1.
Architecture
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Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. Architectural works, in the form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements, Architecture can mean, A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures. The art and science of designing buildings and nonbuilding structures, the style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures. A unifying or coherent form or structure Knowledge of art, science, technology, the design activity of the architect, from the macro-level to the micro-level. The practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering services in connection with the design and construction of buildings. The earliest surviving work on the subject of architecture is De architectura. According to Vitruvius, a building should satisfy the three principles of firmitas, utilitas, venustas, commonly known by the original translation – firmness, commodity. An equivalent in modern English would be, Durability – a building should stand up robustly, utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which it is used. Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing, according to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible. Leon Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise, De Re Aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, for Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealised human figure, the Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was, therefore, an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially, Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only true Christian form of architecture. The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, Architecture was the art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men. That the sight of them contributes to his health, power. For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance and his work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work of architecture unless it is in some way adorned. For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional building needed string courses or rustication, but suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say, This is beautiful, le Corbusiers contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. The notable 19th-century architect of skyscrapers, Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design, function came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural
2.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
3.
High-tech architecture
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High-tech architecture appeared as revamped modernism, an extension of those previous ideas helped by even more technological advances. This category serves as a bridge between modernism and post-modernism, however, there remain gray areas as to one category ends. In the 1980s, high-tech architecture became more difficult to distinguish from post-modern architecture, some of its themes and ideas were later absorbed into the style of Neo-Futurism art and architectural movement. In buildings such as the Pompidou Centre, this idea of revealed structure is taken to the extreme, in this case, the use of structural steel is a stylistic or aesthetic matter. Early high-tech buildings were referred to by historian Reyner Banham as serviced sheds due to their exposure of mechanical services in addition to the structure, most of these early examples used exposed structural steel as their material of choice. As hollow structural sections had become widely available in the early 1970s. Buildings in this style were constructed mainly in North America. It is deeply connected with what is called the Second School of Chicago which emerged after World War II, the main content is that the technological kind of construction, mostly with steel and glass, is expressed in a formal independent way to gain aesthetic qualities from it. The first proper example are the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments by German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, potter, New York. —found in industrial catalogues and putting these to use in residential settings. The foreword to the book by architect Emilio Ambasz, former curator of design at the Museum of Modern Art, put the trend in historical context. As a result of the publicity and popularity of the book, the style became known as High-Tech. In 1979, the term high-tech appeared for the first time in a New Yorker magazine cartoon showing a woman berating her husband for not being enough, Youre middle-, middle-. But credit should go to a shop on 64th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York, Ad Hoc Housewares, which opened in 1977, for marketing these objects to a residential audience before anyone else. The book went on to be reprinted in England, France, and Japan, high-tech architecture was, in some ways, a response to growing disillusionment with modern architecture. The realization of Le Corbusiers urban development plans led to cities with monotonous, enthusiasm for economic building led to extremely low-quality finishes, with subsequent degradation countering a now-waning aesthetic novelty. High-tech architecture created a new aesthetic in contrast with modern architecture. In High Tech, The Industrial Style and Source Book for The Home, when discussing the high-tech aesthetic and this humour so aptly demonstrates the rebellious attitude. A prime example of this is the Centre Pompidou in Paris and this highlights one of the aims of high-tech architecture, to show the technical elements of the building by externalizing them
4.
