it’s in the nature of cities to change
all the time London has shed skins more
times than a giant Python over hundreds
of years but many of us who love and
accept change have recently been getting
very nervous indeed about what’s
happening to England’s capital city
London is presently in the throes of an
unprecedented building boom there are
four reasons for this wealthy people
from the troubled or unstable bits of
the world see London as a safe haven to
park their money in and buy a bolt-hole
property developers are itching to make
some cash the Mayor of London wants to
show that he’s attracting investment and
tackling the housing shortage and there
are significant political points to be
scored for supplying a large number of
housing units irrespective of whether
these are luxury penthouses or places
for ordinary Londoners to afford and
London’s local boroughs are desperate
for extra revenue to fill the holes left
by the Great Recession the result is an
unprecedented number of new mostly
residential towers that are springing up
pretty much everywhere and decimating
the skyline of London turning it into a
bad version of Shanghai or Dubai most of
the schemes are poorly conceived
inadequately designed and badly built
and are being erratically scattered
across the landscape destroying vistas
and sight lines at every turn the new
developments come in all shapes and
sizes it is however the towers to find a
structures of 20 stories or more that by
virtue of their visibility are the
biggest problem of all there are now 260
towers in the pipeline in London many of
them up to 70 stories high
only the sleepiest suburban boroughs are
going to be left alone
the most amazing aspect of all this is
that the frenzy has so far gone mostly
unnoticed by the general public
your average Londoner is only just now
beginning to wake up to the fact that
soon a 40-story tower is going to be
looming over his or her district walking
along the Thames has become a game of
spotting the latest architectural
monster and remembering its moniker the
perhaps no greater symbol of human
idiocy and greed than the walkie-talkie
which has perhaps done more than any
other building to destroy central London
it’s a peculiar quirk of our time that
the developers responsible land
securities and the Canary Wharf group
together with the architect Rafael
viñoly should be walking free and that
our society places more energy locking
up a shoplifter than a group of people
who have committed a major and lasting
crime against beauty much the same holds
true for the near criminals responsible
for the shard we’ve become so
embarrassed to talk in plain language
about beauty and ugliness we’ve fallen
so far in love with a postmodern
relativism that we just don’t dare to
declare but what’s happening to London
is a clear desecration London is
emulating Shanghai Dubai Hong Kong and
Singapore in a highly misguided search
for the tallest and most fun building
but architecture should when it’s going
right never be fun developers defending
their huge towers talk about putting
London on the map about the need for new
glamour and they appeal to our fears of
being left behind
but if avoiding becoming like Dubai is
the price it should be one we’re all
eminently willing to pay for the
negatives don’t stop at height quantity
and location the unbelievably shoddy
architectural quality of most new towers
their narcissistic volumetric expression
their unfortunate cladding all are alien
to London’s traditions while their
inability to successfully meet the
ground and enhance the public realm have
resulted in a blight large swathe of the
city so where do we go from here London
does need new housing of course but
there is so many alternatives to the
towers the answer is fairly simple
we should make London a lot denser than
it already is by putting up a range of
buildings that are between six and eight
stories high and built out of materials
that fit into their context we know how
to do this it’s happened in many parts
of London very successfully already we
have examples that look like new
versions of the old terraces of
Islington or Chelsea but for this to
happen the following needs to be
in place firstly architects should
remember that like doctors they have a
duty to the public good whatever cash
property developers tempt them with then
the mayor’s office needs to realize that
the creation of beauty is a vital
economic imperative and that future
generations will damned them for what
they are doing currently and lastly
planning departments should gird
themselves to be firmer with vested
financial interests and stand up for all
Londoners because of some very silly
decisions being taken by people who
aren’t really evil but merely aren’t
thinking straight
London is on the verge of being ruined
for the next 300 years it’s almost too
late but not quite if we can turn outrage into action this is a start
all the time London has shed skins more
times than a giant Python over hundreds
of years but many of us who love and
accept change have recently been getting
very nervous indeed about what’s
happening to England’s capital city
London is presently in the throes of an
unprecedented building boom there are
four reasons for this wealthy people
from the troubled or unstable bits of
the world see London as a safe haven to
park their money in and buy a bolt-hole
property developers are itching to make
some cash the Mayor of London wants to
show that he’s attracting investment and
tackling the housing shortage and there
are significant political points to be
scored for supplying a large number of
housing units irrespective of whether
these are luxury penthouses or places
for ordinary Londoners to afford and
London’s local boroughs are desperate
for extra revenue to fill the holes left
by the Great Recession the result is an
unprecedented number of new mostly
residential towers that are springing up
pretty much everywhere and decimating
the skyline of London turning it into a
bad version of Shanghai or Dubai most of
the schemes are poorly conceived
inadequately designed and badly built
and are being erratically scattered
across the landscape destroying vistas
and sight lines at every turn the new
developments come in all shapes and
sizes it is however the towers to find a
structures of 20 stories or more that by
virtue of their visibility are the
biggest problem of all there are now 260
towers in the pipeline in London many of
them up to 70 stories high
only the sleepiest suburban boroughs are
going to be left alone
the most amazing aspect of all this is
that the frenzy has so far gone mostly
unnoticed by the general public
your average Londoner is only just now
beginning to wake up to the fact that
soon a 40-story tower is going to be
looming over his or her district walking
along the Thames has become a game of
spotting the latest architectural
monster and remembering its moniker the
perhaps no greater symbol of human
idiocy and greed than the walkie-talkie
which has perhaps done more than any
other building to destroy central London
it’s a peculiar quirk of our time that
the developers responsible land
securities and the Canary Wharf group
together with the architect Rafael
viñoly should be walking free and that
our society places more energy locking
up a shoplifter than a group of people
who have committed a major and lasting
crime against beauty much the same holds
true for the near criminals responsible
for the shard we’ve become so
embarrassed to talk in plain language
about beauty and ugliness we’ve fallen
so far in love with a postmodern
relativism that we just don’t dare to
declare but what’s happening to London
is a clear desecration London is
emulating Shanghai Dubai Hong Kong and
Singapore in a highly misguided search
for the tallest and most fun building
but architecture should when it’s going
right never be fun developers defending
their huge towers talk about putting
London on the map about the need for new
glamour and they appeal to our fears of
being left behind
but if avoiding becoming like Dubai is
the price it should be one we’re all
eminently willing to pay for the
negatives don’t stop at height quantity
and location the unbelievably shoddy
architectural quality of most new towers
their narcissistic volumetric expression
their unfortunate cladding all are alien
to London’s traditions while their
inability to successfully meet the
ground and enhance the public realm have
resulted in a blight large swathe of the
city so where do we go from here London
does need new housing of course but
there is so many alternatives to the
towers the answer is fairly simple
we should make London a lot denser than
it already is by putting up a range of
buildings that are between six and eight
stories high and built out of materials
that fit into their context we know how
to do this it’s happened in many parts
of London very successfully already we
have examples that look like new
versions of the old terraces of
Islington or Chelsea but for this to
happen the following needs to be
in place firstly architects should
remember that like doctors they have a
duty to the public good whatever cash
property developers tempt them with then
the mayor’s office needs to realize that
the creation of beauty is a vital
economic imperative and that future
generations will damned them for what
they are doing currently and lastly
planning departments should gird
themselves to be firmer with vested
financial interests and stand up for all
Londoners because of some very silly
decisions being taken by people who
aren’t really evil but merely aren’t
thinking straight
London is on the verge of being ruined
for the next 300 years it’s almost too
late but not quite if we can turn outrage into action this is a start
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