New Zealand National Library HQ:
This is the sort of building my structural engineer daughter would love to have designed, though whether the people who inhabit it are so keen on it I wouldnât like to guess. At least the inhabitants of pyramids never complain about the access to natural light and ventilation.
The magic of steel framing is now such that, in the UK at least, structural engineers earn more than architects. Pyramids? Pfft. Try building one upside down and see where it gets you, apart from a very big headache.
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âWentâ?
Barking mad from day 1, the lot of them, if you ask me. No, I know youâre not going to ask me and this is my unasked opinion, but seriously, the only crazy worse than naometer* crazy is psychoanalyst crazy.
*Naometer; someone who claims to discover universal laws or truths by the measurement of temples or pyramids from the Greek naos, a sacred place, and metron, to measure.
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When Tennessee had its centennial exhibition in 1897 there were several buildings put up including a pyramid. They tore down all of them but put up a more permanent version of the Parthenon. In retrospect they should have kept the pyramid instead. It would better reflect the fact that the state is run by crackpots.
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That bank is a clear expression of an Exter Pyramid. It keeps the gold safe in the bottom sub-basement.
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Of course, the Giza pyramids had those built-in air shafts. Just the thing get Sekhu a breath of fresh air.
St. Petersburg pier in Florida. It was nearly torn down, but the locals protested.
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One of Freudâs brightest proteges, Khan, degenerated into a violent psychopath. Even people in America were afraid to criticize him for fear Khan would have them assassinated.
A lot of the early psychoanalytic literature seems quite silly until you meet some respectable person who is exactly like one of those bizarre early cases.
Ah, well, here with have to disagree. As I understand it, psychopathy is genetic, which is why it is defined as a condition rather than an illness. Freud, the self-identified expert in psychoanalysis, failed to spot a dangerous psychopath early on, which doesnât say much for his abilities or the reliability of his methodology.
My argument against psychoanalysis, like the argument against naometry, is that it is an hermetic system - it is not testable in any way. Experimental psychology performs experiments testable against real world outcomes and works with neurology (just as chemistry works with physics), but psychoanalysis essentially comes down to what someone says, unsupported by objective evidence. Itâs a religion posing as science.
Sorry, that would give you a tetrahedron, not a pyramid. You could bury half an octahedron though.
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A tetrahedron IS a pyramid. Pyramids donât have to be square-based.
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A tetrahedral pyramid would have tested the ability of Egyptian stonemasons a bit. A regular tetrahedral pyramid more so. Perhaps they just lacked ambition.
No love for Alan Parson Project?
Mark, I forgot to say that this is the finest title to a bOINGbOING post in my memory. I get the giggles every single time I see it. Thanks!
(and no, thatâs not just sucking up so youâll post the Viking Ship fundraiser.)
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