Talking about towers

click photo to enlarge
Concern has been expressed in the press recently about the number, location and quality of the towers that have recently been erected, and are in the pipeline for construction, in London. It's right that there should be a public debate about such things, for at least two reasons. Firstly towers can materially blight a location. Secondly, towers can materially improve a location. The impact of a tower on a settlement, large or small, is greater than almost any other building. Medieval churchmen knew this and constructed theirs with an eye to god and a greater eye to impressing the populace.

In 2006 I touched on this subject in a blog post entitled, "Vertical accents". I briefly revisited it in 2011 in "View with spires". In a post of 2009, "Navigation by church spire", I commented on the usefulness of the church towers and spires as signposts for the cyclist. And, elsewhere in the blog I have spoken of the beauty and pleasure that these structures offer, and the challenges they offer the photographer. Today's photograph show the top of the particularly fine medieval tower of Holy Trinity, Hull, glimpsed above wind-blown tree tops beneath a threatening sky.In the city of Hull this tower continues to be one of the tallest towers in the city. Church towers no longer enjoy that distinction in London. However, careful planning can minimise the negative impact of new tall buildings on these older structures, and I hope that is one of the outcomes of the current debate.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Tower Top of Holy Trinity, Hull
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 120mm (240mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1250 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

London balcony views

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My current reading includes "21st Century London: The New Architecture" by Kenneth Powell. This interesting book, published in 2011, surveys over 150 notable buildings erected in the first decade of this century and includes a few that were under construction or planned at the time of publication. Two things immediately leap off the page at the reader; firstly the sheer number and quality of new buildings that went up in that short period of time, and secondly, the enormous amount of money that has been spent in London either building, extending or refurbishing major buildings. For example, the Royal Festival Hall refurbishment was costed at £50 million but eventually cost £110 million! The new Wembley Stadium also came in massively over its estimate at £352 million. The relatively minor Roundhouse refurbishment cost £19 million. In fact most of the projects listed in the book cost multiple millions or in excess of one hundred million pounds. The biggest outlay by far is the £16 billion currently being spent on Crossrail, the new rail links that go under the centre of the city. Sums of this magnitude dwarf the spending in other cities across the UK.

Whenever I've visited London over the past twelve years I've enjoyed this view of the centre of London from my son's balcony. And during that time the view has been constantly evolving with new, bigger and more striking buildings taking the place of older structures. Looking over the Thames at the skyline recently I took this evening photograph and noted the number of cranes and the almost completed "Cheese Grater" (left of centre) and the "Walkie Talkie" (near left edge of frame). There is more to come as the pace of change in London in recent years shows no sign of slowing down, unlike elsewhere in the country. One might wish that a significant portion of the largesse showered on our capital could be diverted to the regional cities and towns. But I can't see that happening any day soon.

Out of interest I include a shot taken from the same place later in the day.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 31.2mm (84mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec
ISO:125
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Into the city canyons

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The other day I ventured into the canyons of the city of Peterborough. All large cities have these places, precincts where tall towers, flats and blocks of high offices crowd the streets on every side, blocking out the light, casting almost perpetual shadow, giving a feeling of enclosure and oppression. In Peterborough the canyons are not so great and grand as in, say, London, but they are there nonetheless.

Architects and planners try to ameliorate the gloom and overwhelming domination of these big buildings in a number of ways. Some cities insist on the upper storeys being set back from the main walls, elsewhere plazas and urban spaces are required to let periodic pools of light illuminate the street level. Glass curtain walls, clear or tinted, and mirrored glass seek to bounce the available light around, from building to building, making the most of what is available. And, where the towers are not so tall, trees are planted to soften the imperious rectilinearity of the architecture.

Today's photograph shows a tree in such a setting. Its irregularity and diagonals break up the horizontals and verticals of the residential flats, the offices and a reflected hotel. The mirror wall's reflection makes one tree into two, and shows the sunny face alongside the actual tree's shaded side. In summer its leaves will soften the architecture still further, and, whilst it will add to the ground level shadows, at least it will be at a time of year when the light from above is stronger than it was on my recent visit.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 105mm
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/200
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The Shard

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The Shard looks set to be one of the most interesting buildings to have been erected in London in recent years. Not only will it be the tallest in the capital (and in the UK and Europe) at 1,017 feet (310m), it will also be a mixed use building, something that is not common in the UK. Floors 2-28 will be offices, 31-33 will be restaurants, 34-52 will be a hotel, 53-65 are reserved for residences, and floors 68-72 are to form an observatory. The designer of the tower, Renzo Piano, likened his creation to a shard of glass and the name has stuck. This glittering, angular, tapered shape will be a dramatic addition to the skyline, a building that is designed to change its appearance in different weathers.

There was some opposition to the construction of such a tall building so close to the centre of London, even one located on the south bank of the Thames. However, the last Labour government gave the planning go-ahead, and I am glad that they did. It seems to me that the height of a new building is an important consideration if it is very near a large, significant older building. But, a big new tower should not be rejected on size alone where this consideration does not come into play. The crucial factor is the quality of what is proposed, and the Shard, it seems to me, is a high quality design that will add something to the London skyline rather than detract from what is already there. Yes, its shape is a little "odd", but it is very appealing: to my mind more so than London's other "oddity", the Gherkin.

I've photographically recorded the Shard as it has been under construction over the past two years, and have meant to post a blog entry with several of the shots. However, I probably won't do this as the Shard's Wikipedia page has done it better (bottom of page). Instead I will post photographs of the building as and when I secure one that I like. This shot was taken during a recent early evening walk where, even without lights, the glass of the building glowed against the dark, sunlit cloud.

Incidentally, the Shard has a very good website that not only explains more about what it will become, but also charts the progress of its construction. I particulary recommend the Gallery and the panoramic views.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 12.8mm (60mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f3.2
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO:125
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Canary Wharf thoughts

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The fog that enveloped London early yesterday morning was the precursor to a beautiful, uplifting, sunny day with an unseasonal maximum temperature of 23° Celsius. But, as I walked along the south bank of the river at Rotherhithe, and the towers of Canary Wharf loomed up out of the mist, my mind was filled with darker thoughts. Along with the City of London, these buildings are the country's financial powerhouse - Citicorp, HSBC, Barclays, Lehman Brothers and others have their headquarters at Canary Wharf. Looking at them I couldn't help but see the fog that surrounded the towers, a fog that had swept in and enveloped them, but also was of their own making from their heating plants, as a metaphor for the financial turmoil that surrounds and penetrates most of these institutions.

However, my mind only allowed these thoughts to last for a moment, because the way the sunlight was falling on the buildings, turning them into amorphous masses, casting deep shadows that contrasted with the illuminated particles of water that filled the air, caused the name Hugh Ferris to surface in my consciousness. Among American architectural draughtsmen of the twentieth century Hugh Ferris (1889-1962) stands supreme. His charcoal, pencil and crayon perspectives of imagined and actual skyscrapers created romantic, almost Piranesian views, featuring towering mass, deep shadows, converging verticals, and the multiple step-backs of the early buildings. Ferris clearly saw drama, poetry and a vision of the future in the skyscrapers that were springing up in New York and Chicago.

Had the morning been clear and sunny I'd have looked at Canary Wharf and seen the buildings of organizations that once revelled in their omnipotence and omniscience but now crave state hand-outs. But the fog and the light allowed me to forget the troubles of the world for a while, and see it through the eyes of a visionary draughtsman. For that I was grateful.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm (48mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/2500
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -1.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On