Hacker Remix

A Rippling Townhouse Facade by Alex Chinneck Takes a Seat in a London Square

23 points by surprisetalk 20 hours ago | 16 comments

impossiblefork 18 hours ago

While fun I always feel that grass and trees are basically always nicer than this kind of thing.

It feels like a human imposition on nature, that we decide that we are to have this brick thing here, instead of whatever grew there.

Maybe if it were a tunnel it would be okay.

pimlottc 17 hours ago

It is a tunnel, you can walk through it.

> However ‘A week at the knees’ is technically more sophisticated in every way. It also offers a more immersive experiences for audiences, who can walk directly beneath and behind the sculpture, enjoying it from multiple angles.

https://fadmagazine.com/2025/05/20/a-week-at-the-knees-alex-...

impossiblefork 17 hours ago

Yes, but what I meant by a tunnel is that a tunnel doesn't take away surface space whereas this does.

pimlottc 10 hours ago

I’m not sure what you mean, like an underground tunnel?

impossiblefork 6 hours ago

Yes.

appreciatorBus 17 hours ago

I'm inclined to agree, esp since this is in a park. That said, the article suggests it's part of festival and is just a temporary exhibit, so I don't think any trees were sacrificed for the sake of overly precious architectural fantasies.

Reason077 15 hours ago

This is an urban square in the middle of London, not a nature park. There hasn't been a natural landscape here for thousands of years.

Zardoz89 15 hours ago

You are missing the trees for the forest.

mhandley 14 hours ago

It's only there for a month.

recursive 17 hours ago

How about houses? I live in one. Maybe you do too. Are those an imposition?

If they are, surely they're a bigger one.

impossiblefork 16 hours ago

To some degree, yes. But we also need them. They aren't just decoration or something to satisfy our desire to build.

recursive 16 hours ago

What about an art museum whose purpose is to provide a place to show and view art? What about a concert venue?

aaron695 12 hours ago

[dead]

hn_throwaway_99 9 hours ago

The windows on this were extremely impressive to me. That is, I feel like this would have been way easier if all the windows were just on flat sections, but one set of windows have about their bottom third on the bottom curve, meaning he had to fabricate curved window frames and curved window panes, which seems really difficult to me. He could have easily "cheated" and put those windows just a tad higher so they were fully on the vertical back wall. Making them with that curve just shows a crazy attention to detail and really added to the illusion of the brick sculpture feeling like a flexible rug.

egypturnash 13 hours ago

I wanna play this skateboarding game. :)

aaron695 12 hours ago

[dead]

readthenotes1 18 hours ago

More money than sense.

In the UK is it more money than pense? (a play on pensive)

recursive 17 hours ago

Personally, I think it's OK, and maybe even good, if sometimes humans do things for aesthetic purposes instead of paperclip optimization.

testfrequency 15 hours ago

[flagged]