Whole lotta writin' - Buildings

Since my first arrival in London (of which I happened to celebrate the 3rd anniversary on 22/09), I have been reading in my "Lonely Planet" guide to London about the annual "Open City" (now renamed "Open House") in the capital. This is an annual event in which many buildings are open to the public, for free but, more importantly, some of these buildings are only open during this time! In 2007, 2008 and 2009 I failed to attend this special event (2007: I had just arrived in London and missed it by a week, 2008: I was complete my M.Sc. thesis and had better things to do, 2009: I had not yet moved back to London and so I missed it, again). This year, I was 100% determined to go, at all costs...

And so the "Open House" kicked off on 18/09 and my wife and I headed off to visit one of our favourite-est buildings in London: the Lloyd's Building by Richard Rogers. The day was splendid, chilly but sunny - perfect for pictures and enjoyment. Upon arrival, I was shocked to see a massive queue, but happily this was progressing fast and in 20 minutes, we were inside the hi-tech 1980s marvel. I lost count of the number of times I visited the Lloyd's (from the outside of course), but each time I see it, it gets me shivers: the neatness of design, the attention to detail, the immaculate finishing and the ingenuity of placing all services on the outside, freeing the internal areas from "wasted" space (lifts, stairs, WCs, service shafts etc)...sorry, this has become an architectural lesson...But being actually inside, made me appreciate the last sentence even more: the vast openness of the office spaces without any clutter but maximised usage and all lit by natural light through the massive glazed atrium. And heading up to the 11th floor, the view was simply amazing.

The whole visit lasted just under an hour so this gave us enough time to visit another London landmark before lunch: the City Hall. A short walk across the city to the Thames and across Tower Bridge led us to "The Scoop" and the egg/helmet/testicle shaped building which landed controversy on Norman Foster's CV. We swiftly headed inside since there was no line whatsoever and the same story as before began: amazement at the detail, unusualness of design, quality of workmanship and (needless to say) endless number of photos. Up on the terrace offered a great view of the Pool of London and then down the huge ramp/staircase which takes up most of the building's footprint and which leads to the actual Hall.

A few years ago in my student days, these buildings and many others were only reachable through books and Google Images. Nowadays, I have the luxury of seeing these buildings first hand and, on special occasions like this, actually experience the spaces therein. After all, a building is not only a design or an image, but a volume, a liveable enveloped space. I love London!