canary wharf
DESCRIPTION
The project of Canary Wharf LondonTRANSCRIPT
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A new omphalos for the Empire:
POLITECNICO DI MILANO - SCUOLA DI ARCHITETTURA CIVILE CULTURE OF URBAN DESIGN
Massimo M. Brignoli, PhD.
THE CANARY WHARF
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LONDON - EAST END
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LONDON - EAST END
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LONDON - EAST END
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When Sir Nigel Broackes was asked to Chair of the London Docklands Development
Corporation, he could not find Canary Wharf on any map, or even in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica(!):
After the first phone call, I went to my bookcase for the A-Z Gazetteer. London stopped
at the Tower. So I went to the Encyclopaedia Britannica and, again, London stops at the
Tower. Now, Ive driven through and past Docklands countless times but had never been in
the Docks because there were police and customs officials and that kind of thing
Sir Nigel Broackes (Chair, LDDC, 1987)
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LONDON - EAST END
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THE DOCKLANDS
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ISLE OF DOGS
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LOCAL COMMUNITIES:
Stepney
Poplar
Isle of Dogs
Bermondsey
Greenwich
Millennium Dome
[distinctive bend in the River
Thames]
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CANARY WHARF
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ACCESSIBILITY BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Canary Wharf :
Docklands Light
Rail
Jubilee Line
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LONDON 1832
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LONDON 1843
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Palace of Placentia former Tudors Birthplace of Henry VIII and
Elizabeth I
Later Royal Naval College
Greenwich Park
Royal Observatory
Prime Meridian
Isle of Dogs
Kennels of Henry the VIIIs spaniel hunting dogs (?)
West India Docks
Canary Wharf is in the
middle
THIS IS THE SUBJECT OF
OUR STUDY
1801
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LONDONS PORT
London Docks Commercial Docks West India Docks East India Docks Royal Docks
(Surrey)
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West India Docks by William Daniell, 1805
Canary Wharf was
originally called the Rum Quay because of its trade with the West Indies.
The Wharf got its present
name because, after the
last war, this is where the
Fred Olsen Line discharged
bananas and tomatoes
imported from the Spanish
Canary Islands off the
coast of Africa.
exports inports
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MAIN ELEMENTS OF
THE ANCIENT
SETTLEMENTS:
5 storey warehouses
Housing for the rich and
poor
Farms, farming villages
Cottages
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1900-1945
Launching of the Mauritania from the Royal Docks
The Blitz
Brick row houses for the workers and St. Annes Church
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1945-1975
BEGINNING OF DECLINE
Changes in the shipping industry:
- Containerisation meant bigger ships with deep
drafts that could not make it this far up the Thames
- Mechanisation of the loading and unloading process
meant lower labour requirements
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1945-1975
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Important to note the dark side
The allocation of public housing was a racial issue in
the Docklands:
Past policies gave priority to children of existing
residents, maintaining the close knit local communities
and also keeping them largely white.
The demands for housing for local people were partly a reflection of the tensions over racial integration.
Community:
Several generations of Dockers as a tight knit
community
Distinctive Cockney accent
Housing:
Public housing built to replace houses lost during the
Battle of Britain
Housing has been typified as Le Corbusier-style cement
boxes, poorly maintained by local boroughs
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1930s
35 million tons of cargo
55,000 ship movements
10,000 lighters
100,000 employed by Port of London
premise for redevelopment
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premise for redevelopment
1930s
35 million tons of cargo
55,000 ship movements
10,000 lighters
100,000 employed by Port of London
1966-1976
150,000 jobs lost
20% of all jobs in London
2% of all Great Britain
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Built environment
200 ha of derelict land on Isle of Dogs
35 ha on Canary Wharf
Owned by Port of London Authority
Poor transportation
Poor connection to the city (most of
the Dockers walked to work)
Many walked through the pedestrian
tunnel under the Thames to Greenwich.
Buildings
Warehouses
Row houses
Council housing
Waterfront access
A problem or an opportunity?
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premise for redevelopment
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Labour Government commissioned five studies, which were completed between 1971
and 1973
1
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4
5
World exhibition
proposals for redevelopment
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proposals for redevelopment
With these proposals in hand, the Docklands Joint Committee was formed in
1973.
Representatives from local boroughs led a public process to develop Docklands
Strategic Plan.
The Committee had a target of creating 6,000 new dwellings and 12,000 new jobs
by 1982.
