[Closed] Commute scenery.

It always amuses me when those of the, let's say, "alternative" persuasion go on about the pyramids and the wisdom of the ancients.

Modern humanity. Hands down.

You commuting in a helicopter OP?

I wish. Brompton don't make 'em!

That's quite elegant actually, a lot better than the monstrosity that's recently been completed near Bishopsgate (Heron Tower?).

I doubt it'll bet here in 5000 years, mind. Not that it'll matter to any of us!

Mr Woppit, you must also have seen the Strata Tower by Elephant and Castle, the first skyscraper in the Word to incorporate wind turbines into it's structure, I understand. Reminds me of a set of clippers!

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The Shard could be a good addition to London's skyline, but I think too many soulless boxes, a la Canary Wharf, will look shit.

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See, that's all right. Too many, and individual buildings get drowned out.

Strata tower always reminds me of Barad Dur...

I agree about the Heron tower. Looks like an incomplete block of flats from south of the river.

getting there

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The City contains some wonderful buildings, spanning centuries. Recent years have seen stuff like the Lloyds building, Mitre Court, City Hall (I know it's not technically in the City but it's still nice) and the Gherkin. Buildings with a bit of 'life' to them. Contrast those with Heron Tower/110 Bishopsgate whatever it's called, and the mess of CW. How some get planning permission I have no idea.

One of my faves is this quirky little number which apparently is a Barclays HQ. Reminds me of a jukebox.

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Problem is, there's a danger of such little gems being crowded out and overshadowed by ugly soulless boxes. Heron Tower has no right to stand up beside the NatWest and the Gherkin on London's skyline. No right at all. Bloody carbuncle.

I'll be able to see it from my office window

All a bit of a fuggly urban sprawl

Well maybe, but name a large important city that isn't.

London to it's credit does at least have lots of little pockets of history and interesting things. It looks good from afar (Greenwich Observatory, Primrose/Parliament Hill etc) and also great at street level. New York, by contrast, is just a noisy, congested, stinking angry mess in the centre. And it's never quiet, not even of a weekend. At the other end, a place like Melbourne is a vast, sprawling characterless super-suburb.

Barcelona, San Francisco, Vancouver, Berlin, Amsterdam

And how are any of those cities vastly different to London? Cities are cities, they're not little villages. You get the CBDs, the shopping areas, the parks, the sports stadia, Universities etc. And lots of residential areas in between.

The difference is, I've lived in two of them and wouldn't mind living in the other three either!

That's your preference, not an answer. The point I'm making is that large cities are inherently similar. Some may be more pleasant than others. Some may be historically more interesting than others. But essentially, the very large ones are, as Junkyard describes, big fuggly urban sprawls.

It looks good from afar

I think the mistake many large cities make is allowing rampant development of huge office buildings, which eventually swamp everything and obliterating whatever was there originally. Take Tokyo and Hong Kong. Cities undoubtedly rich in culture, but who's identity is drowned by soulless glass steel and concrete monoliths. Many other cities have followed this pattern; Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Dubai, etc. Even in New York, some of the real gems are hidden by nasty monstrosities serving the egos of faceless corporations. Canary Wharf is an example of this on a small scale, but I'd hate to see the City end up like that. At least in London, the past stands side by side with the present.

I'm still waiting for the "scenery" as per the thread title.

Can't imagine living in a city again. WTF would anyone want to do that for ?

WTF would anyone want to do that for ?

I'll deal with you tomorrow. I'm going to watch the end of 'Scarface'.

[b][i]So say goodnight to the bad guy![/i][/b]

Elfinsafety - Member

Mr Woppit, you must also have seen the Strata Tower by Elephant and Castle, the first skyscraper in the Word to incorporate wind turbines into it's structure, I understand.

[url= http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/bahrain_install.php ]You understand wrong.[/url] 😉 I watched a prog on the construction of these towers and installation of the turbines, simply incredible.

Gutted - all I get on my commute is the rolling South Downs fluffy bunnies suicidal sheep, badgers, foxes, horses and fresh air. And if that gets too tedious I can always cycle along the seafront and listen to the waves.

Strata tower reminds me of a cattleprod 🙂

Strata tower reminds me of a cattleprod

They don't like it up 'em.

you guys have your tall buildings .... ill stick to ...

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Oh and on today's commute I had swarms of butterflies and moths and a weasel.

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Aberdeen?

if so looks like rare non rubbish weather day 😉