We’ll never get tired of the worst architectural failures in pictures, but today we’d like to take a look at some of the funniest cases in architectural history, well-received errors that caused a mess on the site. If there are connoisseurs in the room, you will have the pleasure of quoting me from others. I like the story of losing concrete.
Tower of Pisa
Certainly the most canonical example of this genre: this completely leaning tower allows every slightly eccentric tourist with unlimited creativity to take a very funny and original photo (not). The story of its construction is, for once, very funny and original, although wildly expensive.
First of all, the choice of terrain was completely stupid, because the soil, which was mainly silt and clay, was unstable and soft (like you after a tartiflette). As a result, the architects built platforms only 3 meters deep (because water could be found beyond this depth). So inevitably, once the first floors were built, the structure began to sag. And to capture the chaos, architects built arches and columns in an attempt to fix the chaos. in vain After that, we took a century-long hiatus at the construction site because we were obviously lazy (no other explanation was found).
In 1230, a new architect added a platform to one side rather than the other in an attempt to straighten out this ungainly tower. in vain Between 1260 and 1280 construction would be interrupted twice again, but two new platforms were born following the same method of balancing the arches. In short, no architect followed the tower’s original plan and many engineers have been trying to reduce its slope for decades.
We don’t know how much all this cost, but the construction in the teeth of two centuries was more than the Tower of Montparnasse.
Millennium Bridge: When you play jump rope with a bridge
In June 2000, the first bridge opened in London for a century, the steel footbridge spanning the River Thames began to sway rapidly under the weight of the first pedestrians. Not conducive to gaining confidence. The bridge was closed for 2 years and became a laughing stock for the locals (bastards, Londoners really). In the end, the initial cost of construction was £18.2 million to solve this minor oscillation problem.
Fryscraper: The hottest tower in your area
Otherwise known as the “Walkie-Talkie”, this London skyscraper built in 2014 on a project by architect Raffaele Vinoly is beautiful in appearance alone. Covered in glass and domed, the facade presented serious problems with light reflection, to the extent that it melted, among others, a jaguar body under the tower and several shop fronts, not to mention a serious problem. The internal ventilation of the tower makes it overheated. Stupid thing.
Even more stupid is that the Uruguayan architect is not in his first attempt and would have caused similar problems with his previous project Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas “solar oven”.
Lotus Riverside Campus in Shanghai
This large-scale residential project, which began construction in Shanghai in 2007, ended in a horrific collapse that fortunately resulted in no casualties. Another bleak tale of unstable land overflowing the fleet, made worse by the rains that accompanied the start of the work. Foundations gave way just before the building’s inauguration, ironically leaving the windows intact as seen in the following video.
Fidenae Stadium: Ancient Failure
This is another textbook case of architectural waste from ancient times. Even the dramatic event that followed the construction of this stadium was recounted Annuals of Tacitus. Attilius, an architect not very knowledgeable but strongly impressed by Maa, wanted to take advantage of the Romans’ appetite for games by building a large arena at low cost. Apart from the fact that the ground was rotten, the dimensions of the stadium were too large (only 700 meters long and 25 m wide) and its narrowness prevented the drainage of water. . It is called dumpling.
Montreal Olympic Stadium
At the request of Mayor Jean Drapeau (already: MDR this place), French architect Roger Dalibert is working on the construction of this new stadium in hopes of hosting the 76 Summer Olympics. The kevlar roof, which was said to be an example of modernity, caused many problems (it tears every time it is opened) and was finally replaced by a fixed roof, not to mention corruption problems that greatly reduced the construction site. The total construction of the stadium was more than three times its initial budget.
Tacoma Bay Bridge
I draw a map of the Tacoma Bridge in a series of architectural plays. Opened in July 1940, it collapsed 4 months later (with no casualties, which was a miracle). This accident made it possible to build a new bridge in 1950. Because basically we always learn from the mistakes we make and I hope that’s the lesson you learned from this above.
This staircase
Not to say it was a real costly mistake, but when I look at the face of this stair failure, I want to sew a beam in my face for protest.
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