Shiny Buildings - Düsseldorf

January 26, 2008 12:06 PM | Related Categories: Galleries & Exhibitions,Architecture,travel

Some shiny buildings as promised. I'm in Düsseldorf to to attend the opening of the Model Lie Exhibition, but I also wanted to have a look at the Frank Gehry buildings down at the harbour. No prizes for originality in this shot, but it might interest people who haven't seen these quirky office blocks before

What I didn't realise is that the entire old harbour area of Düsseldorf has been turned into a gigantic sort of Disneyland of architectural showpieces. Worth a visit if you're interested in that sort of thing

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Lawks amussy! Being in the Iron Ore and minerals business in the '70s and '80s I came here a lot. Just as in Britain, the blast furnaces and steel mills of the Ruhr have gone and the enormous inland "Umschlag Hafen" that went with them. In the '90s I changed tack and haven't been there for nearly 20 years (what a thought)...so this is an insight. The idea of visitng an important art exhibition in Ratingen is a bit hard to take on board.

So, is this building clad in shiny metal?
# Posted By Chuckeroon | 1/27/08 5:44 PM
Looks like a nightmare I had once. Great photo, though!
# Posted By George | 1/27/08 8:05 PM
I've never seen them before.
Good thing they are office blocks - far too shiny to live in.
My geography isn't the best - I had to google to find out exactly where Dusseldorf is in Germany
(I learnt the largest minority ethnic group is Turkish, which I find surprising and Kraftwerk come from there).

Now I have to go and google "lawks amussy".
# Posted By Freefalling | 1/27/08 9:44 PM
Hope you had a good day in Köln today Richard. It was nice to meet you, thank you for all your information and advice...I will be in touch on the print issues soon!
I am sure this was on your camera yesterday...great to see it here on screen! Great capture...
Petra
# Posted By petra | 1/27/08 11:18 PM
I spent my working weeks the last five years of my working life in Düsseldorf (but always returned to Paris for the weekend). I know consequently these buildings quite well. The whole area around is, as you say, today quite busy, especially in the summer time and on the riverside!
# Posted By Peter | 1/28/08 2:22 PM
T'ai-je dit que ma fille et mon compagnon ont habité deux ans à Düsseldorf, dans le pittoresque quartier turc, tout près de la Hauptbahnhof
Et bien sûr chaque fois que j'y suis allée je suis allée voir ces immeubles, avec quel contraste, des immeubles plus anciens derrière. Ils sont sublimes sous la pluie. J'aime les décrochements des fenêtres. Le revêtement des murs.
Un bras du Rhin où faire des promenades... Un beau quartier très bien réaménagé

Toujours nous allions au bord du Rhin. J'ai fait des photos de la Fernsehturm que l'on voit sur ta photo, avec les haubanages des ponts.
Nous aimions aller prendre un chocolat dans un ancien phare qui abrite un musée de la batellerie.
Ma fille habite à Lyon à présent, et cela me manque ces séjours en Allemagne
Certaines de tes précédentes photos de nuit m'ont rappelé le centre ancien de Düsseldorf la nuit. Si sombre...
(Celle de l'échiquier, avec les dalles, et les pions si bien répartis...)
Et si propres pourtant, qu'il n'y avait aucune crainte à marcher sans voir où nous mettions les pieds !
Il est dommage que tu ne sois pas resté à Düsseldorf très longtemps apparemment.
# Posted By cergie | 1/28/08 5:50 PM
Cergie, Peter and Chucker - what an amazing coincidence.

Cergie - I know exactly the places and views you mean. And the Gehry windows - an interesting architectural solution. The Rhine for me was an ever present backdrop to the city, as it is throughout this part of the world
# Posted By richard | 1/28/08 6:43 PM
Ah, the Gehry buildings. They are very photogenic, though I don't like that mix-mix in the harbour area. I must admit, they look great in b/w.
# Posted By april | 2/1/08 3:46 PM
April - I agree with you about this. The buildings on their own are very photogenic, but from an urban planning point of view the Mediahafen is a bit of a mish-mash and you feel the planners decided just to ask famous architects to contribute something

For me the most impressive building, and by a long way, is the Stadttor. Apart from it's own intrinsic qualities, and the engineering, what struck me most approaching it from the city side, through the small parkland, is how it is situated on a small rise (despite it's own bulk) and as you approach you have the feeling that people must have felt about the Gothic cathedrals in their original settings
# Posted By richard | 2/1/08 4:04 PM
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