Topical
1 Like
The Round of 16 voting has now closed.
After a late rally, Stonehenge scrambled a draw with The Colosseum; my deciding vote went to Stonehenge.
The quarter final draw is as follows:
- Taj Mahal
- Versailles
0 voters
- The Pantheon, Rome
- Great Wall of China
0 voters
- St Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow
- Stonehenge
0 voters
- The Great Pyramid of Giza
- Angkor Wat
0 voters
Another serious heavyweight clash at the end, for the second consecutive round.
Voting closes next Friday, at the usual time.
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Big Wall against the Mongols vs. the Pantheon… that’s an interesting match.
One is a military structure, admittedly an exceptionally long one, to (inefficiently) protect a realm against another one. It’s a structure born out of a need for protection, like Vauban’s defensive structures, and hundreds, thousands of other walls and fortresses built over time. It’s the biggest one, yes, but not that big… you can’t even see it from the moon ffs… 
The other one is a unique piece of architecture, entirely dedicated to time, to light, and to the Cosmos. It’s born out of a deeply spiritual need, and invites to meditation and contemplation. The very best brought out by the Roman empire and the antique world* imo.
My vote goes to the latter.
(* Btw, the Acropolis was never mentioned when discussing all the best man-made structures? Shame on us…)
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Oh come on, seriously??? That stack of rock is acing Angkor??? 
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I feel the same about a fucking wall beating one of the greatest ever architectural masterpieces 
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Well Taj Mahal is thrashing Versailles even though there’s fewer frogs around Versaille. 
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Stonehenge is shit. Even when it was complete, it was still just a load of big rocks.
Overrated.
Would you eat at ‘Stonehenge’?
The only really cool thing about Versailles was seeing Napolean’s hat. Otherwise, nothing that amazing, just spending money on big shit and gold.
In the end it’s all big stones, little stones, steel, metal and these days plastic and glass. Nothing special.
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grilling steaks on one of the stones seem like a nice novel touch.
A bit of lobbying for the Pantheon:
_-_BEIC_6363931.jpg/1024px-Paolo_Monti_-_Servizio_fotografico_(Roma%2C_1979)_-_BEIC_6363931.jpg)
Now tell me that this isn’t better than a wall, even a big one! 
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I loved the Pantheon. Best building in Rome. Best man-made structure…I would put Angkor Wat ahead, and thats about to go out to the Pyramids ffs 
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Is this where Mr bean drop from?
From my experience, holes are generally good places to be. 
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So have we reduced the Pantheon to a hole in the roof
Versaille to someones hat
Taj Mahal to a domaine for frogs
Stonehenge to shit big rocks
the great pyramid of Giza to a stack of rocks
and the great wall of china to an exceptionnally long one?
No wonder we can never see eye to eye on football matters.
EDIT: have I left anything out?
Nothing for Basil then again it’s losing badly and looking extremely Evertonian.
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While I was sorting out some of my pics this week-ends, I found the following ones, which I made in the Pantheon a few years ago. It was during that visit when I came to realise what a truly wonderful building it really is:
These pics show the sheer incredible power of the light coming down from the oculus - into that otherwise dark room - and the huge contrasts and richnesses it creates while playing with these forms and their shadows.
6 Likes
The herb was better.
I also strongly felt bias in the matchup of the pyramid vs angkor wat. By using the word GREAT, people already are conditioned to think it is great compared to the angkor wat. I am sure if you changed it to The Pretty Normal Pyramid Of Giza, it would swing alot of votes to Angkor.