Which city?

[Boyler]

I'd like to hear the opinions of the English, Welsh and Scottish on this question. Which city is more eye pleasing, London, Cardiff or Edinburgh?

[helloinsane]

I'd say the Scots will plump for Cardiff.

[Boyler]

Why's that?

[helloinsane]

They're great fans of the Welsh.

[Boyler]

Edinburgh is a nice city, don't know about Cardiff because I've never been there.

[what?]

Cardiff is a terrible place, London has loads culture and impressive individulal buildings, but Edinburgh is definetly the most beautiful of the three, The hilly streets and stone buildings with Aurther's Seat rising up in the city centre its awe inspiring.

[Boyler]

The buildings in Edinburgh seem a little dirty to me. Is that the colour of the local stone used in the buildings or do the buildings need a bit of cleaning?

[GrahamH]

Both. But the dirt is what's makes it don't you think? Very gothic, as Zap once pointed out about Trinity in Dublin before the West Front was attacked...

But the human desire to clean is always itching away in the background - one patch with a pressure washer or laser gun and there's no stopping you

[sinead]

From my understanding i think stone cleaning is prohibited in Edinburgh. Historic Scotland have carried out a significant amount of research demonstrating that this can be more harmful to the stone in the long term. Anyhow buildings always need re-cleaned eventually so its better to leave them dirty and looking their age; this is a more honest approach and i think it adds to the character and charm of the place.

[GrahamH]

Certainly in terraces of townhouses it's just ridiculous to have individual houses cleaned - and it happens everywhere now, people just concerned about their own property and ignoring the collective impact of the terrace of houses.

But laser cleaning in terms of the condition of stone in the long term, appears to be a damage-free process.
LOB posted this interesting link before:

http://www.ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/72/laser/cleaning.html

[what?]

i say let them stain and weather. let them settle into their environment instead of killing these buildings with clinical cleaning. there were recently a group of 2 or 3 buildings on the south end of stephens green cleaned up to the point they looked like the facades had been painted onto cardboard. it really steals buildings of their charisma

[JPD]

there were recently a group of 2 or 3 buildings on the south end of stephens green cleaned up to the point they looked like the facades had been painted onto cardboard.

LOL

[phil]

i say let them stain and weather. let them settle into their environment instead of killing these buildings with clinical cleaning. there were recently a group of 2 or 3 buildings on the south end of stephens green cleaned up to the point they looked like the facades had been painted onto cardboard. it really steals buildings of their charisma

For a second I thought you were talking about the two pink ones (which I think have been 'restored' to such an extent that they now look like reproductions!), but they are on the North of the Green. Are you referring to the restoration on Newman House on the other side?

[GrahamH]

Ah the pinkies - they're a bit much alright, was that really the brick's original colour?!
And why did the CC go and reerect the scaffolding, presumably at great expense, to repaint the windows black?!
What's this trend for black windows - the IAA have a lot to answer for

I thought the Stephen's Green houses looked much better painted an off-white colour, but it only lasted for a few weeks!

[what?]

sorry phil i was upside down. they are the ones on the north side.

[GrahamH]

Bit off topic - here's the houses when they had their shortlived white windows:

[Boyler]

What would be the most eye pleasing buildings in Edinburgh, Cardiff and London?

[Morlan]

What would be the most eye pleasing buildings in Edinburgh, Cardiff and London?

I've been to all these cities and would have to say that Edinburgh is by far the most beautiful. It's also a kick ass place to live in.

[Boyler]

I was looking at a travel book about the UK the other day and when I looked and read about Cardiff, I thought it was nice. I have to say that I really liked the City Hall. But one has to remember that these books often only show the best of cities, regions and countries, so I don't know what Cardiff 'really' looks like.

[CraigD]

I've been in all of the three mentioned cities and I feel that Edinburgh is top dog by a country mile.
However, if York had been in the list, my decision would most certainly have been swayed to vote for this gorgeous and well kept Roman settlement.

[Boyler]

How was Edinburgh able to afford to build such beautiful buildings after the Act of Union of 1701? Did it not decline like Dublin did after the Act of Union of 1800? Or was it an industrial city, which Dublin wasn't at the time?