Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be amused by how absurdly shite the marble arch mound is

151 replies

Gardentiger · 27/07/2021 23:49

I mean honestly, it's just abysmal

I know it's not funny that 2 million pounds could have been put up much better use, but the sheer crapness of it is making me laugh

To be amused by how absurdly shite the marble arch mound is
OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
RightOnTheEdge · 28/07/2021 19:32

It does have one saving grace: once you're on it you can't see it any more.
🤣🤣🤣

@PickAChew that does look brilliant!

MooseBeTimeForSummer · 30/07/2021 16:39

I proper snorted at this.

mustlovegin · 30/07/2021 17:13

YANBU OP. It's a monstrosity Grin

mustlovegin · 30/07/2021 17:15

I haven't got round to RTFT yet.

Is it permanent or will it. .ahem.., be taken down at some point?

SquirmOfEels · 30/07/2021 17:28

It wouid really improved by a few Teletubbies!

I went past it yesterday. It's not as bad as some of the pix, but it's nothing like the artist's impression either. It's still got builders' fencing round the base, which looks appalling

mustlovegin · 30/07/2021 17:31

It's still got builders' fencing round the base

Maybe it's an artistic 'feature' Grin

mustlovegin · 30/07/2021 17:34

sheds in a muddy field with a drunken, chain smoking Santa and disappointed parents throwing punches at Elves

Grin
Porcupineintherough · 30/07/2021 18:30

Ive been reading more about this. Apparently it's only meant to be there for 6 months. So how the fuck was it ever supposed to resemble the original design? And how the fuck is it ever going to recoupe its costs?

NiceGerbil · 30/07/2021 18:36

Seen a few threads titles on this and finally folded.

I'm in London first I've heard of this!

What is it? Why???!!

2 million quid!

Fuck me.

They could have offered builders in London to offload their muck from digging up decent soil etc around the place from extensions etc.

Maybe when it's got all trees on it? But they've only planted about 3!

mustlovegin · 30/07/2021 18:39

Apparently it's only meant to be there for 6 months

Thank goodness!

2million quid is bonkers though

Fizbosshoes · 30/07/2021 18:48

I cant decide if only being there for 6 months is a good or bad thing....?Confused

I mean it looks crap = thank god it's only temporary
...but 6 months is pretty short if you're expecting plants to mature and flourish....or for it to look anything like the artist impression

And probably not likely to pay for itself if only there for a short time and always looks crap!

NiceGerbil · 30/07/2021 18:48

Well I put it in the so crap it's kind of awesome category!

We're in London and have shown to family. We all pissed ourselves laughing. I'm going to jump on a tube and go and look at it for sure then take the kids shopping 🤣

NiceGerbil · 30/07/2021 18:54

Other temporary things have stayed in the past as they were popular/ had lots of visitors-

Eiffel tower
Millennium dome

I hope that's the case for this amazing work of art!

mustlovegin · 30/07/2021 19:06

A Dutch architecture group did it

Doubt they went to Eton

Apparently they are called MVRDV. They could have chosen British architects and employ locals with much better results?

Crowsaregreat · 30/07/2021 19:16

I love how there's always money for this sort of shit in London. Just imagine what £2m could have done for wildlife charities actually helping wildlife!

NiceGerbil · 30/07/2021 19:20

Probs designers mate of Westminster council top bods

Fizbosshoes · 30/07/2021 19:24

@NiceGerbil

I thought the millennium dome in it's original guise was a flop and only became popular/successful when it was taken over/bought? By 02?

Random789 · 30/07/2021 19:26

I'd never heard of the Marble Arch Mound. I've just googled it and oh my god what a terrible thing. I can't work out which is worse - the original concept or the execution.

I live in a rural place where there are real natural 'mounds' (aka 'hills') that are genuinely beautiful. The flipside of this abysmal project would be to chuck a pile of bricks next to these hills and call it a 'marble arch'.

Honestly it makes me feel sad to think that there are poor nature-starved individuals in London who were capable of thinking that this fake rurality had any value whatsoever.

NiceGerbil · 30/07/2021 19:41

[quote Fizbosshoes]@NiceGerbil

I thought the millennium dome in it's original guise was a flop and only became popular/successful when it was taken over/bought? By 02?[/quote]
The content of the original exhibition was utter shit yes.

I had a friend working there and got a preview a couple weeks before opening. It was so so bad-

Freezing cold
Random things to go in and look at which had no theme or idea of like, flow? Just like a bunch of stuff with no explanation or context and everyone wandering about looking lost confused etc wondering what key thing they were not getting
The show thing was atrocious. Things like the things to lift them in the air getting stuck. Performers confused and going off in the wrong direction etc. Performers did their best and I felt for them but the audience started laughing it was that bad.

NiceGerbil · 30/07/2021 19:42

I meant the dome itself was supposed to be a temporary structure irrespective of what was in it but it's permanent now!

It was built to be temporary so not sure how that works...!

Lincslady53 · 30/07/2021 19:52

@Porcupineintherough

Well the artists impression looks a lot more impressive than what is there, so it may be that the end product is a lot better when the vegetation has a chance to establish.

Worth the money? Possibly not though I think lots of cities would benefit from more green space.

It is right next to one of the largest green spaces in any city. Hyde Park/ Kensington Garden and Green Park, which all merge into one. It is a total waste of £2m. Someone needs to be sacked.
SquirmOfEels · 30/07/2021 20:00

@NiceGerbil

I meant the dome itself was supposed to be a temporary structure irrespective of what was in it but it's permanent now!

It was built to be temporary so not sure how that works...!

I thought the Dome was always meant to be permanent.

And it was the Millennium Eye that was meant to be temporary

AngryWhompingWillow · 30/07/2021 20:17

Agree @Gardentiger It's hideous. And a terrible waste of money. Even the 'expectation' pic looks a bit shit, but how it actually looks is farcical!

NiceGerbil · 30/07/2021 20:50

I remember it at the time the fuss about it being an eyesore, all that money spent on s temporary structure etc

Bizarrely Google is sparce on info, maybe because changed name. Dunno

Anyway I found this in an engineering article'

'February 1997, two types of cladding fabric were tendered, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene, trademarked as Teflon) coated fibreglass and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) coated polyester. Flexible PVC fabric is the material usually seen on tensile structures. Initially it was chosen here, as the Dome was planned as a temporary building with a one year lifespan, and the cost of the PVC alternative was half that of the more rigid PTFE.'

www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=73

It's a fairly heavy duty read!

NiceGerbil · 30/07/2021 20:56

Really weird how little info there is

'The British government at that time perceived the project as a temporary event, a sort of nationwide party, and the designers were under strict instructions not to spend any money on features that would give the building a long-term life. However, the designers questioned the ecological and economic rationality of this decision, so they obtained quotes for high-specification PTFE-coated fabric and made sure longer-lasting galvanizing would be used on the cables. A new Labor government was elected in May 1997, and in due course they backed the Millennium Experience project they had inherited, but also underlined its value as an urban regenerator for the surrounding area and as a longer-term investment in building and communications infrastructure.'