21 October 2009

Not-So-Flattering Views of Famous Places: fancy scaffolding that misses the point

Fact: European cities have historic buildings.
Fact: Historic buildings sometimes need some preservation work, particularly on their lovely crumbling/dirty/pigeon-nest-filled facades.
Fact: It is generally agreed that scaffolding is kind of ugly. Certainly uglier than said lovely facades.
So when work is required on their landmark buildings, cities often put massive, life-size drawings or photos of said buildings on the outside of the scaffolding, which gives the appearance that the building is unblemished, if oddly two-dimensional.
The fancy scaffolding covering must cost a fortune. I realize that. They need sponsors to defray costs. Sponsors like to have something in it for them, though, and they typically demand something more than a nice handwritten card or a fruit basket.
Like a nice billboard--that would be a great way to thank them. Please don't notice that it is HUGE and takes up more space than the actual illustration/photo of the building. Please don't comment that the very presence of the billboard completely misses the point of the fancy scaffolding. Please?
I saw tons of examples. Here are two: Berlin's Bebelplatz and Vienna's Votive Church.




5 comments:

  1. When I was in Europe about 10 years ago I was told those companies were sponsoring the renovations. Is this not true?

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  2. Right, it's true (I presume). But why bother to have the fake facade if you're going to then put an ENORMOUS BILLBOARD on it? If corporations want to sponsor renovations, great, I support that. And I realize they want some credit. But billboards? On an architectural/cultural landmark? Really?!

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  3. I agree...just fact checking. Enjoy reading your posts. :)

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  4. Maybe they'll start selling naming rights too...

    "The Bank of America Eiffel Tower."

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  5. @ Kelsey: Ha! I think we'd see another French Revolution over that.

    (And I'm a big fan of your writing, BTW, so I was pleased to see you stopped by my blog!)

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