london's architectural landmarks 22

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LONDON'S ARCHITECTURAL LANDMARKS LONDON'S ARCHITECTURAL LANDMARKS



The Palace of Westminster

ArchitectArchitect Sir Charles BarrySir Charles Barry

LocationLocation London, England, United KingdomLondon, England, United Kingdom

DateDate 1836 to 18681836 to 1868

Building TypeBuilding Type seat of government, government centerseat of government, government center

ConstructionConstructionSystemSystem

cut stone bearing masonrycut stone bearing masonry

ClimateClimate temperatetemperate

ContextContext urbanurban

StyleStyle English Gothic RevivalEnglish Gothic Revival

NotesNotes Westminster New Palace, the Houses of Westminster New Palace, the Houses of Parliament for England and all the UnitedParliament for England and all the United

Kingdom, including the famous clock BigKingdom, including the famous clock Big

Ben. Design of gothic details assisted byBen. Design of gothic details assisted by

A. W. N. Pugin.A. W. N. Pugin.



The palace of Westminster, better known as the Houses of Parliament, is London¶s best-known monument. The ³mother of all parliaments´ and the ³world¶s largest building´ ± or itwas claimed at that time- it is also the city¶s finest Victorian building, the symbol of a nationonce confident of its place at the centre of the world. Best viewed from the south side of theriver, where the likes of Monet and Turner set up their easels, the building is distinguishedabove all by the ornate, gilded clock tower popularly known as Big Ben, which is at its most

impressive at night when the clock-face is lit up.



Big BenOfficial Name: Parliament ClockTowerAlso Known As: Saint Stephen'sTower

Designed by: Charles Barry andAugustus PuginConstruction Completed: 1858Type: TowerMaximum Height: 320 feet / 98meters(including spires, antennae,etc...)Location: Bridge StreetArea: WestminsterPost Code: SW1City: London, England

> Over the yearsthere has beenhistorical debateover whodesigned theHouses of

Parliament andthe clock towercommonly knownas Big Ben.Charles Barrybegan the design,but then hiredAugustus Puginto complete it.

Pugin, himself,has been quotedas giving Barrythe credit for thebetter half og thework.

>1949 - Big Ben's time fallsbehind by 4½ minutes when aflock of birds perches on theminute hand.>1962 - Big Ben sounds the NewYear ten minutes late because of a buildup of heavy snow on its

hands.

>20 March, 2004 - Protesters scale Big Ben and unfurl a banner protestingwar.

>30 October, 2005 - Big Ben is paused for several hours so workers couldperform routine maintenance and inspections.



Big Ben



For tourists, photographers, residents, and even terrorists, this is the symbol of London.Officially called the Clock Tower, millions of people around the world knowit as "Big Ben." In truth, Big Ben is the name of the bell inside the clock, not thetower. But trying to convince people of that is akin to trying to stop a train withyour car: It's possible, but not worth the effort. Not a building on its own, the 320-foot Clock Tower is one of two towers flanking England's Houses of Parliament. Itwas built after a fire in 1834 destroyed most of the existing structure. That infernowas caused by the burning of an abacus that was used for bookkeeping. The firegot out of control and took most of the building with it. Charles Barry was the

winner of a competition to design the new center of government. He went with aRenaissance style, and married it with Neo-Gothic details by Augustus Pugin,including the towers. Inside the tower is Big Ben -- a 13-ton bell that sounds thehours as time passes. There is no firm documentation on how the bell got itsname. Some think it was named after boxer Ben Caunt. Others believe it wasnamed after Sir Benjamin Hall, a rather hefty gentleman who was a commissionerin Westminster. Either way, it is the quintessential London experience to emergefrom the Underground, walk along the Thames on a foggy Sunday morning andhear Big Ben toll.



Architect unknown

Location London, England map

Date 1070 to 1090

Building Type castle, fortress, prison

Construction System bearing masonry

Climate temperate

Context urban

Style Medieval English

Notes The ultimate castle keep of the British Empire, in

London by the Tower Bridge across the Thames

river.

Tower of London

Founded nearly a millennium ago and expanded upon over the centuries since, the Tower of London has protected, housed, imprisoned and been for many the last sight they saw onEarth. It has been the seat of British government and the living quarters of monarchs ... thesite of renown political intrigue, and the repository of the Crown Jewels ... It has housedlions, bears, and (to this day) flightless ravens ... not to mention notorious traitors and

framed members of court, lords and ministers, clergymen and knights.

