| The first thing you see as you enter the gallery space is a very large
model of the square mile. Covering an area that starts at around the beginning
of Fleet Street on the west all the way to Tower Bridge to the east. This huge model displays projects that are or will be located all over the centre of London, including some new projects in Southwark (south of the Thames - not seen in these pictures) But the focus of attention is of course the conglomerate of high towers gravitating around the gherkin (note that 122 Leadenhall Street by Richard Rogers Partnership is not included in this model) Another view of the model, this time from the southeast The exhibition is located in a new space created under Finsbury Avenue Square. On the square you will find a glass box which is an entrance area connecting the surface of the plaza with the underground gallery. The 21 projects showcased on exhibition are explained with the use of models and panels containing photographs and texts. There is also a central island with large-scale models exclusively for the presentation of what is called 'the city cluster' The panels are coloured red, blue, light green, and dark green. I think the colours serve to organise the projects geographically, but I am not completely sure of this. There are podiums supporting the models and also empty ones. This gives the impression of a cityscape, or a kind of symbolic urban fabric surrounding the iconic projects of the exhibition. Behind the presentation panels and on the ceiling you can notice the concrete and block texture of this underground space. I found this incredible even quite cool; the fact that under all the gloss and shine of Broadgate and the other luxurious City buildings, the Corporation of London accepted this kind of finish for their gallery. A mirror hangs above of the central island. It is a handy device as it provides a bird eye's view of the skyscrapers. y eye either because I like the building or the model itself This is the Lloyds Register of Shipping. Designed by RRP and it certainly looks like a cousin of the original Lloyds building. There is the motif of the elevators constantly sliding up and down the facade, but in contrast to its older relative, this building is extraordinarily transparent. You can see people using the stairs going about their work. It is also possible to see very deep into the floor plates, this transparency helps the building to cohabitate with all its neighbours. The impact of the building's massing on the surrounding context is minimal. As you can see in the model, the site is very crowded and Roger's tower must be at least twice the height of the old stone buildings around it. However from most points of view at street level this building is completely invisible. The millennium bridge: Foster and Partners, Anthony Caro and Arup. It is the first bridge crossing the Thames since Tower Bridge was built in 1894. It is also the only Thames crossing solely for pedestrian use in central London. The bridge is included in this exhibition because it connects The City with the Tate Modern and the borough of Southwark. The bridge is 320 metres long and 4 metres wide. It is thin, very thin, and in the opening day wobbled. This problem is solved now but on a windy and wet day it can be pretty scary, or very exciting. Its lightness makes you feel as if you were floating over the river and it makes you aware of the tidal force of the Thames. Check out the 0lll architecture photo galleryfor more pictures and videos of the bridge. This is 30 Finsbury Square, designed by Eric Parry Architects. This is one of my favourite new office buildings in The City. The pattern designed for the stone facade is dynamic and at the same time it feels very well balanced. There is a subtle tension between stability and movement, both formally and structurally, as the Portland stone facade is actually load bearing but its pillars are not aligned along straight vertical vectors from top to bottom. Behind the stone grid there is a glass skin free from having any major structural elements. The building also creates a credible background for Finsbury Square. When I first saw this model, I didn't recognise the building. I found it plainly ugly, and I was even more surprised to find out that it is another one from Foster and Partners (There are 5 projects by this practice in the exhibition). From my 'aerial' point of view all I could see was a curtain wall box with the last two stories sloping inwards making the volume look like an oversized house. However after kneeling down to see the building from what would be the street level, I recognised it. It is 10 Gresham Street, and it is evident that the sloping facade is a clever device to gain floor space while tying the building horizontally with the surrounding context.<br>The corner towers, cladded in natural limestone present a vertical counterbalance and anchor the glass mass into the site. The model actually avoids references to the surroundings except for two smaller buildings the Wax Chandlers Hall and the Goldsmiths Hall. The architects by deciding to leave a gap between the new structure and the historic buildings achieved a stand alone building in a very dense area of town. 88 Wood Street - Richard Rogers PartnershipThis is a view of the building towards the Barbican. You can see that even on a chunky balsa wood model like this, the articulation of the structure with the rest of the building's components develops an aesthetic that sits comfortably with some of the surrounding post war architecture, with the exception of the two post-modern glass towers located at the nort east of the site. The same model from a different angle.Although there seems to be a repetition of details and structural elements in most of RRP speculative projects (The City, Soho, Paddington) I never get bored by this architecture. I enjoy understanding their buildings as dynamic systems where not only the contents but the container moves or implies a shift or a rotation. This is 2 Puddle Dock a project designed by Alsop Architects. It is a low building, 5 stories high, and occupies a very long site that stretches down to the banks of the river Thames. The most striking aspect of the design is the Red terracotta cladding on the roof. It presents a 5th facade. I imagine that it will be visible from the top floor windows of the Tate. There is a narrow and translucent block. The contrast in colour and material gives the impression of being a different building. This "Lego block" assemblage of buildings is a bold move by Alsop. There is something else that caught my eye, from this perspective the red volume reminds you of la Ville Savoye, with its horizontal strip of windows on a floating horizontal volume, the round pilotis and the roof terrace mainly open to the sky. The last part to describe about this exhibition is The City Cluster. This large scale model contains projects by Foster and Partners, Richard Rogers Partnership, Kohn Pedersen Fox and Grimshaw.<br>Grimshaw's project is the Minerva building, a 217 mts., 50 stories high tower that you can see at the right side of the photograph. It already has planning approval and if built it will hold up to 10.000 people. In contrast to the Gherkin (30 St. Mary Axe), it will contain a top floor restaurant that will be publicly accessible. KPF's Heron Tower is the lowest of the new buildings. It will be only 37 storeys high. You can see the importance of the structure expressed on the facade. Each diagonal bracing spans 3 floors. The architects describe these modules as "villages of activity" and each has its own three storey high atrium. Like with the other towers there will be the usual restaurant with panoramic views on the top floor. While 30 St Mary Axe is enjoying the moment and giving a particular silhouette to the London Skyline, in the near future it will have to share it. 122 Leadenhall Street standing in front of the Lloyds building is designed by the same architects Richard Rogers Partnership. With 220 metres high it will be the tallest building on the Square Mile. A stack of floor plates is held together within a diagrid structure. the services seem to contained between the working floor area and a battery of exposed lifts to the north. The exhibition is open from 21 May - 2 July 2004<br>Finsbury Avenue Square, Broadgate, London EC2<br>Opening times Wed to Mon 11am - 6pm, Late night Thurs until 8pm, Closed Tuesdays. Admission Free.Online at: www.newcityarchitecture.com |
