A rose by any other name ...

Seen here from the green oasis of Union Terrace Gardens the Belmont towers majestically over the Denburn valley in a triumph of architecture that is sympathetic to the topography within which it exists. The modest entrance on Belmont Street, familiar to cinema goers, really gives no clue to the scale of this building.

Why the cryptic title of my blip? Well I always struggle with what to call a building ... in 2000, this was reborn as the Belmont Picture House ( Aberdeen's finest cinema IMHO ), before that it was a warehouse (from 1952), before that it was The Belmont Cinema (from 1935) before that it was the New Kinema (from 1921), before that the Coliseum Cinema (from 1910) but it started life way back in 1896, a creation of architects Alexander Ellis & Gordon Wilson, as the Trades Council Hall.

Folk say a rose by any other name is still as sweet, for me whatever badge this building has its one of Aberdeen's finest - and this is it's finest elevation. Everything just works ... and the cheeky wee bartizan turrets are the icing on the cake.

I think it would be a tragedy if this soaring elevation was subsumed by the brutalist concrete sea that developers - and their backers in the City Council - aim to inflict upon the green heart of Aberdeen in spite of the opposition of the majority of citizens.

Those lucky enough to live in or visit Aberdeen, please go out and enjoy your cityscape - in my opinion it truly is one of the finest in the world (and the abz blippers are proving that day in & day out with a multitude of beautiful images) ... but it is under threat each and every day, so love it, learn about it, take pics of it and blip them, tell the world about it and most of all stand up for it.

.. rant over ...