Describe a tall building you like or dislike

Speaker : Finn

I’d like to talk about an apartment building that’s only about a ten-minute walk from my university. It’s not a famous landmark or anything, but I’ve always liked it because it has a really clean, modern design.

As you’d expect, it’s mainly used as a residential building. I think there are around twenty or twenty-five floors, and the ground floor has a small convenience store and a café, which makes it pretty convenient for the people who live there.

From the outside, it’s mostly covered in glass and light gray panels, so it has a simple, contemporary look. It isn’t flashy, but it looks well maintained, and there are quite a few trees and benches around the entrance, which make the whole area feel welcoming. At night, the lights from the apartments give the building a warm atmosphere instead of making it feel cold or overly commercial.

The reason I like it is that it represents the kind of place I’d like to live after I graduate. Right now, I’m living in student housing, which is fairly basic, so whenever I walk past that building, I imagine what it would be like to have my own apartment with a nice view of the city. It also seems to have a really good location because it’s close to campus, public transportation, supermarkets, and restaurants, so you could easily get around without needing a car.

Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s an architecturally impressive building, but I think it’s a great example of a comfortable place to live. It’s practical, attractive without being over the top, and every time I pass by it, it reminds me of the kind of lifestyle I’m hoping to have in a few years.

Speaker : Blondie

I’m going to talk about a high-rise apartment building that was completed about two years ago right next to the metro station near my office.

It’s mainly a residential building aimed at young professionals who want an easy commute into the city. The ground floor has a few useful businesses, like a 24-hour convenience store, a dry cleaner, and a chain coffee shop, while the upper floors are filled with studio and one-bedroom apartments.

In terms of appearance, it’s not a building I find attractive at all. It’s basically a huge dark grey concrete tower with rows of identical windows and balconies from top to bottom. Everything about it feels very uniform, and there isn’t much greenery around it to make it feel more welcoming. Because it’s so tall and boxy, it also blocks a lot of sunlight from the older two-storey shops behind it, which makes that part of the street feel darker than it used to.

The main reason I dislike it is that it just feels cold and impersonal. Last year, one of my colleagues was apartment hunting and booked a viewing there, so I went along out of curiosity. Seeing the inside only reinforced my first impression. The corridors were long and narrow, every floor looked exactly the same, and the apartments felt surprisingly cramped considering how expensive they were.

More than anything, I think the building reflects a trend you see in a lot of modern cities. Developers seem more interested in fitting in as many apartments as possible than creating places where people actually enjoy living. Every evening when I leave work, I see streams of residents heading inside, and although I know it’s convenient, it just doesn’t look like a place with much warmth or character.

So overall, while it serves its purpose well, it’s definitely not the kind of building I’d ever choose to live in.