Korean building project invokes images of 9/11

^^^ How is it comparable?

This design is distinctly Asian in appearance and compartmentalization of space. People here have grown used to the prospect of the new WTC being vertical and sleek — in particular, even sleeker and veticalar then the original. "Stink" might be a strong term but I can see why it wouldn't be peoples' first choice for a blueprint.

edited 13th Dec '11 11:31:28 AM by johnnyfog

You do realize that this is not meant to be used as a replacement for the Twin Towers, correct? They're not even being used for similar purposes. They're not even being built in the same country.

edited 13th Dec '11 11:33:48 AM by ohsointocats

^^Yeah, what ^ said. This isn't even remotely similar to the WTC, except in that it has more than one tower. It's a residential building.

edited 13th Dec '11 11:36:32 AM by INUH

RE: Islam center: It was built in place of a building that was damaged in the WTC attack, so yeah it was actually nearby.

But still—if people were so concerned about respect being paid to the area, it would be better to complain about the stripper clubs and sex shops that are undoubtedly there. Besides, there's supposedly a 9/11 memorial inside the building itself.

Yeah, but I was under the impression that they were claiming it was closer than it actually was.

Er...starting to drift from the topic.

I quite like the design of the building. An alternative might have been to make the central hub cubical, but that would look like a project by a new Minecraft player. Not professional at all.

Spherical would be a possibility, but that would be inefficient.

edited 13th Dec '11 11:41:36 AM by INUH

I was thinking of rounding off the corners, though that would negate the pixellated effect they're going for.

Hmmm...maybe...

What if they don't round off the corners, so much as cut them? You know, so the corners are replaced by additional sides? I'm bad at describing things...

I suggest removing it just because... goddamn that shit is ugly.

I can see how it would remind some of 9/11, but that's just a meaningless coincidence.

I also think it looks a little messy, but the design has a practical purpose and that is to centralize the commercial district in the building, or so I hear.

edited 13th Dec '11 12:19:03 PM by annebeeche

Okay, new theory. Maybe people are confusing South Korea with the North, and are wary of subtle subliminal anti-American sentiment.

I would say it would look more aesthetic if the "cloud"/commercial area it at the bottom, but then again that would defeat the purpose of saving space.

edited 13th Dec '11 12:21:20 PM by ohsointocats

Unless they've said they're doing it specifically to piss us off—and I highly doubt they have—I guess this is just latent paranoia from 9/11...

^^No, that would be inefficient not because of space-saving reasons, but because it would mean that if you lived in the top, you had to go all the way down to get to it. The point is for it to be as convenient as possible for everyone in the building.

edited 13th Dec '11 12:27:37 PM by INUH

But it still would be more aesthetic.

Defeating the entire purpose of the building because you think it would look a bit better leads to very pretty abandoned buildings.

Wait wait wait... I thought that the project was purposely trying to look like 9/11. If it's not on purpose I don't see why they should change it.

I honestly thought this would be a North Korean project—crazy fucks—and was rather worried...

South Korea wouldn't purposely set out to do something like this without making it a memorial, though, methinks.

It's still a stupid design. Most people would just buy thier shit on the way up.

No, no, you're missing the point. If you want to go shopping or go to a restaurant on the weekend, you don't have to leave the building at all.

Why is it a stupid design? Or did I miss some posts?

People still likely work outside the building, though, right?

It's not stupid, just hideous.

edited 13th Dec '11 1:57:29 PM by ohsointocats

Some of them likely do. But this reduces the need to make a long commute for every little thing.

A long commute, as in a slightly longer elevator ride?

You can't really argue that it would save lots of power, because to get all of the supplies needed to run a commercial center that high up would require a lot of freight transport. It would be easier to transport that freight if the commercial center was on the ground.

The reason it has to be 'cloud' shaped is also because that leads to nice terracy roof gardens at that part. The planning pictures are so pretty, I like the design even though I can see a definite resemblence.

It's been more than a decade. If it's "too soon" now, when won't it be?