Ship of Fools: Terrifying buildings

Thread: Terrifying buildings Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Eirenist (# 13343) on :

The vertiginous Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool has been described in print as 'the most terrifying building in England'. Have shipmates any other nominations for the title, whether for England or anywhere else?

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

Newport Civic Centre. Horrible Anglo-Stalinist pile.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
Newport Civic Centre. Horrible Anglo-Stalinist pile.

It is actually not that far from St Andrew's House - it's just the watchtower on top gives it the really menacing vibe.

[ 06. January 2015, 14:12: Message edited by: Firenze ]

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :

The Elephant and Castle shopping centre.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

I understand from my Better Half (though I haven't been there myself) that the glass-floored bit of the CN Tower in Toronto takes some beating.

As for Liverpool Cathedral, I didn't find it scary (although I was only at ground level), just awe-inspiring, and possibly calculated to make you understand how small you are in the Grand Scheme Of Things™.

I think my most scary-height situation was the organ-loft in St. Paul's Cathedral, where the surrounding wall came up to the height of my hips* - a bit further would have considerably increased my peace of mind. [Eek!]

* i.e. not very far - I'm not a very big piglet.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

The Shard, and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. You wouldn't get me going up either.

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

New York City's Pennsylvania Station, which sits underneath Madison Square Garden -- which has nothing to do with Madison, is not square, and is certainly not a garden!

Especially when you consider what was demolished to make room for it.

One of my college professors, who taught philosophy, was fond of altering the Lord's Prayer as "And lead us not into Penn Station."

[ 06. January 2015, 15:00: Message edited by: Amanda B. Reckondwythe ]

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
... "And lead us not into Penn Station."

English bus drivers have their own version. [Big Grin]

Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
I understand from my Better Half (though I haven't been there myself) that the glass-floored bit of the CN Tower in Toronto takes some beating.

Indeed. There are signs up saying things like "this glass floor can take the weight of 10 hippos". (Might be <> 10; might not be hippos.) And you think: have they actually tried?

And if they did, is it not possible that the 10 hippos weakened the glass just enough that if I now stand there ...

And you can now walk around outside it.

Posted by ExclamationMark (# 14715) on :

In Cambridge -

1. the church of Our Lady and English Martyrs

2. The Stirling History Building

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lord Jestocost:
the glass-floored bit of the CN Tower in Toronto takes some beating.

Been there, done that, no big deal (not sure about the outside walk though) - if you can handle the elevator up, the glass floor is no problem.

One nomination that springs to mind is the Basilica del Voto Nacional in Quito, Ecuador. The edifice itself is pleasant enough but getting up those towers at the end involves walking the entire length of the nave... on a rickety wooden single-file walkway above the apex in the cavernous space between it and the roof.

[ 06. January 2015, 16:47: Message edited by: Eutychus ]

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

Here's another image of inside the church to give you an idea of just how terrifyingly high that apex is.

Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :

Eirenist, I would go along with Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. We went there some years ago, when I was still mobile. The tower was open, so we decided to go up. There was a lift part way, then steps within the walls. So far so good. Then you came out above the bells - not so good. As I remember, a bit higher within the walls, then you could see the next lot of staircases - jutted out from the walls of the tower. I turned to Darllenwr and apologised as there was no way I could do that. He was very kind, and refused to go on up without me, so we went back to the triforium to have a look at an excellent embroidery exhibition. It was only some time later that he admitted he wasn't very happy about going up those staircase either! [Two face]

I'm not keen on heights, and so another very scary building - or edifice, rather than building - is Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, near Llamgollen. We crossed it in a narrowboat on a holiday with a group of friends some years ago. There's a tow path on one side, just the rim of the cast iron trough on the other. One of our group, a botanist, was leaning over the edge of the boat looking at the ferns gowing on the columns. Another friend and I were sitting very firmly inside the boat! We went to have another look at it on a subsequent holiday to North Wales. There was no way I was even going on the towpath!

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

You haven't been truly terrified until you've climbed the steps to the crown of the Statue of Liberty.

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

quote:
Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
There was no way I was even going on the towpath!

I've been on that towpath, many many years ago. I think Quito was scarier, but my thought in view of the sheer drop on the canal side was "there's no way I'm going on a boat across that".

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
You haven't been truly terrified until you've climbed the steps to the crown of the Statue of Liberty.

I climbed up when I was seven years old (I think it was an older flight of steps). It was terrible.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

I've never been on the Grand Canyon Skywalk -- I don't know whether I could handle it.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Piglet
The organ loft at St Paul's may not have very high balustrading but then its not very high up and backs onto the rear choir stalls.

