Was there an inflatable sex-doll?
Just watched this tonight. Very sad episode although credit to the guy he held his hands up to the fact that his over ambition lead to the breakdown of his marriage. I doubt that even when finished he'd want to live in it now though; far from being a happy family home it's a vast monument to the fact he lost sight of the most important thing in life. Even if he had finished it and he and his wife were still together that's a huge place for two people to rattle around in.
The 'Eye' property next door showed what he was capable of - that looked like a tasteful and well-designed home, arguably far better suited to a couple whose kids have moved out to start their lives. It also had wonderful views and I'd be happy to live somewhere like that (although not at the £3m asking price!).
I think the balance generally is good, although the bigger and more expensive projects will inevitably provide the most drama and tension (which is what GD now sadly thrives on). The show used to be all about the buildings, digging into the technology, design and detail far more. Over the years it's become a little too much about the people, their back/sob stories and what happens to them rather than the properties. I don't really care for the people or their marriages or their illnesses etc (sounds harsh but the reality is that that sort of thing is none of my business) but I AM interested in the technological/logistical challenges of building a 'grand design'. SO many GDs have glossed over the actual builds, often going from a bare shell to a finished walk-round in the space of a few minutes. Where is everything that happened inbetween?I also thought that it was a very sad episode. Agree with all that you have said.
Upstream there was a comment regarding GD being all about expensive houses, which I think has generally been the case, but not always. Every now and again a very interesting and challenging and much cheaper design is shown, and that makes for an interesting watch. One of the earliest programs was about a self build coop where they learnt to build houses together as a group, whilst generally holding down jobs. They showed a brief clip recently and everyone that built there, still lives there (maybe 20 years later) as noone wants to move. So cheaper approaches can create great solutions that people really want to live in.
My daughter sent me this link:
https://www.theguardian.com/artandd...reet-norwich-council-houses#comment-134110814
Normally the RIBA Stirling seems to go to some very big and expensive architecture, but this time has gone to something much smaller and relevant to local communities, which hopefully more councils with take on board and push to develop (funding, location problems to be got around).
Well, of course, it's telly. Not many people are as interested in the engineering as you and I may be. They want a quick fix "Ooh, that's nice, wouldn't it be lovely to have a view like that? Oh, I don't like what they've done in the kitchen though" Not many people want 20 minutes of the architect designing the drains layout or the brickies working out which bond to tie in the internal corners.the bigger and more expensive projects will inevitably provide the most drama and tension (which is what GD now sadly thrives on).
The thing is, it used to be more about the engineering. The same happened with Top Gear, it got dumbed down. The moment I knew I'd lost interest in TG was when May was about to explain why a Veyron SuperSport needs the equivalent of a Golf GTIs' worth of extra power to go 10mph faster and they cut to Clarkson in the studio saying, "Boooooooooorriiiiiiiiiing..." There are precious few programmes that cater to those of us who have a deeper interest in certain things. I don't want 'just light entertainment' (eg. Clarkson crashing his banger into May's banger...again...).Well, of course, it's telly. Not many people are as interested in the engineering as you and I may be. They want a quick fix "Ooh, that's nice, wouldn't it be lovely to have a view like that? Oh, I don't like what they've done in the kitchen though" Not many people want 20 minutes of the architect designing the drains layout or the brickies working out which bond to tie in the internal corners.
I'd much rather watch a car show with just Edd China and Fuzz Townshend going into detail about exactly what happens in their respective workshops. Unfortunately, its actually far more expensive to shoot 10 minutes of that than 10 minutes of dicking about and not enough want to watch it. Although I secretly suspect that Edd China might be a bit of a dick.The thing is, it used to be more about the engineering. The same happened with Top Gear, it got dumbed down. The moment I knew I'd lost interest in TG was when May was about to explain why a Veyron SuperSport needs the equivalent of a Golf GTIs' worth of extra power to go 10mph faster and they cut to Clarkson in the studio saying, "Boooooooooorriiiiiiiiiing..." There are precious few programmes that cater to those of us who have a deeper interest in certain things. I don't want 'just light entertainment' (eg. Clarkson crashing his banger into May's banger...again...).
The vast majority of stuff I watch now is on YouTube!
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It's like me and food programmes, when they venture in the factory. Sod that, I get that every day at work. ... I'm sure it made for good TV but I couldn't watch it
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However the audience isn't those who understand the manufacturing (or building) process, it's everyone else.
Because it's called Grand Designs, not "Some bloke builds quite a nice house, could do with being a bit bigger but, you know, money doesn't grow on trees, especially if you want interesting design features" .A lot of people seem to want to build massive buildings just to house a few people and then wonder why they have overspent or cannot finish their warehouse ! In this episode , the 2nd house he built and finished was plenty big enough so why have build the lighthouse with a massive cost just for the driveway bound to end in bankruptcy