I'm stealing this thread idea from Skyscraperpage.com's hometown's forum. What are some awesome buildings that have been torn down or destroyed some other way? So that includes buildings like the Temple of Solomon, etc. In 1889 Paris hosted the World's Fair (just called the Paris Exhibition) & the Eiffel Tower was built for it, and the arches at the bottom served as the entrance. The Gallerie des Machines was even more incredible though; at the time the biggest iron & glass vault was at St Pancras Station in London. Its span was 73m & was 25m high. The span of the Gallerie des Machines (aka Palais des Machines) at the 1889 Paris Exhibition was 115m, 45m high & 420m long. Here's what Wikipedia says:
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An equally significant building constructed for the fair was the Galerie des machines, designed by architect Ferdinand Dutert (1845-1906) and engineer Victor Contamin (1840-1893), which was reused at the exposition of 1900 and then destroyed in 1910. At 111 meters, the Galerie (or "Machinery Hall") spanned the longest interior space in the world at the time, using a system of hinged arches (like a series of bridge spans placed not end-to-end but parallel) made of steel or iron. The choice of construction material is controversial; the building was designed to be built with steel but was actually constructed in iron.
Swiss historian & architecture critic Siegfried Giedion thought it "represented an entirely unprecedented conquest of matter." He agreed with fellow critic Frantz Jourdain who wrote that tearing it down on purpose was "artistic sadism." It must have been the same vile Paris NIMBYs who fought the construction of the Eiffel Tower who were to blame. Here's an interior pic: http://www.vitruvius.com.br/entrevis...r/walker_7.asp
wow i havent seen that pic in a while... i am kicking my self for not buying a book that had all these plates in it showing various site drawings renderings and photo graphs comemerating that worlds fair 10 years later
Crystal Palace built for the 1851 Great Exhibition and attracted 6 million visitors, some of whom walked from 300 miles away to see the fruits of the British Empire. It was the first great cast iron, mass produced building of its size, 1851 ft long but grew in size when dismantled and rebuilt in Sydenham. It was destroyed by fire in the 1930s.
For a sense of scale the water towers at either end were 300ft tall. The worlds largest fountains were displayed in the front, with jets 250ft high.
Interiors
the concert hall
Destruction - wild parrots were found all over London after its destruction, but soon died from the cold.
that's another good one... Giedion started with Crystal Palace, which was the first building of its kind, & looked at how the structure changed over the decades. Crystal Palace had a barrel vault, which had been done before in other buildings & with other materials (wood, stone, etc) but not iron. It also had a bunch of small/thin iron columns, as opposed to the huge iron piers of the 1889 Gallerie des Machines.
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The Crystal Palace was the realization of a new conception of building, one for which there was no precedent. It was, in addition, the first building of such dimensions constructed of glass, iron, and timber over a framework of cast- & wrought-iron girders accurately bolted together. The possibilities dormant in modern industrial civilization have never since, to my knowledge, been so clearly expressed. It was recognized at the time that this combination of wood, glass, and iron - incidentally a combination resulting in an admirably practical exhibition technique - had evoked a new kind of imagination which sprang directly from the spirit of the age. Only thus can we explain the confident predicition of contemporaries, since justified in all essentials, that "the Crystal Palace is a revolution in architecture from which a new style will date."
Lothar Bucher wrote in 1851 that "the building encountered no opposition, and the impression it produced on those who saw it was one of such romantic beauty that reproductions of it were soon hanging on the cottage walls of remote German villages. In contemplating the first great building which was not of solid masonry construction spectators were not slow to realize that here the standards by which good architecture had hitherto been judged to no longer held good."
Too bad none of these buildings are around anymore. There were similar buildings built for the 1855 (Paris), 1867 (Paris) & 1878 (Paris) World's Fairs also. I found an old article about the 1889 Paris Gallerie des Machines, with drawings & pics: http://vrc-caup-uw.blogspot.com/2008...9-iron-or.html
Larkin Admin Building by FLW. 1st building with air conditioning, 1st building with metal-bound plate glass doors & windows... demolished in 1950
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In 1939 the firm made interior modifications and moved retail operations into the building. In 1943, the firm's fortunes were in decline and it sold this building and others. The Larkin Company, which never recovered from the Great Depression and changes in American retailing, eventually declared bankruptcy.
