Great Yarmouth Concrete

As usual, I was attracted but the various concrete structures during our recent trip to Gt Yarmouth. The  700ft Wellington Pier was originally built in 1835, the seventh pier to be built in Gt Britain. The council bought the pier in 1900 and the original wooden pier was reconstructed, and a pavilion built Over the year's successive owners were unable to halt the pier’s deterioration until it was eventually taken over by the present owners, Family Amusements Ltd. The pier was closed in 2004 for improvement and extensive restoration works. This included the removal of asbestos cladding and then the refurbishment of the steel and timber substructure and decking, with much of the structure now encased in concrete.

 

London 4. Tate Modern Turbine Hall and Boilerhouse - Contrasts

We spent a considerable time photographing in the Tate both for the architecture and the displays. The colours of the Turbine House, especially with the striped carpet reflected in a large swinging metal ball and orange metal pipes supporting a series of swings, contrasted well with the concrete walls and staircase in the Boilerhouse

 

Tallinn 12. Maarjamäe Memorial and Pirita Front

On Friday, after Kadriorg Park, I headed for Pirita where there are a number of  'attractions' from the Soviet era including two that will have to await another visit - The TV Tower and the Olympic Yacht Centre.
I did visit the Estonian History Museum as I had heard about the old Soviet statues left to rot in the garden. However, the Museum was closed for rennovation and the back cordoned off though I could see that the statues have been tidied up and put on plinths. 

Image from Wikipaedia

 

Nearby is the Maarjamäe Memorial, a large Soviet-era monument consists of an elegant bowed obelisk set amid a large crumbling concrete plaza. The obelisk was erected in 1960 to commemorate the Soviet troops killed in 1918. The remainder of the complex was built in 1975 as a memorial to Red Army soldiers killed fighting the Nazis. It was built partly over a war cemetery housing 2300 German dead, dating from 1941. The cemetery was rededicated in 1998 and is now delineated by sets of triple granite crosses in the style common to German WWII military cemeteries throughout Europe. A grey day to visit this Memorial and the adjacent Pirita Promenade but, just as the light began to fail, the sky cleared to a beautiful sunset over Tallin city(next post).

 

Tallinn 5. Linnahall Details (Concrete Appreciation II)

When you compare Linnahall with London's Royal  Festival Hall built in 1951, it is hard to believe that this complex was built in the 19080s as it has deteriorated so far. Some offices in the administration block are occupied, but mainly it is home to some very impressive graffitti, crumbling brick and concrete and stylish iron work gates, 

Tallinn 4. Linnahall - Concrete Appreciation Supreme (I)

The 22nd Summer Olympic Games were hosted in Moscow in 1980 and, as they had no venue suitable in Moscow, Tallinn was chosen as the water sports centre. The massive, 5,000 seat amphitheater was commissioned by the Soviet Union and showed the world their mastery over concrete-pouring! However,  after the Olympics, Estonia could not find a suitable regular use for the Hall and the poorly finished concrete is crumbling. The concert hall was last used in 2010. The city searched for investors from 2009-2015 and in 2015 Tallinn city council decided to renovate Linnahall; plans are expected to be finalized in 2017 with renovation and construction planned for 2018-2019. So this may be the last time the exterior can be explored, which was one reason I was keen to come to Tallinn at this time. 

Here some wide angle views - some details will follow in a second post.