Tourist Architecture: Kitsch Curios and Vainglorious Monstrosities
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 02.13.06 | 10:02 AM ET
I think the proposed Grand Canyon Skywalk is unnecessary. Jonathan Glancey thinks it’s a travesty. And his criticism extends to other questionable developments in well-traveled spots around the world. In Saturday’s paper, the Guardian’s architecture correspondent listed his picks for worst additions to natural landscapes around the world. He pulls no punches.
His list includes:
Petra Gateway, Jordan
Glancey says: “[I]t makes Petra, like Stonehenge, all too like the proverbial dog wagged by its tail.”
El Valle de los Caídos, Cuelgamuros, Spain
Glancey says: “The basilica is crowned with the tallest (492ft) and crassest cross in Christendom.”
Buddha Pavilions, Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka
Glancey says: “Recently, it was decided to build three grey steel pavilions over the Buddhas to shelter them from the sun and monsoons. These modern parasols, or umbrellas, look, though, as if they have been shipped over as a job lot from the stadium of some lower division English football club facing relegation.”
Glancey isn’t all attack dog. He also offers five places around the world where nature has been favorably complimented. They are: Le Grand Viaduc de Millau, France; Welsh Highland Railway, Snowdonia, Wales; Falkirk Wheel, Scotland; Osborne Bulls (above), Spain; and Forest Learning Centre, Visegrad, Hungary.
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
