Interesting Links for 14-11-2019

[andrewducker]

Tesla opens Gigafactory in Berlin. "Brexit made it too risky to put a Gigafactory in the UK"

(tags:uk europe germany factory manufacturing OhForFucksSake )

Jeremy Corbyn U-turns on Scottish independence as he rules out fresh referendum for five years

(tags:scotland labour OhForFucksSake independence )

White House senior policy adviser is a white nationalist

(tags:racism USA politics )

How Disco Elysium's Skill Tree Teaches You Valuable Life Lessons

(tags:roleplaying games life advice socialisation )

Terminally ill scientist 'transforms himself into world's first full cyborg'

(tags:cyborg )

Corbyn rows back on ruling out indyref2 in first term

(tags:Labour Scotland independence )

The battle over Luna Younger, a 7-year-old trans girl in Texas, explained

(tags:transgender USA LGBT )

Lib Dems vow to act on Gender Recognition Act reforms

(tags:libdem transgender LGBT )

Neutrinos lead to unexpected discovery about eigenvectors and eigenvalues

(tags:mathematics physics )

A brief history of Jury Nullification

(tags:law history USA )

The hidden truth: Polling shows the public are open to free movement

(tags:UK Europe immigration )

UK government loses supreme court fight over bedroom tax

(tags:tax disability welfare UK GoodNews law )

An EU negotiator on why any new agreement between the EU and the UK will take years

(tags:UK Europe trade )

The rise of 'facadism' in London

(tags:architecture london OhForFucksSake )

Scientists find eternal Nile to be more ancient than previously thought

(tags:egypt rivers prehistory )

Comments

[ninetydegrees]

=>The rise of 'facadism' in London

I don't get it. Why can't the architect integrate the facade into the design of the modern building instead of, er, this? (I guess bc nobody was paid to do it). Such wasted opportunities for awesome designs.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, I really wish the planning department would force them to do the right thing!

Listing of Buildings

[nojay]

A given facade might well be a listed feature requiring it to be legally maintained in that condition without serious modification. The building behind the facade needs to meet modern standards and needs and it's rare to impossible to build something like that to match the facade in many cases. Next to the Omni Centre down Leith Walk there's the Glass House hotel which has the original facade of a church facing a building made from glass panels because the hotel builders couldn't get permission to demolish the original facade on the site. If there's one thing Edinburgh is not lacking it's old churches no-one wants to worship in any more but...

Glasgow city centre went through a lot of "facadism" back in the 20th century -- a convenient fire would gut an obsolete building like the Ca d'Oro or similar structure, removing the old cramped 18/19th century internals and allowing the architects to create a new building behind the original facade with proper plumbing, toilets, lighting, lifts, heating etc. It became a running joke in Glasgow, just as one such building was completed and opened to the public another one would mysteriously catch fire. The facades were held up by red-painted girder structures, known as "Red Meccano" and it was hinted the developers could only afford one such set of supports so the fires had to be carefully sequenced to avoid needless duplication.

Re: Listing of Buildings

[channelpenguin]

I remember the "Red Meccano"!

The same "accidental fire" concept is alive and well in Berlin. Though sometimes the whole building goes.

[simont]

Terminally ill scientist 'transforms himself into world's first full cyborg'

... but, inexplicably, neither fights crime nor commits it? I AM DISAPPOINT.

[mountainkiss]

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

[andrewducker]

I mean that's what secret identities are *for*.

Corbyn

[calimac]

That is a genuine flip-flop: where you change your mind and then immediately change it back again.

Re: Corbyn

[andrewducker]

Yeah. No real coherent position there that I can see.