If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#21
|
|||
|
|||
Purchasing Ski Resorts
acey wrote:
[...] I personally think it works quite well - it's nice enough (and practical) when you're in the resort, and looking down on it from the mountains it integrates with the surroundings quite nicely (more so than the twee mock-Nordic chalets further up in the Hameau de Flaine). These mock-Nordic chalets will be further integrated into the surroundings in the same air-strike as the Stalinist towers. |
Ads |
#22
|
|||
|
|||
Purchasing Ski Resorts
In message , funkraum
writes acey wrote: [...] I personally think it works quite well - it's nice enough (and practical) when you're in the resort, and looking down on it from the mountains it integrates with the surroundings quite nicely (more so than the twee mock-Nordic chalets further up in the Hameau de Flaine). These mock-Nordic chalets will be further integrated into the surroundings in the same air-strike as the Stalinist towers. Is there any kind of ski resort you do approve of (other than secret nuclear bunkers) and if so which? -- Sue ];( |
#23
|
|||
|
|||
Purchasing Ski Resorts
Sue wrote:
writes acey wrote: [...] I personally think it works quite well - it's nice enough (and practical) when you're in the resort, and looking down on it from the mountains it integrates with the surroundings quite nicely (more so than the twee mock-Nordic chalets further up in the Hameau de Flaine). These mock-Nordic chalets will be further integrated into the surroundings in the same air-strike as the Stalinist towers. Is there any kind of ski resort you do approve of (other than secret nuclear bunkers) and if so which? Good question. I think the answer is no. I would rate Zermatt as 'OK'. Even it has as supermarket, however. Kitzbühel is very close. The expansion of an architectural leitmotif such as the Alpine roof from the bucolic architecture evolved to meet its function to a much larger scale necessary to house (ever larger) droves of the liberated proletariat is not an easy goal to achieve. Not quite as difficult, as for example, adapting a classical progression of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns through three stories to something like a sky-skraper (impossible of course). My guess is that the architect who specified the buildings such may be seen in Val D'Isere has pondered long on this problem: While gigantic in form by Alpine standards, they have alpine roof-lines and extensive use of rough stone and wooden timbers in their exposed faces. Viewed from the mountains, their rooflines strike the note of the Alpine village in the cognition of the observer and from a point where the scale of the building cannot really be measured by the eye.. From close-by the large quantity of exposed stone and wooden timbers gives the correct impressions to the senses. The block-work and rendering plus large-eaved roof ubiquitous throughout Mitteleuropa is a distant second but still just about acceptable. Courcheval's church-less spire is an example of someone understanding how important an outline is when viewed from further up the mountain. Things to avoid: + Stalinist-Brutalist French skyscrapers. Even mentioning them is enough to make my blood boil. In fact this is an insult to Uncle Joe, who gave us the fabulous Moscow Metro, finest in the world. I think we should call the architecture of Flaine and Les Arcs "French Brutalist" + Genuine Alpine Indian Tee-pees apres-ski disco-bars blaring out authentic Alpine rap music. Although I suppose the disposable income of young persons is so high these days that one must bow to commercial pressure at some point. Groan... (St Moritz + others) + Underground parking-lots which are not underground (Saas-Fee) Logistical arrangements I would either plan or inspect and approve myself. A further test would involve hiring someone from Mongolia or Papua New Guinea and asking them to make a transfer from an Alpine airport to a specified hotel in the resort in question. They must arrive without losing the trail or hauling their own luggage for more than a few seconds. Failure of the resort to meet with approval would result in the withdrawal of the license to operate and in the execution of the district official by hanging from the telecabine wires. This might just focus sufficient attention on getting the job done well. |
#24
|
|||
|
|||
Purchasing Ski Resorts
In message , funkraum
