Red Education Building

[angliholic]

Red Education Building
Red Instruction Building


Which of the above is more often used?

The Education Building on our campus is a red one made of concrete and steel. If we call a spade a spade, then either one doesn't sound very pleasant to the ears. So, one colleague of ours who teaches Chinese names it "A Bird's Eye View from the Red Chamber." The Chinese phrase means if you climb up to the top floors of the red education building, you can have a bird's eye view from it. And we use "red chamber" because it sounds more classic and elegant than the cold indifferent concrete and steel building.Does the Chinese version makes sense and sounds good to you? Thanks.

[Anglika]

It is rather alien to the English way to have highly romantic names for such practical buildings. The Red Block is a phrase that I can see being used - it is both descriptive and identifies the specific building.

[angliholic]

It is rather alien to the English way to have highly romantic names for such practical buildings. The Red Block is a phrase that I can see being used - it is both descriptive and identifies the specific building.

Thanks, Anglika, for the reply.
I agree that "The Red Block" is both vivid and identifies the specific building but is it elegant enough?
We'd like to find as elegant as possible a term for the red education building.

[Naamplao]

Thanks, Anglika, for the reply.
I agree that "The Red Block" is both vivid and identifies the specific building but is it elegant enough?
We'd like to find as elegant as possible a term for the red education building.

Red Education Building
Red Instruction Building

These terms are hardly elegant...they seem rather clinical and sterile to me. Your colleague seems to have a more poetic mind

From your colleague's description the building has some distinct characteristics. The colour red is not particularly flattering in English terms (reminds us of blood) but it is important in Chinese and Soviet Union terms, I know.

Crimson is a more poetic word for red. Also since the building seems to have a view is it a tower in shape? is it bigger than other buildings?

Perhaps it could be called "The crimson tower"

[angliholic]

Thanks, Naamplao, for your consideration.
You should have some idea of how the Chinese like to find an elegant term for anything because you've been in Thailand for a while. You bet, "Red Education Building" isn't very descriptive. Therefore, we want to name it "A Bird's Eye View from the Red Chamber" and the reasons I have listed in my first post. So, I need your comment about it.

[Naamplao]

Thanks, Naamplao, for your consideration.
You should have some idea of how the Chinese like to find an elegant term for anything because you've been in Thailand for a while. You bet, "Red Education Building" isn't very descriptive. Therefore, we want to name it "A Bird's Eye View from the Red Chamber" and the reasons I have listed in my first post. So, I need your comment about it.

Well if I might comment on your choice of name, first of all, it is a long awkward name in English. Secondly a chamber is a room, not a building.

That is why I asked about the look of the building and suggested crimson as a more more elegant word than plain old red.

[angliholic]

Thanks, Naamplao.
Actually, "A Bird's Eye View from the Red Tower" is not a name but a phrase used to point out the most romantic or beautiful features of the building in a most elegant words.
Note: I replace the chamber with tower based on your advice.

[Naamplao]

Thanks, Naamplao.
Actually, "A Bird's Eye View from the Red Tower" is not a name but a phrase used to point out the most romantic or beautiful features of the building in a most elegant words.
Note: I replace the chamber with tower based on your advice.

Angliholic, You still have not described the building to me. I used the word "tower" as an example of what your building name could be. If the building was only one floor high, then this name would be ridiculous.

I am not a mind reader.

[angliholic]

Sorry, Naamplao.
The education building is five-story high.

[Barb_D]

Another side note:
"The ivory tower" is a deragotory way to refer to where people work who have no good understanding of what is happening in the real world.

For example, you might refer to the people who work in your corporate headquarters as being in an ivory tower and not understanding the frustrations of the people who work in the factory. It is also used to describe people who have always been part of the world of academics - always teaching, researching, etc., but not in the business world.

So the use of "The Crimson Tower" may have an unintended meaning to some people, drawing a contrast to the "Ivory Tower."