Watercolour and crayon
©2016 Charlene Brown
From the outset, the Scottish Parliament building
and its construction were controversial. Begun in 1999 with completion planned
for 2001, it actually opened in 2004, £400 million over-budget. The design won
numerous awards including the 2005 Stirling Prize, and, according to Wikipedia,
has been described as a tour de force of Arts & Crafts design and quality
‘without parallel.’ It also placed
fourth in a 2008 poll on what UK buildings people would most like to see
demolished.
I think the driver on a tour bus I was on
in 2007 might have been one of the folks who placed this building so high in
the demolition rankings the following year. We drove by so fast that, by the
time he even mentioned what it was, we'd missed most of it. I like the uniqueness
of the look of the place but couldn’t find a Streetview that gave any sort of
idea of its overall appearance, so I’ve settled for this glimpse of the front(?) from Horse Wynd.
