Another Serious Problem In The Gulf
This story on the BBC’s web site, looks like a severe problem that is going to happen in the Gulf States.
It would appear no-one has died in these high-rise fires, but it strikes me after reading the article, that regulations and building materials aren’t what we would expect in Europe or North America.
A few years ago, I went to Dubai and the number of residential towers going up was amazing. But how many of them are fire traps?
We’ve had the some problems with tower blocks in this country, like the fire at Lakanal House in 2009, but hopefully we’ve not sed too much dangerous cladding. The only tower block, I’ve lived in was Cromwell Tower in the Barbican, which was built in concrete to a very high standard in the 1960s. You felt very safe in that building.
Typing “Barbican Fire” into Google, just gives you this relevant link and that’s about an event, where the City of London Fire Brigade and showing children how to be aware of fire.
My only quesion, is do fire brigades do enough of that sort of thing.
Around The Gherkin
I’ve never been to the base of the Gherkin or 30, St. Mary Axe to name it correctly, until today.
A lot of the buildings between the Gherkin and Liverpool Street station have now been removed and the views of the building are a lot better, as some of the pictures show. Note the reflection of the Gherkin in the windows of TK-Maxx.
Munich Olympic Park
I’ve been to several Olympic Parks and some like Montreal and Athens are not in the best of health. But Munich appears to be in use.
It is in my view one of the world’s most iconic sports stadia.
It is place full of tragedy and happiness.
I remember watching on television as the massacre at the Olympic village unfolded. Thankfully, no Olympics has seen anything like it since.
But there is a lesser tragedy entwined in the site and that is of one of Britain’s greatest ever athletes Lillian Board, who died in Munich of cancer, a couple of years before the 1972 Olympic Games. One of the paths on the site has been given her name. She was truly a multi-talented person, who represented her country at all distances up to a mile, and surely, she must be one of few people, who’ve received their MBE from the Queen, in a coat they’ve designed and made themselves.
Then there is the sadness and triumph in the medal tables on the honours board. Look at those of the women athletes and there is an awful lot of DDR and USSR. How many were clean?
But tucked in at the bottom is Mary Peters, who produced the performance of her life to win gold in the pentathlon. Of all the sporting events I’ve seen, both live and on television, her performance in Munich is in the top ten.
Gasometers Don’t Exist
The title of this post is borrowed from an old copy of the Meccano Magazine.
But type gasometer into Wikipedia and you get redirected to gas holder. The origin of the name is given here in Wikipedia. It was supposedly coined by the Scot; William Murdoch.
But they do exist in Vienna and even have their own Metro station called Gasometer.
They are really one of the best examples of converting a redundant structure into something useful. There’s more about them here.
The last time I saw these structures, was when C and I came to a christening in Vienna. We wondered what the virtually derelict brick structures were as we took the train to the airport.
Spittelau
In Vienna if there is one place I had to see, it is Spittelau.
You walk out of the station of the same name and it’s there, only a kilometre or so from the centre of Vienna.
When you first see it, you think it is some weird work of art or even a chemical plant designed by a benign Devil.
It’s actually a waste incineration plant, which provides district heating and to be fair it’s more beautiful than SELCHP.
The world needs a lot more Spittelaus. As they often do, the Japanese are copying the ideas in Osaka.
It is a superb example that shows the close relationship between art, engineering and architecture.
Can you imagine the fuss, if they decided to build a plant like this at say Silvertown in East London? On the other hand, the plant shows that refuse incinerators can be good neighbours.
Every large city should have it’s Spittelau!
Is Derby Reading’s Little Sibling?
I was at Derby on Saturday and took these pictures of the station and a couple of the old engines hanging about.
The concept of the station is very similar to that of Reading, that I visited earlier in the week. The bridge is narrower and there are no escalators to the platforms.
As Derby pre-dates Reading by a few years, you could argue that Reading is Derby’s bigger sibling.
But it’s a good design nonetheless! Like Reading it has good facilities on the wide platforms.
The big diesel is 37425, which is a Class 37 and although owned by the Class 37 Locomotive Group, it appears to be pulling some form of engineering train for Network Rail.
The other diesel engine is a Class 57. Does DCR stand for Derby College something?, as the college is behind the engine.
Is It Architecture,Engineering Or Art?
I heard good reports on the television of the rebuilt Reading station, so today, as I hadn’t anything specific to do, I decided to go to the town and have a look at the work that has been done.
I think Isambard would have been proud of what has been done, as he rarely did boring! And the new Reading station is certainly not that!
The concept of the station is very simple. The thirty metre wide overbridge is connected to all the platforms by escalators and lifts. Then at one end there is another set of four escalators and lifts to take people to the main south entrance.
But in all my life, I’ve never seen so many people walking wide-eyed in awe around a new building or even an art gallery. One guy told me he’d come into the station specifically to photograph the building and had taken fifty pictures. Even railwaymen who’d probably seen it all, were walking around giving the new station a critical look.
There was also the teacher, who’d travelled with me from London. She was amazed at it all, especially as she had left on Thursday from the old Reading station.
Very little has been reported on the media about the design and quality of this new station. The only news seems to be stories pointing out the fact that the handover is a few days late and there’s a bit of chaos. None of the stories mention, that the project will be completed a year ahead of the original plan.
I do wonder if Reading is the shape of stations to come.
The wide overbridge concept is used in a similar, but smaller and less dramatic form at Leeds and Derby, but how many other stations could benefit from this type of design?
In the pictures, you’ll see some of Inter City 125 trains, that are used on all services from London to the West and Wales. They are genuine high speed trains capable of 200 kph, ride as smooth as silk and they are now forty years old. I doubt they’ll all ever be retired, as for running through the Highlands of Scotland and from Bristol to Cornwall, where electrification is virtually impossible, there is no other fast train, that can handle the route.
So at last, these trains have got a modern station, to complement their design.
More Appalling Architecture In Seville
I’m not totally against modern architecture, as after all, I used to live in one of London’s most modern brutalist tower blocks, but s0me examples like the Metropol Parasol are not to my taste. Here’s a couple more.
Does Spain have planning rules to stop the worst of these buildings getting constructed?
Call me a Philistine if you like, but I believe truly great buildings enhance the buildings around them, rather than obscure their features. That is why One New Change is a much better building than The Shard.
The Metropol Parasol In Seville
The Metropol Parasol in Seville, must be one of the worst pieces of architecture and design, I’ve ever seen.
I was also told by a couple, I met beside it, that when it’s hot in summer, the market underneath is not a pleasant place to be.
I should think too, that being made of wood and glue, it could be a bit of a fire risk.
Apparently, though, it was built by a retiring mayor, who wanted to leave his mark on the city. Ken, Boris and the other UK mayors, may have big egos, but I can’t think of any legacy of a mayor, that wasn’t received positively.
The Best Of British In Gibraltar
Gibraltar has lots of things that we would recognise as some of the best of British icons, standards and design.
I also liked the main shopping street, which was tidy and neat and reminded me of some of those shopping centres in seaside towns. It was even a bit like how I remember Hamilton Road in Felixstowe in the 1960s.
It was certainly, a well signposted place and I must have counted six or more of the large street maps. To contrast, I’ve never seen one in Blackpool.
The Royal Gibraltar Police incidentally, are the second oldest force in the Commonwealth.
The Anonymous Widower 