1.
Barbican Centre
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The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The Centre hosts classical and contemporary concerts, theatre performances, film screenings. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory, the Barbican Centre is member of the Global Cultural Districts Network. The London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are based in the Centres Concert Hall, in 2013, it once again became the London-based venue of the Royal Shakespeare Company following the companys departure in 2001. The Barbican Centre is owned, funded, and managed by the City of London Corporation and it was built as The Citys gift to the nation at a cost of £161 million and was officially opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 March 1982. The Barbican Centre is also known for its brutalist architecture, Barbican Hall, capacity 1,943, home of the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. It is one of the largest public libraries in London and has an arts library, a large music library. The Barbican Library houses the London Collection of historical books and resources, some of which date back 300 years, the library presents regular literary events and has an art exhibition space for hire. The music library has two free practice pianos for public use, the Barbican Centre had a long development period, only opening long after the surrounding Barbican Estate housing complex had been built. It is situated in an area which was bombed during World War II. The Barbican Centre, designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon in the Brutalist style, has a complex layout with numerous entrances. Lines painted on the ground help would-be audience members avoid getting lost on the walkways of the Barbican Housing Estate on the way to the centre, the Barbican Centres design – a concrete ziggurat – has always been controversial and divides opinion. It was voted Londons ugliest building in a Grey London poll in September 2003, in September 2001, arts minister Tessa Blackstone announced that the Barbican Centre complex was to be a Grade II listed building. It has been designated a site of architectural interest for its scale, its cohesion. The same architectural practice also designed the Barbican Housing Estate and the nearby Golden Lane Estate, project architect John Honer later worked on the British Library at St Pancras – a red brick ziggurat. In the mid-1990s, an improvement scheme by Theo Crosby, of the Pentagram design studio, added statues. That improvement scheme added a bridge linking the Silk Street foyer area with the lakeside foyer area. The centres Silk Street entrance, previously dominated by an access for vehicles, was modified to give pedestrian access
2.
Mixed-use development
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Mixed-use development can take the form of a single building, a city block, or entire neighbourhoods. Traditionally, human settlements have developed in mixed-use patterns, in the United States, the heyday of separate-use zoning was after World War II, but since the 1990s, mixed-use zoning has once again become desirable as the benefits are recognized. Walking was the way that people and goods were moved about. Most people dwelt in buildings that were places of work as well as domestic life, people lived at very high densities because the amount of space required for daily living and movement between different activities was determined by walkability and the scale of the human body. This was particularly true in cities, and the floor of buildings was often devoted to some sort of commercial or productive use. This historical mixed-used pattern of development declined during industrialisation in favor of separation of manufacturing. This period saw massive migrations of people from areas to cities drawn by work in factories. These influxes of new workers needed to be accommodated and many new urban districts arose at this time with domestic housing being their primary function, thus began a separating out of land uses that previously had occurred in the same spaces. Furthermore, many factories produced substantial pollution of various kinds, distance was required to minimize adverse impacts from noise, dirt, noxious fumes and dangerous substances. Even so, at time, most industrialized cities were of a size that allowed people to walk between the different areas of the city. These factors were important in the push for Euclidean or single-use zoning premised on the compartmentalization of land uses into like functions, in the United States, another impetus for Euclidean zoning was the birth of the skyscraper. Fear of buildings blocking out the sun led many to call for zoning regulations, Zoning regulations, first put into place in the 1916 Zoning Resolution, not only called for limits on building heights, but eventually called for separations of uses. This was largely meant to people from living next to polluted industrial areas. This separation, however, was extended to commercial uses as well and this type of zoning was widely adopted by municipal zoning codes. However, it has been the post-second World War dominance of the automobile, throughout the late 20th century, it began to become apparent to many urban planners and other professionals that mixed-use development had many benefits and should be promoted again. As American, British, Canadian and Australian cities deindustrialized, the need to separate residences from hazardous factories became less important, completely separate zoning created isolated islands of each type of development. In 1961, Jane Jacobs influential The Death and Life of Great American Cities argued that a mixture of uses is vital, Zoning laws have been revised accordingly and increasingly attempt to address these problems by using mixed-use zoning. Mixed-use guidelines often result in buildings with streetfront commercial space
3.