But, by 1981, despite good intentions and good public participation, only 1,300
new dwellings were completed in 8 years. Only 800 new jobs had been created,
which was overshadowed by the 8,500 jobs had been lost in the same period.
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1979 THATCHER TAKES POWER
Those sorts of statistics dont bode well when someone like Margaret Thatcher comes into power.
Thatchers approach to redevelopment: prime the pump for private investment!
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MICHAEL HESELTINE
Michael Heseltine, a former land developer, became Secretary of State for the
Environment, which in Britain is responsible for issues such as reclamation and housing
"I had found myself in in small plane, heading in that direction by way
of the London's East End. My indignation at what was happening on
the South Bank was as nothing compared to my reaction to the
immense tracts of dereliction I now observed. The rotting docks -
long since abandoned for deep-water harbours able to take modern
container ships downstream - the crumbling infrastructure that had
once supported their thriving industry and vast expanses of polluted
land left behind by modern technology and enhanced
environmentalism. The place was a tip: 6,000 acres of forgotten
wasteland (quote from Heseltines autobiography)
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Those sorts of statistics dont bode well when someone like Margaret Thatcher comes into power.
Thatchers approach to redevelopment: prime the pump for private investment!
MICHAEL HESELTINE
Michael Heseltine, a former land developer, became Secretary of State for the
Environment, which in Britain is responsible for issues such as reclamation and housing
He eliminated the Docklands Joint
Committee and created the
London Dockland Development
Corporation
1979 THATCHER TAKES POWER
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1980 LONDON DOCKLANDS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
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The LDDC was given the mandate and resources to:
Improve the image of Docklands
Attract private investment
Acquire public sector land, remarket to private sector
Improve roads and public transport
Bring about significant improvements in a choice and quality of housing and community
amenities without undertaking such work
directly
Planning powers were never transferred
from 4 local boroughs to the LDDC:
those simply disappeared...
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CANARY WHARF ENTERPRISE ZONE
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One of the LDDC's approaches was to create enterprise zones, which were areas with very little
regulatory control, and subsidised lease rates from the Crown.
1982 Attracted by the Enterprise Zone status, Credit Suisse First Boston proposed to locate their UK headquarters at Canary Wharf
1985 American entrepreneur G. Ware Travelstead was contracted by Credit Suisse First Boston to explore the
feasibility of building a new business district at Canary Wharf
This vision for Canary Wharf was the direct result of the
deregulation of British financial institutions in 1986.
Deregulation allowed for international take-overs and
amalgamations.
Travelstead proposed a 10 million sq. ft. office complex,
enough to form a distinctive third office centre for London.
However, Travelstead was unable to fund his scheme, so in
1987 the development consortium was taken over by
Olympia & York, led by Paul Reichmann from Toronto
Olympia & York is the largest land owner in New York:
Olympia & York acquired a 200-year lease to the Wharf,
proposed to build 12.2 million sq. ft. of office space.
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TRANSPORT SYSTEM - 1980
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Transportation was part of the deal
Paul Reichmann was made welcome and, as part of the deal to attract him, the government
agreed to extend the London public transport
system out to this part of East London. For Paul
the two projects went hand in hand; Canary
Wharf without effective lines of communication
would, as a concept, be dead in the water. (quote from Michael Heseltines autobiography)
There was almost no transportation infrastructure in 1980
When the Docks were shutting down in the 1970s, the local islanders decided to unilaterally declare independence from Britain.
To do this, all they had to do was barricade the single road that connected it to the rest of London.
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Investment by
LDDC, 1981-91
( millions)
344
69%
158
31%
Roads DLR
TRANSPORT SYSTEM - 2000
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Olympia & York was initially required
to:
- Provide 68 million to build the
Docklands Light Railway
- Build an extensive infrastructure of
roads
- Fund training schemes for local
residents
Reichmann also pledged 400
million towards the building of the
Jubilee Line Extension.
