Some of Britain’s most influential figures in the arts, politics and academia have launched a campaign to save London’s skyline from being dominated by more than 200 additional skyscrapers.
Signatories from sculptor Sir Antony Gormley to philosopher Alain de Botton, author Alan Bennett, Stirling prize-winning architect Alison Brooks, and London mayoral hopefuls Dame Tessa Jowell and MP David Lammy warn: “The skyline of London is out of control.”
More than 200 towers of at least 20 stories are under construction or being planned, of which three-quarters will provide luxury residential apartments, according to New London Architecture, a discussion and education forum.
Photo: Bloomberg
The campaigners, who include sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor, Griff Rhys Jones — presenter on the BBC’s Restoration TV series — Charles Saumarez Smith, chief executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, and former Tory minister for domestic affairs Lord Baker, pledge to fight what they describe as a fundamental and damaging transformation of London.
The campaign, which wants a skyline commission to examine London’s future profile, has also obtained the support of the Observer’s architecture critic, Rowan Moore.
“It is shocking that such a profound change is being made with so little public awareness or debate,” Moore said.
A spokesman for London Mayor Boris Johnson said he would consider the idea of a commission and discuss it with interested parties this week, though he called for the campaigners to engage with the “distinguished names” on his own design advisory group.
The skyline campaign comes after the rejection by the high court two weeks ago of an appeal against a £600 million (US$998.7 million) development on the South Bank of the River Thames which UNESCO says could threaten Westminster’s world heritage status.
In their statement, more than 70 signatories, including societies and associations, write: “Over 200 tall buildings, from 20 storeys to much greater heights, are currently consented or proposed. Many of them are hugely prominent and grossly insensitive to their immediate context and appearance on the skyline.”
“Planning and political systems are proving inadequate to protect the valued qualities of London, or provide a coherent and positive vision for the future skyline. The official policy is that tall buildings should be ‘well designed and in the right place,’ yet implementation of policy is fragmented and weak,” it said.
“Too many of these towers are of mediocre architectural quality and badly sited. Many show little consideration for scale and setting, make minimal contribution to public realm or street-level experience and are designed without concern for their cumulative effect and impact,” the statement said.
Today London’s skyline is dominated by such sights as central London’s skyscrapers, the “Cheese-grater” in Leadenhall, the “Walkie-talkie” in Fenchurch Street and the “Gherkin” in Aldgate. Towering above them all is the 305m “Shard” next to London Bridge railway station.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing