Inside Out London
posted by Ham at 01:34 --
Comments here: 2
Monday, November 19, 2007
A London photo every day. Some pictures will be there for their own sake, some because they are places you may like to see, all because they are part of what makes London what it is. Requests welcome!
Raising funds for Breast Cancer Care
posted by Ham at 01:34 --
Comments here: 2
Comments on "Inside Out London"
-
Unknown said ... (22:18) :
-
Anonymous said ... (05:44) :
post a commentHam, I'm sure your idea is being discussed at this very minute by the executives at Channel 4!
I expect it will be called something like A Hole In One.
I've always been fascinated by the construction in the boroughs around the city. Except for London proper, there apparently are some strict codes preserving the outsides of the buildings - even those that look like they were built c. 1963. The buildings themselves are thoroughly gutted, and then they always seem to add 3 or 4 stories of "penthouse apartments" invariably made of steel and glass, stuck right on top of a brownstone or brick building.
Some of these buildings look wonderful, and it's great that they at least preserve the atmosphere it brings to a neighborhood, but some would be a lot cheaper and faster if they just required plans that matched the current facade. Especially for those 1960's buildings.
But my all time favorite "restoration" is in Salzburg, where they were restoring the birthplace of Mozart. I was walking past the site, and peered into the little construction wall opening. I was able to see what the house looked like. It was a hole in the ground. That's some serious restoration. I guess they decided to restore the garden with 18th Century dirt before they tackled "restoring" the empty sky above it.