If you want terrifying try the organ loft in the cathedral at Albi - or getting to the loft in Toulouse.

If you want a bad building try the Church of the Sacred Heart in Bushey, Hertfordshire: statue on outside leans out so it feels as if its going to fall on you. Inside is finished predominantly in white tiles so it has the feel of a swimming bath.

Posted by Pulsator Organorum Ineptus (# 2515) on :

Is Albi the one where you have to go out on to the roof to reach the console?

The spiral staircase to the organ loft at s'Hertogenbosch cathedral requires some sang froid, not least because it seems so rickety and wobbles about as if it's about to collapse. I am told getting to the console of the nave organ in Cologne cathedral needs a good head for heights, too.

Anyone been up the tower of Ulm Minster ? That's not for the faint-hearted because of being able to see out through the very open structure. As you descend the spiral staircase, the ground goes round and round and round below you.

I think the scariest thing I've ever done, however, was a visit to the Forth railway bridge. We got to the middle and our guides opened a trap door between the tracks announcing "anyone who doesn't want to come down here doesn't have to". It was straight down the the sea. We descended an iron ladder and stepped off on to a plank (admittedly a very solid one) with just a wire to hold on to at one side and a 150 ft drop into the water at the other. Every time a train passed overhead (which was often) the bridge shook and bounced, accompanied by the roaring sound of wheels passing over rails a few feet above our heads.

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :

Currently both the Anglican Cathedral and the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch are so scary they are behind fences and closed the public.

Huia

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

I had to pretty much force myself to look at all those pictures - I can't even cross Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol!

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

Do you think the Sagrada Familia in Spain will be finished in my lifetime or not? It fascinates me, but I am not optimistic....

It's been under construction since way back in the 20th century!

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
Do you think the Sagrada Familia in Spain will be finished in my lifetime or not? It fascinates me, but I am not optimistic....

I don't know (or particularly care) when it will be finished. As it is, it is definitely a terrifying building. [Eek!]

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :

Grand Canyon Skywalk, anyone? And, yes, it has a glass walkway,

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
Piglet
The organ loft at St Paul's may not have very high balustrading but then its not very high up and backs onto the rear choir stalls ...

I suspect that the scary bit was that I felt that I could have fallen out, and it was still high enough that a fall could have resulted in a quite badly-broken piglet.

There's a church in Belfast where D. used to deputise occasionally where the organ (and the choir) were in a very steep gallery, with a barrier so low I could have sat on it, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies.

Maybe it's just a balance thing: when we attended a baseball game ( [Snore]

) in the Shea Stadium in New York, the original seat I'd been allocated was at the end of a row, and looking down, I felt as if there was nothing between me and a very long fall: I had to get D. to swap seats with me ... [Hot and Hormonal]

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
Do you think the Sagrada Familia in Spain will be finished in my lifetime or not? It fascinates me, but I am not optimistic....

I don't know (or particularly care) when it will be finished. As it is, it is definitely a terrifying building.

IIRC Orwell was rather disappointed that it was one of the churches that the Reds/ Anarchists had not got around to destroying during the Civil War.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I have this weird thing where I don't have a fear of heights looking down, but I do looking up. So, If I were on a tour group to the Grand Canyon, I'd be the idiot prancing around on the skyway above. There was a glass floor in Spinnaker Tower, and I loved standing on it.

However... I tried to take a picture of the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge the other day, and very nearly couldn't do it. I had to angle my iPad so I was mostly looking at the picture and not actually at the tower. I have several pictures of local buildings taken from the bottom looking straight up, because I like to freak myself out like that.( There's a nice one of the Transamerica Pyramid on my FB page.)

[ 07. January 2015, 14:01: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Ferdzy (# 8702) on :

When I was 4 we were living in Mexico, and went to Uxmal. I climbed up the Pyramid of the Wizard, no problemo. Then when it came time to go down I looked at my father and said, "I'm not happy.". Yes, I made him carry me down. I don't think he was happy either.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

[Big Grin]

yeah.

As far as terrifyingly fugly buildings go, there is One Rincon Hill. it's not that ugly in and of itself-- it looks like a moderately attractive refugee from the Vancouver skyline, as a matter of fact. What makes it fugly is the fact that it is one of the six very high buildings we have in SF, but rather than hanging out with its buddies in the Financial district, it has wandered off to go loom over the Dogpatch like a bully looking for milk money. Note the smaller, terrified buildings huddled around its base. It's like that for a good twenty block radius. It just looks stupid.

