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Ar B M Varun,
A compilation of B B C - Architecture notes
CONTAINS
1. British town planning2. Handrails3. John Smeaton4. Norman foster5. Renzo Piano6. St Pauls Cathedral7.
the story of cement
British Town Planning
This official British system for controlling building and use of
land was set up after 1945 to help bring back economic prosperity
to a country widely leveled by the Second World War. Today, it is
more often used as a political football; an excuse to get even withyour neighbors; a way of protecting the environment; a way of
legally despoiling the environment; and anything else you care to
make it do. Put simply, there are likely to be only two occasions
when you will become involved with the town planning system:
when you want to build on land, or when you want to prevent
someone else doing it.
Glossary
Town and Country Planning is a collection of legislation which
allows the state to control the development of land. This can
include anything from house extensions to airports, to changes of
use of your local newsagent to a kabab.
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DETR stands for the Department of the Environment and the
Regions and is the central government body that oversees the
Planning System.
Planning Departments will usually be found within the echoinghalls of local government offices (Councils) up and down the
country. Sometimes they are hidden in places like 'Environment
Directorate', 'Development Control', 'Environmental Services'
and other similar titles. This is the level at which development
plans are produced and that planning applications are considered,
giggled over and sometimes granted planning permission.
The Planning Officer is a troubled soul whose only consolation isthat Inland Revenue Officers and Journalists are hated more.
They will be found working for local councils preparing the plans
and dealing with the applications. Alternatively, they could be
working for private consultancy firms on behalf of developers or
private individuals.
A Planning Committee is a meeting of elected councilors of the
local council who are generally local politicians and make the mostwonderful, impartial, logical, fair and trustworthy decisions for
the greater good of the country. Ahem...
Development Plans come in many forms. The common ones include
the structure plan, which covers county or large city areas, and
the local plan, showing how housing, commercial and industrial
developments will be spread about either in general terms or
specific terms. These are documents about planning for fiveyears into the future, usually published five years late, using
ideas from ten years ago and trying to deal with the problems we
will meet in five years time. However cumbersome they are, they
are very important for deciding the fate of planning applications.
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Planning Applications are the way of obtaining planning permission
to undertake work on land. Most councils will keep a useful guide
to submitting these and you should not be afraid of talking to a
planning officer at your local council for advice.
Planning Permission is the formal record that what you wish to do
is legal. Not having one is a bad idea, especially after building that
dream home in the Cotswolds1. A planning refusal is the opposite,
but is also not good after building that house. They must contain
reasons for refusal so that you know precisely why you have been
turned down. You can appeal against the decision by referring the
matter to the DETR. Any refusal with the phrase 'detrimental to
the amenities of the area' should be referred back to theplanning officer with a request that they clarify this standard
response.
Common Questions
How do I find out what's happening in my area?
It's a common misconception that you have a right to know.Sorry, you don't. However, councils will be censured if they don't
adopt the best practice in at least trying to let the public know
that something is about to happen. So, read the boring bits of
your local paper usually titled 'Public Notices'. It is here that you
will find new development plan preparations published and it often
lists new planning applications received, giving you a set time to go
to the office, see the plans and comment accordingly. Some
councils will send individual letters to neighboring propertieswhereas others are developing websites to advertise applications.
If I go to the planning office, what can I see?
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Once in your local council office, you will be able to talk to a
pleasant receptionist who is obliged to show you at least two
pieces of information: a copy of the planning application form
which has the basic information on it about what its for and who
is making the application, and a copy of the plans and drawings
that accompanied it. Some councils will allow you to see other
information like copy letters. A few really good ones will let you
see the whole working file, warts and all.
How do I make my feelings known about what I've seen?
You can try writing down exactly what you think and why you feel
the development is a bad idea. Don't be surprised if you receive acourteous but bland letter in reply. Be assured your letter is read
but often lack of time for the staff prevents a more personal
response.
If you really want to object to their plans, try talking to your
local councilor, who may sympathize enough to speak on your
behalf at the committee. Many councils now allow time for you to
speak directly to the committee at the time of the meeting andwhen the decision is about to be made. Write to your MP in good
time so that they can respond. Write to the applicant to see if
they will change their plans, especially if a small change to them
will mean a big difference to you.
Anything I can do about the decision?
If you didn't like the decision and want it changed, generally
speaking, the answer is no. There is no right in this country for a
third party to appeal against a decision to grant planning
permission.
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If you think the council made a right mess of dealing with the
paperwork, try writing to the Local Government Ombudsman to
complain. Their address can be obtained from the Council or the
telephone book. It won't change the decision, but an order for
compensation to you if the complaint is upheld may be possible. If
you think the decision was reached unreasonably, a call for a
judicial review to the courts is possible within six weeks of the
decision. Obtain serious legal advice first though, as it can be
expensive. If you think there is a problem with the system, join
the Council for the Protection of Rural England, your local angry
residents association, Friends of the Earth or get elected to the
council.
HandrailsAlmost all of us encounter the handrail everyday - it's virtually
ubiquitous. From a simple piece of pipe mounted on the wall next
to a stair or ramp to a complex wrought iron structure preventing
falls from a balcony - handrails are diverse in their forms. A brief
glance at almost any magazine will find glossy advertisementsshowing a handsome couple with an exotic background separated
by a railing. Every style of architecture can be accented by the
type of railing used on a faade; sometimes they serve no purpose
other than decoration. In most cases they serve the important
function of preventing serious injury or death from falling.