Brutalist architecture
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Brutalist architecture is a movement in architecture that flourished from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, descending from the modernist architectural movement of the early 20th century. The term originates from the French word for raw in the used by Le Corbusier to describe his choice of material béton brut. British architectural critic Reyner Banham adapted the term into brutalism to identify the emerging style, there is often an emphasis on graphically expressing in the external elevations and in the whole-site architectural plan the main functions and people-flows of the buildings. Brutalism became popular for educational buildings, but was rare for corporate projects. Brutalism became favoured for government projects, high-rise housing. In one critical appraisal by Banham, Brutalism was posited not as a style, Brutalism as an architectural critical term was not always consistently used by critics, architects themselves usually avoided using it altogether. More recently, brutalism has become used in popular discourse to refer to buildings of the twentieth century that are large or unpopular – as a synonym for brutal. The term brutalism was originally coined by the Swedish architect Hans Asplund to describe Villa Göth in Uppsala, designed in 1949 by his contemporaries Bengt Edman and he originally used the Swedish-language term nybrutalism, which was picked up by a group of visiting English architects, including Michael Ventris. In England, the term was adopted by architects Alison. The best known proto Brutalist architecture is the work of the Swiss architect Le Corbusier, in particular his 1952 Unité dHabitation, Brutalist buildings are usually formed with repeated modular elements forming masses representing specific functional zones, distinctly articulated and grouped together into a unified whole. Concrete is used for its raw and unpretentious honesty, contrasting dramatically with the refined and ornamented buildings constructed in the elite Beaux-Arts style. Surfaces of cast concrete are made to reveal the nature of its construction. Brutalist building materials include brick, glass, steel, rough-hewn stone. Another common theme in Brutalist designs is the exposure of the buildings functions—ranging from their structure, from another perspective, the design of the Hunstanton School included placing the facilitys water tank, normally a hidden service feature, in a prominent, visible tower. This style had a position in the architecture of European communist countries from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s. In Czechoslovakia brutalism was presented as an attempt to create a national, John Andrewss government and institutional structures in Australia also exhibit the style. In the United States Paul Rudolph and Ralph Rapson are both noted Brutalists, Walter Netsch is known for his Brutalist academic buildings. Marcel Breuer was known for his approach to the style
4.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
5.
EC postcode area
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The EC postcode area, also known as the London EC postal area, is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. It includes almost all of the City of London and parts of the London Boroughs of Islington, Camden, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, the area covered is of very high density development. Deliveries for the EC postcode area are made from Mount Pleasant Mail Centre, the current postcode districts are relatively recent divisions of the EC1, EC2, EC3 and EC4 districts established in 1917. Where the districts are used for other than the sorting of mail, such as use as a geographic reference and on street signs. Postcode Address File List of postcode areas in the United Kingdom London postal district Royal Mails Postcode Address File A quick introduction to Royal Mails Postcode Address File
6.
Arup Group
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The firm has over 14,000 staff based in 92 offices across 42 countries, and is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Arup has participated in projects in over 160 countries, Arup is owned by trusts, the beneficiaries of which are Arups past and present employees, who receive a share of the firms operating profit each year. The firm was founded in London in 1946, as the Ove N. Arup Consulting Engineers by Ove Arup and he set out to build a firm where professionals of diverse disciplines could work together to produce projects of greater quality than was achievable by them working in isolation. In 1963, together with the architect Philip Dowson, Arup Associates was formed, in 1970, the firm reformed as Ove Arup & Partners. It is best known for its work for the built environment. Projects to which it has contributed include the Sydney Opera House,3, Nevada, USA Druk White Lotus School was built to survive the Ladakhi weather. Kingdom Centre, The third tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia, and the second tallest in Riyadh and this group continues to work under the banner of Arup Associates following a streamlining of the Arup brand. Many of Arups modern stadia are designed with a contemporary, distinctive edge, the most notable stadium projects led by Arup remain the City of Manchester Stadium, Allianz Arena, Beijing National Stadium, Donbass Arena and the Singapore Sports Hub. Arups multidisciplinary sports venue design and engineering scope on the Singapore Sports Hub won the 2013 World Architecture Festival Award in the Future Projects, the Casa da Música, Oporto, designed by Arup and Office for Metropolitan Architecture was nominated for the 2007 Stirling Prize. Arup was awarded the Worldaware Award for Innovation for its Vawtex air system in Harare International School, Arup Fire has won the Fire Safety Engineering Design award four times since its creation in 2001. The 2001 inaugural award was won for Arups contribution to the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, in 2004, the design for Londons City Hall was appointed joint winner. In 2005, the Temple Mills Eurostar Depot won, the 2006 winning entry was for Amethyst House, a nine-storey building with an atrium from the ground to the top, in Manchester, UK. Arup was also awarded Royal Town Planning Institute Consultancy of the award in 2008. Mike Glover is the recipient of the 2008 Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal, the Evelyn Grace Academy, London designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Arup won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize 2011. Arup was named Tunnel Design Firm of the Year at the 2012 ITA AITES International Tunnelling Awards, Arup Fellow is a lifelong honorary title awarded to selected honorary individuals in the firm. It acknowledges the highest design and technical achievements of people, not only within the firm and they are considered role models who possess world-class expertise who put theory into effective practice. Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, structural engineer and philosopher, founder of the company, recipient of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture 1966, peter Dunican, structural engineer, first chairman of Ove Arup Partnership, and President of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1977 and 1978. Sir Jack Zunz, civil engineer, and principal designer of the Sydney Opera House
7.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
8.