[ 07. January 2015, 14:24: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

If we're talking about ruining skylines, there's always this obscenity.

(No, I don't mean the Tower of London -- though that was terrifying in its day.)

[ 07. January 2015, 17:55: Message edited by: Pigwidgeon ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Don't y'all call it Casa Dong, or something?

(Yeah, I know, the Gherkin.)

Posted by Hedgehog (# 14125) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
You haven't been truly terrified until you've climbed the steps to the crown of the Statue of Liberty.
I climbed up when I was seven years old (I think it was an older flight of steps). It was terrible.

I was thinking the same thing Pigwidgeon. The steps in the link look positively cozy compared to the rusting death-traps that were there when I was a child.

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Don't y'all call it Casa Dong, or something?

(Yeah, I know, the Gherkin.)

We generally just assume that Norman Foster was compensating for something.

Posted by ThunderBunk (# 15579) on :

Most of the architectural clichés of the last 30 years terrify me. Glass lifts, glass floors, glass barriers - all render a building a total ordeal. As do escalators strung out over nothingness.

Blow the whole lot up and start again, I say.

Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :

I give you the Nikolaikirche in Wismar, on the Baltic coast of Germany. It is a gorgeous church, with an incredibly high and narrow nave. But what makes it terrifying is the tour you can do of the roof and tower. This involves clambering about ramshackle wooden walkways above the ceiling of the nave, with the knowledge that if you fall off them you will probably go crashing through the ceiling. To rub it in, they have a little viewing window just about above the altar, so you can look down and see exactly where you would land.

Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :

The stylistic pedigree of this now demolished Pentecostal church near downtown Edmonton is obvious. At night, when illuminated by floodlights, it took on a somewhat imposing, intimidating air. Not that I didn't love it any less.

I always thought it interesting that Pentecostals would go for such a blatnatly pagan(some would say occultic) reference. After the architect's family failed to get the building declared a heritage-site, the land was sold to developers who proceeded to rip it down, with plans of putting up condos. The 2008 economic downturn put the kibosh on that, and the space(to my knowledge) remains a vacant lot.

[ 07. January 2015, 23:53: Message edited by: Stetson ]

Posted by Hilda of Whitby (# 7341) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pulsator Organorum Ineptus:

Anyone been up the tower of Ulm Minster ? That's not for the faint-hearted because of being able to see out through the very open structure. As you descend the spiral staircase, the ground goes round and round and round below you.

I have, I have!! It was AMAZING. It was scary on the descent, but going up was worth it for the spectacular view.

Posted by basso (# 4228) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
If we're talking about ruining skylines, there's always this obscenity.

I'd imagine that people will get used to the Gherkin in time.

The late, great Herb Caen speculated once on the possibility of the Sutro Tower striding downtown to mate with the Transamerica Pyramid.

They were both hugely controversial in their day, but they're beloved parts of the landscape now.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

Hanny's used to be a rather upscale men's store in downtown Phoenix. It has now been turned into a nice restaurant, close to Symphony Hall and other cultural spots, and they have left some of the signage from the old store. They have also left the elevator shaft with a glass floor, but lined with mirrors. I've eaten there many times (and plan to this weekend), but I've never stepped into the old elevator. It is apparently quite terrifying.

Maybe I should give it a try this weekend.

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :

I did the high level tour of St Magnus, Kirkwall, in 2012 - most of it wasn't too bad, but I had the heebies when the guide told us that the caretaker used to change the lightbulbs in the crossing by slinging a ladder across and climbing out!

AG

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :

If, many years ago, one had sailed underneath the Colossus of Rhodes, one might have been terrified or intimidated by looking up.

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :

Ewwww! Pass the brain bleach, Sipech!

AG

Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
One nomination that springs to mind is the Basilica del Voto Nacional in Quito, Ecuador. The edifice itself is pleasant enough but getting up those towers at the end involves walking the entire length of the nave... on a rickety wooden single-file walkway above the apex in the cavernous space between it and the roof.

Similar experience in Salisbury cathedral, Wooden walkway over top of vaulting with abyssal drop the otherside; check. Wooden staircase clinging to inside wall of vast empty tower space; check. Just be grateful you're not one of the poor sods who get to climb up the spire when you get there ...