Balustrades, Banisters and Newel Posts
One of the oldest forms of handrail is the balustrade, made from
cut stone or concrete. The continuous upper rail is supported by a
series of upright posts, the balusters. These are most often
shaped like a vase or urn. Castles, manor houses, museums and
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public buildings often have massive balustrades. Today there are
several modern materials that can be used to create a balustrade
without the cost and weight of real stone.
The term 'banister' is often used interchangeably with 'handrail',
although technically this only refers to stairways, and there is
some confusion on the exact meaning of the term. Traditionally
these were elaborately-carved wood grip-rails with a large column
at each end, topped with a decorative piece such as a ball. These
columns are the newel posts. Modern concern for safety and
access for the disabled make these designs impractical in most
new buildings. One of the best displays of banisters can be seenin Professor Henry Higgins's study in the movie My Fair Lady.
Another interesting feature is that many old mansions used the
upper floors to house the servants. Quite often you can see the
intricacy and quality of the handrails decrease in the upper floors
of these homes.
Building Codes
The design of almost every structure built today must meet
certain rules for safety. These include how much weight must be
supported, resistance to high winds and earthquake, and how
quickly a building can be evacuated in an emergency such as fire.
Access to persons with disabilities is also an important
consideration in modern building design. Every building code has
sections dealing with the two types of handrail, guard rails and
grip rails. As the building code requirements become morerestrictive, older structures are usually allowed to only comply
with the codes that existed when they were built: this is known
as a grandfather clause. When the building is renovated or its use
has changed these conditions must be replaced to meet current
codes. Some extremely hazardous conditions may need to be
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upgraded within a certain period of time. Before a building is
turned over to its owner, it must receive a 'Certificate of
Occupancy', where an inspector states that all the building codes
have been met.
Guard Rail
Guard rails, as their name implies, guard people from falling or
entering a dangerous area. Some obvious places where guard rails
are required are the open edge of balconies and stairways. Most
building codes require any drop of more than 30 inches to be
protected by a guard rail. Guard rails are usually required to be acertain height above the floor, such as 42 inches (1.07 metres),
and are designed so that a ball of a certain diameter can not be
passed through the rail, usually four inches (10 cm). The space, if
any, between the bottom member and the floor is often limited so
that items on the floor such as a discarded bottle can not be
accidentally kicked over the edge injuring people below; however
this is sometimes not used in cold climates where it might cause
an excessive accumulation of snow.
Grip-rail
Grip-rails are provided to allow a person to support their weight
in places such as stairs or ramps where tripping could be a
hazard. Nursing homes and hospitals often provide grip-rails along
the walls of every corridor and next to toilets and showers. Grip-
rails are required to be a certain size for easy gripping and to beplaced at a proper height, usually 34 inches (86 cm) above the
floor or line of stair treads. In multi-storey buildings the inside
grip-rails should be continuous so the a person can find their way
out by feel if their vision is impaired by smoke or a power failure.
They must terminate on the floor where there is access to the
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outside so nobody can accidentally find themselves trapped in a
basement. Sometimes a single rail will serve as both grip-rail and
guard-rail on a stair, or a separate grip rail may be mounted to
the guard-rail at a lower height. Buildings that serve small
children - such as infants' schools - often provide a second grip
rail at a lower height.
Styles and Materials
Handrails can be made of almost any building material including
wood, steel, iron, aluminum, brass, glass and any combinations of
these. As stated above the basic design of the building oftendictates the style of handrail used. A Mediterranean-style
building will almost certainly have thin metal railings, while a
modern design may use tempered glass panels topped with a round
tube of brass or stainless steel. The simplest type of handrail is
made from common pipes like those used by plumbers, whereas
others use tubes, either round, square or rectangular in section.
The only difference between round tube and pipe are in the way
they are measured: a 2-inch (5 cm) tube will have an outsidemeasurement of two inches, while a 2" pipe has a nominal inside
measurement of two inches.
One of the most common styles of guard-rail has a top rail
supported by posts, a bottom rail between the posts just above
the floor and a series of pickets running between top and bottom
rail to provide a barrier. Others consist of a series of horizontal
pipes or tubes between the posts. Although quite popular theserails can be used as ladders by small children and impaired adults
- thus defeating their intended purpose. Thick glass may be
mounted into the floor to provide a barrier and are usually topped
with some type of top rail. Panels of glass, metal or wood may be
used in place of the pickets mentioned above. Quite often
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sections of squares, diagonals or circles may be used to provide
an accent to the rail, but in all cases they must be placed close
enough together to meet the building code requirements.
Design Considerations
The first consideration in designing a handrail is of course the
safety requirements to obey the building code. Almost as
important are the ascetic requirements of the particular project
you are building. The now-popular sport of using handrails as
impromptu skateboard parks adds another challenge as how to
discourage this practice without defeating the intended purpose.
John Smeaton - the First Civil EngineerIt is contrary to the usual practice of professional men to give
their opinions upon each other's work unless regularly called upon
in the way of their profession.
- John Smeaton (1724 - 1792)
John Smeaton first described himself as a 'civil engineer' in
1768. In doing so, he identified a new profession that was
distinct from that of the military engineers who, since ancient
times, had undertaken the construction of all public
infrastructures. Thus, at the time, 'civil engineering'
encompassed all non-military engineering. Although in 1847, after
a frenzy of railway construction, mechanical engineering
bifurcated1 from civil engineering as an independent discipline.
