Design Observations from London
Some design reflections from the architecture in London
1. Design should complement, not conflict.
There are many unique sculptural towers covered in all cities around the UK. And what I’ve found interesting are how architects in London are able to design new buildings using the most modern materials and methods. The design input allows unhindered architectural exploration, and which is most seen in all over the places in London. The poetic adjacencies between the new and old buildings have been pleasantly surprising and appear to be keeping the city creative and efficient. London has been a great example of how to strategically create vibrant cityscapes between the existing infrastructure while complementing the traditional building across the street.
2. Design of building reflects wealth inequality.
This has been one of my hottest topic when I discuss about London with my friends. The urban planning and the design of the buildings are a reflection to the gap between the affluent and the lower class community. There has been a vast majority of designers in London are finding themselves financially excluded from living in the Central London area, while most of them are working on high-end residences and exclusive condominium towers. What I wanted to mention here is the frequency of the extreme embellishment on its signature buildings across London. And very often, these buildings in Central London are stylistically above and beyond the architectural exploration mentioned above. For example, the design of Tate Modern costs £215M including the unnecessary brick latticework rain-screen system for the tower underneath. The construction of the latticework has been seen to be highly problematic as brick latticework is not an integrated material for all weather conditions. This issue is tempting to rant about situations like this because most of the cities around Europe are barreling down a similar path without learning from other examples. And in my perspective, as British leaps into the Brexit unknown, planners are responsible to solve the problems and face the new challenges of our built-environments while creating an equal society.
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