This was a stupid idea
typed for your pleasure on 28 June 2006, at 4.57 pmSdtrk: ‘Thank your lucky stars’ by whitehouse
Normally I don’t do requests (unless, of course, there are delicious Synthetiks involved), but SafeT has been exhorting me to do a ‘This was the Future’ segment on the Millenium Dome. Well, you get what you pay for, mate.
pic taken from here, cos it’s funnier
The O2, formerly known as the Millennium Dome, is a large dome shaped building on the Greenwich peninsula in east London, the United Kingdom, at grid reference TQ391801. [..]
The dome was constructed in order to hold a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the 3rd millenium. This exhibition opened to the public on January 1, 2000 and ran until December 31, 2000; however the project and exhibition was the subject of considerable political controversy and never quite achieved its objectives. [..]
The O2 is now normally closed. The failure of the project to match the hype became and remains a continuing embarrassment to the Labour government. It is still of interest to the press, the government’s difficulties in disposing of the Dome being the subject of much critical comment. The amount spent on maintaining the closed building has also been criticised. Some reports indicated the Dome was costing £1 million per month to maintain during 2001, but the government claimed these were exaggerations.
ta very much to Wikipedia
Also, it’s ugly. It looks as if someone placed a big white tarp onto the earth, draping it over those yellow towers, hoping the towers would support the tarp much like a big top, but the tarp was too heavy, and the towers ripped through. It resembles a.. errm.. huh. I don’t know what the fuck I’m looking at. It’s overly-vast, ill-designed, and ridiculous looking. Summation: dull, boring, corporate-designed ‘modern art’. Ugh.
Looking at the Dome makes me alternately sleepy, or angry. Which will it be today?
Random similar posts, for more timewasting:
Message in an (architectural) bottle on July 9th, 2007
This was the Future, Vol.14 on July 21st, 2005
June 29th, 2006 at 11.14 am
Sleepy! You could curl up under the nice white sheets and hold onto the pretty towers as you nod nod nod off into Labour Land.
June 29th, 2006 at 2.36 pm
heh, heeee . . .
. . .
so, what? no dymaxion house?
or’d i miss that issue? :l
June 30th, 2006 at 1.21 pm
Well… it’a birthday cake innit?
Built and baked by garden gnomes. Yup. Big ones :-O
July 1st, 2006 at 10.29 am
PBS –
Gods yeah, you’re right.. it does kinda resemble a birthday cake!
Happy birthday, Millenium! Apparently, you’re twelve years old.
Wow, the whole Millenium dome concept just doesn’t get any better, does it? 😐
zszsz –
No, you’ve not missed the Dymaxion house installment; I’ve just not gotten round to doing it yet. 🙂
SafeT –
I’d be too angry to sleep. ‘Why does this waste of space exist in my world??’
Perhaps when I look at it again, it’ll merely bore me insensate, but I don’t plan on looking at it again (the picture I’d posted doesn’t count).
July 5th, 2006 at 6.05 pm
You have to admit there’ll be a certain something to it if it remains erect and decaying years hence. Like the Brown Derby restaurant, but with marginally fewer grease traps.
July 5th, 2006 at 6.24 pm
If it does remain standing, I’d argue that it’s doing so only cos it’s probably too expensive to tear down. Kinda like the lovely and graceful Dom Sovietov; which, as you recall, was a favourite with the kids.
‘THE MILLENIUM DOME: Making Slablike Communist Architecture Look Efficient and Sexy’