An innovative and intelligent man, Smeaton remains one of
engineering's most revered professionals and is commonly
regarded as the father of the civil engineering profession.
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Butcher, Baker, Instrument-maker
The son of a Yorkshire lawyer, John Smeaton was born on 8 June,
1724, at Austhorpe Lodge in the parish of Whitkirk, four miles
east of Leeds, UK. Before his 16th birthday, while still at school,his precocious talent for engineering and use of mechanical tools
possessed him to assemble a turning-lathe. Upon leaving school in
1742, he worked briefly in his father's chambers in Westminster
Hall before persuading his father to allow him to follow some
mechanical profession, young John Smeaton having decided upon a
technical career.
Thus, Smeaton proceeded to become an instrument-maker - firstas an apprentice, until 1750, when he set up business on his own
and set about improving the instruments used for navigation and
astronomy. Between 1750 and 1755 his predilection for
mechanical appliances was evidenced by a number of papers that
were read before the Royal Society, of which he became a Fellow
in 1753, aged only 29.
Engineer
His research into windmills, watermills and other sources of
power resulted, in 1754, in a systematic set of scientific
experiments that made it clear that an overshot waterwheel2 is
more efficient than an undershot wheel3. In 1756, Smeaton made
a tour of the Low Countries where he studied the hydraulics of
canals.
Further, in 1759, Smeaton won the Royal Society's Copley Medal
for his paper An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Natural
Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills and Other Machines
Depending on Circular Motion, which addressed the relationship
between pressure and velocity for objects moving in air.
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Smeaton's research into the hydraulics of Dutch canals stood him
in good stead for his subsequent projects, which included the
construction of both the 21-mile long Calder and Hebble
Navigation, from the Aire and Calder Navigation at Wakefield to
Sowerby Bridge, and the 10-mile long Ripon Canal and River Ure
Navigation, from the centre of Ripon to Swale Nab, where the
rivers Ure and Swale form the Ouse.
However, it is for his work on the Forth and Clyde Canal, which
stretches across central Scotland from Grangemouth on the
River Forth to Bowling on the River Clyde, constructed between
1768 and 1790, that the canal engineer in Smeaton is best
remembered.
John Smeaton's impressive curriculum vitae also includes, among
many others, the following projects:
1762 - 1767 - Coldstream Bridge 1766 - 1771 - Bridge at Perth 1767 - 1768 - Pumps at London Bridge 1774 - 1775 - Steam-pump at the Chasewater Mine 1775 - 1780 - Aberdeen Bridge 1776 - 1873 - Retention basin at Ramsgate Harbour 1777 - 1780 - Hexham Bridge 1788 - 1792 - Ramsgate Harbour jetty
Smeaton's Legacy
Today, having coined the term, Smeaton remains one of civil
engineering's heavyweights - the breadth and depth of his
influence are phenomenal. As the prototype for a flurry of like-
minded 19th Century engineers (eg Henry Palmer, Thomas
Telford, the Brunels) Smeaton, in his career, designed the first
successful Eddystone Lighthouse, he greatly improved on
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Newcomen's steam engine, he designed windmills, watermills,
canals and bridges as well as pumps, ports, mines and jetties.
John Smeaton died on the 28 October, 1792, after he suffered a
stroke while walking in the garden of his family home atAusthorpe. His enduring legacy is more than the engineering
works, some of which remain as monuments to the great man
himself. Not only is he widely regarded as the founder of the civil
engineering profession, but his methods of construction site
management and supervision are still in use today. John Smeaton
clearly understood that managing people correctly was as
important as design and construction.
Stone, wood and iron are wrought and put together by mechanical
methods, but the greatest work is to keep right the animal part
of the machinery.
- John Smeaton
Indeed, it was Smeaton's desire that practicing professional
engineers should dine together - so that they might get to know
one another better and thereby avoid potential hostility thatmight arise in their public dealings - that spawned the formation
of the Society of Civil Engineers in March 1771. The Society met
fortnightly at the King's Head in Holborn, and encouraged
'conversation, argument and social communication of ideas and
knowledge'.
While the Society remains as a social society today (since 1830
under the mantel of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers), itis probably true that the concept of co-operation in competition
between engineers led to the founding in 1818 of the Institution
of Civil Engineers.
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1 It branched away from.2 One operated by water moving the wheel by the force of its
weight.3 One that operates through the action of the flow of water
against blades in the wheel.
Norman Foster - Architect
Few contemporary architects could be described as household
names, but then few architects have had such long and prolific
careers, or have put their name to so many high-profile building
projects, as Norman Foster.
Norman Robert Foster was born in Manchester in June 1935, and
grew up in the working class neighbourhood of Levenshulme. He
was naturally gifted and performed well at school. At the same
time he took an interest in architecture, particularly in the works
of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 - 1959) and the Modernist master
Le Corbusier1. He considered a career in architecture from an
early age, but National Service and a number of rather mundane
day jobs intervened. While working in the contracts departmentof a small Manchester-based firm of architects (John Beardshaw
& Partners), however, his sketching talents were spotted, and he
soon moved into the drawing department.
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Foster did not need much more encouragement than that. At 21
years of age he began his architectural studies at Manchester
University. Lacking in neither the attitude nor the aptitude to
succeed, he won practically every prize and scholarship available.
A number of these enabled him to visit Europe and take in its
architecture, including the works of Jrn Utzon (the Danish-born
architect and designer of the Sydney Opera House) and Le
Corbusier.
