NIKOLAI SUTYAGIN

"The Russian gangster who built this awesome building call it “the eighth wonder of the world,” while others dismiss it as an abomination. But one thing is certain: Nikolai Sutyagin’s building is not something you see everyday." - Telegraph
with 13 floors, this is the world’s tallest wooden house and is in Russia. However, it is under threat of demolition from city authorities as they fail to realise its beauty. i think its great, there is a sense of fairytale about it and should be praised rather than hated. it is original and doesnt conform to the regular red brick housing estate homes which we see too often.

i say keep it and celebrate it.

THE TRAFFORD CENTRE

a bit of close to home architecture..


i hadn't been for years, and the past two weeks, Ive been three times. i used to go a lot when i was in high school, on the bus with friends for shopping, but mainly for the feeling of independence. i remember wondering around thinking how massive a place it was. getting around it seemed to take a day, and you'd lose track of where you had already been, often needing to refer to the, at the time, state of the art touch screen maps.

now i can practically see each end if i stand in the middle. either i've grown or its downsized.
its just celebrated its 10th birthday. i know this because on arrival, we were greeted by a looped video of Darius singing Happy Birthday.

since i last visited they have added a huge chandelier to the new and improved main entrance. the whole revamp of this area is said to have cost £26 million. the chandelier is made from thousands of pieces of Chinese crystal, which have been transported to Manchester by cargo ship.

it is pretty grand, the marble and the over sized stair case help to create a palace effect. the chandelier was a complete let down. although it is HUGE, its horrid. it just looks like sheet metal with plastic gems. if i was sending it all the way from china i would have made sure it was all going to be worth it. after all, if you look past the chandelier and through the banister, you can see KFC, so it wasn't ever going to feel that special.

i understand the attraction of the Trafford centre. its a lovely place, and they have managed to keep it looking reasonably nice over the years. i just wish that they had saved the money and downsized on the chandelier, and maybe invested in getting someone other than Darius to sing them happy birthday.