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Over 2,000 years of settlement give London its unique architectural heritage. Unlike Haussmann’s Paris, neither monarch nor politician imposed their will; private ownership and enterprise shaped the city and defined its parts. Elegant West End squares and crescents hallmark the Classical townscape that emerged between 1600 and 1830, but medieval, Tudor and Victorian enclaves identified by occupation, class or guild make their own design statement, notably in the City and East End. From its renewal after the Great Fire of 1666 as a centre of commerce, culture, finance and as a railway hub, the seat of power and law, How to Read London reveals through the built environment how London’s domestic, civic and commercial landscape has evolved and adapted from imperial capital to global city.
From the Publisher
Introduction: Looking For Clues
London’s evolving architectural story has always paralleled social and political change. The Great Fire in 1666 ravaged her heart; rebuilding took a decade but as individual homes were reconstructed, grand houses built along the Thames and shining white stone churches thrust into the sky, a capacity for renewal and continued growth was evident. The spread of Georgian hospitals, public squares and private housing suggested this was unstoppable. The secular vied with the sacred in the early years of Victoria’s reign, noble edifices laying the foundations for a truly global city that a world war barely interrupted. In its aftermath modernity met with resistance yet popular culture embraced its new ways. Another shocking war introduced directed redevelopment, something London has seldom appreciated, and today private wealth is in the ascendant once more. Of course, the very best way to experience and understand all of these moments and more is by walking London’s streets with this indispensable guide in your hand.
Seventeenth Century – Westminster Abbey
Plan
Henry III’s replacement for the Norman original began with the French Gothicinfluenced polygonal eastern apse and radiating chapels, although the long, three-bay transepts are English. A hiatus of a century divides the first four bays of the nave from the remainder.
Soaring section
French, too, is the extreme height – rising taller than any other English church, and from a very narrow base – and the flying buttresses needed for bracing. The gallery or triforium to the east may have housed spectator seating or been intended for additional chapels.
Subtle seams
Small changes, chiefly in the foils or lobes of the stone tracery, mark the different building periods of the nave, starting (left) with the east bay of the northern façade. Mere nuances separate the fourth bay, where work stopped in 1272, and the fifth.
Lady chapel
The half-medieval, half-Gothic church climaxes in Henry VII’s tribute to his Tudor lineage. Respectfully attached to the far east end in 1510, its spectacular fan vaulting is unequalled. The precariously ‘hanging’ pendants are in fact the extended wedge stones of the structural roof arches.
The New Elizabethans: GPO Tower (BT Tower)
Up and around
A thick reinforced concrete foundation raft supports a concrete pyramid that spreads the load of the tower. This is circular, to reduce wind resistance and ease aerial alignment. A ‘collar’ tied to the exchange provides bracing. A crane climbed with the tower.
Glass, horn, dish
The stainless steel cladding has an opening inner pane, aluminium brises soleil (‘sun breakers’) and a green-tinted ‘anti-sun’ outer layer. The original horn aerials were replaced by dishes that have themselves now been superseded and removed; cranes are built in to the circumferential slot.
Cutaway
Served by two of the fastest lifts in Europe were three observation platforms (two open-air) and the famous revolving restaurant. Above it was the kitchen and cocktail bar. Public access to the tops of new television and radio towers was common across Europe.
Top of the world
The outer ring is 20 m (65 ft) in diameter and revolves once every 22 minutes, still driven by the original 1.5 kW (2 BHP) motor. The glazing moves with the ring for unobstructed views. The restaurant was closed to the public in 1980, nine years after a bomb explosion caused serious damage.
Publisher : Ivy Press; 1st edition (March 1, 2018)
Language : English
Paperback : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 178240452X
ISBN-13 : 978-1782404521
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.75 x 6.63 inches
