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What a polarizing building! I had a professor that spent a considerable amount of time in France and he said a common joke among the building’s detractors was:

What a polarizing building! I had a professor that spent a considerable amount of time in France and he said a common joke among the building’s detractors was: “The best view in Paris is atop the Centre Pompidou, because you cannot see it.”

Pitacalo 3y ago
That is concerning another building Montparnasse Tower (which also has a plan to change it https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/in-paris/articles/151159-the-montparnasse-tower-postpones-its-closure-for-renovation-works https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/in-paris/articles/15115...)
dustincoates 3y ago
Incidentally, also said[0] about the Eiffel Tower and the Tour Montparnasse. (I agree with this last one, both at height and at ground level. I've long said that if I were a billionaire, I'd buy the tower just to tear it down.) [0] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/08/10/tower/?amp=1 https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/08/10/tower/?amp=1
- morsch 3y ago
  > Tour Montparnasse Aka the box the Eiffel Tower came delivered in
- tsunamifury 3y ago
  Time redeemed one of those but the other is still called an ugly eye sore to this day…
  - ohgodplsno 3y ago
    Montparnasse is a perfect example of cities in France going "on a second thought, let's not build more skyscrapers right in the middle of cities" in the 70s. See also: Part-Dieu, Tour Bretagne, Pleyel.
  - wongarsu 3y ago
    It's obviously hard to pin down, but apparently it took Parisians about 20-30 years to go from hating the Eiffel Tower to loving it. Tour Montparnasse hasn't managed to achieve that in the 50 years since it was built.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- amelius 3y ago
  Wikipedia: > A 2008 poll of editors on Virtualtourist voted the building the second-ugliest building in the world, behind Boston City Hall in the United States.
0zemp2c 3y ago
still better than the De Young in SF, which looks like someone asked MidJourney to combine an abandoned mall parking structure with a concentration camp tower
seydor 3y ago
how can they not love it? it looks amazingly playful
hanoz 3y ago
That quip doesn't really work like it does for its more usual target, the Eiffel Tower, because unlike the tower you also can't see the Pompidou Centre from pretty much everywhere in Paris, except right next to the Pompidou Centre

Pitacalo 3y ago

That is concerning another building Montparnasse Tower (which also has a plan to change it https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/in-paris/articles/151159-the-montparnasse-tower-postpones-its-closure-for-renovation-works https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/in-paris/articles/15115...)

dustincoates 3y ago

Incidentally, also said[0] about the Eiffel Tower and the Tour Montparnasse. (I agree with this last one, both at height and at ground level. I've long said that if I were a billionaire, I'd buy the tower just to tear it down.) [0] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/08/10/tower/?amp=1 https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/08/10/tower/?amp=1

morsch 3y ago
> Tour Montparnasse Aka the box the Eiffel Tower came delivered in
tsunamifury 3y ago
Time redeemed one of those but the other is still called an ugly eye sore to this day…
- ohgodplsno 3y ago
  Montparnasse is a perfect example of cities in France going "on a second thought, let's not build more skyscrapers right in the middle of cities" in the 70s. See also: Part-Dieu, Tour Bretagne, Pleyel.
- wongarsu 3y ago
  It's obviously hard to pin down, but apparently it took Parisians about 20-30 years to go from hating the Eiffel Tower to loving it. Tour Montparnasse hasn't managed to achieve that in the 50 years since it was built.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
amelius 3y ago
Wikipedia: > A 2008 poll of editors on Virtualtourist voted the building the second-ugliest building in the world, behind Boston City Hall in the United States.

0zemp2c 3y ago

still better than the De Young in SF, which looks like someone asked MidJourney to combine an abandoned mall parking structure with a concentration camp tower

seydor 3y ago

how can they not love it? it looks amazingly playful

hanoz 3y ago

That quip doesn't really work like it does for its more usual target, the Eiffel Tower, because unlike the tower you also can't see the Pompidou Centre from pretty much everywhere in Paris, except right next to the Pompidou Centre