4 ms·
A Rippling Townhouse Facade by Alex Chinneck Takes a Seat in a London Square
- impossiblefork 1y agoWhile fun I always feel that grass and trees are basically always nicer than this kind of thing. It feels like a human imposition on nature, that we decide that we are to have this brick thing here, instead of whatever grew there. Maybe if it were a tunnel it would be okay.
- pimlottc 1y agoIt is a tunnel, you can walk through it. > However ‘A week at the knees’ is technically more sophisticated in every way. It also offers a more immersive experiences for audiences, who can walk directly beneath and behind the sculpture, enjoying it from multiple angles. https://fadmagazine.com/2025/05/20/a-week-at-the-knees-alex-chinnecks-facade-in-freefall-for-clerkenwell-design-week/ https://fadmagazine.com/2025/05/20/a-week-at-the-knees-alex-...
- impossiblefork 1y agoYes, but what I meant by a tunnel is that a tunnel doesn't take away surface space whereas this does.
- pimlottc 1y agoI’m not sure what you mean, like an underground tunnel?
- impossiblefork 1y agoYes.
- pimlottc 1y agoThen how would you see the artwork?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- TeaBrain 1y agoIt's a small temporary art installation that takes virtually no space on the town square.
- recursive 1y agoHow about houses? I live in one. Maybe you do too. Are those an imposition? If they are, surely they're a bigger one.
- impossiblefork 1y agoTo some degree, yes. But we also need them. They aren't just decoration or something to satisfy our desire to build.
- recursive 1y agoWhat about an art museum whose purpose is to provide a place to show and view art? What about a concert venue?
- appreciatorBus 1y agoI'm inclined to agree, esp since this is in a park. That said, the article suggests it's part of festival and is just a temporary exhibit, so I don't think any trees were sacrificed for the sake of overly precious architectural fantasies.
- Zardoz89 1y agoYou are missing the trees for the forest.
- Reason077 1y agoThis is an urban square in the middle of London, not a nature park. There hasn't been a natural landscape here for thousands of years.
- mhandley 1y agoIt's only there for a month.
- aaron695 1y ago[dead]
- readthenotes1 1y agoMore money than sense. In the UK is it more money than pense? (a play on pensive)
- recursive 1y agoPersonally, I think it's OK, and maybe even good, if sometimes humans do things for aesthetic purposes instead of paperclip optimization.
- testfrequency 1y ago[flagged]
- egypturnash 1y agoI wanna play this skateboarding game. :)
- aaron695 1y ago> 7,000 bricks Not sure this is true from a construction shot - https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1102267448604760&set=pcb.1102267495271422 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1102267448604760&set=pc...
- ajb 1y agoThey are probably "brick slips" IE thin cosmetic bricks, not full bricks. Hmm looks from that shot that the door doesn't open; I was wondering about that.
- hn_throwaway_99 1y agoThe windows on this were extremely impressive to me. That is, I feel like this would have been way easier if all the windows were just on flat sections, but one set of windows have about their bottom third on the bottom curve, meaning he had to fabricate curved window frames and curved window panes, which seems really difficult to me. He could have easily "cheated" and put those windows just a tad higher so they were fully on the vertical back wall. Making them with that curve just shows a crazy attention to detail and really added to the illusion of the brick sculpture feeling like a flexible rug.
- recursive 1y agoSeems like a great example of "bumping the lamp". https://factsandfigment.com/bump-the-lamp/ https://factsandfigment.com/bump-the-lamp/
- jandrewrogers 1y agoI used to live in an apartment built in 1910 with curved window panes. While not common they must not have been too difficult to fabricate if needed, even a century ago.
- ajb 1y agoCurved glass is easier in the historical method, because flat glass was made by blowing a large bottle and flattening a piece of it against something before it set (which is why you could only get small flat panes). So to get a curve you'd just shape it against something the right curve. I'm not sure how you get curved glass today. Possibly you have to start with a flat sheet and heat it until it can be bent.
- natpalmer1776 1y agoI’m genuinely curious as to how you acquired knowledge on old glassmaking techniques without also being familiar with modern techniques.
- 1y ago
- adammarples 1y agoWhere is it?
- tim333 1y agohttps://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Charterhouse+Square,+Barbican,+London/@51.5203287,-0.099461,3a,75y,90.51t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-IfPsJwEhYbCd78ayCNCXg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-0.5093265731027117%26panoid%3D-IfPsJwEhYbCd78ayCNCXg%26yaw%3D0!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x48761b56b4e9c04b:0x56dd593769fad09e!8m2!3d51.5204472!4d-0.0990578!16s%2Fm%2F027g2xk?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDYwNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Charterhouse+Square,+Bar...