Big shiny needle for Belfast Cathedral
No offence intended to the Anglican community in Belfast.. they may think they’re sticking a “Spire of Hope” through the roof of St Anne’s Cathedral today.. and they’ve been blogging-ish about it here.. but it looks hideous. According to the background information, “from the outset of planning the Cathedral in 1896 there had been many designs for a spire, tower or campanile to complete the building.” But what they’ve got is hardly sympathetic to the original design. *shakes head* Btw £852,000 estimated price tag.. with £100,000 contributed from the Laganside Development funds.. Adds BBC report here and video-ish report with ‘onlooker’ reaction [RealPlayer file]There a telling paragraph in that background information from the chief designer and manager of the architects responsible..
Commenting on the design when it was selected, Colin Conn, chief designer and manager of Box Architects said, “With so much building in that area there is competition to be noticed, but this spire design will certainly signpost the Cathedral and place it head and shoulders above the rest. We are delighted to be involved with such an iconic piece of 21st century architecture on the skyline of Belfast and honoured to be able to add the finishing touch to this magnificent building”.
It’s a signpost alright..
Pete,
[i]No offence intended to the Anglican community in Belfast.. they may think they’re sticking a “Spire of Hope†through the roof of St Anne’s Cathedral today.. and they’ve been blogging-ish about it here.. but it looks hideous.[/i]
Wouldn’t worry about causing them offence, they deserve to be offended for that monstrosity.
Looks to me like they’re either calling God a big prick, or trying to say Anglicans have the biggest pricks.
Still, whatever turns them on.
In honour of the inherent pagan cultural continuity dislplayed by the Needle in the Cathedral – or the Rod of God or Columba the Bod
The second last word
In the land of the Saints and the Scholars licentiousness never was known ,
In the four fertile fields of old Erin never the wild oaths were sown ;
No ‘laying ‘, no ‘screwing’ no ‘scoring ‘ no piece on the side and no ‘crumpet’
In the tongue of the Gael from the past you’ll find ne’er a mention of ‘strumpet’
No harems , no brothels, no ‘kip shops’ did sully the land of the Celt
No wife swapping bed hopping antics , no need for a chastity belt.
Where virtue indeed was triumphant aand the Round Tower alone was erect
Resemblin a great phallic symbol , did the saints and the schlolars suspect?
That the towers that embellished the landscape standing in grandeur and pride
Would open the doors of conjecture for the smut minded students of Freud ?
Thus eschewing the sins of the flesh we fashioned the purest of nations
A land that was emptied of lust , untrameeled by lewd fornications ,
No children were born out of wedlock , no coupling by chance or by proxy ,
In the tongue of the Gael from the past there’s ne’er a translation for Doxy
Nor ‘prostitute’ ‘mistress’ nor call girl , only maidens so chaste and so pure ‘
With result that we rendered redundant the trade and the term of a ‘Whore’
We banished the bawd and the tart , as St patrick did once with the snake ,
And we took to the drink with a vengeance ,concupiscence thus to forsake ;
And as proof of our proudest contention – a boast that shall ever endure !
We’re the only people on the planet of earth that refer to a man as ‘yeh Hoor” !
Hey Pete, Will Crawley gives you a name check on his post about the spire. Sounds like Crawley is the only one out there saying anything positive about it!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2007/04/inspired_or_just_needled.html