3 May 2013

Fear not Elizabeth. A series of monoliths is a thing that can not be

| johnboy
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The ABC has a story about Inner North Nimbys bitching over inner city development.

I was particularly struck by this line:

Elizabeth Teather says residents do not want a series of monolithic high rise blocks.

Hmmm.

monolithic
adjective

formed of a single large block of stone.

For Elizabeth’s benefit and with the magic of the internet we have, however, been able to simulate a series of monoliths:

monoliths

Here in the editorial bunker, in Canberra’s Inner North, proudly staffed entirely by Inner Northicans we’re all in favour of more residential development in opposition to creeping gentrification.

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Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd8:07 pm 05 May 13

tuco said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Anything is better than ABC flats.

You got a source on that?

Major apologies, I was giving opinion in that post, not fact.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Anything is better than ABC flats.

You got a source on that?

poetix said :

A falling of monoliths
A crunch of monoliths
A crush of monoliths
An attention of monoliths
A platoon of monoliths
A salute of monoliths
A presentation of monoliths
A nudge of monoliths

Stonehenge?

HiddenDragon11:07 am 05 May 13

A brutopia of monoliths?

It would be wonderful, truly wonderful, if we could have a touch of the grace, style, charm and intelligent liveability which (apparently) exists in some parts of some European cities. Far more likely, we will get the usual Canberra combination of Costa del Pom tackiness and eastern European soviet era grimness and shoddiness – and it will be every bit as expensive (to buy/rent and maintain) as the market can possibly bear.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd8:22 am 05 May 13

Anything is better than ABC flats.

Bring it on.

poetix said :

Just having a wee bit of fun. Monomathic fun.

A spike of monoliths?

Masquara said :

poetix said :

A falling of monoliths
A crunch of monoliths
A crush of monoliths
An attention of monoliths
A platoon of monoliths
A salute of monoliths
A presentation of monoliths
A nudge of monoliths

Um wouldn’t more than one monolith no longer be “mono-” ?

No, I’m pretty sure the individual structure is known as a monolith, as in a single spire. You can still have more than one monolith as long as they’re separate structures

Just having a wee bit of fun. Monomathic fun.

poetix said :

A falling of monoliths
A crunch of monoliths
A crush of monoliths
An attention of monoliths
A platoon of monoliths
A salute of monoliths
A presentation of monoliths
A nudge of monoliths

Um wouldn’t more than one monolith no longer be “mono-” ?

A falling of monoliths
A crunch of monoliths
A crush of monoliths
An attention of monoliths
A platoon of monoliths
A salute of monoliths
A presentation of monoliths
A nudge of monoliths

tuco said :

I am curious about the collective noun. A series of monoliths sounds boring.
So … an approval of monoliths? A rising of monoliths? An erection of monoliths?

A Simon or Garfunkel of monoliths…

I am curious about the collective noun. A series of monoliths sounds boring.
So … an approval of monoliths? A rising of monoliths? An erection of monoliths?

She’s full of it.

This from the Canberra TImes in January:

“There is chilling irony in that it is the ACT government’s own directorates that proposed, 12 months ago, high-rise buildings of 15 storeys that would overlook in the most crudely insensitive manner one of Canberra’s most successful medium-density developments, i.e. the 144 apartments of Argyle Square, 2-4 storeys high, set in carefully landscaped and maintained communal gardens.”

I know of some students who live in these apartments, it may have been successful once, but that was a long time ago. Very dated, and some of the apartments have been taken over by unsavoury elements. Probably the best thing that could happen to them is a bit of oversight.

Having read the ABC’s take on this news story I’m beginning to have some sympathy for the complainers. Correct me if I’m wrong but the plan is to basically build more and more of the Allawah courts/suicide flats type buildings in Braddon/Reid isn’t it? Ainslie Avenue is already a pretty scuzzy place thanks to the buildings like that it’s already got, increasing the government housing in the area with more high-rises just seems like a bad-idea. There’s already a glut of drug-addicts and dealers in the area, I don’t think building more project-housing is going to do much good.

Sounds like a great pick up line:

“Mr Developer, is that a monolithic high rise in your pants, or are you just glad to see me???”

Deref said :

Onya, Elizabeth. We’ve lost too much of our heritage to these fugly blocks of flats. Continue to be Not Intimidated by Men in the Building IndustrY.

