It looks very like it.
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Well said, Spike! What did you think of Will Alsop's design though? I think it's a pity that got knocked back when you see what did get accepted! This is from today's Echo - and of course there will be some who will comment "Well he would say that, wouldn't he?"
But what do other Yo-ers think - apart from WW of course, I think we know where he stands.
Architect Will Alsop criticises Liverpool's ‘mediocre’ waterfront buildings
Jun 30 2010 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Echo
THE architect behind the failed Fourth Grace scheme has launched a withering attack on the buildings that are being built in its place on Liverpool’s waterfront.
Will Alsop, whose company designed the Cloud, said the buildings the city has “ended up with... lie in the general malaise of architectural mediocrity that we find so popular with the current architectural press”.
He added: “In the end, this is all history but I do believe that Liverpool deserves much better than it got whether it was my building or not.”
Three glazed black blocks in the Mann Island development and the new Museum of Liverpool are currently nearing completion at the city’s Pier Head where the Cloud would have been built.
Mr Alsop also hit out at the National Museums Liverpool (NML) for the organisation’s role in the collapse of the Fourth Grace saying it had its own agenda.
He also claimed the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) had pulled the plug on the project to meet a shortfall in funds for the ECHO Arena and BT Convention Centre.
He also claimed the city council had used its planning department as a “stalling device”.
His comments, during an online webchat with BDonline.co.uk, resurrected the row that erupted after his Cloud building was scrapped in July 2004.
The decision to abandon the project was made after it emerged that projected costs had risen by almost £100m.
Last night the council, the NWDA, and Neptune Developments who are building the three blocks rejected Mr Alsop’s claims. NML declined to comment on the claims"
I said in the begining we should have had the Cloud. It would have been great.
I sort of like the cloud but not in the position it was touted for, maybe the Kings Dock area and certainly not the cost considering the interior wasn't even included or catered for. It wasn't even known what was going to be put inside there. I like the new museum but not the black apartments.
The Cloud:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Rsl_LePBeK...Waterfront.jpg
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/4th_grace_alsop2.jpg
We did miss out.
We should have gone for it!:nod:
The one that came in 2nd was better than the cloud!
Something with a bit more brick in the building would be better next to the graces than what they are building now!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/egfocus...33610517/show/
Something I found about the Black blocks... Interesting read..o some, the three black buildings, which will be clad in £15m of granite, will look out of place next to Liverpool's iconic 'three graces'. But others laud the Broadway Malyan-designed scheme as a strikingly modern addition to the Mersey waterfront, on the spot which would have housed Will Alsop's ill-fated proposed 'fourth grace'.
Architectural merit aside, the scheme, which includes 140,000 sq ft of offices and 376 apartments, has already proved quite a success for the developers. Local transport firm Merseytravel has pre-let the entire offfice element for £20.50 per sq ft, and in early 2009, it emerged that German bank Commerz Real had struck a deal to forward fund the office building.
Parry told me that 90% of the apartments have been taken up, subject to successful exchanges, and Liverpool FC ace Steven Gerrard has netted himself a couple of the more luxurious pads.
The residential element contains modest two-bed apartments on the lower floors, and multi-storey apartments at the top, complete with balconies overlooking the river and all built around a central atrium. The best apartments are rumoured to be going for more than £600,000.
One of the blocks - looking from the Strand view - looks like a huge liner looming as if coming up from the river. Impressive.
That's the only thing about these snazzy apartments - they are not for us mere mortals :) only footballers and their wags can afford them !
- - or drug barons !! :rolleyes:
It's sad really, but you often see criminals addresses - when reported in the Echo - as being in these waterfront apartments.
Plenty of single people live in the waterside, city centre apartments. It's quite easy to find a flat share there and not too expensive either. If you work in the city centre, its ideal.
The evenings are buzzing and it's a great feeling living in the city centre, especially during the week, its completely different to the weekend. Going for a stroll around the dock, or for a ride around the Pier Head, or a quick pint in the Pump House is just great.
Well, that is almost a $1,000,000.00 US.. not quite.. but close.. If you say you aren't getting MUCH for that.. then, I rest my case.. This Top accomodations isn't much for the Bang.. A two-by-four flat..no balcony..or small one if not tooooo high.. and well, whoppie do! No jealousy on my part at all...I don't see where just because something is new.. it has to be HIGH in the Clouds and overpriced... I can see paying that for a nice home with land .... instead of giving your money to a pre-owned complex that wants a maintenance fee also on top of the mortgage... Now, that is not jealous at all.. Its' not about who has more to live in such a place.. Its' about the place.... And what you can get for the money... I think you are intitled to liking your tall buildings.. and also should look (since you like modern), into modernization...but, in a lower respect.. Have it where people (average) can afford to live in new places.. and take pride in the community... That is what is going to keep Liverpool alive..