The Tower has a long and bloody history, illustrated in detail by the Royal Armoury,which holds 40,000 artifacts from armor to iron maidens. This is where Henry VI waskilled in 1471, where two of Henry VIII's wives were executed (Anne Boleyn andCatherine Howard) and where Lady Jane Grey and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Sussex,met similar fates. The Tower of London has been guarded by a detail of Beefeaters since

1485.



Buckingham Palace

Designed by: John Nash, Edward Blore, Sir

Aston Webb

Construction Start: 1825

Construction Completed: 1913

Type: Palace/Castle/Fortress

Location: The Mall

Area: Westminster

Post Code: SW1City: London, England

The east front of Buckingham Palace was

completed in 1850. Seen here in 1910, it wasremodelled to its present form in 1913

Buckingham Palaceis the officialresidence of theBritish monarch inLondon. The Palaceis a setting for stateoccasions and royalentertaining and amajor tourist

attraction.

Buckingham Palaceand the VictoriaMemorial. Thisprincipal façade of 1850 by EdwardBlore, the EastFront, wasredesigned in 1913by Sir Aston Webb.



London Eye

Off icial Name: The British Airways

London Ey

Also Known As: The Millennium Wheel

Designed by: David Marks and Julia

Barfield


Type: Entertainment Venue

Maximum Height: 450 feet / 137 meters

(including spires, antennae, etc...)

Location: Jubilee Gardens

Area: South Bank

Post Code: SE1

City: London, England

>October, 1999 - Two Spanish environmental protesters

climbed the wheel and spent two days in its girders.

>August, 2000 - A Dave Rolstone of Wales climbed up theWheel to protest United Nations economic sanctions

againstIraq.

>20 December, 2000 - Kurds and Turks angry about how a

series of prison riots in Turkey were handled took over the

wheel. The riots were sparked by the burning deaths of a

number of prisoners on hunger strike. Some of the

protesters doused themselves with gasoline and

threatened to set themselves on f ire.



Most great landmarks are born out of government,

business, or the arts. The London Eye's parents were the

advertising and tourism industries, and turns under the

logos of its corporate sponsors. The people behind the

scenes bristle if you call it a Ferris wheel. They pref er the

term "observation wheel" because of the great views f rominside and presumably to distance themselves f rom the

notion that Ferris wheels are only f or the very young.

Whatever you call it, the London Eye is the largest one in

the world, at 450 f eet and weighing 1,600 tons. Unlike earlier

wheels that relied on trusses and braces f or strength and

stability, the Eye uses six kilometers of steel cables

imported f rom Italy to achieve the same rigid shape with

much less mass. Still, a steel f rame is at the core, and was

built in The Netherlands.O

ther parts of

the wheel weremanuf actured in the Czech Republic, and Germany.

Because of its size and urban location, the wheel was

actually assembled over the River Thames, then hoised

upright upon completion. But in spite of the huge amount of

planning involved, things didn't go as smoothly as

organizers would have hoped. People were supposed to be

able to ride on New Year's Eve, 1999. But saf ety concerns

and problems with a clutch mechanism kept the capsules

sealed to the public. People were f inally allowed to

experience the magnif icent views in March of 2000, three

months late. Thanks to the modern media, and the turn-of -

the-century celebration held December 31, 1999 that was

broadcast around the world, the London Eye has become at

least as f amous as another landmark Ferris wheel: the

Prater in Vienna. However, it took more than 100 years f or

the Prater to secure its mark in history, while the Eye did it

in just a f ew months. Look f or that to change, as the

London Eye is likely too tempting a landmark f or the British

superspy to resist.