Sorry, but this is rubbish. At the core of NIMBYism is an inherent vicious selfishness of “I was here first, f@ck off” and “nothing should ever change in any way that I personally disagree with”. They’re undemocratic, unreasonable and unsustainable. It’s the NIMBY attitude against density increases which pushes developments out at places like Crace, with no transport or community infrastructure, forcing people to drive to work… and we wonder about increasing traffic.

Cloaking this in “heritage” is a scam, because a few old buildings being left standing does not impact the lives of most residents, when compared to long commutes, overpriced housing, massive mortgages, urban sprawl, more expensive utilities (low density is nearly 10 times more than high density because of the huge capital costs), car dependence… I mean, COME ON! Do you really want to live in western Sydney?

If the inner north, especially along Northbourne, was stacked with 10-storey apartment blocks, Crace and Gungahlin wouldn’t exist and tens of thousands of Canberrans wouldn’t have paid $600,000 -$800,000 for houses. Young people sans brats could live in apartments, and demand for the remaining house stock would be much less, lowering prices. Bien, non?!?

But no, we listen to a hysterical shrieking minority whose core position is “everyone else can get stuffed”. So many northern hemisphere cities are high density and they’re lovely places to live. It’s time for Ms Teather to move on from Canberra circa 1964.

BicycleCanberra12:24 pm 04 May 13

As soon as someone mentions the word ‘nimby’ I switch off, as the debate about density is derogatory and name calling at best. Ian Warden loves to use that word yet he knows nothing about planing.

Increased density doesn’t have to mean High rise which is a lazy way to create density. Six – eight storeys should be fine for this site. The energy performance of buildings over ten storeys increases considerably making them no better than stand alone houses. The trade off as developers will tell you is more people will use public transport and active travel. The link between density and public transport is at best (particularly in Aus) a hopeful one. People certainly don’t cycle more, because its about the quality of the infrastructure that encourages more people to cycle.

So lets dump words like ‘Nimby’ and ‘Banana’ and keep the debate to good design and human scale development.

Mind you, the more I think of this term ‘a series of monoliths’, the more I think it would be quite a good title for a book of poetry. Although ‘A Series of Monotremes’ might be better.

And not a single photo of Ayer’s Rock…

i think these grammar nazi stories are some of my favourite reads… don’t despair, hd! 🙂

Woody Mann-Caruso12:45 pm 03 May 13

3. In extended use. Resembling a monolith; massive, immovable; homogeneous, characterless (esp. applied to a building). Also, of an organization, party, government, etc.: large, powerful or monopolistic; intractably indivisible and uniform.

1902 F. Norris Pit (1903) i. 41 The pile of the Board of Trade Building, black, grave, monolithic, crouching on its foundations, like a monstrous sphinx with blind eyes.
1922 D. H. Lawrence England, my England 87 Maurice had a curious monolithic way of sitting in a chair, erect and distant.
1937 Nation (N.Y.) 10 July 32/1 The monolithic corporation talks loudly to the workers.
1945 A. L. Rowse West-Country Stories 26 The Fourth Symphony of Sibelius, the most monolithic of them all.
1971 Nature 7 May 2/2 But would not the merging of the research councils create too monolithic a central sponsor?
1992 A. Taylor Raven on Water (BNC) 99 She worked for the British Council in the monolithic Spring Gardens building between the Mall and Trafalgar Square.

Onya, Elizabeth. We’ve lost too much of our heritage to these fugly blocks of flats. Continue to be Not Intimidated by Men in the Building IndustrY.

A super high rise dead black Arthur C Clarke style monolithic building would look amazing.

Being an Inner North resident, I personally don’t think they should go too high on that side of the city. You can still get a lot of density with limited height and good design. The new acton area is the place for high rise in my opinion, especially with the proposed future lake developments. Just jam it all in there.

Phwoar! That’s a luvverly display of monoliths.

HiddenDragon10:19 am 03 May 13

I believe Ozymandias was an Inner Northican planner/developer (they didn’t bother with the subtle distinctions in those days).

Hmmm.

I can also use a dictionary:

metaphor
(noun)
a figure of speech in which a term is applied to something which is not literally applicable, to suggest a resemblance.

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