Was this London? Once?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes you have to separate the Architecture from it's patronage and appraise it on its architectural merit. Is this a bit like the issue of whether we can separate music from the philosophy or lifestyle of the composer?

I think that, where there is a "murky" backstory involved in the creation of a cultural artefact, then this should be commonly known and taken into account. We don't have to share the attitudes of the creator/commissioner to love the work, though: I can be astounded by the crystal skulls of the Aztecs without having any wish to make sacrificial offerings of any young people.

[amateur51]

There were some stunning night shots of Shanghai in the most recent Bond film, "Skyfall."

Oh I thought they were CGIs - you live and learn

[vinteuil]

: I can be astounded by the crystal skulls of the Aztecs without having any wish to make sacrificial offerings of any young people.

... particularly as the "crystal skulls of the Aztecs" are of 19th century European manufacture...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_skull

[Serial_Apologist]

Oh I thought they were CGIs - you live and learn

You were clearly shanghaied then, Ams!

I find non-vertical/horizontal and "organic" shapes pretty hard to take in contemporary architecture, much as I can see how CAD combined with modern building techniques renders it practicable, and so, with limitations on scale obviating the sense of human dwarfing induced by edifices designed to brandish the spectator with power and money, was pretty much happy with the airy functionalism of much Modernism, so long as skilfully landscaped and plotted in spatially comfortable relation to existing features and topography etc (eg Roehampton). I actually welcomed a good deal of the Postmodernist witticism the 1980s brought in as lending character in much the way Classical features did for Georgian urban terraces after the plain austerity of those of the late 17th C in the vicinity of the Temple, built immediately after the Great Fire.

[MrGongGong]

Yes you have to separate the Architecture from it's patronage and appraise it on its architectural merit. Is this a bit like the issue of whether we can separate music from the philosophy or lifestyle of the composer?

Oh that's easy (for some in here)
You can if it's Wagner
You can't if it's Nigel Kennedy





(yes I know he isn't the composer of everything he plays !)

[Stillhomewardbound]

I agree that the City was never very scenic but it expanded according to a certain scale. The nearly completed Walkie Talkie almost leans over the river while all these new designs are hopelessly crammed together and vying for attention which is a bit pointless giving that they're each obstructing some other building's sightlines.

To pick up on Robk's musical analogy, the overall effect is a badly tuned orchestra with all the sections playing at their loudest and most grinding all at the same time.

I remember a few years back when I'd be cycling across Tower Bridge to work I would appreciate the sheer novelty of Foster's 'Swiss Re:' building, aka The Gherkin. I could do because it stood alone in the bright, morning sun, but since then the Heron tower has gone up behind while another smaller building has come up in front of, as well one to the east of it. Now already it's lost. So, too is that Tower Bridge view as a five-story building has now risen up and almost reaches all the way up the river.

But, it has to be admitted that grotesquerie has come this way before. Although set low down in the skyline I can still the neo-gothic horror that sits on Mincing Lance, Minster Court, and appearing before it the Tower Bridge Hotel. Two very ugly sisters made for each other.





Now, over to Simon Jenkins writing on the subject of London's lost and imperilled views:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Simon+Jeknins+decries+London's+building+regulations&oq=Simon+Jeknins+decries+London's+building+regulations&aqs=chrome..69i57.13683j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=Simon+Jenkins+decries+London's+building+regulations&start=20

[mercia]

I thought Dubai was?

true

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/338403359470125552/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/338403359470125554/

http://www.pinterest.com/martiniere/modern-architecture/

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... particularly as the "crystal skulls of the Aztecs" are of 19th century European manufacture...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_skull

I'm now even more "astounded"!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I agree that the City was never very scenic

And at least nowadays you can actually see it: no longer "the smoke". By far, the ugliest building in London (if not England, if not the UK) is that for the Houses of Parliament - squat, hideous lump that it is.

[Stillhomewardbound]

Do you mean Portcullis House?

[Mr Pee]

And at least nowadays you can actually see it: no longer "the smoke". By far, the ugliest building in London (if not England, if not the UK) is that for the Houses of Parliament - squat, hideous lump that it is.

Oh no, I can't agree there. The Palace of Westminster is magnificent.

Ugliest building in London? I reckon this hideous hotel must be right up there, plonked as it is right next to Tower Bridge and The Tower of London.



What were they thinking?

[Flosshilde]

How about One HYde Park -



Not just visually ugly, but ugly in its very ethos. Fitting then that it, and its owners & inhabitants (not that there are many of those) should be in financial difficulties so soon -

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/repossessed-525m-one-bedroom-flat-at-luxury-block-one-hyde-park-8807044.html

[Mr Pee]

How about One HYde Park -



Not just visually ugly, but ugly in its very ethos. Fitting then that it, and its owners & inhabitants (not that there are many of those) should be in financial difficulties so soon -

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londo...k-8807044.html

I don't mind the look of One Hyde Park. I think it is quite striking.

And it is amazing that you manage to grind your politicial axe even when discussing architecture......

[gurnemanz]

We often walk over Waterloo Bridge which is always crowded with people enthusiastically taking photos of the skyline both to East and to West. At least you have good visibility and (mostly) clean buildings nowadays. I went to school in London and can remember when all buildings were black with soot and frequently shrouded in smog.

My father spent all his working life in the City and used to do an interesting tour of the City, describing what it was like pre-blitz, pointing to left-over bits that gave an impression of a previous streetscape and filling gaps where buildings had completely disappeared.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I do like the Gherkin, but the rest is a real mess.