago
  I agree, it is beautiful. But Ayn Rand would have hated it. That design is steeped in European and Christian traditions and symbolism. Those things are all anathema to her ideology.
  - okyougotmenow 8y ago
    > Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Russian: Али́са Зиновьевна Розенбаум) on February 2, 1905, to a Russian Jewish bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg.
  - paulie_a 8y ago
    But honestly who gives a shit about what Ayn Rand would have thought about it. She was a nut and her ideology should be aggressively dismissed as simplistic and quite frankly stupid.
    - echotango 8y ago
      I totally agree. I was pointing out that church isn't really modern architechture as Rand saw it.
crwalker 8y ago
I suspect that a lot of our better skyscrapers will be around in 500 years: once a pattern is set, people like to preserve it.
steve19 8y ago
As others have said Cathedrals (if you consider anything that has been build in the past 500 years modern) and I have seen Mosques that are breathtaking. Religious communities have the motivation to build something that lasts and use the best of materials. They see the building as an act of worship, in and of itself. Cathedrals often took extremely long times to build. In some cases, such as the beautiful Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, they also have the money to build it both well and quickly. Within many modern protestant Christian communities, building grand buildings is seen as a poor use of money that could be better spent helping people. These grand buildings are seen as less comfortable, efficient and flexible for modern congregations that would prefer lower cost, environmentally friendly and low energy building with community facilities.
bigger_cheese 8y ago
I think beauty is a very subjective thing. I absolutely love the appearance of the UTS tower in central Sydney all my friends think I'm mad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTS_Tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTS_Tower Something about those big blocky Brutalist style concrete box buildings you just know the thing is nigh indestructible and is going to be around forever and that to me is the beauty of the thing it has such as permanence about it. It just kind of sticks out there and says 'here I am deal with it'.

carapace 8y ago

Saint Mary's Cathedral (in San Francisco) I don't say it's as beautiful as the Parthenon, and it might not last 500 years, but we moderns aren't completely shabby... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Saint_Mary_of_the_Assumption_(San_Francisco,_California) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Saint_Mary_of_the... > Its saddle roof is composed of eight segments of hyperbolic paraboloids, in such a fashion that the bottom horizontal cross section of the roof is a square and the top cross section is a cross. The interior is open.

bschwindHN 8y ago
That picture reminded me of a building I saw in Tokyo. Turns out it's also a Saint Mary's Cathedral: https://goo.gl/maps/R2arUkpaZeD2 https://goo.gl/maps/R2arUkpaZeD2 The top cross section is also a cross on this one.

subjectsigma 8y ago

I can see La Sagrada Familia not only being around, but being celebrated, for 500 years more. It's still under construction and has been for (almost?) 100 years. Google it, the church is absolutely beautiful. In fitting with the theme of the GP, not only is it structurally sound (to my knowledge) because of how the pillars are constructed, but it successfully pays homage to Gothic architecture and the oldest inspiration, Nature, while also being new and innovative.

echotango 8y ago
I agree, it is beautiful. But Ayn Rand would have hated it. That design is steeped in European and Christian traditions and symbolism. Those things are all anathema to her ideology.
- okyougotmenow 8y ago
  > Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Russian: Али́са Зиновьевна Розенбаум) on February 2, 1905, to a Russian Jewish bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg.
- paulie_a 8y ago
  But honestly who gives a shit about what Ayn Rand would have thought about it. She was a nut and her ideology should be aggressively dismissed as simplistic and quite frankly stupid.
  - echotango 8y ago
    I totally agree. I was pointing out that church isn't really modern architechture as Rand saw it.

crwalker 8y ago

I suspect that a lot of our better skyscrapers will be around in 500 years: once a pattern is set, people like to preserve it.

steve19 8y ago

As others have said Cathedrals (if you consider anything that has been build in the past 500 years modern) and I have seen Mosques that are breathtaking. Religious communities have the motivation to build something that lasts and use the best of materials. They see the building as an act of worship, in and of itself. Cathedrals often took extremely long times to build. In some cases, such as the beautiful Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, they also have the money to build it both well and quickly. Within many modern protestant Christian communities, building grand buildings is seen as a poor use of money that could be better spent helping people. These grand buildings are seen as less comfortable, efficient and flexible for modern congregations that would prefer lower cost, environmentally friendly and low energy building with community facilities.

bigger_cheese 8y ago

I think beauty is a very subjective thing. I absolutely love the appearance of the UTS tower in central Sydney all my friends think I'm mad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTS_Tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTS_Tower Something about those big blocky Brutalist style concrete box buildings you just know the thing is nigh indestructible and is going to be around forever and that to me is the beauty of the thing it has such as permanence about it. It just kind of sticks out there and says 'here I am deal with it'.