La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
WHEN I WROTE RECENTLY ABOUT the similarity between an ice cream logo (click here) and the poo emoji, I thought of the poo emoji being added to the skyline of Edinburgh, Scotland. Many people are up in arms because the new W Hotel doesn’t conform to the historic skyline of the city — and because it looks like shit, literally. As architecture and design critic Oliver Wainwright wrote in The Guardian:
“You can’t polish a turd, but you can clad it in bronze-coloured steel. Edinburgh’s new W Hotel is proof. Poking its faecal peak above the historic skyline, puncturing the globally cherished panorama of elegant stone steeples and spires, this shimmering pile is evidence that, despite all the Unesco World Heritage site protections, conservation group campaigns and lengthy planning negotiations, shit still happens.”
Although I don’t love the new hotel design, I don’t necessarily feel city skylines should conform to one period in time. At minimum, perhaps they could have chosen a different color.
San Geraldo has stopped eating for the day. The deadline was 9:30 and the cataract surgery isn’t until late afternoon. Mine was the same way. It was the worst part of the entire process. I had a hunger headache by the time I arrived at the hospital. I offered to run out to the bakery this morning so he could gorge himself but he declined.
Dudo threw up last night. Very rare. He then had a couple of episodes of dry heaves before hiding in my shower. He didn’t even come out for his before-bed treats. We were so nervous. He didn’t sleep in any of his usual places, didn’t even respond to our words or caresses. Every time one of us got up we’d check on him, both convinced we would finally find him dead in the morning. Well, 8:00 came around and he came bounding into the bedroom. Phew! He cuddled, he demanded his treats. He ate half. Moose tried to eat the rest, but I took it away. We assume he ate something he shouldn’t have, but we have no clue what. All seems well.
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CUANDO ESCRIBÍ RECIENTEMENTE SOBRE la similitud entre un logotipo de helado (haz clic aquí) y el emoji de caca, pensé en el emoji de caca que se agregaría al horizonte de Edimburgo, Escocia. Mucha gente está en pie de guerra porque el nuevo W Hotel no se ajusta al horizonte histórico de la ciudad y porque parece caca, literalmente. Como escribió el crítico de arquitectura y diseño Oliver Wainwright en The Guardian:
“No se puede pulir un excremento, pero se puede revestir con acero de color bronce. El nuevo W Hotel de Edimburgo es una prueba. Asomando su pico fecal sobre el horizonte histórico, perforando el panorama mundialmente apreciado de elegantes campanarios y torres de piedra, esta pila reluciente es evidencia de que, a pesar de todas las protecciones de sitios del Patrimonio Mundial de la Unesco, las campañas de los grupos conservacionistas y las largas negociaciones de planificación, todavía ocurren cosas.”
Aunque no me encanta el nuevo diseño del hotel, no creo necesariamente que los horizontes de la ciudad deban ajustarse a un período en el tiempo. Como mínimo, tal vez podrían haber elegido un color diferente.
San Geraldo ha dejado de comer por el día. La fecha límite era las 9:30 y la cirugía de cataratas no es hasta la tarde. El mío fue de la misma manera. Fue la peor parte de todo el proceso. Tenía dolor de cabeza por hambre cuando llegué al hospital. Le ofrecí salir corriendo a la panadería esta mañana para que pudiera atiborrarse, pero se negó.
Dudo vomitó anoche. Muy raro. Luego tuvo un par de episodios de arcadas secas antes de esconderse en mi ducha. Ni siquiera salió a buscar sus golosinas antes de acostarse. Estábamos tan nerviosos. No dormía en ninguno de sus lugares habituales, ni siquiera respondía a nuestras palabras o caricias. Cada vez que uno de nosotros se levantaba lo revisábamos, ambos convencidos de que finalmente lo encontraríamos muerto por la mañana. Bueno, llegaron las 8:00 y entró saltando al dormitorio. ¡Uf! Lo abrazó, exigió sus golosinas. Se comió la mitad. Moose intentó comerse el resto, pero se lo quité. Suponemos que comió algo que no debería comer, pero no tenemos ni idea de qué. Todo parece estar bien.
• ¿Es la hora?