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

I couldn't watch that at all! I tried, honest, but it was too much.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Another view from Dubai, from the top of the tower. Enjoy [Snigger]

Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :

A cheer-inspiring warning for those that are aging. I used not to be much troubled by vertigo. I now get it quite badly. I find the sort of thing in some of the photographs in the links quite disturbing. I think the reason may be that as the bits inside (I think) ones ears that are responsible for balance age, they become the balance equivalent of needing reading glasses. So you feel subconsciously and irrationally not quite as confident in your balance as you used to.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Another view from Dubai, from the top of the tower. Enjoy

Holy shit. i both am terrified, and want to go there very badly.

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
Do you think the Sagrada Familia in Spain will be finished in my lifetime or not? It fascinates me, but I am not optimistic....

I don't know (or particularly care) when it will be finished. As it is, it is definitely a terrifying building.

Gaudí was a genius.

quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
Grand Canyon Skywalk, anyone? And, yes, it has a glass walkway,

Yeah, approach with realistic expectations. This part of the Canyon is not as deep as the famous stretch and there is nothing to give one a proper sense of scale. So the effect was not as impressive as I had hoped. Still cool, though.

Posted by Macrina (# 8807) on :

Personally I vote for the Sky Tower in Auckland. There is absolutely NOTHING reassuring about being up a very high large round thing perched atop a very tall thin concrete thing which has a small sign merrily declaring it's good up to a magnitude 8 earthquake.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Another view from Dubai, from the top of the tower. Enjoy
Holy shit. i both am terrified, and want to go there very badly.

I felt bad on the London Eye, so I'm not going up the Burj Khalifa, amongst others.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

As pointed out above, a nice sturdy guard rail/ wall seems to make a big difference.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
I felt bad on the London Eye, so I'm not going up the Burj Khalifa, amongst others.

Enoch is right: vertigo seems to get worse with age. I went up the (quite short) RSC Tower at Stratford on Avon shortly after it opened, emerged from the lift and realized this was going to be a lost cause. The wind howled like wolves through the glass slats and I swear the tower even rocked slightly in the wind (though that may well have been my imagination). All I wanted to do was go back down again.

It might well have been the sound effects. It wasn't even a windy day, but when you're up high the wind is more noticeable as there are no other buildings to diffuse it.

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

It's better if it does move.

On which note, how about being at the other end of the building: next to the earthquake dampers at the bottom of Taipei 101 during an earthquake?

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Again, totally cool with this video until the camera pointed up at those cables. At which point eeekeeekeeekeek.

Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :

Traverse City, Michigan is home to The Grand Traverse Commons, an ambitious development project that has transformed and is continuing to transform the old, sprawling Michigan State Hospital campus into a trendy retail/professional/residential "village" within the city. In its day the hospital was considered one of the most progressive mental hospitals in the country, with a beautiful arboretum, a working farm on premises and other features designed to improve the "mental hygiene" of its patients. And today it's one of the more hipster neighborhoods in the city, with a winery, a five-star restaurant, yoga studios, an artisan bakery and much more. But the main building, Building 50 -- now home to the posh restaurant and a boutiquey little mall called The Mercado -- still gives off the creepy vibe of its former life. This isn't helped by the fact that the restaurant and stores are located on the ground floor, which used to be the utility tunnel, or by the fact that, here and there down the cavernous hallways, the developers have placed exhibits featuring photos and hospital equipment from the State Hospital days. My partner, who is normally not a superstitious person, was in the building for about 10 minutes when she suddenly announced, "I need to get out of bere NOW," and fled to the car. I also felt a kind of heaviness and negativity in the building, although it didn't have that dramatic an effect on me. (And I was sad to see my dreams of an outstanding farm-to-table Italian meal go out the window, or out the door, that day.) Since our experience, I've heard rumors that some of the restaurant staff have experienced eerie phenomena there. If you're in the area it's definitely a worthwhile stop, but just know that Building 50 might not be your favorite memory of your visit.

[ 14. January 2015, 19:25: Message edited by: LutheranChik ]

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

If I get up to Traverse I will definitely check that out!

I don't seem to have too much of a fear of heights, but on my last day working at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, I went up into the catwalks to take pictures. I was feeling a little woozy/dizzy, and at one point felt a strong need to get the hell out of there. I mentioned it to my coworker and he said he occasionally gets that feeling up there, too.