1 Canada Square

Designed by: Cesar Pelli and

Associates

Construction

Completed: 1992

Cost: £800,000,000.00

Type: Skyscraper

Stories: 50

Location: Isle of DogsArea: Docklands

Post Code: E14


While ordinary in appearance, at 50 stories, this was the tallest office building in Europe at the time this photowas taken. The building's signature is a 130-foot stainless steel pyramid cap weighing 11 tons. Canada Squaremanaged to rise in spite of overwhelming odds. The Canadian company that commissioned it went bankrupt,bomb threats closed the observation deck, and a real IRA bomb attack shattered the lower floors. It exists as a

symbol of the area's rebirth. In 1981 the region consisted of block after block of abandoned industrial sites.The government set up the London Dockland Development Corporation to revitalize the area. It offeredincentives for new construction and reuse of urban land. The Docklands got its own automated rail system(Docklands Light Railway), and businesses began moving back in. Some of them high-profile newspapers likethe Daily Telegraph. One Canada Square is now the jewel in the Corporation's crown. It was sold in 1995 tonew owners (A Canadian-Saudi joint venture) who have kept the building alive, and continued breathing lifeinto the local economy. Once just an industrial wasteland, the Canary Wharf and Isle of Dogs Docklands arebecoming fashionable once again.



Saint Paul's Cathedral

Designed by: Christopher Wren



Type: Holy Place

Area: The CityPost Code: EC4


>27 June, 2002 - American-

born British citizen Sir

Paul Getty donates

USS$7,500,000.00 to

restore Saint Paul's

Cathedral.



This is considered Christopher Wren¶s masterpiece. Saint Paul¶s was commissioned to replace achurch that had been leveled by the Great Fire of 1666. Work was begun in 1675, andcompleted in 1710. Eventually, the cathedral also became Wren¶s final resting place. It is alsothe final resting place of Admiral Nelson. From the Stone Gallery you can get another great viewof the city. Unfortunately, the neighborhood where Saint Paul¶s is located isn't that great, so thebest things to look at are far off. There is also a strange phenomenon inside. The dome is thethird largest in the world, but is 60-feet smaller inside than outside. The extra space is filled bystructural support for the gigantic lantern.



Also Known As: The Glass Egg

Designed by: Sir Norman

Foster


Construction

Completed: 2002Cost: £43,000,000

Type: Government Building

Stories: 10

Maximum Height: 50 meters

/ 164 feet

(including spires, antennae,

etc...)

Location: The Queen¶s Walk Area: Bermondsey

Post Code: SE1


In a capital bristling with historic significant stone architecture, the use of this glass and steel orb as the seat of city

government may seem strange, but the reason is simple -- London didn't have a mayor from 1988 to 2002. This building was

erected specifically for the pu

rpose of hou

sing the central au

thority, and constru

cted at a time when London was embracingglass and steel as the hallmark of the new millennium.

The glass is unavoidable, surrounding visitors, politicians, and civic leaders. They are able to look out not just upon the

popular London core, but around in all directions over their domain. Perhaps the transparency will worth both ways,

reminding the people inside that they serve the people outside. The main feature of the interior is the grand debating

chamber, which looks up into a soaring spiral stairwell. At the top of the building is an open-air viewing platform.

The shape of the rapidly curving side. This is an energy-saving feature, as the building is angled to take advantage of sunlight

in the winter, and avoid it building is not something simple like a sphere, or an egg. It is something akin to a drop of water

being blown over by a puff of air. Each level is offset slightly from the one below, hanging over one side of the building. The

result is a slightly curving side, and a in the summer. There is also a below-grade ampitheatrer, which makes the building

appear as if it is rising from a hole.

London City Hall

> The first mayor to have his offices in

this building was Ken Livingstone.> 23 July, 2002 - Queen Elizabeth II and

the Duke of Edinburgh officially open

the new city hall. The mayors of Paris

and Berlin also attended the ceremony.



30 St. Mary Axe

Also Known As: Swiss Re

Building

Also Known As: The Gherkin

Designed by: Foster and

Partners


Construction Completed: 2004Cost: ¼200,000,000.00

Type: Skyscraper

Stories: 41

Maximum Height: 180 meters /

591 feet

(including spires, antennae,

etc...)

Width: 57 meters / 187 feetLocation: 30 Saint Mary Axe

Area: The City

Post Code: EC3


> This building wasdesigned by Sir NormanFoster.> The top of the buildingis occupied by a privateclub and restaurant forpeople who work in thisbuilding. It is also

occasionally rented outfor private events.> The building wasdesigned to use recycledor recyclable materialswhenever possible.> The building uses openwindows and naturalventilation to reduce

energy costs.

london's architectural landmarks 22

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