Foster's academic successes at Manchester won him a Henry
Fellowship to pursue graduate studies at Yale University, USA.
There he met Richard Rogers and they began a life-long
friendship. After graduating from Yale, Foster travelledthroughout the United States for a year, and returned to England
in 1962.
He began professional practice, forming Team 4 with Richard
Rogers and Wendy and Georgie Cheesman, two sisters who were
also Yale alumni. Richard Rogers' first wife Su was also a member
of the team. Wendy Cheesman later became Foster's first wife2.
Professional Practice
Team 4's output began with a number of small and ecologically
concerned residential projects, but it was the 30,000 sq ft
Reliance Controls factory (Swindon, UK, 1965-66) which made
their name. This was essentially just a large steel shell containing
a vast amount of flexible space. Yet it was a turning-point: the
earliest example of the use of lightweight construction andindustrial components, the so-called 'High Tech Architecture'
which would form the basis of both Foster's and Rogers' work,
and that of a great many of their peers, over the coming decades.
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In 1967 the members of Team 4 went their separate ways.
Richard Rogers went on to collaborate with Renzo Piano on the
Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Norman and Wendy formed Foster
Associates, now known as Foster & Partners. 1968 saw the
beginning of a long period of collaboration with the American
architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, which continued until
Fuller's death in 1983. Foster and Fuller worked together on the
Samuel Beckett Theatre project, and on a number of theoretical
designs aimed at developing environmentally friendly offices and
houses. While these designs remain unrealised, this period of
collaboration continues to inform Foster's architecture to this
day, and provided inspiration for the office tower at 30 St MaryAxe in the City of London, the UK's first-ever ecological
skyscraper.
Breaking New Ground
An important early breakthrough for Foster's own practice was
the Willis Faber & Dumas headquarters in Ipswich, UK. This was a
pioneering piece of social architecture completed in 1974. The
client was an insurance company, originally a family firm, whichwanted to restore a sense of community to the workplace. Foster
responded by creating open-plan office floors long before open-
plan became the norm. In a town not over-endowed with public
facilities, the roof gardens, Olympic-sized swimming pool and
gymnasium greatly enhance the quality of life of the company's
1200 employees. All this is wrapped in a full-height glass facade
which moulds itself to the medieval street plan and contributes
real drama, subtly shifting from opaque, reflective black to a
glowing backlit transparency as the sun sets.
Foster remains proud of the building to this day, not only because
it has won as many awards for energy conservation as it has for
architecture, but also because he sees this as the project where
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all his aspirations came together: the concept of the building in
relation 'to history, to a social dimension, to energy usage, and to
the appropriate usage of technology'3. The building is now Grade
One Listed4.
A Major Talent
Foster was able to bring fresh creativity and innovation to a
building type long thought to have been fully investigated by
other architects. This was proof positive that a major talent had
arrived, and led to further commissions.
Among these was the 50-storey Hong Kong and Shanghai Bankheadquarters (Hong Kong, 1979-86), at the time rumoured to be
the most expensive building ever constructed. The building was
innovative in that whereas a traditional skyscraper would be built
outwards from a central solid core, Foster placed the load-
bearing masts and struts on the exterior of the building. This
allows the central space to serve as a vertical daylit atrium,
providing natural light and considerable drama to each office
floor. The concept was so successful that Foster re-usedelements of it in the designs for the Commerzbank headquarters
in Frankfurt, the earthquake-proof Century Tower in Tokyo, and
the hypothetical Millennium Tower once proposed for the site of
the bombed Baltic Exchange in the City of London.
The City of London
The Millennium Tower remained little more than a pipe-dream -
400-metre towers simply do not get built in the City - yet
Foster's impact on the skyline and cityscape of London is
considerable.
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The Baltic Exchange site was used for the 180-metre Swiss Re
Insurance headquarters at 30 St Mary Axe. This is Foster's
second-tallest building in London after the 200-metre HSBC
tower at Canary Wharf. Foster & Partners have also put their
name to mid-rise office developments at One London Wall, 100
Wood Street, and 50 Finsbury Square. They designed City Hall -
the Mayor of London's new offices - along with a further office
development directly adjacent to Tower Bridge. They co-designed
the London Millennium Bridge with engineer Chris Wise and the
eminent sculptor Sir Anthony Caro, and are currently working on
the Wembley Stadium redevelopment in collaboration with HOK
Sport.The Reichstag, Berlin
Foster's work has by no means been confined to the British Isles.
Perhaps the most prestigious commission completed to date was
the rebuilding of the Reichstag - the German parliament building
in Berlin. This was part conservation project, part new build, and
an inherently emotive and sensitive challenge.
The original building dates from 1884. It had been ravaged by
fire and by war, and remained forlorn and neglected until the
decision was made to relocate the German parliament from Bonn
to Berlin during the 1990s. Foster rose to the challenge in style,
successfully preserving the original exterior, the 19th Century
frescoes and the Soviet-era paintings, while creating an entirely
new interior suitable for housing the parliament of a nation far
into the 21st Century.
