Monday, August 22, 2005
Almost...there....
The summer has been long and mostly uneventful, unfortunately a season spent almost exclusively on the dissertation that is supposed to make me, finally, a Master in my subject. There was a quick trip home to Montreal for six days way back in early July, followed by a much more recent sojourn in Scotland (which, by the way, is GORGEOUS). Beyond that however, it has mostly been a coffee-fueled existence, spent quietly in front of my laptop as I ponder how to translate incoherent thought into a stunning 10,000 word piece of academic literature. Let's just hope I pass.
This twilight zone of references, theoretical frameworks and regular wordcount checks ends soon, hopefully by the end of the week or by necessity on August 31st. I...just...need...to...kill...this...thing...before...it...kills...me.
In celebration, I'm off to Turkey for twelve days in September. Between now and then, expect a resussitation of sorts here at Ape Rifle. Expect a much larger update and likely overhaul of Ape Rifle when I return home in the fall, with the future as of yet unplanned.
In the meantime, here are some pictures I've been meaning to post for a while. As everyone focuses on China's rather insane construction boom and the resulting oddities that pass for 'modernity' in those parts, urban areas of less repute over here in the declining West have quietly been adding to their skylines as well. Wandering around my native Montreal back in early July, I couldn't help but notice the number of projects in progress/recently completed (something rather unheard of even back in the 1990s). Here are some examples:
This disjointed glass box is a new complex for Concordia University. I'm not too sure why there is a giant image of a flower on the side of the building- nor why that image is scrambled like a jigsaw puzzle. Rating: Thumbs up, for being more attractive that the concrete monstrosity to its right. Glass is pretty. Lots of different glass facing in all sorts of directions is even prettier, apparently.
This is a variation on the "Why build just one?" mentality so prevalent in China. Although since this is Montreal and real estate developers actually get in trouble if they can't fill their buildings, two seemed like a better idea than thirty-five.
Rating: Thumbs down. What kind of development project only has two towers? Not a modern international one, that's for sure.
This is your standard condo block. Except it is sort of rounded at the edges.
Rating: Thumbs up. Big is beautiful.
This looks like a sculpture of modern architecture screwing historical preservation. Unfortunately, it is also an actual building.
Rating: Thumbs up. History is for the poor.
Another Montreal university, another interesting use for taxpayer's money. It looks like a mix between an airport terminal and a tanning salon. Rating: Thumbs way up. The only thing cooler than transculent buildings these days is, well, a building with yellow, wavy glass.
China, eat your heart out. Montreal's on the move.
This twilight zone of references, theoretical frameworks and regular wordcount checks ends soon, hopefully by the end of the week or by necessity on August 31st. I...just...need...to...kill...this...thing...before...it...kills...me.
In celebration, I'm off to Turkey for twelve days in September. Between now and then, expect a resussitation of sorts here at Ape Rifle. Expect a much larger update and likely overhaul of Ape Rifle when I return home in the fall, with the future as of yet unplanned.
In the meantime, here are some pictures I've been meaning to post for a while. As everyone focuses on China's rather insane construction boom and the resulting oddities that pass for 'modernity' in those parts, urban areas of less repute over here in the declining West have quietly been adding to their skylines as well. Wandering around my native Montreal back in early July, I couldn't help but notice the number of projects in progress/recently completed (something rather unheard of even back in the 1990s). Here are some examples:
This disjointed glass box is a new complex for Concordia University. I'm not too sure why there is a giant image of a flower on the side of the building- nor why that image is scrambled like a jigsaw puzzle. Rating: Thumbs up, for being more attractive that the concrete monstrosity to its right. Glass is pretty. Lots of different glass facing in all sorts of directions is even prettier, apparently.
This is a variation on the "Why build just one?" mentality so prevalent in China. Although since this is Montreal and real estate developers actually get in trouble if they can't fill their buildings, two seemed like a better idea than thirty-five.
Rating: Thumbs down. What kind of development project only has two towers? Not a modern international one, that's for sure.
This is your standard condo block. Except it is sort of rounded at the edges.
Rating: Thumbs up. Big is beautiful.
This looks like a sculpture of modern architecture screwing historical preservation. Unfortunately, it is also an actual building.
Rating: Thumbs up. History is for the poor.
Another Montreal university, another interesting use for taxpayer's money. It looks like a mix between an airport terminal and a tanning salon. Rating: Thumbs way up. The only thing cooler than transculent buildings these days is, well, a building with yellow, wavy glass.
China, eat your heart out. Montreal's on the move.