Not built as fast as the developer wanted,
but 20 years later, it is completed
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TRANSPORT SYSTEM - 1980
Local opposition
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Construction of Limehouse Link. To avert what happened in 1970 (the blocking of the road by
protesters) a nice new viaduct with a very lovely view was constructed into the Docklands
TRANSPORT SYSTEM - 2000
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PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Docklands Light Rail Subway
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Docklands Light Rail
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Jubilee Line Extension
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CANARY WHARF URBAN DEVELOPMENT
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1987
Docklands Light Rail, London City Airport completed
1988
Construction of One Canada Square begins
1989
Daily Telegraph and Guardian move to One Canada Square
1991
Completion of One Canada Square
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BANKRUPTCY AND RECOVERY 1st act
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1992
- Office space 40% let
- Working pop. = 7,000
- O&Y submitted to bank
administration
1994
- 27 shops and restaurants
- DLR begins evening and weekend
service
1995
- Tesco Metro opens
- O&Y repurchased by Reichmann
consortium
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1996
Working pop. = 13,400
Office space 75% let
1999
90 shops and restaurants
Jubilee Line opens
2000
Office space 100% let
Reebok Sports Club opens
2002
Working pop. = 42,000
BANKRUPTCY AND RECOVERY 2nd act
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1981 LDDC commissionS 5 urban design studies
1982 Gordon Cullen and David Gosling proposal
1982 LDDC rejects proposals, develops own framework
1985 Travelstead/SOM creates Masterplan for Canary Wharf
1987 Olympia & York (Reichmann) Takes control of Canary Wharf,
SOM masterplan maintained
URBAN DESIGN AT CANARY WHARF
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CANARY WHARF - 1981
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Sept. 1981 David Gosling and Gordon Cullen
appointed to assist, Edward Hollamby, the
LDDCs chief architect and planner, in the preparation of a a guide to design and development opportunities this was to test the feasibility of Goslings proposed development.
Objectives of the guide:
1) To define the existing character of the area
2) To demonstrate the potential of the area through
a number of sketch proposals
Emphasis was placed on the need for flexibility
in order to ensure the Isle of Dogs lasting
economic revival.
URBAN DESIGN PROPOSALS
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rigid master plans were not the British way of going about urban development in the 20th century
LDDC, 1981
I read with pleasure Gordon Cullen and David Goslings sensitive and intelligent analysis of the character of place,
history and visual uniqueness of the Isle of Dogs and
studied Cullens perceptive drawings showing how this character could be echoed and enhanced by careful
design and development. But of course we all know it
never will be. It smacks too much of planning and that
went out with flared trousers didnt it?
Luis Hellman (Architects Journal, 1984)
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The study concentrated on the areas that LDDC
exercised the most control that being the public realm streets, squares, parks, water, quayside and river side
The 1981 plan did not address major strategic issues
such as transportation, land use, parcelization and
social and cultural building provision
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Gordon Cullen (1981)
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Gordon Cullen (1981)
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Gordon Cullen (1981)
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Gordon Cullen (1981)
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Gordon Cullen (1981)
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1985 - TRAVELSTEAD/SOM MASTERPLAN
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PLANNING:
Defined and subdivided sequence of public open space
Westferry Circus shifted closer to Thames River and opened towards City
Separation of service and public systems by introduction of two level roadway system
Parcel configuration distributed along quay edges, and provides for separation of trading and office uses
Water courts and water easements introduced
TRANSPORT, ROADWAYS & GARAGES:
Dual Track DLR line above Plaza Level; open to above
Multi-level parking and service network introduced
3 levels of parking at West Ferry Circus
5 levels of parking on Quay including parking at Plaza Level in Concourse
Access via North and East Bridges to Plaza Level
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Ten million square feet of developed office and trading
space
DLR covered by roof structure
Crescent introduced at Bellmouth Passage
Three towers provided to mark major public spaces on
Quay [SOM 1987].
Travelstead intended to build the central infrastructure
and sell 'pads' to individual builders, who would design
and build their own office buildings. He wanted to ensure
speedy and predictable approvals of individual buildings,
so SOM prepared design guidelines for the site, which
were approved by the LDDC and attached to the Master
Building Agreement. The guidelines regulated the
massing and height of the buildings, and shape and
nature of public spaces [SOM 1987b].
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TRAVELSTEAD VISION
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The master plan and most of the architectural imagery
of Canary Wharf came from Travelsteads consortium designed by SOM Chicago.
Cesar Pelli proposed an obelisk form for the first tower,
as the classical marker of an important place. The
initial response of the architectural observers to Canary
Wharf was hyper-critical: "Docklands monster unveiled"
was a typical headline [Architectural Journal 1985:34].
The sheer size of the project overwhelmed the small-
scale industrial buildings on nearby Heron Quay
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OLYMPIA & YORK MASTERPLAN - 1987
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In 1987 O&Y signed an agreement with the LDDC.