True to Foster's ongoing dedication to 'green' architecture, the
finished building is entirely energy self-sufficient, burning only
renewable fuels such as rapeseed oil to provide both heating and
electricity, and storing excess heat deep below ground in summer,
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ready for use in winter. The new parliament is crowned with an
enormous glass dome, which simultaneously makes historical
reference to the building's original 76-metre dome, and acts as
an evocative symbol of democracy. The dome is accessible to the
public, and the German people are welcome to enter and to gaze
out across their city or down from the helical access ramps into
the main chamber, to watch their parliament in session. This is
the embodiment of symbolic transparency, accessibility and
democracy - identical principles to those underlying Foster &
Partners' work at City Hall in London.
The Present Day
Today Foster & Partners are one of the very largest
architectural practices in the world, employing roughly 500
people. They maintain offices in Hong Kong and Berlin, along with
their headquarters on the South Bank of the Thames next to
Battersea Park - the studio itself being a Foster creation. The
firm's output is phenomenal and shows no sign of abating.
As quickly as the buildings roll out, the honours and awards roll in.Foster was knighted in 1990, and in 1993 was awarded the
prestigious Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British
Architects. In 1998 his American Air Museum building at
Duxford, UK, was awarded the Stirling Prize, while in 1999 he
became both a Pritzker Laureate and a Life Peer, assuming the
title of Lord Foster of Thames Bank.
Of course, in a practice with such a prolific turnover of projects,it would be unrealistic to expect one man to design each and
every building the firm creates. Despite his talents, Norman
Foster is no exception, and these days is content to oversee the
work of his team and his senior partners5.
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Foster ceaselessly travels the world, frequently in aircraft
piloted by himself, casting a watchful eye over the numerous
projects which the practice has on the go at any one time. His
influences, his ambition to reduce energy consumption, and his
determination to utilise cutting-edge technology in order to
create the finest buildings possible, continue to inform every
piece of work the practice completes.
1 Pseudonym of Charles Edouard Jeanneret, the Swiss-born
architect and artist (1887 - 1965).2 Reports of this period are frequently confused, and often
incorrectly imply that Su Rogers was the fourth partner. GeorgieCheesman, the only fully-qualified architect at the very beginning,
left after only a couple of months, but the Team 4 name was kept.31999 Pritzker Prize Monograph, Sir Norman Foster.4 Valuable and historic buildings in the UK are often 'listed' by
the Department of National Heritage, with the intention of
ensuring that the architectural and historic interest of the
building is carefully considered before any alterations are made.
Grade 1 is the highest listing, reserved for buildings defined as
being of exceptional interest.5 For example, City Hall and 30 St Mary Axe were ostensibly
designed by senior partner Ken Shuttleworth, and most of the
Great Court at the British Museum by Spencer de Grey.
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Renzo Piano - ArchitectWe build with love.
- Renzo Piano
If built, the London Bridge Tower - a 1016 foot (310m) 'shard of
glass'1 designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano2 and rising
directly above London Bridge station - would be by far the
tallest, and perhaps the most immediately identifiable building in
Europe. Many cities would jump at the chance, but this is London.
Protected views and the 'heritage' lobby are given at least as
much credence as civic regeneration and economic development.
As a result, such a proposal is guaranteed to generate
controversy. Londoners would be justified in asking therefore,
just who is this man who would build Europe's tallest skyscraper
in our city?
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A Life in Architecture
Born in Genoa, Italy in September 1937, the young Renzo
practically grew up on construction sites. The son of a successful
builder, Piano studied architecture at the University of Florenceand at Milan Polytechnic, while simultaneously working in the
family business.
He graduated in 1964 and founded Studio Piano the following year
with the support of his father. Between 1971 and 1978 he worked
in partnership with Richard Rogers and it was during this period
that both Piano and Rogers were catapulted into the international
spotlight, as co-architects of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Atonce shocking, controversial and yet genuinely elegant, Pompidou
was a moment of enlightenment, quite literally redefining many
people's concept of architecture overnight.
A lengthy and illustrious partnership with the engineer Peter Rice
followed, initially as Piano & Rice Associates, and later through
Piano's own practice, the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Today,
the Building Workshop boasts an exemplary portfolio of projectscompleted over more than 20 years and employs around 100
staff, with offices in Genoa, Paris and Berlin.
An Exemplary Portfolio
Pompidou was revolutionary in that all services - pipes, elevators,
ventilation ducts - are banished to the exterior, leaving the
internal spaces as free and as flexible as possible. The result is
an unorthodox and uncompromising exterior aesthetic which,
perhaps not surprisingly, created a flurry of controversy. While
Rogers took this idea to its literal extremes with his famous
Lloyd's Building (City of London, 1986), for Renzo Piano it became
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merely one aspect of the architectural language he was to employ
over the coming years.
The Building Workshop's Menil Collection (Houston, 1986) is an
elegant counterpoint to the high-tech of Pompidou. It is a galleryand study centre, clad in clapboard and utilising a roof of ferro-
concrete 'leaves' which allow the maximum of natural light to
enter while fending off the direct rays of the merciless Texas
sun. The Menil Collection provided a contemplative environment
for the study of artworks, and demonstrated the extent to which
Piano's style had matured in the decade since the completion of
the Centre Pompidou.
A great many high-profile and diverse commissions followed
including the 41-storey Aurora Place in Sydney, a wind tunnel for
Ferrari and AS Bari's San Nicola Stadium. Arguably the Building
Workshop's most ambitious project to date is the Kansai
International Airport terminal, built on an artificial island in
Osaka Bay, Japan. Stretching 1.7 kilometres - quite probably the
longest building ever constructed - and with a vast, sweeping roof
clad in stainless steel panelling, this is a truly beautiful structureand a remarkable feat of engineering. Peter Rice did not live to
see the project completed, but Kansai serves as a wonderful
climax to, and a fitting legacy of, this period of collaboration.
