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Disney Concert Hall: Sandblasters to Tarnish Gehry's Shiny DesignIt has been acclaimed as one of the finest buildings in the US, possibly anywhere. Its billowing stainless-steel walls, wrote one critic, are "harmonious and incomparably beautiful, the colours changing depending on where the sun is".
It's a pity the neighbours don't see it that way.
The shiny surface of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, designed by Frank Gehry and opened last year at a cost of $274m (then about £165m), is, it appears, too shiny.
Following complaints from neighbours and an investigation by the city government, the gleaming surface of the hall is to be sandblasted to remove some of its sheen.
"We'd prefer not to have to do it," said Terry Bell, an associate of Gehry. "But we are absolutely dealing with it."
The sandblasting will cost $180,000 and will affect 370 square metres (4,000 square feet) of a total surface area of 19,000 square metres.
Even before the building opened in October 2003, residents and businesses complained of blinding glare. They also claimed that sunlight reflected from the building had caused temperatures in the vicinity to rise to 59C (138F).
"You couldn't even see and then the furniture would get really hot," said Jacqueline Lagrone, 42, who lives in a neighbouring apartment block. "You would have to literally close the drapes and you'd still feel w
more: www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12... (180)
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7/12/2004 | Viewed 6,095 time(s)
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