Modern British Architecture

The changes that have been made to the London Docklands in the past 25 years have been among the most striking and most dynamic developments in the world. The London Docklands Development Corporation (1981-1998) played a huge role in the area’s transformation, turning what used to be industrial wasteland into a vibrant area for commerce, residential life, and tourism. The area of the Docklands is over eight and a half square miles, all of which have been affected by the new developments in businesses and transportation. The Docklands represent one of the largest concentrations of twentieth and twenty-first century architecture in the world, and with new projects in development now, it will continue to grow, benefiting not only the area but London as a whole.

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It is difficult not to get swept up in the excitement surrounding the city of Wembley these days. Between the brand new, already legendary stadium that was just opened earlier this year and the massive regeneration project taking place in the community, the new energy in the area is palpable. Wembley Stadium is being touted, and with very good reason, as the best stadium in the world, and when you walk out of the Wembley Park tube station and see the great white arch of the stadium soaring across the sky, it is hard to disagree. Replacing the old Wembley Stadium, the new stadium has acted as a catalyst for one of the most ambitious regeneration projects in London which, led by the Brent Council and the London Development Agency, aims to transform completely what has been referred to by locals as a “drab industrial estate� into a cosmopolitan area that will attract visitors and new residents not only for the great football but for all of the leisure and cultural attractions that are springing up as well. All in all, the stadium has already brought a great deal to the area, but it is just the beginning.

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The neighborhood of Wembley is in the northwest portion of the city in the Borough of Brent and is one of the most culturally diverse regions in the UK.  In fact, around 39 percent of its population was born outside of the European Union, the largest percentage in England.  On the fringe of the city, it certainly has a different feel than Central London, with many of the buildings appearing to have sprung up around the 1950s and early 1960s.  Much of the development in Wembley, and especially its multi-million pound refurbishment, is thanks to the dominant building in the neighborhood, Wembley Stadium.  The original Wembley Stadium was built in 1923 for the British Empire Exhibition, and slowly, the neighborhood began to grow up around it.  The new Wembley Stadium was opened just this year and is by far and away the jewel of the neighborhood, with its gleaming steel structure and white arch visible from all over the area.  The stadium was designed by Norman Foster and partners, who are also responsible for the Gherkin in central London.  Yet for the power and beauty that the stadium commands, it is in marked contrast to the older, poorer buildings that surround it. 

            While Wembley is not an extremely poor neighborhood, there is still a marked difference between the area and its neighbors to the south, Chelsea and Kensington.  Many of the buildings closest to the stadium are three-to-four story apartments with small retailers and shops on the bottom floor.  The neighborhood is not a wealthy one, as many wealthy people probably would not want to live in a place that is periodically invaded by 150,000 people.  The ethnic diversity is apparent as you walk down the street, with many shops’ signs being in different languages.  Many of the buildings look as though they went up in the 1950s and early 1960s with simple exteriors of brick.  Along the main roads facing the stadium, most buildings are commercial in nature (except for the apartments above the stairs), with the residential area being farther out from the stadium.  

            At first, I wondered how the poorer residents that lived around Wembley felt about the stadium, with the project costing just under one billion pounds.  I felt like it would be a very awkward relationship between the residents of Wembley and the gross display of wealth that is the stadium.  However, their neighborhood will benefit greatly from the new stadium because the government is actually revamping the surrounding area which will no doubt give a boost to the economy of the neighborhood.  

            Construction is already underway on luxury shops, apartments, and a new arena around the stadium.  The roads, railways, and tube stations in Wembley have all undergone a 70 million pound renovation to make the stadium as accessible as possible.  (Literally, all the roads will lead to Wembley Stadium)  Yet the new buildings, being led by Quintain Estates and Developers, are quite different than the current neighborhood, with their streamlined, modern glass exteriors.  In fact, the welcoming line on the new Wembley City website is “A brand new Wembley is emerging!�  I bet that if I were to go back in ten years, the neighborhood and its residents will have completely changed.  

            I’ll be traveling back to Wembley next week to see how the area transforms on the day of an event.  Being an exhibition football game of Chelsea and Manchester United, it will no doubt bring a huge, diverse crowd.  I am curious to see how the residents will handle such an influx of people and what visitors’ reactions are to the neighborhood, whether they spend anytime in Wembley or just head straight for the stadium.  My impressions on Wembley could be vastly altered in the next assignment.  I will also detail much more on the stadium itself, as (hopefully) I will have seen the interior as well.

Our Lady of Good Counsel, built in the early 1960s in Glasgow, has very few trappings normally associated with a Catholic church. It does not have many elaborate furnishings or a fancy exterior, but rather, reminded me of many Protestant churches back home, where the focus is supposed to be on God, not the building. The church’s most notable features are its tapered roof which creates sharp angles throughout the building, highly opposed to the ornate symmetry of the Glasgow Cathedral which we had visited minutes before, and colored windows on the left wall. The front of the church is quite asymmetrical, with its (for the most part) unadorned brick wall marked with a fairly simple altar in the center, a large wooden crucifix, and the three crosses near the apex of the roof. The crosses are interesting because of their lack of adornment, being made of the same bricks as the wall, and their location in the top left of the church, which make them almost hidden.

The crosses have a very earthy, organic feel to them, as they are made from the same brick as the wall, with the vertical slats sinking into the brick while the horizontal lines are raised from the brick. The unadorned style fits in seamlessly with the style of the church (in fact, the same type of cross can also be seen on the back wall as well). At first, I found it odd that these crosses were placed so far from the altar because in many churches the cross is directly above the altar, acting as a focal point for the congregation during the service. Yet the idea is that, upon entering the church, the tapered roof draws the viewer’s eyes up to the crosses even though they were in shadow. This would give the parishioner a quiet moment of reflection right as they walked in, gazing up as they crossed themselves with the holy water at the entrance. The colored windows cast a faint but noticeable gleam on the crosses when the sun shines in, giving the crosses an ethereal air. The crosses are occasionally illuminated with a spotlight, but only on high holidays. The overall effect is that the crosses are not ostentatious or overwhelming but rather compliment the church that does not shove religious symbols down their parishioners’ throats but rather allows them a quieter, more contemplative experience.

The Frost Bank Tower opened in Austin, TX in 2004 after two years of construction, making it the brightest focal point of the Austin skyline.   During this time, I usually made my way down to Austin once every couple of months, so I was able to see it grow from just a steel skeleton to what it is today.  My first thought on seeing the drawing of what the building would look like was first, how pretty I thought it was, and second, that it looked very different from the rest of the skyline.  Many of the tallest buildings in Austin are made various colors of brick or dark glass; one of the few execeptions being the Texas Capitol, which is made of pink granite.

Frost Bank is the tallest building in Austin now, standing 515 feet high.  It uses glass and steel, the silvery-blue color of the glass being one of the most unique features.   At first, some people resisted the idea of building a tower that would be taller than the Capitol building (there once was a city ordinance saying no building could be taller), but now the tower is the first thing one’s eye goes to when looking at the skyline, and it has completely changed the way I look at the city now.

I always thought that the top glass portion of the building looked like some sort of exotic white flower in the process of blooming, though some Austinites have said it looks like a giant nose-hair trimmer.  However, it won over many critics when it lit up orange and projected bright orange longhorns on its sides when the University of Texas football team won the national championship in 2006, signaling that it had very much integrated itself into the culture of the city.