Renzo Piano's creativity continued to reach new heights with the
Tjibaou Cultural Centre on the small South Pacific island of New
Caledonia. The last of Franois Mitterand'sgrands projets(and
therefore the product of a colonial government) this was asensitive commission. Piano responded in style, basing his
structure around lofty, soaring, wooden shells which evoke native
building traditions and integrate almost organically with the
landscape. Rarely, if ever, is architecture so romantic and yet so
subtle.
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From Pompidou to New Caledonia
From Pompidou to New Caledonia, Piano's style is remarkable for
its broad heterogeneity. There are common factors, such as
extensive use of natural lighting, frequently exposed structuralcomponents, and a determination to combine cutting-edge
technology with local traditions and materials. Yet the fact
remains that no two of his buildings look the same. This is
because each single project is approached as exactly that: a
unique challenge. For Piano, creating a building which is right for
its users, for its location and for the local community is just as
important as placating his fee-paying clients.
This is entirely consistent with the man's natural humility and
humanity: there is a warmth which shows through in his buildings.
His ability to create built environments of vast scale and which
cope with enormous numbers of people - stadia, basilicas, airport
terminals - and yet which empower rather than marginalize the
individual is a strength all too rarely found among his peers.
Piano is characteristically understanding about Londoners'scepticism surrounding the London Bridge Tower. After all, our
existing tall buildings are closed, hostile and usually very ugly
office towers, machines for making money out of us and keeping
us at arm's length. Renzo Piano, however, is no ordinary architect,
and the London Bridge Tower would be no ordinary office block.
In fact less than half of the floors will be given over to office
space. The architect talks of public accessibility, sky gardens,
and a peace chapel 260 metres up in the sky, not to mention acornerstone of the ongoing economic and urban regeneration of
Southwark, widely considered to be one of central London's
shabbiest neighbourhoods until very recently. In describing his
plans, Piano's vocabulary speaks volumes: words such as
'democratic', 'dreams' and 'love' abound.
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Conclusions
Now well into his late sixties, Renzo Piano is as busy as ever, and
the talents of the Building Workshop are in constant demand,
with Piano finding it necessary to turn down 'more or less a job aday'3. The decades of outstanding work have been honoured
around the world, with Piano having been awarded the Royal
Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal, the American
Pritzker Prize and the Cavalieri di Gran Croce in his native Italy,
among numerous other prestigious awards.
Renzo Piano is unquestionably regarded as one of the very finest
architects in the world and one of few living architects who couldbe described as a 'Master' without fear of promptly being taken
to task. Long may he continue.
1 Renzo Piano's own words.2 Pronounced 'Rent-zo Pee-ar-no'.3The Guardian, Friday 29 March, 2002
St Paul's Cathedral (from 1666AD), London, UK
The present St Paul's Cathedral is at least the fourth to occupyits site on Ludgate Hill; the first cathedral dedicated to St Paul
was built in 640AD. As the cathedral of the capital city of the
UK, it is considered the spiritual home of the nation, and is where
many major events are celebrated.
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Sir Christopher Wren had been approached to draw up plans to
refurbish St Paul's Cathedral in 1663. The cathedral was in a very
sorry state after years of Puritan neglect - Cromwell's troops
had stabled their horses there, and it had become a place for
'after-dark entertainment'. His advice - to demolish it and start
again - was not considered to be acceptable. Other plans he came
up with were also dismissed until one week before the Great Fire
of London when one was finally approved. A week later the only
option was to demolish the remains of the colossal Norman
Cathedral and rebuild and so Wren had to go back to the drawing
board. His ideas meant a total change of architectural style.
Planning St Paul's
Wren came up with a number of plans before one was finally
approved (again). The rejected designs included an equilateral
Greek Cross ground plan and a plan which he built as a model at a
cost of three times his annual architect's fee, reducing him to
tears. In 1675 he finally gained the royal warrant to start
building, which gave him leeway to 'make some variations rather
ornamental than essential'. He used this leeway to make somechanges which would not have been approved, but since it had
taken over a decade to finally gain permission to start after being
first approached, who can blame him? He shortened the nave and
changed the planned steeple to the now famous dome - something
that wasn't considered appropriate for English cathedrals.
The old walls were demolished with gunpowder and battering
rams, and the first stone of the new building was laid in thesummer of 1675. The final stone was not laid until 35 years later,
by Wren's son when he placed the highest stone of the lantern
upon the cupola of the cathedral in the presence of his father to
mark its completion.
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Normally structures such as St Paul's would be built section by
section from the east, opening each completed area as they went.
Wren was concerned that rising costs would cause the project to
be aborted, or that he would be pressured to scale down his
designs so he built the entire building from the ground up, rather
like a child building a Lego house. This also allowed him to keep his
plans to build a dome secret until it was too late. Due to the way
it was built, none of the building could be used before 1697, and
he didn't get away with it entirely; half of his fees were held
back so that on completion he had to petition the monarch for
payment.
Numbers
The building costs were met by a levy on coal which also financed
the rebuilding of other public edifices. St Paul's had nearly half
of all money raised, 750,000, although as the cathedral wasn't
complete until 1710 the cost was spread over half a century.
