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funky building
they have some strange architecture in NZ. and i love it
imposing building
we don't get many of these big buildings in auckland they do in christchurch, and there's a few less of them there having been shaked down a bit.
some building or other
i climbed up a huge staircase to get to a road just behind this building only to find the meeting i was heading to was way down the other end of the street which was at the same level as where i started so it was a big fat load of wasted effort
that funny round building
this funny building is center point's rotund cousin. you can even see center point in the background below
no idea what it's called of course. that would involve some reasearch. ho hum
cottingham windmill
well done to shorely for being first to fathom the windmill mystery. it was of course the sails of a windmill
they were laid out around the windmill for the winter
it's quite strange to see it so naked
without it arms waving
but it's probably for the best
here's the back propeller
and here's some advice
strange orphaned tower
this little old tower sits in the middle of a road surrounded by modern off ice blocks. classic london architecture
glaxo building
just as i took this picture a plane flew by (they do that quite a bit round that area)
buildings that look like they should be from the future
this is a building by my office. it looks like what you'd hope buildings would look like now in the future when we were back in the past.
london growing up
buildings growing up
a present from stalin
this is the warsaw palace of culture and science. it was a present from stalin which was nice of him
it looks a lot like it's from ghostbusters
centre point
click for big
crazies hall
jane and i went for a walk at crazies hill on wednesday, and walked by crazies hall.
it looks quite posh. that's because it 'bears the facade of the old Henley town hall' (according to here)
but it's not particularly subtle
and some rather fancy gates are being fitted
a quick google search reveals the internal layout which is very fancy ! hoorah for the internet
up with the new building
it's interesting they are constructing it with the windows added before the top is finished.
taking photos of buildings being built is probably better than taking them when they are fully constructured. they'll never be in this state again and people in the future will be interested. once it's built, anyone can take their photo. you have to be at the right place/time to get a photo of something being constructed.
two different views
normal
negative (i love the colour of the sky in this one)
out of focus building
this is a rubbish picture of a building. but quite nice as an abstract.
did prince francis turn up to the closing ?
part of working in london is you see buildings beginning and ending their lives. for every gherkin, there's a middlesex hospital
there must have been much excitement when the Middlesex hospital opened in 1910.
but now it's all shut and moved to the fancy new place on euston road
and the old place looks so sad
i'd love to go in and take some photos. but totally unlikely i suspect.
permanent house
permanent. rather than temporary
london is grey
here is the colour photo i took of this typical london scene:
and here it is converted to grey:
not much difference really.
the great british broadcasting corporation
yeah for the BBC
police information box
nowadays you can get all this information from their website
4 towers
2 BBC towers, BT tower and All Souls tower. one day i'll take my SLR to work and get this with a bit more wider lense-ness
holyrood place
i think it looks better from the inside
guess the building
what which london building is this ? it's a b-list in terms of buildings go, but is still quite imposing.
the monument
The Monument is one of those funny places which people just forget about. i had a meeitng a few minutes walk from it and i was a bit early so i paid my £2 and went in
there's 311 steps on the cantilevered stone staircase which seemed to go on forever
right at the top of the Monument is a drum and a copper urn from which flames emerged, symbolising the Great Fire. The whole thing is 202 feet high - the exact distance between it and the site in Pudding Lane where the Great fire of London began on 2 Sept 1666. The Monument was built to commemorate the Great Fire of London and to celebrate the rebuilding of the city.
thanks to 300+ years of public access the viewing platform is covered in graffiti
of course the thing that once stood high above the city is now lost amongst the taller building around it, like the new gherkin building
but there's still a fine view of Tower Bridge and the river
service stations
for all round fantastic futuristic architecture, you can't beat Lancaster (Forton) services (more here). shouldn't all buildings look like this by now ?
these photos were taken out of the window as we drove by
it gives the impression they cook using nuclear power
My all-time favourite service station, for all round loveliness is the Killington Lake one (southbound only, up by the lakes somewhere). It's got its own little lake and would make a nice destination in itself. i only took a picture of the sign this time though.
mundane tower block
click for big
the writing's on the wall
i wonder if this was the flashing neon of its day ?
click for big
anglesey abbey
anglesey abbey is quite beautiful and well worth a visit if you are near Cambridge.
lighthouse with no light
click for big
going up the centre
click for big
bracknell
click for big
city hall
click for big
city hall
we were fortunate enough to spot that City Hall was open to the public as we walked down the thames to our tube station after visiting the Tower of London.
the view from the top is quite amazing as are the stairs to get down. plenty more pictures to follow on this one !
here the inside top:
click for big
and here's the downside middle (where they have important meetings):
click for big
how curious
as seen in an old book
alien reflections
it was a really reflecty day yesterday with patches of sunshine through fluffy brown rain clouds.
as a result there were a number of strange phenominum, such as this alien face:
there were some great reflections on the building next door too:
click left photo for big
it was all coming from this rather attractive building:
click photo for big
but i liked the alien best:
tate modern and cranes
click for big
corporation housing
the phrase 'corporation housing' is great. it seems to point to a past which had an optimistic view of the future.
and look at this fantastic building version of a belt buckle !
staircase
it's the whole inside-outside thing of modern buildings. outside staircases, outside reception areas captured in massive areas of glass to stop the elements.
why not just have the desks and offices outside and save building the building ?
obviously you'd need a few paper weights to stop your papers blowing away. but we can work on that.
click to see
alternative building techniques
it's a pile of diet cokes
the future seen from the past
this building must have been revolutionary when it was plopped in this park in cottingham near hull.
but now it looks slightly out of date. but still strangely futuristic.
great use of colour:
unfortunately uncleanable:
old and new
click for big
barbican
the barbican towers always looks so big and square when you see them on the horizon across london.
but stand up close and they are quite a different shape
stop this modern building thing
an ancient building in the shadow of a modern monstrocity. and two signs saying stop.
wet watertower
water-towers sometimes seem a bit pointless in the UK. it rains all the time anyway, so why do we bother storing it up ?
if you live in the UK you'll probably have seen the flood map which i find fascinating (but only because we're not in a flood area).
outside toilet
a little room with a view in the middle of the thames (between Tate Modern and St Pauls' Cathedral).
there's loads of obvious jokes here, but i shall avoid making any of them.
a new building
this building wasn't here before. except it was. only there was another building in front which is now gone. so it took me by surprise.
of course if you didn't know it was meant to be there to begin with it won't take you by surprise. unless everything takes you by surprise in which case you would have been surprised anyway.
car park
the shapes, the colour of the building and the colour of the sky. the future is so retro. modern is so passe.
this car park was built by mad bees. i think.
reflecty buildings
a great day for refletioms:
and general sky niceness:
concrete
whoever thought this was a good idea.
paddington basin
here's a building recently erected near paddington station. i was brave enough to walk through a little passage and have a look on the other side this morning.
open plan
great view, but a bit drafty
another grey day
it's often the case that a reflection can be nicer than the building itself. here is a good example of a hideous concrete monstrocity which is reflecting the ornate building on the other side of the street.
sideless
more of the frontless building (from the side)
frontless
this building looks more precarious each time i pass it. it's now suspended in mid air.
The giders in the foreground are not connected to the main building. The main building is apparently made of a number of floating floors.
here is a man working on the corner of a floater (again that stick below him is in the foreground and nothing to do with the building):
look up
i walk past this building quite regularly so apologies if this is a repeat ! i really like this one though so click for largeness.
i remember ...
6 years ago this was a horrible public toilet that i used to have to walk past on the way to work. i haven't been that way since then and was delighted to see it's been bricked up and painted orange (at least on the outside).
the smell has gone too.
a very thin pub
london is full of very thin pubs. this one is very very thin.
overhead tunnels to beat gravitational disimularities
london is a higgledepiggldy place. it's not uncommon to find two building next to each other with a random overhead tunnel connecting them. often these walkways are angled up or down to reflect the different levels of floor heights in the adjacent building.
but what if one building is built at 90 degrees to another ? what if one building has gravity working downwards, but the one next to it has gravity working sideways ?
well, the answer is to have an overhead tunnel with a rotation slightly built in.
if you come to london you really should track this amazing gravitational altering device out. It's in Covernt Garden next to some theatre.
fancy building
i'll return to this building on a sunny day for some better photos. i like how they have hidden their airconditioning.
reflections
this building is more reflection than real thing
swanage library
maritime architecture is a fantastic thing. i love looking at buildings near the sea. curved corners seem to be the main feature. absolutely no right angles please.
i was therefore delighted to see this 'modern' building in swanage (a british seaside town). it's quite something.
lock up
there are lots of mysterious door and buildings in london (as any city). here is one with a door which is extremely well secured shut.
a few minutes before seeing this building, in another part of London, i saw a street paving stone has been lifted up and there was a very long and deep staircase down under the road. i was going to take a photo only there were two security chaps inspecting me inspecting their hole.
i find that kind of thing fascinating.
a strange globe
here is the top of a building at the junction of tottenham court road and oxford street. it's most peculiar and seems to have some kind of ancient chinese gazebo vibe going on.
crazy roofs
esther and i spent a lot of time looking at the sky this morning. here is a building we saw with a roof like stairs (according to esther). on the ground level it was very boring shops. the downside to our amateur architecture event was that we kept bumping in to each other.