Carbuncle Cup
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The Carbuncle Cup is an architecture prize, given annually by the magazine Building Design to the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months. It is intended to be a response to the prestigious Stirling Prize. The Carbuncle Cup award was launched in 2006, with the first winner being Drake Circus Shopping Centre in Plymouth by Chapman Taylor, a shortlist is announced by Building Design each year, based on nominations from the public, and usually timed to coincide with the Stirling Prize shortlist. Public voting via the website was used to select past winners. Since 2009 a small group of critics has selected the final winners, the award was inspired by the Carbuncle Awards, which the Scottish architecture magazine Urban Realm, formerly Prospect, had been presenting to buildings and areas in Scotland since 2000. The first shortlist was announced in October 2006, and featured ten buildings, seven buildings were shortlisted in 2007. Opal Court, a student housing complex in Leicester, was voted the winner in October, the 2008 shortlist of seven buildings was announced in early October. A longlist of ten buildings was announced in August 2009, grosvenor Group, the developer of One Park West, organised a group hug of the building, following its nomination. The jury in 2010 comprised Jonathan Glancey, Owen Hatherley, Amanda Baillieu, the shortlist of six was announced in July, and the Strata building was announced as the winner in August. The article described the tower as, Decked out with Philishave stylings, the shortlist of six was announced in July. The shortlist of six was announced in July, In August, the shortlist of six was announced in August 2013. The winner was announced later that month as 465 Caledonian Road. The shortlist of six was announced in August 2014, the winner was announced in September 2014 as Woolwich Central, a Sheppard Robson-designed mixed-use scheme in south east London. The winner was announced in September 2015 as 20 Fenchurch Street, the winner was announced in September 2016 as Lincoln Plaza, designed by Hamiltons Architects and delivered by BUJ Architects
5.
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
6.
Cutty Sark
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Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. She continued as a ship until purchased in 1922 by retired sea captain Wilfred Dowman. After his death, Cutty Sark was transferred to the Thames Nautical Training College, by 1954, she had ceased to be useful as a cadet ship and was transferred to permanent dry dock at Greenwich, London, for public display. Cutty Sark is listed by National Historic Ships as part of the National Historic Fleet, the ship has been damaged by fire twice in recent years, first on 21 May 2007 while undergoing conservation. She was restored and was reopened to the public on 25 April 2012, on 19 October 2014 she was damaged in a smaller fire. Cutty Sark was ordered by shipping magnate John Willis, who operated a company founded by his father. The company had a fleet of clippers and regularly took part in the tea trade from China to Britain. In 1868 the brand new Aberdeen built clipper Thermopylae set a time of 61 days port to port on her maiden voyage from London to Melbourne. It is uncertain how the shape for Cutty Sark was chosen. Willis chose Hercules Linton to design and build the ship but Willis already possessed another ship, The Tweed, which he considered to have exceptional performance. The Tweed was a designed by Oliver Lang based on the lines of an old French frigate. She and a ship were purchased by Willis, who promptly sold the second ship plus engines from The Tweed for more than he paid for both. The Tweed was then lengthened and operated as a fast sailing vessel, Willis also commissioned two all-iron clippers with designs based upon The Tweed, Halloween and Blackadder. Linton was taken to view The Tweed in dry dock, Willis considered that The Tweeds bow shape was responsible for its notable performance, and this form seems to have been adopted for Cutty Sark. Linton, however, felt that the stern was too barrel shaped, the broader stern increased the buoyancy of the ships stern, making it lift more in heavy seas so it was less likely that waves would break over the stern, and over the helmsman at the wheel. The square bilge was carried forward through the centre of the ship, in the matter of masts Cutty Sark also followed the design of The Tweed, with similar good rake and with the foremast on both ships being placed further aft than was usual. A contract for Cutty Sarks construction was signed on 1 February 1869 with the firm of Scott & Linton and their shipyard was at Dumbarton on the River Leven on a site previously occupied by shipbuilders William Denny & Brothers. The contract required the ship to be completed six months at a contracted price of £17 per ton
7.
Grimshaw Architects
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Grimshaw Architects is an architectural firm based in London. Founded in 1980 by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, the firm was one of the pioneers of high-tech architecture, the firm currently has offices in London, Melbourne, Sydney, and New York City. The firm has produced four exhibitions, Structure Space + Skin, Fusion, Equilibrium. The latest exhibition, Equation, Design Inspired by Nature, launched on Wednesday, Equation explores a series of themes that investigate biomimicry, biophilia and ecosystems and their influence on design
8.