Londinium
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Londinium was a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD43. Its bridge over the River Thames turned the city into a road nexus and major port, in the year 60 or 61, the rebellion of the Iceni under Boudica forced the garrison to abandon the settlement, which was then razed. Following the Icenis defeat at the Battle of Watling Street, the city was rebuilt as a planned Roman town, during the later decades of the 1st century, Londinium expanded rapidly, becoming Great Britains largest city. By the turn of the century, Londinium had grown to about 60,000 people, almost certainly replacing Camulodunum as the capital and by the 2nd century. Its forum and basilica were one of the largest structures north of the Alps, excavations have discovered evidence of a major fire that destroyed most of the city shortly thereafter, but the city was again rebuilt. By the second half of the 2nd century, Londinium appears to have shrunk in size and population. Although Londinium remained important for the rest of the Roman period, sometime between 190 and 225, the Romans built a defensive wall around the landward side of the city. Along with Hadrians Wall and the network, this wall was one of the largest construction projects carried out in Roman Britain. The London Wall survived for another 1,600 years and broadly defined the perimeter of the old City of London, the etymology of the name Londinium is unknown. Following Geoffrey of Monmouths pseudohistorical History of the Kings of Britain, it was derived from an eponymous founder named Lud. There is no such a figure ever existed. Instead, the Latin name was based on a native Brittonic placename reconstructed as *Londinion. Morphologically, this points to a structure of two suffixes, -in-jo-, however, the Roman Londinium was not the immediate source of English London, as i-mutation would have caused the name to have been Lyndon. The list of the 28 Cities of Britain included in the 9th-century History of the Britons precisely notes London in Old Welsh as Cair Lundem or Lundein, the site guarded the Romans bridgehead on the north bank of the Thames and a major road nexus. It centered on Cornhill and the River Walbrook, but expanded west to Ludgate Hill, the Roman city ultimately covered at least the area of the City of London, whose boundaries are largely defined by its former wall. Londiniums waterfront on the Thames ran from around Ludgate Hill in the west to the present site of the Tower in the east, the northern wall reached Bishopsgate and Cripplegate near the Museum of London, a course now marked by the street London Wall. Cemeteries and suburbs existed outside the city proper, a round temple has been located west of the city, although its dedication remains unclear. Substantial suburbs existed at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Westminster and around the end of the Thames bridge in Southwark
9.
City of London
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The City of London is a city and county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, the City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, it one of the 33 local authority districts of Greater London, however, the City of London is not a London borough. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City and is colloquially known as the Square Mile. Both of these terms are often used as metonyms for the United Kingdoms trading and financial services industries. The name London is now used for a far wider area than just the City. London most often denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 London boroughs and this wider usage of London is documented as far back as 1888, when the County of London was created. The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council and it is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the current Lord Mayor, as of November 2016, is Andrew Parmley. The City is a business and financial centre. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the primary business centre. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008, the insurance industry is focused around the eastern side of the City, around Lloyds building. A secondary financial district exists outside of the City, at Canary Wharf,2.5 miles to the east, the City has a resident population of about 7,000 but over 300,000 people commute to and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. It used to be held that Londinium was first established by merchants as a trading port on the tidal Thames in around 47 AD. However, this date is only supposition, many historians now believe London was founded some time before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. They base this notion on evidence provided by both archaeology and Welsh literary legend, archaeologists have claimed that as much as half of the best British Iron Age art and metalwork discovered in Britain has been found in the London area. One of the most prominent examples is the famously horned Waterloo Helmet dredged from the Thames in the early 1860s and now exhibited at the British Museum. Also, according to an ancient Welsh legend, a king named Lud son of Heli substantially enlarged and improved a pre-existing settlement at London which afterwards came to be renamed after him, the same tradition relates how this Lud son of Heli was later buried at Ludgate
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