In Detroit, we have this fabulous ruin, the Michigan Central Station. I don't find it terrifying per se. It was completed in 1914 and closed in 1986, and has been standing empty ever since, in various conditions. One owner in the early 90s seems to be responsible, in my opinion, for letting it get looted and vandalized. He was in over his head in buying it, and wound up hanging out in it with a shotgun trying to protect it from vandals and thieves. Anyway, it's been owned now for about 20 years by the guy who owns the international Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit with Windsor, Ontario (yes, a guy owns an international bridge - or, his company does; and it makes him quite wealthy). He's been letting the building just sit and rot, though he tightened security in the mid-2000s and has, in recent years, done a major clean-up inside and started, quite randomly, installing windows - 5 or 6, I believe. Look at those Google images in my first link, and you'll see how silly 5 or 6 windows is.

In 1998, 3 photographer friends and I went into the building (while security was still pretty lax), and climbed all the way up to the roof. It's only 18 stories, but what was scary was that in the stairwells, it was total blackness except for the flashlights we'd brought, and many of the steps were either unstable or just gone. Looking down elevator shafts, as the doors had been stripped by looters, was a bit scary, too. There was at least one homeless man living in the building at the time, and you could sometimes spot him or see remnants of where he'd been camped out. He would try to scare people away from the building if he felt they were damaging or looting it in any way. Overall, it was a fun day for us.

There are some pretty creepy photos taken of the building in its current state. But what I find "scary" in the sense of placemaking and architecture is the way it was built. It was located 2-1/2 miles outside of downtown, with the assumption it would be a magnet for basically growing downtown out in that direction. Beaux-Arts and the City Beautiful movement were huge at the time, and in keeping with both, a grand park was designed for the approach to the building. In order to construct the park (known as Roosevelt Park), the city condemned a whole neighborhood full of homes and, with some pestering and haggling, the railway company finally got everyone to sell their homes. They cleared out a viable neighborhood for that huge, vacant, rather ugly "park." The tower of the building, which, architecturally, doesn't match the station itself, was intended to house offices which would be rented to all the businesses the station was supposed to draw to the area. Not only was most of the tower never used, but the top 2 or so stories were never even finished inside. It was really bad city planning from the get-go. People love the building now, and want to see it re-used. I do too. There are a few little businesses - mostly restaurants - and other attractions coming back in to the neighboring area, so it could find some good re-use. But if that couldn't happen, I'd rather see it torn down than rot as an unusable ruin. Even if in its ruined state it has been used in movies, TV shows, advertisements, fashion shoots, and lots of art photography.

So from its design, you could argue it was terrifying in a way - prompting "slum clearing" (i.e., neighborhood-destroying), having an architecturally mismatched tower, and being an excellent example of poor city planning.

Posted by Siegfried (# 29) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Macrina:
Personally I vote for the Sky Tower in Auckland. There is absolutely NOTHING reassuring about being up a very high large round thing perched atop a very tall thin concrete thing which has a small sign merrily declaring it's good up to a magnitude 8 earthquake.

From what I've read (and googled just now), Auckland is not in a high risk area for a quake that big. Tsunamis now...

Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
However... I tried to take a picture of the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge the other day, and very nearly couldn't do it. I had to angle my iPad so I was mostly looking at the picture and not actually at the tower.

The effort makes the picture that much more special. I'm not sure I'd be able to do that either.

Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on :

I am not the least bit unhappy that the developer of this proposed 116-story structure in Chicago had to abandon the project. He only got as far as digging a huge hole in the ground before running out of money.

Chicago is known for great architecture, but there are occasional misfires, such as the truly scary creatures crawling around on top of the Harold Washington Library.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Mamacita:

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
However... I tried to take a picture of the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge the other day, and very nearly couldn't do it. I had to angle my iPad so I was mostly looking at the picture and not actually at the tower.
The effort makes the picture that much more special. I'm not sure I'd be able to do that either.

I was talking about my bridge walk to one of my little students the other day, and described the tower photo shoot. I told her it was "scary, but COOL scary!"

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Mamacita:
I am not the least bit unhappy that the developer of this proposed 116-story structure in Chicago had to abandon the project. He only got as far as digging a huge hole in the ground before running out of money.

I'm with you on that one! Whew!

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I went up the (quite short) RSC Tower at Stratford on Avon shortly after it opened, emerged from the lift and realized this was going to be a lost cause. The wind howled like wolves through the glass slats and I swear the tower even rocked slightly in the wind (though that may well have been my imagination). All I wanted to do was go back down again.

Some years ago I was on holiday in Eger, Hungary with my family. I was the only one prepared to climb the minaret. It's not particularly high, but the stairs (not being designed for tourists) are very dark and narrow, while the open platform at the top is tiny and windy.

It was there that I lost a contact lens ... I did manage to catch it in my hand, but had to descend with no effective vision in one eye. Not nice.

