How well do you really know London?

When we observe cities we see the life within it, its character and occurrences. Life or lack of it, is projected through the nature and the architecture within it. Architecture contributes to the city not just through the quality and quantity of buildings but by the spaces they create, the way they dictate the fashion in which people live and move. Every architectural city is unique in their own right in terms of density, character, and quality and London is certainly one of the best examples for this.

It was once reasonable to say that London was the greatest city on Earth, and although it still retains its status as an immense city of history and wealth, it no longer ranks as the world’s largest metropolis, and does not have the transparent beauty of other such cities as Rome or Paris. London’s beauty is more subtle (and acquired perhaps?) and one must look further to find the attraction which comes from the great richness of culture within its boundaries engrained in every street and its vistas over looking the hum of the city bursting with life.



Here is a city of vast prosperity and extensive history stemming back over two thousand years. Nobody would have ever expected the expansion, change, and tragedies that the City would have to face leading up to present London. The product is a architectural capital with a perpetually changing style of city landscape. Understanding our history is certainly not a straightforward task, but as we observe and seek to understand our heritage within the city we can start to find the remains of the different phases London has endured, thus creating an understanding of our city however lacking. The architectural relics of the Roman or the Medieval period example can be found within the oldest parts of the city albeit hard to come-by and when found one realises that it no longer has any effect to the character of the streetscape but remain as tourist attractions surrounded by new development.



In fact a lot of the city in London only really dates three centuries back, due to much rebuilding after numerous conflagrations and notably the Great Fire of London in 1666. Not to mention old buildings and sites that have simply been cleared away for new development. There are too many reasons to list for the destruction of old buildings and the redevelopment of the newer London.

With the emergence of modern architecture and high rise buildings, one could argue that London architecture is being destroyed gradually, certainly London's skyline is changing rapidly and the London we know now could be completely un-recognisable within a few decades. How aware are we of the architecture that we live, work and move through? Have you noticed the sheer diversity and quirky beauty of the London in which we live? And how do you envision our future city to look like?



^Depiction of erected buildings which are currently in production.