City Hall London - What is Happening, Past, Present, Future Proposals, Crystal building, County Hall
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- Опубликовано: 20 янв 2024
- City Hall, the former home of the Greater London Authority looks in a poor state now; it is currently boarded up and looks dirty and unloved. It is in a very prominent location next to Tower Bridge and opposite the Tower of London.
I have some pictures of when it was under construction and when it was in use as well as views from the top of it in 2018 so I thought it would be interesting to review these in the light of the current proposals, previous uses of the site by looking at old Ordnance Survey maps and also where the GLA or rather its predecessors have been before and have moved to.
Please stay to the end for all the details. Brought to you by Eclectic Experience change seen through images.
The old city hall is located here in the centre of London, England, On the River Thames near HMS Belfast, opposite the Tower of London and next to Tower Bridge - you really cant get much more prominent than this
This is city Hall under construction in 2001. It was designed by Foster and partners and opened in 2002, 2 years after the new Greater London Authority, the GLA was created.
If we look at a similar shot taken from Tower Bridge in 2023 we can see the building with its distinctive shape but what is really striking is the surround.
In 2023 the frame is full of buildings including More London and most significantly in terms of dominating the picture, the Shard. But if we then go back to 2001 look at the difference
If we go even further back to 1991 we can see how clear the area was and also the old dock warehouses along the river front
To get an idea of the areas history I consulted old Ordnance Survey maps, link in description,
and it was really interesting seeing the 1878 map and seeing that the whole river side was just covered in warehousing and interestingly Tower Bridge had not been built yet, it is approximately here landing between the Tower of London and St Katherine’s Docks
Going back to City Hall , The building was a ground breaking design in shape and ideas. It’s shape was meant to achieve optimum energy performance by minimising the surface area exposed to direct sunlight and the glass to allow Londoners to watch the Assembly at work. It was also not intended to have a front or back in conventional terms.
Unfortunately with so much glass, it meant that it was simply not energy efficient and had a rating of E. Due to its shape it was not space efficient either.
Credits
Maps - National Library of Scotland website
Google Maps
110thequeenswalk.co.uk/
However the building may not be space efficient but it was interesting and this is a picture I took from the inside in 2018 
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I think that would be a brilliant change For the building to make it look green, I think a lot of all the buildings would look a lot better with more greenery
Yes, I agree, Adding plants to the city environment nearly always improves the area
@@eclecticexperience1 What makes me smile whenever I see the BBC News room there’s not a plant to be seen anywhere and yet they did a program saying how much better working environment is with plants
Agree, quite ironic
I'm surprised you didn't mention how it was affectionately known as the "Mayor's bollock"! 😂😂😂😂
......I did think about it .... as well as the other "names"
This is the only way I know of contacting you.
Did you ever watch the ' Give us Tomorrow ' feature film, from the 1970's, with Sylvia Syms, showing Orpington High St., Chislehurst, and Petts Wood, which I recommended to you, please, nearly a year ago ?
Yes, sorry for not getting back. I eventually managed to borrow a copy. Leaving aside the plot, the background shots of Orpington were very interesting and brought back several childhood memories especially the long shots of the highstreet and through the "bank" windows. Thanks for highlighting the film which I had not heard of before.
@@eclecticexperience1 Thanks.
The real house, in Kingsway, Petts Wood, is easy to find.
As with a 1962 Jack Warner film, ' Jigsaw ', which shows Warner, (P.C. Dixon, of Dock Green), knocking on the door of one of those terraced houses next to The Cutty Sark, what I shoud do with both is to put a dvd of each film through each letterbox, with a note.
Imagine if a film, showing your house, with all its rooms, decorated in styles you've never seen, and inhabited by peoples, their voices, and all the sounds from other times was posted through your own letterbox; a duplicate world of your own, in a past somehow still existing, being used by those with permissions existing at that time, over whom you had no control, and whom you couldn't see in the room with you whilst you watched; and perhaps, posted by someone unknown to you, so you'd know that you'd been in a stranger's thoughts, who'd seen the film; and, like many thousands of people, perhaps from all over the world, they could enter your house whenever they wanted, just by putting a disc in a dvd player, whether you invited them in, or not !!
@@eclecticexperience1 Thanks.
There's now an edited note of mine on Wikipedia's Petts Wood and Orpington pages about the film.
The real house in Kingsway, Petts Wood, where the fictitious bank manager lived is easy to find.
I'd like to post a disc of the film through it's letterbox, and one of the 1962 film ' Jigsaw ' to a terraced house, near The Cutty Sark, at which front door in that film as a detectiveJack Warner, (of ' Dock Green ') is shown knocking when ' making some enquiries '.
Imagine if a film of your own house was posted to you, and unknown faces and voices of a past, near-duplicate world being lived by strangers, wthin it, was shown to you, all of whom were out of your control, your hearing, as you were out of their sight, paying no regard to you, behaving just as they wished, knowing of no claim for any notice of your presence you might long to scream at them.
And if it were posted anonymously to you, you'd know that a stranger had put you in their thoughts, and they, along with anyone who had the film, could enter your house just by putting the disk in a dvd player, and could never be stopped !!
@@eclecticexperience1 Please would you tell me if you have seen the reply I've now twice tried to upload ?
I know for a certainty it's been removed.
Thanks.
@@heathstjohn6775 , sorry no reply seen
One of the worst buildings of the last century. Ugly, inefficient, and not suited for purpose.