Ordinary, everyday objects--that's what most architectural sobriquets refer to. A gherkin, a paperclip, a typewriter, a stapler, mushrooms, milk cartons, cereal boxes, dildos... These kinds of endearing associations create a pop-cultural world parallel to Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's, whose inflated, oversized banal objects are exactly what the "untrained eye" seems to see in many buildings.
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"La macchina per scrivere" (the typewriter), Rome.
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| "La grapadora" (the stapler) by MBM, Barcelona |
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"De paperklip" (the paper clip) by Carel Weeber, Rotterdam.
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| "Las setas" (the mushrooms) by Jürgen Mayer H., Seville. |
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"El tampax" (the tampon), by Toyo Ito, Barcelona
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| "La pedrera" (the stone quarry) by Antoni Gaudí, Barcelona. |
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| La colmena (the beehive), by Taller de Arquitectura, Barcelona |
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| La gasolinera (the gas station), by Viaplana, Piñon, Miralles, Barcelona |
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| "The gherkin" by Foster, London |
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| La râpe à fromage (cheese grater), Roger d'Astous & Jean Paul Pothier, Montreal |
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| La chute à linge (laundry chute) by Moshe Safdie, Montreal (photo courtesy nwaonline.com) |
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One of many "milk cartons" by IKOY, Winnipeg
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