O & Y wanted to change the Canary Wharf design,
but the LDDC resisted, since the transportation
infrastructure was designed and ready for
construction, and difficult road approvals had
been obtained from Tower Hamlets and the
Department of the Transit. However, the O & Y
staff were determined to lower the seven level
central spine to bring the public plaza closer to the
water level. They also wanted to change the
arrangement of the three towers.
Although the Canary Wharf plan was to bring
50,000 new jobs to the area it did not provide a
housing scheme, and the diversification of uses
suggested (shops, theatres, restaurants) were
development for the ground level of buildings only.
Integrated development of varied activities and
built form were never concretely addressed.
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OLYMPIA & YORK MASTERPLAN - 1991
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Design Guidelines prescribe colonnades,
arcades, courtyards of certain dimensions,
setbacks, materials and street wall
articulation.
These guidelines implemented by O & Y are
an attempt to protect their own interests and
generate a measure of public amenity.
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WEST FERRY CABOT CANADA CHURCHILL
CIRCLE SQUARE SQUARE PLACE
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This creates a contained and inward
looking space - with its unique
location on the water, it certainly
creates a great deal of isolation of the
water.
OLYMPIA & YORK MASTERPLAN - 1991
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OLYMPIA & YORK MASTERPLAN - 1991
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CANARY WHARF - 1990
Canary Wharf is as a piece of urban design is simply abysmal. The layout is simplistic and banal, the architecture lumpy and mediocre - the whole looks like
a chunk of some ageing, tired and dreary US downtown dropped from a great
height on the Isle of Dogs. Francis Tibbald (Royal Town Planning Institute, The Architectural Review, 1988)
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CANARY WHARF - 2009
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Elements of urban design
CIVIC SPACE
MIXED USE
OPEN SPACE
RESIDENTIAL
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Elements at Canary Wharf
WORLD TRADE
CENTRE
RESIDENTIAL
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Individuality/Self
Private dwelling
THE HOUSE
Community/Agreement
Public dwelling
THE INSTITUTION
Norberg-Shultz
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Norberg-Schultz says that personal and community identity
is defined by the three modes of dwelling: exchange
(collective dwelling), agreement (public dwelling) and self
(private dwelling) and embodied in their associated
manifestations of the total environment: the settlement
(exchange), the institution (agreement) and the house (self).
His analysis describes a world rooted in material reality, a
sensual world of physical manifestation, enlivened and
given meaning by memory and history. (The Concept of
Dwelling, Christian Norberg-Schultz, 1985).
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Individual
Community
Norberg-Shultz
Exchange
Collective dwelling
THE SETTLEMENT
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DWELLING THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (Norberg-Shultz)
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Dwelling
Concept
Individuality Commonality Exchange
Metaphysical Self
Personal
identity
Personal
expression
Shared beliefs
Civic values
Political
expressions
Communication
Commerce
Relationships
Physical Home
Family unit
Neighborhoods
Shared
institutions
Integrated
systems
Infrastructure
Urban space
Common
ground
Community
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EXCHANGE
Collective dwelling
Global Economy
The Tower
Individual / Self
Privat Dwelling
DWELLING CANARY WHARF?
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DWELLING THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCE ENVIRONMENT
Dwelling
Concept
Individuality Exchange
Metaphysical Self
Personal identity
Personal expression
Communication
Commerce
Relationships
Physical Office
Business unit
Tower complexes
Urban private space
Common ground
International Finance
Community
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Christopher Alexander PATTERNS
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HOW DOES THIS MANIFEST AS BUILT FORM?
Public spaces and growth patterns
BUT IN CANARY WHARF:
total accelerated build-out vs incremental growth,
and the resulting patterns of development
International-style architecture
limited Public Space in the form of plazas
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tree-like framework semi-lattice framework
Christopher Alexander URBAN PATTERN
VS.
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CANARY WHARF IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TRUNK
IT IS JUST BEGINNING TO BECOME CONNECTED TO THE REST
OF THE GREATER WHOLE ITS CONTEXT
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SCALE: SUPER HUMAN VS HUMAN/INTIMATE (Allan Jacobs)
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ONE CANADA SQUARE
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50 storeys - 800 feet -3 on the wharf
Was the tallest building in Europe at the time: Europes first skyscraper by Cesar Pelli & Associates
Design resembles an obelisk, an Omphalos!
