New tower of glass opposit the golden cross

The point for me is not the presence of tall buildings but the quality and the way they interact with their surroundings.

It's my view that Cardiff is not particularly well stocked with period architecture. We are never going to be an Edinburgh, Oxford, or even a Liverpool or Manchester. Comparisons with those cities are not helpful.

Also the city centre is very small and there is not the 'doughnut of desolation' that quite a lot of the northern cities have which allows for expansion. We go from city centre to terraced houses literally within yards and without a buffer zone. You can see from the constant churn of development that space in the city centre is at a premium. Since the war Central Square has been built and then flattened three times.

The thing we can learn from cities like Edinburgh is how to plan. The one area that Cardiff does have in terms of space is south from the GWML. It did have a masterplan which might not have been to everyones taste but at least would have resulted in a coherent streetscape. Now it looks as though there will be a free for all and already you can see a mish mash of development and proposals for towers. The area is already confused with the beige brick crap of St Williams/St Patricks House with the better CAVC and One Canal Parade interspersed with the awful Fusion Point. Barely 15% of Dumballs Road has been built on and already it looks a mess.

It could have been a modern version of Edinburgh's New Town - fanciful maybe, but an attempt to create a genuinely attractive inner city residential area with commercial use and strong east -west routes opening up the river would have shown more ambition than building student towers. In my opinion.

"The taller modern buildings signify to me that Cardiff is a modern thriving city...."

I appreciate that's what you think. but the proposition is not self evident, and thus merits discussion. My view is the complete opposite; I think it can make a city look very provincial and tiresome.They also runs the distinct risk of littering the city with undistinguished virtually undemolishable buildings which we may look back on on in just a few years with the same sense of regret and embarrassment that we view so many of the noughties flats which were similarly bunged up on the back of a boom .

I think that all of this is a matter of opinion - some people like the idea of high rise and feel that a high rise skyline makes a city look forward thinking and dynamic and others like yourself don't. It's like arguing about your favourite colour, it's in the eye of the beholder. But Urbano a fair number of people that visit this forum will be in the high-rise camp and feel like these are exciting times for our city. Because of our tight city centre there is an opportunity to have a more impressive skyline as our taller buildings will create more of a cluster than perhaps most citys of similar population sizes. Anyway we've got room for both opinions and more! here on my Dull (your words) forum.

Thank you, Jantra. The voice of reason and reasonableness as usual

“You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Twilight Zone!”

I said that debating which building is a few inches higher than another or which is going to be finished first is dull. Which it is. In contrast, a debate on the merits and demerits of high rise isn't dull. And I don't think that issue can just be reduced to " well that''s my opinion" without any argument to justify those opinions or any further debate (and if that were the case then it really would be hugely dull ..." I like that building.....oh do you, I don't" Zzzzz).

I agree with Karl. Not only is there an issue over towers but also over the multiplicity of design and absence of any spatial /design relationship one to another. The Bay , and the way Dumballs Road is going , makes me think of a big box of largely lego-type buildings which someone has mixed up and then pours out over the area . Cf Central Square , where the buildings (so far) relate well to each other along clearly defined linear street patterns.

URBANO...
I said that debating which building is a few inches higher than another or which is going to be finished first is dull. Which it is.


Now wait there exactly who are you to decide that discussing the height of a building is Dull on a forum where many people are very interested in such details. Oh and the way you say... Which it is - talk about condescending

I'll re phrase. It's a disappointing subject for an architectural forum, and its become the main subject of late.

Thank you, Jantra. The voice of reason and reasonableness as usual

“You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Twilight Zone!”

which is the perfect definition for the space between your ears.

I'll re phrase. It's a disappointing subject for an architectural forum, and its become the main subject of late.

But that's the whole point - this is not specifically an architectural forum? If it was then I would perhaps agree with you on some of your criticisms. I always wanted it to be a bit more general and cover other aspects of this city than just it's development. If we get to high brow then it will distract people from posting. Anyway I value your contributions, but I'm not going to just ignore unjustified digs at my forum anyway that's my position and this is becoming dull now so lets move on...

I am so excited about Cardiff's skyline in the next few years.

I'll re phrase. It's a disappointing subject for an architectural forum, and its become the main subject of late.

But that's the whole point - this is not specifically an architectural forum? If it was then I would perhaps agree with you on some of your criticisms. I always wanted it to be a bit more general and cover other aspects of this city than just it's development. If we get to high brow then it will distract people from posting. Anyway I value your contributions, but I'm not going to just ignore unjustified digs at my forum anyway that's my position and this is becoming dull now so lets move on...

with all due respect Paul i don't think URBANO was being critical of the forum per se, more the recent content of the forum.