MediaCityUK
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MediaCityUK is a 200-acre mixed-use property development site on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in Salford and Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The project is being developed by Peel Media, and its tenants are media organisations. The land occupied by the development was part of the Port of Manchester and Manchester Docks, the BBC signalled its intention to move jobs to Manchester in 2004, and the Salford Quays site was chosen in 2006. The Peel Group was granted planning permission to develop the site in 2007, based in Quay House, the principal tenant is the BBC, whose move marks a large-scale decentralisation from London. The Studios on Broadway houses seven high-definition studios, claimed to be the largest such facility in Europe, MediaCityUK is to be developed in two phases. The 36-acre first phase was completed in 2011, and the second is dependent on its success, Metrolink, Greater Manchesters light-rail system, was extended to MediaCityUK with the opening of the MediaCityUK tram stop on 20 September 2010 and further extensions are planned. Road access was improved by the construction of Broadway Link Road, the Quays development includes The Lowry Arts Centre and the Imperial War Museum North. A total of 200 acres of land was earmarked for the development of MediaCityUK, the first phase of its development was primarily focused on a 36-acre site at Pier 9 on Salford Quays. In 2010 it was announced that the ITV production centre would be built on Trafford Wharf in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. In 2003 reports emerged that, as part of the plans for the renewal of its Royal Charter, early discussions involved a plan where the BBC would move to a new media village proposed by Granada Television at its Bonded Warehouse site at Granada Studios in the city. Proposals to relocate 1,800 jobs to Manchester were unveiled by BBC Director General, Mark Thompson, the BBC justified the move as its spending per head was low in northern England where it had low approval ratings and its facilities at New Broadcasting House in Manchester needed replacing. The site at Salford Quays was chosen in June 2006 and the north was conditional on a satisfactory licence fee settlement from the government. In the same month the BBC Trust approved moving five London-based departments to the development, the departments to be moved were Sport, Childrens, Learning, Future Media and Technology and Radio Five Live. Construction started in 2007 with the owner, Peel Group as developer. The media facilities opened in stages from 2007, the first facility being the Pie Factory, which was located in a refurbished bakery. It featured three sound stages suitable for drama productions and commercials. In January 2011 Peel Media received planning permission to convert on-site offices used by Bovis Lend Lease during the construction of the first phase into the Greenhouse, the first trial show took place in November 2010 in Studio HQ2. The half-hour test show featured a power failure and a fire drill, the first programme filmed at MediaCityUK was Dont Scare the Hare in February 2011, and the first to transfer was A Question of Sport, the same month
9.
Strata SE1
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Strata SE1, nicknamed Razor or Electric Razor, is a 148-metre, 43-storey building at Elephant and Castle in the London Borough of Southwark in London. Designed by BFLS, it is one of the tallest residential buildings in London, Strata SE1 is located on the site of Castle House, an early 1960s six-storey office building, which was the first commercial premises at the newly rebuilt Elephant and Castle. When completed, Castle House was warmly received, 25% of the buildings flats have been sold by Family Mosaic Housing Association for shared-ownership sale. Only the open-market flats have access to car-parking, the 39th floor features a Sky Lobby, while the living area is topped by a £2. 5m three-bedroom duplex penthouse. The ground floor comprises two commercial units, a third one is located in the Pavilion, along with a kiosk. The top of the building features three wind turbines, the building has its own extranet site, named inhabit. The one-level basement of the building contains a car park and 437 bicycle storage places. The building features prominently in the novel, Ice Diaries. The current tower was first proposed in 2005, construction began in 2007 and was completed in June 2010, the cost is estimated at £113.5 million. The building was topped out in June 2009, the turbines were installed in May 2010. During the demolition of Castle House to clear land for Strata and he was employed by 777 Demolition and Haulage Company Ltd, which was served with a Prohibition Notice by the Health & Safety Executive. An inquest was due to be held at Inner London South Coroners Court, in November 2015, both companies were fined by the several hundred thousand pounds as a result of their negligence. Strata SE1 is one of the first buildings in the world to incorporate wind turbines as part of its structure, randoll, the engineering consultancy involved with the Bahrain World Trade Center, which also features wind turbines, was involved in the project. The three 9-metre wind turbines at the top of the building are rated at 19 kW each and are anticipated to produce a combined 50MWh of electricity per year. The building exceeds by 13% the current UK regulations relating to sustainability, featured on-site is a combined heat and power system to provide sustainable power generation, with a provision for the collection of rainwater for re-use. The energy costs per flat are envisaged to be up to 40% less than Britains typical housing average, the building is clad in a bespoke high thermal performing facade with an air permeability leakage rate that is apparently 50% better than current building regulations. The judges commented, This building is striking architecturally, a feat of construction on this restricted site. They particularly singled out Strata’s innovative column strategy, the award celebrates outstanding engineering achievement by companies, organisations, and individuals in the capital
10.
