I know I’m in the minority, but I like it. I’d almost say I really like it. I hear that people don’t like the inside but I’ve only been in it a few times and didn’t notice.
A variety of outside views here.
That brickwork has its own history. The bricks aren’t all the same shade, and the architect intended for the different colored bricks to be randomly scattered throughout that immense baren plain of bricks.
But evidently one of the bricklayers started making patterns of the darker bricks against a lighter background. When he noticed this, the architect was furious and made him stop. But they didn’t do anything to the patterns already made. You can supposedly still see them, if you go and hunt for them.
I['m not fond of that enormous plain of brick, and I suspect the weather cycle and the plowing and shoveling takes its toll on the bricks. I would have preferred more landscaping, with plants and trees. But then the occasional large events they hold on that area would itself take a toll on any plants.
My uncle told me about a construction project where the bricks were gradually supposed to change from darker to lighter up the side of a large wall. Unfortunately, the color change was caused by baking the bricks for a slightly longer time, which meant the darker ones were also slightly smaller. If they had just mixed the colors at random, the difference never would have been noticeable. By separating the larger bricks from the smaller bricks, it would have created an unacceptable look. I think he said the solution was to cut the bricks down to the size of the smallest ones.
If I remember correctly, this was at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul.