Many centuries-old cities are not characterized by a specific type of architecture. They have lived through so many centuries and perhaps gone through wars or internal crises, so their streets and buildings are rather a reflection of that long existence.
The capital of the United Kingdom is one of these cities. With the passing of the centuries London has accumulated different architectural styles and it is visible in public, private buildings and other institutions or urban designs. But the truth is that in recent decades it has become a city with amazing modern architecture. London has been renewed for the XNUMXst century.
About london
London is the capital of the United Kingdom and its political, cultural and economic heart. It rests on the banks of the River Thames and is two thousand years old. It was founded by the Romans and had during that time the name of Londinium and the territory was Roman Britain.
When the Roman Empire fell here, what happened in the rest of Europe happened: barbarian tribes advanced on the city and a Anglo-Saxon settlement took shape. Despite suffering several Viking invasions, London would never collapse again and would go through medieval times and successive periods.
In this way today we see in its streets that there are examples of different architectures: Medieval Renaissance, Georgian and as we said above, from a time to this part many examples of the best modern architecture in the world.
Modern architecture in London
Many of the best examples of modern architecture are in the financial district. We have the Lloyd's Building, Millennium Dome, the Heron Tower, Millennium Bridge, Shard London Bridge, The Gherkin, London Eye, Tower 42 and London city hall among others. Let's look at some more specifically:
The Gherkin
The real name of this iconic london building it's 30 St Mary Ax. It is a commercial skyscraper in the financial district. Construction began in 2003 and ended a year later. It has 41 floors and is 180 meters high. It occupies the place of a building dedicated to commerce and finance that was damaged in an IRA attack in 1992.
It's a building energy efficient, has a natural ventilation system and a system that helps to conserve heat and cold, depending on the season.
Heron Tower
This skyscraper It is 230 meters high thanks to a 28 meter mast. It is tallest building in london. Construction began in 2007 and was completed in 2011. It has a large entrance and reception area and there is an aquarium with more than 1200 fish. It is the largest private aquarium in the country.
There is also a bar - restaurant on the first floor and on floors 38 to 40 a restaurant and typical sky - bar with external terraces which are reached by scenic elevator, that is, something transparent.
Tower 42
Es one of the tallest skyscrapers in London and it was built to house the offices of the Westminster National Bank. It was built in the '70s and formally opened in 1981. Queen Elizabeth II did it with gala and everything. Have 183 meters high and only in 2009 the Heron Tower surpassed it after thirty years of reign.
It is a commercial office building and company headquarters. In the 90's suffered an IRA attack It caused severe damage and had to be restored inside and out.
London city hall
It is the seat of the municipal government and is on the southern shore of the Thames. Have a rather unusual design which pursues the idea of saving energy by reducing the surface of the structure itself. It didn't work, according to later studies.
Some people compare London City Hall to an egg or to the darth vader mask, from Star Wars and with less taste someone also called it "glass testicle". What do you think? In terms of design, it has a 500 meter elliptical walkway similar to the Guggenhaim Museum in New York that goes from the base to the tip of this building of 10 flats.
Count with one observation deck which is sometimes open to the public, but as you walk up the walkway you can see the interior of the building and the surroundings.
Lloyd's Building
This modern building is in the financial district and it is one of the headquarters of the famous Lloyd's Insurance House. It was built in the '70s and it was inaugurated in the mid-80s, again by the hand of the Queen.
This modern building has the elevators, stairs, power station and pipes outside, in the style of the Pompidu¡ou Center in Paris. It is composed of three main towers plus three service towers around a central rectangular space.
The central hall, the atriumIt has a soaring glass ceiling and there are open spaces and escalators everywhere. Measures a total of 88 meters, it has 14 floors.
London Eye
Es the ferris wheel in london, a modern vision of the classic Ferris wheels that we see in other cities of the world. It is on the south bank of the river and is also known as the Millennium Wheel. It is 183 meters high and has a diameter of 120 meters.
The ferris wheel was built in 1999 and it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world until Nanchang was built, but it is still the highest in Europe. A lot of steel, a lot of cable and some great gondolas that look like science fiction.
Millennium Dome
When the celebrations of the beginning of the third millennium in London began, this building was built on the Greenwich peninsula, to the southeast of the city. The exhibition inside lasted until December 2000.
Es one of the largest domes in the world. It is white and has 12 yellow towers, one for each month of the year or one for each hour of the clock, we are now in Greenwich. The dome It is 52 meters high in the middle and is made in part with fiberglass resistant to the passage of time.
Shard
It is a 95-story skyscraper. It has little more than 300 meters high and began to be built in 1999 to be completed in 2012. It was designed by Renzo Piano, famous architect with several iconic modern buildings and structures to his credit.
You have spiral shapeIt seems to emerge from the river, a lot of glass and in my opinion, a delicate appearance. It's a building efficient in energy consumption and along its floors it houses business offices, restaurants, the occasional business school, the Al Jazeera offices in London, a hotel, restaurants and observatories.
Millennium Bridge
In this suspension steel pedestrian bridge that crosses the river Thames. Link the city with Bankside. It is made in three sections, each longer each one, until reaching the bridge a total length of 325 meters suspended with cables, eight.