The Cathedral is 515 feet long including the portico but not the
steps. The interior is 479 feet long. The transepts1
from door todoor are 250 feet. The nave and aisles are only 102 feet. Height
from the pavement to the top of the cross is 365 feet. The inner
dome is 225 feet high with a diameter of 102 feet. The western
towers are 221 feet in height. The golden ball on the top of the
dome is six feet in diameter (with room inside for ten people).
The statue of Queen Anne which stands outside the west front
shows which monarch ruled England at the time the cathedral wasfinally finished in 1710. This statue is not the original that was
erected in 1712 and made by Francis Bird, but an exact (though
some say inferior) replica made by Richard Belt in 1886 as the
original had become dilapidated. The ladies around the base of
the statue represent England, France, Ireland and North
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America, as at that time Anne considered herself to be queen of
them all.
The original Carrara marble statue of Anne and four ladies-in-
waiting was given to Augustus Hare, a writer of travel guides toLondon and Rome who had paid for Belt's version. He moved it to
his home in Holmhurst St Mary, Sussex.
During the Blitz in September 1940 raiders dropped a landmine
which lodged beneath the south-west tower of St Paul's. As
Winston Churchill had declared that 'the cathedral must be
preserved at all costs'every effort possible was made to save it.
It took two demolition engineers three days to dig out (a featwhich won them the George Cross) and when it was detonated on
Hackney Marshes it made a crater 100 feet across. In December
the same year the dome caught fire during a raid and the
Cathedral fire watch quickly dealt with it. Another incendiary
burnt through the roof and fell inside where it could be
smothered safely.
Services
The Cathedral is still a 'working church'. A full list of daily
services and special events is listed on the official website. It is
possible to get married, or have your children baptised there, but
only if you are the holder of a very short list of British Orders
and decorations.
How to get there
St Paul's is in the City of London and is near to the Thames. It is
on a roughly triangular site, with Ludgate Hill at the west (top) of
the triangle, Cannon Street to the south and the junction of
Cheapside and Newgate Street to the north. The closest bridge
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across the Thames is the Millennium Bridge, directly south of the
cathedral.
The nearest London Underground station is St Paul's on the
Central Line, a five-minute walk from the Cathedral. Other localstations include Mansion House, Cannon Street and Blackfriars
stations which are on the District and Circle Line and are slightly
further away. There are six bus routes running past the
Cathedral with convenient stops, and another two in nearby
Newgate Street, so it is easy to get to from many places.
Free Visiting and Charges
Although services are free, visiting the Cathedral as a tourist
does incur a charge (see their website for current charges). It is
open from Monday to Saturday from 8.30am until the last
admission at 4pm. Members of the public are allowed in at no
charge for quiet reflection and prayer outside of services, but
movements within the Cathedral are restricted. It may close to
visitors at short notice for special events.
Attractions
The Dome
A marvel of engineering, the walls and eight pillars support a
dome weighing 64,000 tons. It is made of wood with a thin
covering of lead. Because it is so large and heavy, its weight would
have pushed out the walls that supported it, so Wren came up
with the idea of putting a giant chain into the material to preventthe walls from collapsing. He also created three domes, to lessen
the weight. This meant that he could make the outer dome the
size he wanted, without adding to the weight.
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The inner dome is built of wood, to keep the weight down as much
as possible. The middle 'dome' is a supportive cone-shaped
skeleton made of wooden rafters - it wasn't solid to further save
weight. The outer dome is a protective skin of lead.
Galleries
Whispering Gallery - the most famous of the galleries and the
only one on the inside, it has been described as one of the most
amazing acoustical oddities in the world, although the official St
Paul's website is slightly less enthusiastic and calls it a 'charming
quirk.' Whispers heard on one side of the gallery can be heard on
the other side. Some people have trouble making it work, so hereis some advice from a visitor.
It only works if you whisper, not if you talk. Lots of people try
speaking normally and are disappointed. Even then, you have to
talk in a 'loud whisper'. The guys who work in the place (deacons?)
often give demonstrations.
You have to put your mouth less than six inches from the wall, andthe listener should have their ear within six inches of the wall.
The best place to speak is in one of the doorways, because you
can put your mouth right at the wall without actually touching it.
Stone Gallery - 378 steps up to the top, this gallery is on the
outside of the dome.
Golden Gallery - the highest point of the outer dome and the
smallest gallery, visitors have to walk up 530 steps in total to
reach this gallery. The panoramic views from the top are well
worth the climb.
The Crypt
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The crypt is one of the largest in Europe, so large that it is
possible to hold corporate dinners and receptions there2. Some of
the most famous people in Britain have been buried in St Paul's.
They include:
John Donne, a Dean of St Paul's, was buried in the crypt in1631. His is the only monument from 'old St Paul's' to
survive the Great Fire of London. Scorch marks can still be
seen on the urn on which his statue is standing.
Admiral Lord Nelson. Duke Of Wellington. His 12-ton funeral carriage was given
model horses and was erected at the west end of the Crypt
in 1855. It stayed there until the early 1980s when it wasremoved to the family seat at Stratfield Saye.
Sir Christopher Wren is also buried here, in a very plaingrave. On the wall at the head of his tomb is a plain
inscription, in Latin, arranged by his son. It translates as If
you seek his monument, look around you. Wren himself had
not wanted a memorial at all.
Fascinating Facts
Wren once said I build for eternity. As St Paul's preparesfor its 300th anniversary his words have not been proved an
empty boast.
