Oxford’s New Building: “A Beached Whale”?
In Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, any attempt to introduce shock-of-the-new architecture triggers dogfights between trade and mods. And so it was no surprise that when Zaha Hadid produced her sinuous steel-clad design for the new $17 million library and archive building for the Middle East Centre at St. Antony’s College, it was attacked. “Looks like a beached whale,” fumed one geezer. “A giant ear trumpet,” said another. “No, a crashed airplane” — and so on. More vitriol here.
