Every time I walk into Leeds these days, I am confronted with a perplexing thought: do I like this building or not?
Each time I see it, I seem to have a different opinion. I can't work it out. From some angles, on sunny days, I love it. From the same angles, on a grey day, I loathe it. It's an eyesore, but when seen against blue skies there is something quite beautiful about its rusty shell.
It rises up from the motorway on one side, and overshadows the old Broadcasting House building on the other, like a tree that has managed to grow through the cracks of some old crazy paving. Like an enormous Transformer toy, from one side its five levels look as if (in some lights) they might start rotating at any moment.
This building is most certainly divisive - everyone I've talked to about it has strong opinions on the matter. Which, I guess, is what the architect intended - for the building to get people talking. And perhaps that's not such a bad thing at all.
Good point.
ReplyDeleteI must be the only one without strong opinions on it! A taxi driver once spent the entire journey complaining about it to me.
Don't you think it looks like it needs a serious wash though? I contemplate whether it's really ugly or really interesting every time I walk past too!
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