The usual view of St Paul's is from Ludgate Hill, approachingfrom the west, but the best view is from the Millennium
Bridge. This is the view the Wren had each morning as he
was ferried across from his house over the river. A strange statue by Edward Bainbridge Copal, erected in
1973, is permanently falling to the ground outside among the
bushes along the cathedral's south side. The statue is of St
Thomas Becket, the 40th Archbishop of Canterbury
murdered on Henry II's orders.
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The nearby London Underground station St Paul's wasoriginally to be named Newgate Street but opened as Post
Office in July 1900. It was changed to St Paul's in February
1937.
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married in StPaul's in 1981. This was unusual because Westminster Abbey
was the more traditional venue for royal weddings.
The major cleaning project of St Paul's began in 2003. Thewest front of the cathedral was totally covered by
scaffolding, hanging from which was one of the largest
prints ever seen in London - the covered parts of St Paul's
had been faithfully reproduced. The cover was made of PVCto withstand sun and rain and was removed in 2005. The
dome has also been cleaned, along with all the stonework,
gilding, mosaics and sculptures. In total, 15,000 square
metres of stone has been cleaned. It was all financed by a
single donation of 10.8 million.
1 The 'cross-arms' of the church which help to stabilise the
weight over the crossing by providing lateral thrust against it.2 Check the official website for more information.
THE STORY OF CEMENT
It's more than likely that you don't think about cement very
much at all, even though it sticks most of the urban environment
together. It must surely be one of the most taken for granted
man-made products around. It's a grey powder that is mixed with
sand and water to make a mortar that's perfect for bonding
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bricks and stones together. It's also mixed with sand, water and
aggregates to make concrete.
Once Upon a Time, Far, Far Away...
... In Mesopotamia, the dressed stones used for buildings were
sometimes stuck together with lime mortars. Lime is simply made
by heating up limestone to drive out the water, then the stone is
ground to a powder. Later sand is added for extra strength and is
mixed with water to form a paste that slowly hardens. The
ancient Greeks and Egyptians continued this practice (yes, The
Pyramids are stuck together with a mortar that uses lime as a
cement).
More Recent Ancient Times
The Romans later found that adding clay to the lime mortar made
it set quicker and it formed a strong material. They also found
that adding volcanic ash (a silicate material) had the same effect.
However, many of the Roman methods were lost through the
ages, but all round the world lime continued to be used as acement. Some of these small-scale producers will surely have
included clay and other materials to add strength and to control
the setting, much as the Romans had done.
Let's Blame Napoleon
In the mid-18th Century, an English engineer, Smeaton, was
commissioned to build a lighthouse on the partially-submerged
rocks 14 miles off the coast of Plymouth, England. In his effortto build a longer-lasting structure, he took great care in selecting
his lime from the many varieties available and he re-introduced
the Roman practise of adding a silicaceous material. His
Eddystone Lighthouse was so successful that the progress of
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cement went ahead apace with many people experimenting by
adding different materials and types of lime.
However, these lime-based silicate cements and the mortars that
were used were not very strong and took a long time to set. Asthe Napoleonic era began, at the end of the 18th Century, there
was a demand for the quick construction of strong buildings for
the military, such as forts, harbours and barracks. The French,
the British and engineers in many other countries were building
furiously for their armies and navies and great rewards were in
prospect for anyone finding a material that would enable faster
building work and stronger structures.
Cement Stones
As the 18th Century came to a close, a type of limestone was
discovered that contained naturally the right amount of clay.
When these special 'cement stones' were fired in the same way
as traditional lime, they produced a cement that was strong and
fast-setting. These 'natural cements' were first found as single,
unattached rocks or 'nodules' on the Isle of Sheppey in the UKand near Bordeaux in France. Similar rocks were soon found
elsewhere around the coasts of England, France, Russia and
Germany and cements made from them were a great and
immediate commercial success. Very soon other deposits of
suitable limestones were found, and mines opened up to exploit
the deposits, notably in New York State, where the mine owners
were able to supply the construction of the fast-growing city of
New York using the purpose-built Hudson and Delaware Canalsystem.
A Whole Load of Different Cements
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Deposits of suitable limestone were not always so conveniently
located and the rush was on to manufacture an artificial material
to compete with natural cements. Working in France for the
military, Vicat was among the first to come up with a method of
mixing clay and limestone to the right proportions and he also
discovered the correct firing temperature for the mixture. He
was instrumental in setting up the first cement factory near Paris
in 1816. Very early in the 1820s English and German engineers and
scientists developed similar methods and it was an Englishman,
Aspdin, who first used the name 'Portland' Cement because of
the similarity in colour of this latest version of cement to the
Portland stone of Dorset in England, used for a lot ofconstruction work at the time.
Ordinary Portland Cement
From the 1820s to the 1880s there existed thousands of small
factories producing different types of natural cement, artificial
portland cement and limes, each with its own characteristics of
strength, setting time and colour.
In the 1860s there was another landmark change in the history of
cement. Instead of using the traditional vertical kilns of the lime
industry, manufacturers began using a new rotating horizontal
kiln, which enabled higher burning temperatures and a consistent
product. The cement produced using this method was much
stronger and faster-setting than its predecessors, and could be
produced to much tighter quality standards. It also required a
much greater capital investment, a circumstance which mitigatedagainst many small traditional family firms in favour of larger
companies. By the 1920s this new Ordinary Portland Cement had
by far the greater part of the market, and is the root of the
modern family of materials that we blithely call cement,
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