Quote:
Originally Posted by 2oh1
Not at all.
They designed a building that couldn't be built with the budget they had to work with. FAIL.
They designed a building that couldn't meet environmental requirements they had to meet. EPIC FAIL.
Skylab should be embarrassed of their work.
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There is not enough information available to support your fairly malicious assertions. That is not to say that SKylab may be culpable to some degree, but we really can't know based on the public record.
As an example: I went to UofO in the eighties. The Architecture and Allied Arts building at that time was a structure entirely devoid of ornamentation or warmth. Concrete floors, walls, and ceilings. Virtually no wood anywhere to be seen. Not an inspiring place for artists, architects, and the like to hone their respective crafts. I was told, at some point during my time there, that during excavation for the foundation it was discovered that there was an underground stream running directly below where the building was going up. In order to finish the construction a large chunk of the budget went into the foundation that was not in the original budget. Apparently there was no additional money available for that unforeseen circumstance, so the building was stripped of any non-essential elements in order to meet the budget.
The point, if it's not obvious, is that shit happens. Developers usually set aside contingency funds in their budgets for the little surprises that can occur during construction, and which happen on nearly any project. But buildings are incredibly complex undertakings that require the design teams to make assumptions about subgrade conditions, subcontractor availability, financing requirements, market conditions, and numerous others that effect the budget, which effects the final product. That said, the skills of the architect and construction teams can alleviate a lot of situations simply by having deep experience in what they're tasked with doing.
Until any of us have the full picture it is impossible to fully lay blame at the the feet of any of the players. From my understanding, Skylab made some mistakes and played a bit loose with BDS on Design Review issues. Do they shoulder some of the blame for the end result? Absolutely. But from experience, I would wager that they most likely were not making any of the decisions on the factors that directly influenced the aesthetic issues plaguing the building.