writes Is there any kind of ski resort you do approve of (other than secret nuclear bunkers) and if so which? Good question. I think the answer is no. I would rate Zermatt as 'OK'. Even it has as supermarket, however. Tourists can't eat without supermarkets, and Zermatt's is remarkably hard to find. The expansion of an architectural leitmotif such as the Alpine roof [...] sky-skraper (impossible of course). My guess is that the architect who specified the buildings such may be seen in Val D'Isere has pondered long on this problem: While gigantic in form by Alpine standards, they have alpine roof-lines and extensive use of rough stone and wooden timbers in their exposed faces. Viewed from the mountains, their rooflines strike the note of the Alpine village in the cognition of the observer and from a point where the scale of the building cannot really be measured by the eye.. From close-by the large quantity of exposed stone and wooden timbers gives the correct impressions to the senses. Seen from down the street, the newer buildings in Val d'Isere look as if they'd been designed by Asterix the Gaul - the effect's amusing, and makes Val look at bit different from every other resort. nitpick From close up the stone cladding looks wrong because arranged with the natural layers of the rock at all angles. People building a wall from rough stone always tend to place the stones with their bands or layers horizontal, even if the builders are amateur volunteers and local outcrops are sloping. /nitpick Courcheval's church-less spire is an example of someone understanding how important an outline is when viewed from further up the mountain. That's a point, though if they're bothering with a spire they might as well add a church to it. What of Val Thorens' spire, which is certainly distinctive but looks as if they'd bought it in a cane furniture shop sale? Things to avoid: + Stalinist-Brutalist French skyscrapers. Even mentioning them is enough to make my blood boil. In fact this is an insult to Uncle Joe, who gave us the fabulous Moscow Metro, finest in the world. I think we should call the architecture of Flaine and Les Arcs "French Brutalist" I haven't been to Flaine but from photos it clearly isn't Stalinist (the 1930s "neo-classical" style). The proportions and effect are very post-war, though by the time it was opened in the late 60s they'd already have become a little dated - they go with the A-line rather than the miniskirt. The 1960s Benidorm style with the zigzag balconies is more common (there's a fine specimen half way between Val Village and La Daille) and the utilitarian 1970s slab-block (as seen at Les Menuires) is everywhere. None of these block styles was able to make any concession to being in the Alps rather than Los Angeles or Glasgow, because internationalism was in fashion at the time. The most their owners have been able to do for them is paint them cream and brown instead of brilliant white and swimming-pool blue. When the 1980s brought sloping roofs back into fashion (due to the unexpected discovery that in wet climates flat roofs tend to leak) today's "faux-Savoyard chic" became possible. Naturally architects still had a lot of deep hostility to express, so they invented the chalet with "under-eaves" rooms. This is where the plans show a top storey you could stand up in, but the architect conspires with the builder to steal a metre of its height. They use the materials to build their own projects, and you (the 170cm tourist) soon lose count of the number of times you've hit your head on the ceiling. + Underground parking-lots which are not underground (Saas-Fee) That can be fixed, by putting a roof on, turfing it over and grazing your goats in the summer. Les Menuires has large open car parks, neither pretty nor practical. Logistical arrangements I would either plan or inspect and approve myself. A further test would involve hiring someone from Mongolia or Papua New Guinea and asking them to make a transfer from an Alpine airport to a specified hotel in the resort in question. They must arrive without losing the trail or hauling their own luggage for more than a few seconds. But Zermatt's the antithesis of that - a warren of narrow lanes where you're sure to enjoy getting lost among the cow byres, and you can tow your own luggage or pay someone with a cart. I don't agree that uninjured skiers shouldn't have to wheel their own luggage along - it might save them being collected from the Trockener Steg restaurant by helicopter after a heart attack, like someone we saw. Failure of the resort to meet with approval would result in the withdrawal of the license to operate and in the execution of the district official by hanging from the telecabine wires. This might just focus sufficient attention on getting the job done well. That's the punishment for unsafe parapenting, we need to preserve some differentials. Anyway all your resorts would be the same, and that'd be boring. -- Sue ];( |
#25
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Nick |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Nearest resorts to european airports? | copek | Snowboarding | 4 | March 26th 04 10:47 AM |
Resorts | Aly | General | 0 | December 4th 03 11:15 AM |
Any glacier resorts close to Turin - plus tips for boots for Snowboard touring due to fire!!! | WeatherCam | European Ski Resorts | 9 | November 28th 03 12:37 PM |
New E-paper about mountains transports and ski resorts | Ssimonfr | European Ski Resorts | 0 | November 1st 03 04:26 PM |
Spanish resorts? | Iñigo | European Ski Resorts | 2 | October 9th 03 09:42 PM |