A Tour of London’s Unique Skyscrapers: The Cheesegrater, The Gherkin and The Walkie Talkie
Architect Nick Potts of Architectural Digest walked through the streets of London, giving a truly informative tour of the iconic shapes of the city's odd yet innovative skyscrapers.
On his list, The Cheesegrater (The Leadenhall Building), The Gherkin (30 St. Mary Axe), and The Walkie Talkie (20 Fenchurch Street). Potts explains why each building is shaped as it is, what the architects were trying to achieve, and how they function within the city.
London has some seriously odd looking skyscrapers with some very unserious nicknames, The Gherkin, the Scalpel, Can of Ham, the Cheesegrater, the Walkie Talkie. But buildings this large and this expensive in the heart of one of the world's most important cities don't just happen by accident.
Potts notes how prior to the 1980s, no tall buildings graced London's skyline, however, when the laws changed, the skyscrapers went up with the blessing of the city, as officials wanted London to be a global financial center.
No view of London would be complete without a view of Sir Christopher Wren's master work, Historic Oath St. Pauls. ...These buildings only started going up when...laws were changed, and actually, the political organization of the city changed to enable it.
The rules around skyscrapers were nebulous at best, however,no building should ever block the view of the city's most important sightline of the dome atSaint Paul's Cathedral, according to the 1938 tenet of Saint Paul Heights".
...There's no clear definition about what a tall building is, only a somewhat puzzling statement about, The higher the building, the greater the scrutiny." But they did, however, create a framework of five major tenets that would feed into the approval process for any major tall building, the functional impact, the visual impact, the cumulative impact, the environmental impact, and public access.
Previous Posts About the London SkylineWhy London's Skyline Has Oddly Shaped Skyscrapers
The Historical Reason That Explains Why the Skyscrapers of London Are So Oddly Shaped
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