• Los chicos están bien.
I actually don’t mind that building……looks like a soft ice-cream with the swirly thing on top. Some people have a difficult time with change.
Poor Dudo……maybe a stubborn fur ball?
Good luck SG!
Jim:
I don’t mind the building either. I don’t love it and feel, given the ribbon of steel, it could have been more expressive or interesting. But I especially don’t agree with the extreme critique. There was no sign of a fur ball in what Dudo brought up. But, whatever caused it, he’s his usual self now. Adorable and playful… and bossy. SG is doing great. Thanks.
I have had that happen, too – our last kittie, Barnabas, had Graves disease and had pills morning and night. At that time there was only one facility several hundred miles away that could operate on it so we did the pill routine. He was getting worse and one night he appeared in great pain. He had a room to himself downstairs so I tucked him in and reluctantly went to bed thinking I might find him not alive in the morning. Morning came and when I opened the door there he was chipper as can be. What a relief! We did find out months after he was gone when cleaning under things that although my husband had “successfully” pilled him there were several pills hidden – the little bugger! We did have 16 years with him and he was a best buddy so that wasn’t bad.
sillygirl:
I can imagine Dudo doing the same with pills. Cats are much smarter than they’ve been given credit for.
Maybe Edinburgh could use a bit of updating…I remember it being very dark, sooty, drab and cold, not to mention windy. Other than that, it was very nice.
Frank:
I’ve never been to Edinburgh. My sister loved it there. She said it was beautiful even though its colors tended toward brown and drab. I’m one for keeping the old, maintaining it, and complementing it with the new. Who’s to say what period in time a city should be locked into?
That poop hotel is TOO funny! Good luck to SG and his cataracts. Glad Dudo’s okay!
Debra:
Someone must have said during the planning stages, “You know we’re going to get a lot of shit about this looking like a poo emoji.” SG is doing great today and so is Dudo. And of course Moose.
Important stuff first: glad Dudo is feeling better. With Tuxedo’s health issues now, when I wake up in the morning and he’s not sleeping on a bedroom chair my mind instantly goes dark until I find hi,
That said, I’m with you on the architecture. I actually like the old and new together to see where we’ve been and where we are now.
But that hotel? Honey. No.
Bob:
That’s the first time in 9 years (he’s 10) we’ve had a scare with Dudo. I do like change and mixing the old with the new. But I don’t think the Poo Hotel works… although I probably wouldn’t go as far as the critic in The Guardian. It does look quite like a lump.
Thanks good the Dudo is alright….and just like Moose to try to swipe extra treats huh?
Now i can always appreciate architecture. But that is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. Looks very depressing too. Now excuse me I must visit the loo….must be the power of suggestion…..
Mistress Borghese:
There’ve been modern additions to cities that I didn’t immediately love. Some I grew to love. Some I grew to like. But, yeah, this one does nothing for me except make me ask ”Why?”
Interesting hotel. Hope SG does well. You will be ready for rest when you get home
David:
SG did great and is doing so much better this morning. I didn’t appreciate how stressed I was until I was driving home. (There’s a story there.)
I think the hotel shape is very interesting, better than trying to duplicate the historical style. I wonder what was on that site before the hotel?
Glad Dudo is better.
Hope SG survives the long fast and finds the results worth the discomfort. My cataract surgeries were always first thing in the morning, so I had to be at the hospital by 5AM. I think the procedure for the multifocal lenses is a little more complicated than the more standard lenses.
Wilma:
SG is doing great this morning. He had the middle procedure (distance and computer). I had mono. I, too, wonder what was on that site. I don’t know Edinburgh although I’ve always wanted to visit.
The whole place looks kind of depressing. Maybe the architect was making a statement. I hope SG’s surgery goes well. That’s kind of a stupid thing to say, isn’t it? How old are the kitties now?
Deedles:
Dale loved Edinburgh and I remember her sharing photos of the city in the ’70s. She said it was truly beautiful although overall brown drab. The surgery went perfectly. SG is doing great today. The cats turned 10 on July 1.
