SkyscraperPage Forum - St. Petersburg, Russia

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- - St. Petersburg, Russia (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139544)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kanhawk (Post 3600532)

anm, these are all such great photos!
I am curious about all the buildings from the 1800s in the old St. Petersburg. What were all those buildings used for? Was it mostly apartments or were these office buildings originally?

The short answer is - both.

During the 200+ years the historical center was built, neither cars nor public transit existed. People had to live within 20-30 min walk from where they worked. As the capital, industrial and financial center, St. Petersburg has had its share of offices for both business and bureacracy, but only few people could afford to "commute" in those days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anm (Post 3372369)

Interestingly, how the mods changed the thread name from "St. Petersburg" to "St. Petersburg, Russia". I deliberately named it the former because it is the only St. Petersburg on the planet that does not need any qualifier. Nobody says "London, UK" just because there is London in Ontario.

London is well known to americans because it's the capital of former metropolia, well known and understandable. Russian St. Petersburg is not, because it's in Russia — a far unknown land with strange alien people (there are people? Wow!) speaking their strange language. The best known things from Russia are vodka and Russian mafia. That's all, nothing more. And people are very suprised when they see something more about Russia in your threads. Our country is far away and was closed for many years, so nothing strange if american people needs a qualifier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anm (Post 3498286)

Obukhovskij Bridge across Neva River, photo by http://photopolygon.com/photo/fit/806.700

A house looks like in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". And the picture itself reminds me if I remember clearly "Once upon a time in America" episode.

I have a picture with the same guy with the bear!

Do mean you and the same guy and this bear?

Why can't we have such beautiful buildings and artwork here in North America ? I mean really, our cities, as grand as they are in their own right, can never compare to those of Europe. Everything here is square , flat, and shiny (or at least, it's usually supposed to be) Maybe Chicago and New York can offer something but otherwise...well, we suck by comparison. Looking at these photos really drives home the lack of creativity in our cities and architecture. I don't mean that to knock the local architects really, I just don't understand why so many people here can look at a box (which is basically what the latest fad is) and say "Man ! Is that ever amazing !". It's a box . With glass. Whee.
Just look at St. Petersburg. There is virtually nothing in N. America that comes close to rivalling the beauty of just this one European city. Grand , tall, big...yeah, we've got plenty of that here. Natural beauty abounds here but our cities are so interchangeable most of the time.

I guess I'm ranting but it's just that I don't understand how anybody can look at St. Petersburg and ever find any North American architecture interesting again. We build boxes and people think they're beautiful. I don't understand it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spocket (Post 3874795)

I guess I'm ranting but it's just that I don't understand how anybody can look at St. Petersburg and ever find any North American architecture interesting again. We build boxes and people think they're beautiful. I don't understand it.

Beauty is a subjective thing. There are general rules of course, but it comes down to who the observer is and what the the things observed mean to the observer.

*************
A digression...

Merriam-Webster gives definition of "beauty":

1: the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit : loveliness
2: a beautiful person or thing ; especially : a beautiful woman
3: a particularly graceful, ornamental, or excellent quality
4: a brilliant, extreme, or egregious example or instance <that mistake was a beauty>

It is OK, but what qualities should an object possess to give pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalt the mind or spirit? My take on it is that when one considers some object or entity - be it a building, a city, a human or animal body, a plant/flower, a piece of music, etc., it is percieved as beautiful when some or all of the following conditions are met

1. it is structured (has necessary amount of detail, consists of parts)
something bland, monotone, repetitive will rarely be considered beautiful
think of classical music vs rap, or a fractal object vs competely overcast sky)

2. the observer understands how parts complement each other; their purpose and functionality (when relevant)

3. the parts relate to each other in certain proportions

4. the object makes an allusion or reference (humorous, erotic, maybe even dramatic etc.) to something important to the observer; typically when an object is judged beautiful - it is a pleasant allusion

end of digression
*****************

So, while a big glass box may not have enough structure by itself when looked at from a close distance to be called beautiful, it may be a part of something more complex (such a skyline), which may as well be considered interesting and even beautiful.

What an amazing thread!!
My sister just got back from a trip tp St. Petersburg, Russia and I was just looking at her photos the other day. She bought me a little, wooden, carved Santa Claus, there, and he's sitting right next to my computer monitor as I look at this thread. Thanks again for the fantastic tour.

AMAZING thread! Those pictures of the statues in the park are amazing. I wish parks here had that. Well, not really. Cause then all the ghetto people would tag them. Would love to visit St. Petersburg though. What an amazing city.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anm (Post 4009372)

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/3101/..._7b44bf27_orig

It's good to see that dog looking before crossing.