One for Dell - Dudley Zoo and Tecton
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biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
last time i went to dudley zoo was over 30 years ago , i bet it has changed a bit since then
Globalti
Legendary Member
Some caving club friends of mine were exploring the WW11 wharfs and bunkers under Dudley hill when they spotted daylight through a gap in the roof. They climbed up and popped out in the bear enclosure, much to the surprise of the keepers. Subsequently they were commissioned to do a survey of the underground workings by the zoo who were worried about losing a bear.
Really. This was in the mid seventies.
Really. This was in the mid seventies.
Mr Phoebus
New Member
What a Boo Boo.
upsidedown
Waiting for the great leap forward
- Location
- The middle bit
One of the UK's finest fossil beds is in Dudley, right in the middle of a housing estate. Apparantly it used to be at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
Mr Phoebus
New Member
The Crooked House is great. You feel drunk as soon as you enter it. 
Put a coin on its side on a table and it appears to roll up hill.
Put a coin on its side on a table and it appears to roll up hill.
Cycling Naturalist
Guru
- Location
- Llangollen
In the late seventies I bought some sandwiches in Dudley High Street, and walked through an open gate into what I thought was the local park. I sat down on a bench and started eating, only to be breathed on by an elephant that was being moved by a keeper.
That's your excuse, anyway, and you're sticking to it...
Berthold Lubetkin. The man who went from architecture in to pig farming.........
He designed the penguin pool at London Zoo and then went on to design bits of Whipsnade and most of Dudley Zoo. And, as you say, Mr. P it's a modern marvel.
Unfortunately the penguins hated the pool in London. So it's been demolished. Years after he'd taken to pig farming he was invited by the Australian government to advise them on penguins. He flew down there, at public expense and then told the Australian government he knew nothing about penguins and didn't like them much.
He did design a couple of monstrous housing blocks in East London and the Finsbury Health Centre, which I pass two or three times a week. The Health Centre is a striking building, but the curved glass block facade turns the reception area in to an oven. So people don't much like that either. And his Spa Green estate, which, again, I pass frequently, has just been given a makeover, not before time.
His great success was the apartment block at Highpoint http://en.wikipedia....iki/Highpoint_I (although I've always thought that avowed commies working on luxury flats was a bit suss...) which really does turn concrete in to a sensual material. Lubetkin was himself a bit of a sensualist - the smooth curves in his buildings betray a love of the female form that got him in to a bit of trouble - but these lefty creative types are prone to lasciviousness (or is that concupiscience), and it is difficult to resist temptation when some bird (not a penguin) is swooning over your staircase
All in all he doesn't deserve the reputation he's got within architecture. If you're going to get brutal then do it properly like Erno Goldfinger. If you're going to get sensual then use something that doesn't need a coat of white paint every couple of years. And never, ever, ever piss off a penguin
He designed the penguin pool at London Zoo and then went on to design bits of Whipsnade and most of Dudley Zoo. And, as you say, Mr. P it's a modern marvel.
Unfortunately the penguins hated the pool in London. So it's been demolished. Years after he'd taken to pig farming he was invited by the Australian government to advise them on penguins. He flew down there, at public expense and then told the Australian government he knew nothing about penguins and didn't like them much.
He did design a couple of monstrous housing blocks in East London and the Finsbury Health Centre, which I pass two or three times a week. The Health Centre is a striking building, but the curved glass block facade turns the reception area in to an oven. So people don't much like that either. And his Spa Green estate, which, again, I pass frequently, has just been given a makeover, not before time.
His great success was the apartment block at Highpoint http://en.wikipedia....iki/Highpoint_I (although I've always thought that avowed commies working on luxury flats was a bit suss...) which really does turn concrete in to a sensual material. Lubetkin was himself a bit of a sensualist - the smooth curves in his buildings betray a love of the female form that got him in to a bit of trouble - but these lefty creative types are prone to lasciviousness (or is that concupiscience), and it is difficult to resist temptation when some bird (not a penguin) is swooning over your staircase
All in all he doesn't deserve the reputation he's got within architecture. If you're going to get brutal then do it properly like Erno Goldfinger. If you're going to get sensual then use something that doesn't need a coat of white paint every couple of years. And never, ever, ever piss off a penguin
Archie_tect
De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
- Location
- Northumberland
It was restored in the late 80s/early 90s - someone got an RIBA award for the restoration- has it been demolished since because it was even listed [daft idea!]. Google time...
Beebo
Firm and Fruity
- Location
- Hexleybeef
It's a Grade I listed structure, I'm sure it's still there just without penguins in it. Well it was last time i visited the zoo.
Archie_tect
De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
- Location
- Northumberland
Ah a 'water feature'!
Archie_tect
De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
- Location
- Northumberland
