The Taipei Times pointed out on Friday that Taipei 101 may not be the biggest tourist draw for Taiwan. They’re probably right – I don’t imagine too many people hop a plane just to see a tall building. They point out that:
…relying on this daytime eyesore to pump up tourist numbers is ill-advised.
But I notice that they neglect to describe its appearance at night. Because when lit-up, I think it looks GREAT. They then get downright mean:
It has a dildo-like ribbed concrete spire atop what appears to be a series of inverted plastic stools…
Ouch. The building itself is supposed to resemble a tall stalk of bamboo, but I guess it’s inevitable that Freudians are bound to see phalluses wherever they turn.
Hey fellas, try NOT using your imagination quite so much, ‘kay? Sometimes a skyscraper is just a skyscraper.
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I’ve always seen a stack of Chinese takeout boxes. Maybe they could market it as the world’s tallest rorschach test.
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To me, it looks like a stylized corn on the cob.
Whatever the case may be — it’s one big ugly building for one big ugly city!
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Going to Taiwan for the architecture is a little like Rick going to Casablanca for the waters. (Temples and traditional homes excluded from that statement, of course.)
As far as liking Taipei 101, it looks like I’m in the minority. And that’s OK. But I think that even its detractors have to admit that the architect at least TRIED to build something a little bit different from the standard glass and steel monolith.
I appreciate that effort.