Nice From A Far But Far From Nice

De-constructivism is a development of the post modernist movement that started in late 1980's. It is characterized by ideas of fragmentation, manipulating surfaces and skins, and a distortion of shapes. It has an unpredictable quality, yet it is controlled chaos.
(Frank Gehry's DG Bank)


From far away, these buildings look cool and take on interesting forms. However, once you get close to it, one begins to see a number of problems with the building. The most common problem I have with these buildings is the joint work at some of the corners. It looks very sloppy to say the least.


(Coop Himmelbau's UFA Cinema)

Within Coop's Cinema, it felt as if there was a lot of wasted space and also felt cramped in the lobby area. It was very non-photogenic to say the least, but that's just my opinion.











(Zaha Hadid's Vitra Fire Station)
Here at Zaha's Fire Station, most of the doors and windows don't meet the surface evenly causing air to get through the small gaps. They had to install heaters within the floors and walls because it got so cold in the winter. The fire station was only in use for two years. Now the Vitra campus uses it for parties and social gatherings.