Wright's Administration building was foreclosed upon for back taxes in 1945 by the city of Buffalo. The city tried to sell the building over the next five years and considered other uses. In the meanwhile, it was vandalized. In 1949 the building was sold to the Western Trading Corporation, who announced plans to demolish it for a truck stop. It did so in 1950 despite protests from the architectural community. No truck stop ever materialized. A single brick pier along a railroad embankment is all that remains from Wright's original building. The remainder of the site is now a parking lot with a marker and an illustrated educational panel.
The space was so calm that the company actually installed an organ on the top floor. (hard to tell in the pics)
let's hope this gas station doesn't get demolished:
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The Ritz of gas stations looks for a new life
LES PERREAUX
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
January 27, 2009 at 4:00 AM EST
MONTREAL — As architectural landmarks go, the gas station on Île-des-Soeurs was barely visible, with its clear plate-glass walls, subdued colours and narrow steel skeleton.
But this wasn't just any gas station. The Esso on Berlioz Street was designed by world-famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1968, one year before he died. It was one of the final projects for the pioneering modernist designer of modern skyscrapers such as the TD Centre in Toronto and New York's Seagram Building.
The Mies gas station is no more. In December, Esso quietly removed the pumps and put plywood over the glass and the company sign out front. Now, Montreal's Verdun borough is left to sort out what to do with a rare piece of architecture not easily adaptable.
"The thing really is beautiful; it's so unassuming, like a lot of great artworks," said Phyllis Lambert, whose family, the Bronfmans, commissioned the Seagram Building.
"It's not pretentious, not glitzy. The major problem is, what to do with it now."
The gas station was part of a neighbourhood that Mies's Chicago firm designed in the 1960s, after a bridge connected Île-des-Soeurs to the rest of Montreal and the island was developed.
The filling station was a departure from the garish corporate colours, neon signs and blinding flood lighting of most modern service stations.
As with many of the architect's great works, it was designed for simplicity and transparency, allowing light and the surrounding scenery to show through. In its early days, a ground-level Esso sign was installed out front to help drivers spot the station.
"It's of a great simplicity, and it's a building that was really thought out. It's not overstated, it's very modest, very functional, and very well designed," said Dinu Bumbaru, the director of Heritage Montreal, who has described it as the "Ritz" of gas stations.
The Larkin company was so happy with their building that they held no grievances with Wright despite the project being late and almost twice the original budget. I am appalled that place was pulled apart.
let's hope this gas station doesn't get demolished:
When I was in Montreal two years ago, I rented a bike and pedaled out to take a look at this building...I agree, it would be a shame to see it go.
In my opinion threads like this while interesting, tend to be quite depressing. Its a shame to see some of the incredible buildings that, more often than not, were replaced with something far less desirable.
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"I hate small towns because once you've seen the cannon in the park, there's nothing else to do." Lenny Bruce
In my opinion threads like this while interesting, tend to be quite depressing. Its a shame to see some of the incredible buildings that, more often than not, were replaced with something far less desirable.
yes... like parking lots, which seems to have been the usual replacement
on a Seattle Underground tour I found out that the white metal arches on the parkade are there as a reminder of the windows on the old building that got torn down, iirc
Ever see photos of the 1893 " WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION " in Chicago?What a tragic shame that, although built to be a temporary exhibition, ALL of it couldn't have been kept intact and preserved. Below are just, some photos of that magnificent showcase....
Ever see photos of the 1893 " WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION " in Chicago? What a tragic shame that, although built to be a temporary exhibition, ALL of it couldn't have been kept intact and preserved. Below are just, some photos of that magnificent showcase....
That stuff was built of plaster. It could not have been preserved.
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There were similar buildings built for the 1855 (Paris), 1867 (Paris) & 1878 (Paris) World's Fairs also. I found an old article about the 1889 Paris Gallerie des Machines, with drawings & pics:
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