Posted by Amorya (# 2652) on :

quote:
Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
Eirenist, I would go along with Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. We went there some years ago, when I was still mobile. The tower was open, so we decided to go up. There was a lift part way, then steps within the walls. So far so good. Then you came out above the bells - not so good. As I remember, a bit higher within the walls, then you could see the next lot of staircases - jutted out from the walls of the tower. I turned to Darllenwr and apologised as there was no way I could do that. He was very kind, and refused to go on up without me, so we went back to the triforium to have a look at an excellent embroidery exhibition. It was only some time later that he admitted he wasn't very happy about going up those staircase either!

I went ringing there once. Our group went up the lift, but hit floor 10 rather than floor 9. We came out, as you did, above the bells. (rather than in the room below where you ring them from). As the lift doors slid shut behind us, we realised three things. There were no stairs down. We were trapped on a small balcony above the heaviest and highest ring of bells in the world. And one of the bells was slowly beginning to move…

Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :

Lutheranchik:

quote:
My partner, who is normally not a superstitious person, was in the building for about 10 minutes when she suddenly announced, "I need to get out of here NOW," and fled to the car.

I had a very similar experience at Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh (that's right, the one that features in the Da Vinci Code) - but I only lasted about five minutes.

churchgeek:

quote:
If I get up to Traverse I will definitely check that out!

You're kidding... aren't you?

I'm more into the 'run away screaming' aspect of ghost-hunting myself.

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

LutheranChik's post reminded me that back in the early 90s, as part of my training, I visited Friern Hospital. It was already on the road to closure, and if I remember right some of the wards had closed and were already falling into disrepair. The place completely creeped me out - I can only describe it as having a feel about it that made it easy to believe it might have had a long history of horror. I actually remember those weird wall paintings in the photo I linked to. *Shudder*

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
I had a very similar experience at Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh (that's right, the one that features in the Da Vinci Code) - but I only lasted about five minutes.

Now that I do find unusual, it being one of the most awe-inspiring buildings in the land. But I understand the feeling, as my 'need to get out fast' type of building is invariably an enclosed shopping mall.

We once had a boy at school who didn't stay very long - he was terrified of the large, four storey, imposing, dark red building - he would shake with terror as soon as he arrived outside and would refuse to go in. His parents moved him to a much smaller school all on one level, where he settled in quite happily. Whether it was simply the sheer size or whether he'd been told that the building had been hit by a bomb in the war, I don't know....

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
The place completely creeped me out - I can only describe it as having a feel about it that made it easy to believe it might have had a long history of horror. I actually remember those weird wall paintings in the photo I linked to. *Shudder*

That comes through in the photo. There's a nightmarish quality about those drawings - more like disturbed graffiti - and tunnels.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

Yes, I agree. I knew it in its final days as a hospital, although I never went inside. It was one of those buildings that was designed to "dominate" its users.

Having said that, although we decry those old mental hospitals and may be horrified by some of the treatments that went on within, I am sure that most of the folk who worked in them genuinely had a desire to help their patients.

Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
The place completely creeped me out - I can only describe it as having a feel about it that made it easy to believe it might have had a long history of horror. I actually remember those weird wall paintings in the photo I linked to. *Shudder*
That comes through in the photo. There's a nightmarish quality about those drawings - more like disturbed graffiti - and tunnels.

In palatte and design they're very similar to the Voynich manuscript ... [cue creepy X-Files-type music].

Oxford's Malmaison hotel is built inside the old jail and it squeezes the air out of my lungs whenever I go inside. Which is why I no longer go inside. How anyone can bear to actually sleep there is beyond me.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Oh dear yes - a very oppressive place. They've done it up nicely, but there's no getting away from that squat, grim jail look, and the bars on the outside of the windows. Pictures here.

Posted by geroff (# 3882) on :

This building in Paris would terrify me now, but it didn't when I visited in 1990 or thereabouts. The journey up the lift into the underside of the arch reminded me of the underside of Thunderbird 3. Sadly the building is now closed due to falling masonry and offices where no one wants to work.

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
churchgeek:
quote:
If I get up to Traverse I will definitely check that out!
You're kidding... aren't you?

I'm more into the 'run away screaming' aspect of ghost-hunting myself.

Nah, you've gotta see for yourself if it has that effect on you. Who knows, I might run away screaming too. But I'd love to find out, if I were in the area. I don't think I'd make a special trip. But Traverse City does have good wineries (that make delicious cherry wine and other berry wines).

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