Drake Circus Shopping Centre
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Drake Circus Shopping Centre is a 425,000 square feet covered shopping mall in the centre of Plymouth, England, which opened in October 2006. The new building was designed by London-based architects Chapman Taylor and built by Bovis Lend Lease, situated behind the ruined Charles Church, preserved as the citys civilian war memorial, the building provoked a mixed reception. Just after it opened, the centre won the inaugural Carbuncle Cup for crimes against architecture. In 2007 it won two retail industry national awards, one of which was the Retail Week magazines Shopping Location of the Year, the term circus as used here refers to an open space, usually circular, where a number of roads meet. Drake Circus was originally an oval roundabout built in the early 20th century at the junction of four main roads. The circus survived the Plymouth Blitz of World War II relatively intact, but it was demolished in 1966-7 as part of the Plan for Plymouth, around this time the lower section of the main road to Tavistock off this new roundabout was renamed Drake Circus. A two-level shopping centre with open malls and a large C&A store was built and it opened in 1971 and was also named Drake Circus. Initial proposals to redevelop this mall in the early 1990s failed, the scheme suffered a setback in January 2005 when Allders went into administration. New tenants Next and Primark committed in 2005 and the building opened in October 2006, on 3 February 2005 it was announced that the shopping centre had been sold by P&O Estates to Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund for £55m. On 20 November 2006 it was announced that Kandahar Real Estate had taken a 50 per cent stake in the centre, the centre was bought by British Land for £240 million in January 2011. In 2007, the centres management introduced a code of conduct which, like one the Bluewater centre introduced in 2005, banned hooded tops, official website BBC Devon special feature on Drake Circus
11.
Robin Hood Gardens
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Robin Hood Gardens is a residential estate in Poplar, London designed in the late 1960s by architects Alison and Peter Smithson and completed in 1972. The landlord is Tower Hamlets Council, the estate comprises two long curved blocks facing each other across a central green space, and in total covers 1.5 hectares. The blocks are of ten and seven storeys, built from precast concrete slabs, in the central green area is a small man-made hill. The flats themselves are a mixture of apartments and two-storey maisonettes. The complex is 200m north of Blackwall DLR station, with its links to the City of London. It is within sight of the nearby Balfron Tower, both are highly visible examples of Brutalist architecture, an earlier attempt, supported by a number of notable architects, to head off redevelopment by getting the estate listed status, was rejected by the government in 2009. However, English Heritage did not back the proposal, with its commissioners overruling the advice of its own advisory committee, a residents own survey, published in Building Design in June 2009, found that 80% of residents wanted it refurbished. In October 2009, opposition councillor Tim Archer accused the Council of ignoring maintenance problems to residents to move out. It plans to provide 1,600 new homes in this area along with improvements to the primary school, in April 2010, Tower Hamlets shortlisted groups of architects, housing associations and developers to undertake the £500 million project. Before the final announcement, the designs for replacement buildings were condemned in The Observer as generic developers fare, with. Swan Housing Association was selected, with a plan to replace the current broader green-lined estate of 252 homes with up to 1,700, of which 700 would be for social housing and shared ownership. It would also open space, community facilities, and better connections to the surrounding area. The demolition plans were passed by Tower Hamlets Council on 15 March 2012, final planning approval for the redevelopment scheme was given in December 2012, however, despite reports that demolition has begun, as at March 2016 no part of the estate had been demolished. Some flats were empty and boarded up, others were still occupied, the project was the subject of a BBC documentary The Smithsons on Housing, made by B. S. Johnson, in which both Smithsons are interviewed. In other places you see doors painted and pot plants outside houses, the arts of occupation. In Robin Hood you dont see this if someone were to put anything out it people will break it. Asked why he felt this was the case, Smithson cited social jealousy, he went on to say, The week it opened, people would shit in the lifts
12.
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