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SUPER-HUMAN SCALE: ONE CANADA SQUARE
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SUPER-HUMAN SCALE: ONE CANADA SQUARE
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SUPER-HUMAN SCALE: ONE CANADA SQUARE
Lack of detailing
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PUBLIC SPACE
Immense care has been taken to ensure that Canary Wharf is a green and pleasant place to be. This
has involved the planting of:
378 trees (most between 35 and 50 years old) of 20 different species including London Planes,
English Oaks, Silver Limes, Red Oaks, Horse Chestnuts and Norway Maples.
40,000 seasonal bedding plants, 4,000 shrubs of 88 different varieties and 83,500 winter, spring
and autumn blooming bulbs.
The fountain in Cabot Square is computer controlled and is capable of
performing a variety of movements. A sensor detects wind strength and
adjusts the water height accordingly to ensure that passers-by are not
soaked in windy conditions.
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PUBLIC SPACE
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International Style architecture
Design competitions were used to create the style for built form
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International Style architecture
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International Style architecture
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VISUAL CORRIDORS
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views to the outside were not respected or maintained except for a few very controlled ones
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View from One Canada Place towards the City
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View from One Canada Place towards Greenwich
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but far more important is the view to Canary Wharf from the outside world!
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CANARY WHARF STATION
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OMPHALOS OF GLOBALIZATION
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Superhuman scale
Exchange
Global economy
For whom?
International capital
Built form
Limited public spaces
International-style architecture
Limited view corridors
High-quality transportation
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ISLE OF DOGS - 2014
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COMMUNITY IN SURROUNDING AREAS
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Scale
Human
Exchange
Education, new economy (local and global)
For whom?
Original, new residents
Built form
Modest housing
Amenities
Public space connected to water
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RECOVERED HOUSING
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SOCIAL HOUSING
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LIVE AND WORK
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Public amenities such as schools, and grocery stores were not take
into account in the designing of Canary Wharf this short fall has been addressed in the surrounding areas.
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A pedestrian friendly public space
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HIGH-END HOUSING
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Not all of the public amenity developments in the Docklands have
taken into consideration the values of human/modest scale.
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UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON
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The University of East
London is a good example
of some of the public
amenities that the Canary
Wharf development has
attracted to the Docklands.
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Success by numbers - 1
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1.86 billion in public sector
investment led to 7.7 billion in
private sector investment
762 ha of derelict land
reclaimed
144 km of new and improved
roads
Construction of Docklands Light
Railway, Jubilee Line extension
25 million sq. ft. of new
commercial floor space
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Success by numbers - 2
24,046 homes built
2,700 active businesses
11 health centres
11 primary schools
2 secondary schools
12 colleges and vocational
training centres
94 awards for architecture,
conservation and landscaping
85,000 now at work in London
Docklands
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Planning at the Canary Wharf
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Democracy?
Suspension of boroughs planning powers
No public consultation after sheep incident
Development for whom?
Financial interests first
Local interests second
Jobs for whom?
Few jobs for Dockers
Gentrification
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Urban Design at Canary Wharf
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Quote from Urban Design Quarterly in 1999:
By the time Canary Wharf was rising to its dizzy fifty storeys in 1990, the Isle of Dogs
had become an almost unique landscape of
fragmentation, dislocation and large scale
physical collage. Competition between
developers resulted not in an orderly
reconstruction of a wonderful watery
peninsula, but a Los Angeles-like pattern of
bulky glass office towers in a cityscape of
parking areas, housing sites and low-rise
factory units.
The rejection of an urban design framework
for the area led to islands of development
insulated from each other by security
fences, stretches of open water, and the
remnants of a derelict Docklands landscape.
These islands, some admittedly of interest
from an architectural point of view, are
unconnected urban entities. Each big
development is an enclave of commercial
prowess, inward looking and insular with
public space on the inside, not out.
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Scale and context
context background process design development criticism conclusions
No matter how you look at it, the
Canary Wharf development is out
of scale and out of context with
the surrounding landscape
One question that we asked is:
What if there had only been one
tower?
We were in agreement that if there
had only been one building, One
Canada Square, then it could have
been a unique London landmark,
comparable to the Eiffel Tower in
Paris.
The surrounding buildings could
have been lower, acting as a
podium for the Obelisk.
Now there are several towers,
each with a bank signature on it
Canary Wharf looks like an
average North American Central
Business District...
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THE END
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THE END ?
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READINGS:
Norberg-Shultz C. (1984), The concept of dwelling, Electa,
Milan.