The Spaceship

I drove by this sight last weekend in Guilford, Connecticut on the way to have lunch with my sisters. I couldn't believe my eyes. I parked and walked back to look at this building and photograph it. It is a condominium, believe it or not. And it IS known as "the Spaceship." It was designed by the architect Wil Armster and is built from copper, concrete and steel. It is in the shape of a ship, more or less, and this is looking at it from the bow or stern. It must be about 240 feet long. But here is why I was in shock - Guilford was first settled in 1639 and is considered by some to have the third largest collection of historic homes in New England, with important buildings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. So to find this building in this town was, literally, unbelievable! Apparently there was a great deal of opposition at the time of its construction. Local residents felt its modernist form was incompatible with the town’s colonial heritage. An August 2009 article in The New York Times, however, reported that the building has become a widely-recognized and accepted landmark in the decades since. I hate to say that I am still shocked that it was built here.