7. Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool, England 英國利物浦都會大教堂

File photo of Metropolitan Cathedral.

Far from conjuring images of heavenly repose, the church is more akin to a giant concrete tent, hence its local nickname "Paddy’s Wigwam" (Paddy being pejorative for Catholics of Irish descent).

這座教堂一點也不像神靈休息的地方，倒更像是一座巨大的混凝土帳篷，因此當地人給它取了個綽號，“愛爾蘭人的棚屋”（"Paddy’s Wigwam"，Paddy是對愛爾蘭裔天主教徒的戲稱）。

The Cathedral project was ill-starred from the off. Designs by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Adrian Gilbert Scott were rejected for being, in the case of the former, too expensive, and in the case of the latter, not good enough. The task eventually fell to Sir Frederick Gibberd and it is his finished product that stands to this day.

這座教堂建筑一開始就霉運連連。教堂最初由埃德溫?路特恩斯爵士和阿迪安?吉爾伯特?斯科特設計。由于前者的設計太過昂貴，而后者的設計又不夠好，設計方案被否決了。設計任務最終落到了弗列德里克?吉伯特頭上，今天的教堂正是他設計的。

Fact: The cathedral authority sued Gibberd for ￡1.3million (US$2 million) when the aluminum roof started to leak and defects were noted in the mosaic tiles. Strangely they seem to have been happy enough with the building’s actual design.

實情：當教堂的鋁質屋頂開始漏水，鑲嵌地磚也出現了問題時，教堂方面控告吉伯特，要求其賠償130萬英鎊（合200萬美元）。奇怪的是，他們似乎對這棟建筑的設計感到滿意。