Neon Lighting - Change London's Night Skyline

[Tony Resta]

After seeing a couple of pics on some impressive skyscrapers with neon lighting to them, i had a thought, what if by 2012, all the tallest skyscrapers in the city (swiss re, t42, pinnacle, heron, broadgate tower and leadenhall) were to have neon borders, immagine the scene at night time, here is a picture to show what i mean:



And maybe have a spotlight on the tip of bishopsgate tower to really give it the sense of pinnacle and to add the finishing touch to an amazing night skyline, something like this:



What d'you guys think? In 2012 the day skyline will certainly be awesome, but i dont think anyone has taking in consideration how it will look like at night and what would be best, express yourselves

[Tazac]

Would be great but never going to happen, just wait till you hear what English Heritage think

[ill tonkso]

Canary wharf might have a chance but not in the city. The corporate signage rule probably covers this aswell as signs.

[DarJoLe]

Not really a sign of a 'green' Olympics is it?

[ill tonkso]

Depends though, if photovoltic cells were incorporated to every building with neons, providing enough power to run them plus a little extra

Imagine the black crown of T42 clad in photovoltics :s (allowing for the vents to stay ofcourse) could look odd. Photovoltics dont have to be blue.

[johnt_gr]

I would like to see a lift to London's important buldings instead of cheap japanese neon lighting! Also it would be a good idea to light historic buildings and famous landmarks with floodlights, like what we did for Athens in 2004.

[fred123go]

Originally Posted by ill tonkso

Canary wharf might have a chance but not in the city. The corporate signage rule probably covers this aswell as signs.

The OXO tower, as far as I am aware, has a prominant neon lighting scheme, so I am sure there are no laws against having neon lighting, just not in the form of a company logo

I would love to see more neon lighting schemes, on Broadgate tower it would look great imo, but I think it should be limited so there isn't overkill, i.e. Hong Kong, especially with London's transformation into a green city.

[se1.relocation]

There is already a strong use of neon light in London; London Bridge is lit in pink fluorescent and looks very impressive at night, whilst the National Film Theatre makes use of light on its exterior concrete walls. Then of course there’s the London Eye, which is probably the closest example of what’s being discussed here.

Whilst I am a strong supporter of using light to change a buildings appeal and like the concept of neon lighting etc, I don’t think that such lights would be reflective of the City of London or indeed Canary Wharf and its position as a global financial centre. The gherkin doesn’t need to be luminous green for people to realise its importance and design.

[chest]

the area around Canary Wharf including the dome and many other building are very strongly lit at night with leds and logos - its very colourful, infact I would say it was on par with anywhere really other than HongKong and Shanghai.
The Dome even has moving led adverts going round its outside structures.

The City area is also quite imressive in a more understated way - alot of the bridges are lit - including one which is bright red, more and more red warning lights are appearing, the Tower is bathed in acid green at night, Tower 42 has a blue led strip around the top, Willis has vertical white stripes, I was down there a couple of weeks back - it looks great.

But it would be great to have Broadgate covered in criss cross leds - we are missing a night time lighting scheme like that.

[MercuryRise]

i think too much neon makes cityscapes look tacky. I think neon only looks good when totally overloaded in a small area/street.. like some china towns. i think we have it right in london atm.. although the gerkin could use a little more a night.. its crown looks dejected in that picture of the city.

[chest]

yes I was very disappointed with the gherkin, I'd have thought a sophisticated night light scheme would have been considered - the top is always just blacked out.

[potto]

Originally Posted by Tony Resta

That looks fucking awful! It would also destory the modern architecture agenda in London

[chest]

Hong Kong looks breathtaking at night with all its lights -
this is one I took last year - Canary Wharf could go down this route - infact remember PanPeninsula is going to have led lights all around the towers - though if you look at the pic of HongKong there are only a couple of towers covered in noen that follow the buildings edges- the rest are lit with just logos and the tops uplit - like Canary Wharf - the lazers are only on for a few minutes a night - infact green lazers do shoot out down the Meridian line and across Electron
Its the number of towers that make it look so dazzling.

[chest]

the future PanPeninsula light scheme

[mulattokid]

I am not keen on advertising in neon, but I dont mind architetural features being highlighted in lights.

[Tony Resta]

that hong kong skyline is exactly what im on about, its fantastic

[potto]

I dont see any architectural merit in that shot save for the Bank of China lighting scheme the rest is just kitsch bleh and the bulk is normal office lights! That gold domed effect building on the left is particularly shocking. It would be like lighting up sea container house in pink and gold.

There was talk of a unified Thames lighting scheme a while back, not heard of anything since

[Manuel]

Good lord! I would never want the City to look like HK at night!
CW is the max I can bear, more lighting and London will turn tacky at night.

Something like Eiffel tower laser will be good in London...something similar or even more innovative with the Pinnacle or LBT would be great.

[high_flyer]

It would be quite cool if and when they are all built, you could have a laser going from 1CS to LBT, then to the Pinnacle, and back to 1CS, creating a triangle and linking our tallest and greatest towers

[NothingBetterToDo]

Hong Kong is impressive, in a tacky, Las Vegas sort of way.

I wouldn't want London to be over the top like that - but i think London needs to light its buildings better at night, some stylish uplighting with tasteful colours would look good.

Perhaps Canary Wharf could be a little more adventurous with colour...i think periodic 'art' displays using light and projections would be great down there.

That way if it looked crap we wouldn't have to wait long for a different display - and it would be cultural and creative....and all that ()