Lost London

[cybertect]

Originally Posted by TedStriker

If Haussmann were alive today, what would he do with London?

Depends on his terms of reference... Would he still need to restructure the city to disperse troublesome communities, hinder citizens erecting barricades during riots and ensure easy access for the army to put down revolutionaries?

[Justme]

Originally Posted by GEwinnen

If you compare the grandeur of the city 1920/1930 to the current city shape, the wounds are not healed completely.

I don't agree. The wounds are certainly healed. However, the grand buildings of pre war are sadly not there. They are certainly missed, but some great modern buildings have taken their place. So, the wounds are healed but maybe not to everyone's liking.

Originally Posted by GEwinnen

IMO the lack of "hinterland" from 1945-1989 is the main problem for the current economical crisis in Berlin. West Berlin was just able to survive by massive financial support from West Germany. Important industries and organisations settled down in Munich, Frankfurt and Hamburg and not in West Berlin.
A "hinterland" like London's can't be developed in just 20 years!

I just don't agree with this. I have seen cities grow in both Western countries (such as Australia, NZ or the USA) and of course the East quite significantly in 20years. Sometimes from almost nothing.

But we are not really talking about growth here, i.e. population so much as a normalization of the economy. In the last 20years many International companies have moved to Germany, opened offices, new plants, new HQ's, new factories etc. But few have chosen Berlin, and this despite the lower cost of property and all that space in the hinterland. The main reason for this is the labour force. West Germans have been extremely resistant to move for jobs. A classic example was Airbus in Hamburg, which has been in desperate need of experienced engineers, something Germany had a surplice of, yet could not find them as these engineers wouldn't move to Hamburg (and that's one of the nicest cities in the country). This is not a problem you find in the UK, or Australia, or the US, which has a very dynamic work force.

But whatever the reasons for it. Whether the lack of hinterland (I guess you mean metropolitan area) or labour problems, the fact is that Berlin has failed to solve it's economic issues whilst many other cities around the world have.

Now that Germany's work force is becoming more dynamic, and businesses are becoming more flexible there is new hope for Berlin's economy.

[Light Parade]

FOUND LONDON

I don't know how many thousands of times I've travelled to Waterloo, but just a few weeks I stumbled on the timewarp streets Roupell and Theed, right underneath Waterloo East.

Clearly, they aren't lost, but they are a remarkable survival. Once upon a time, huge swathes of London looked like this.

A conservation area, of course, and popular with film crews too, no doubt. (The Jag adds a touch of Arthur Daley class!)

Anyway, I had a camera with me today...

[El_Greco]

Some 'then and now' stuff, old pictures are all from 1880s -

Laurence Pountney Hill, The City -





Newcastle House, Lincolns Inn Fields, Holborn -





Lincolns Inn Gate House, -





Staple Inn Hall, Holborn -





Field Court, Grays Inn, Holborn -

[Mr Bricks]

Excellent pics El_Greco! I love now and then pics, do you have more of them?

[El_Greco]

Nope I do have some old ones though.

[El_Greco]

Here we are -

Charterhouse 1880



Middle Street 1880



Lavender Place



Victoria and Albert Museum Under Construction



Regents Canal



Poplar High Street 1920



Greenwich March 1890



Winter 1895



London 1616

[Mr Bricks]

Amazing!

Pics of old Helsinki are not that easy to come by, but I have a few and I´m definitely going to make a now and then thread at some point.

[El_Greco]

London In 1543, Wyngaerdes Panorama, it is one of the earliest representations of London that has survived. The original is in the Sutherland Collection at the Bodlean Library, Oxford, and measures 10 feet by 17 inches, in seven sheets.

[Mr Bricks]

Great panorama. What is that palace like building in the east? Also, the tower of London looks very different.

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by Mr Bricks

Great panorama. What is that palace like building in the east?

The Palace of Placentia was an English Royal Palace built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1447,[1] in Greenwich, on the banks of the River Thames, downstream from London. The Palace was demolished in the seventeenth century and replaced with the Greenwich Hospital (now The Old Royal Naval College) in the late seventeenth century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Placentia

[DarJoLe]

These two buildings in the City are being proposed for demolition.

image hosted on flickr

[heywindup]

What do you think is the likelihood that this proposal will be approved? Isn't that area in the Borough of Islington, not the City?

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by heywindup

What do you think is the likelihood that this proposal will be approved? Isn't that area in the Borough of Islington, not the City?

Islington yes I think. No idea on the likelihood as it's only just gone in for planning.

[flare]

Shame, they're quite nice and would have thought refitting them would feasible.

[Mr Bricks]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

The Palace of Placentia was an English Royal Palace built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1447,[1] in Greenwich, on the banks of the River Thames, downstream from London. The Palace was demolished in the seventeenth century and replaced with the Greenwich Hospital (now The Old Royal Naval College) in the late seventeenth century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Placentia

Thanks.

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

These two buildings in the City are being proposed for demolition.

Here we go again..it´s truly incredible what they´re doing.

[london lad]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Islington yes I think. No idea on the likelihood as it's only just gone in for planning.

It got planning approval last month.

[El_Greco]

Originally Posted by Mr Bricks

Also, the tower of London looks very different.

Throughout the ages its been built, rebuilt, stuff added and taken away.

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by El_Greco

Throughout the ages its been built, rebuilt, stuff added and taken away.

Sounds familiar.

Maybe it should have been frozen in time like so many want London to today.

[heywindup]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Sounds familiar.

Maybe it should have been frozen in time like so many want London to today.

So Mr. Philistinian, are you proposing that we demolish the Tower of London and create a modern-day version instead?