I actually think the hotel is kind of cool, although it looks a little faux, like they put some interesting cladding on an otherwise boring round building. I think I would have thought of soft-serve ice cream before a turd, but who knows. Now that I’ve read this I’ll always see it that way. THANKS! LOL
Sorry about Dudo’s mysterious illness! Who knows what got into him. Maybe it’s a hairball? Are they on hairball prevention meds?
Steve:
I like the idea of a modern addition to the Edinburgh skyline but it’s a shame it’s not something with more vitality. I agree that the cladding appears to be attached to something uninspired.
The cats get good dry food that includes hairball prevention. They just turned 10 and we’ve never had anything like this. Rarely, one or the other will get the heaves and bring up next to nothing. So glad this went quickly. One of our California cats threw up hairballs at least once a day. And of course he always ran for the nearest rug first. He was a giant ball of fur.
From the building’s architects–some renderings of the building from various viewpoints
https://www.jesticowhiles.com/projects/w-hotel-edinburgh/
It isn’t just the top of the hotel (skyline) that looks different. The whole building looks like a giant swirl–a 12 story spiral ribbon of steel and glass, smaller at the base and then enlarging outward before topping off like an ice cream cone or poop pile, depending on your point of view. Is located near John Lewis (store) in St James Quarter. Not necessarily my cup of tea…or scoop of poop…
Happy to hear that Dudo is okay. Scary stuff. Hope SG’s operation goes well. Thinking of him.
Mary:
I had checked out the architects’ site while I wrote the post. I found it interesting that they didn’t include a single image of the building from a distance incorporating the skyline. And their illustrations I think distort the proportions. Strange. SG is doing great and so is Dudo. Thanks!
Best wishes to a fast-as-Dudo recovery for Jerry!
Judy C:
Thanks. Maybe not as fast as Dudo, but SG is doing really well this morning.
Well, the Hotel W can either paint the whole pile silver and call it a Hershey’s Kiss, “Edinburgh-style”, or attached a few metal flies to rotate around the faecal point and call it a day. I’m glad Dudo’s OK after his gastric upset… Moose doesn’t appear to have any such tummy troubles, LOL! Good luck to SG and his cataracts too.
Tundra Bunny:
I love the idea of a giant Hershey’s Kiss. Even better, the flies! Moose has brought up a bit here and there (but rarely) and I have to stop him from licking it up! SG is doing great.
I don’t know if they followed the rules to get the building done but what bothers me is the scale. Does it overwhelm the space ?
Not that crazy about it but will this design hold up years from now. I don’t think so.
So happy that Dudo is better. We worry about them then the next morning they are all happy !
Anon:
I agree with you about this building not holding up over the years. I can’t imagine they didn’t follow the rules. Dudo is great!
I like the building just fine. Has that reviewer ever complained about all the giant penises in the world’s skylines? Asking for a friend.
And, by the way, I like to tell the people who complain about architectural “context” that Notre Dame de Paris should never have been built. The cathedral was completely out of scale with it’s neighborhood, and the modern gothic architectural style clashed strikingly with the well-established and time-honored medieval style of the urban fabric.
Walt the Fourth:
Although I don’t think much of the building myself, I also think the reviewer was way off base. Notre Dame is a good argument. The idea that one period (or five centuries) of design negates anything that comes later is silly to me.
Poop emoji strikes me as a rather idealized depiction of fecal matter. I don’t spend a whole lot of time looking at crap, but since when is it all nice and swirly like the top of a McDonald’s ice cream cone?
I agree city skylines shouldn’t only represent one particular era. I want the whole span of human history. A cave next to a space needle would be great!
Finally, I’m glad Dudo’s OK.
Kirk:
It IS funny that poop has now become poop emoji. I love the idea of a cave next to a space needle.
I hope that the cataract op went well. I had mine both done together a few years ago and didn’t have to stop eating!!
After about a year I had to have one of the eyes lasered as apparently the old” casing “that the new lenses are inserted into invariably go cloudy. Another year on and the 2nd eye was done! (They don’t always tell you about that)
Frances:
SG is doing great today. All went perfectly. I, too, had the problem with the casing clouding up. Both eyes, as well. And, no, I didn’t know about it until the first one clouded up and I went into a panic and raced to Urgent Care thinking I had another detached retina.