Overwhelmingly granite
As some readers of this blog may know, Aberdeen is known as the Granite City. Most of its buildings are made of granite, and the scale of it can be almost overwhelming at first sight. But the biggest granite building of them all is Marischal College, seen here.
Technically, there are lots of things wrong with this photo: the severe lens distortion, the cars, and so on. But this was the only perspective I could use to show as much of the building as possible. It is in fact the second largest granite building in the world (the biggest is in Spain). It took nearly a hundred years to build, and was completed around the beginning of the 20th century.
Marischal College itself was originally an independent university, but became part of the University of Aberdeen in the mid-19th century. The university has now however largely left the site, and the building itself is now the home of Aberdeen City Council. It is a significant landmark in the city.
Explore posts in the same categories: history, photographyTags: Aberdeen, Marischal College
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May 6, 2012 at 12:55 am
thats a beautiful building! and i think its a pretty good shot. the sky compliments the building very well. sure, not perfect, but it doesnt need to be 🙂
May 7, 2012 at 9:57 am
I am not sure that the color of the sky in this pic complements the building very well at all (difficult to explain but it looks too algid, too artificial)what I do like is the shadow on one side of the building though..
May 7, 2012 at 10:43 am
hmm, each to their own 🙂 i feel the sky gives a dramatic look which suits the image, in my eyes
May 6, 2012 at 1:18 am
Ferdinand, we miss you -you’re in the mega-boring mould now.But still, thank you for the good times.
May 6, 2012 at 10:25 am
Eugene – er, ahem, hmm, thank you, kind of.
May 6, 2012 at 6:15 am
I think for the most part buildings are notoriously difficult to get the best from in a photo. They are designed to be seen in a very controlled way.
That cake icing makes a stark building quite sinister. You could easily see it in a film about the un-dead. And you cannot help but feel that it came from the same drawer as UCG, UCC and QUB.
May 6, 2012 at 4:14 pm
I’ve noticed that the Greats tend to two things. One, they are above or below the normal vision. Two they shoot along an existing line. He has done something like yours from a set of steps shooting along an architrave.
I tend to rob liberally on the notion something may rub off from this fellow http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R14T1LX&nm=Henri%20Cartier-Bresson
I differ with people, for his people are items in a landscape and are no more than 10% of the composition. If I can I’ll put the face into a full quarter of the frame, but that’s me.
May 6, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Takes effort to work granite to that detail!
May 7, 2012 at 3:42 pm
The great James Clark Maxwell of Maxwell’s equations fame worked in this college for a time. When this college became part of Aberdeen U, he did not get a chair in Physics ,and he moved to King’s college London, did productive work there for time. He was invited by the Cambridge U later. His contribution while in Cambridge U was immense, and he established the famous Cavendish Laboratory there.
For a long time Engineering department was housed in this college before it moved to the Aberdeen University’s main campus. This department today, arguably is the best in Britain.
May 8, 2012 at 6:45 am
Mention of buildings in Aberdeen is never complete without reference to the famous and majestic King’s College Chapel of Aberdeen U, and its Crown Tower.