The Steel and brick of the London south bank

@London South bank, Lambeth London

The most obvious, but also the most easy comment about the London south bank that one can give is "fragmented": The entire area can be interpreted as a "layered city":



The waterfront is the first layer. It can be considered as a giant "billboard" with assorted advertisement and ornaments, facing the historical, prosperous city center on the north side. Tourists, or non-residents are usually trapped in the great wall of entertainment and information. There are monumental icons of the entire city such as the London eye, entertaining center such as the Royal Festival Hall, and mixed-use shopping complex such as the OXO Building. For people in the City and the Westminster City, the media wall is somehow, connected to the north bank with the multiple bridges. The first row of buildings are the defensive wall of the city center, segregating the waterfront from the south bank. The Thames River is, to some extends, not separate buildings on the banks, but encouraging the connections between them. Also, it clear the view, provides a visual corridor for the people from each of the banks.

Hidden behind the wall of information and are the region which belongs to large private corporations. This area can be characterized as the "generic", or "grey" area with high level of privacy.

Through the few "slots" between the giant headquarters, people can have a glimpse of the real south bank behind.There is always conflict breaking out on the land of the waterfront of the south bank. The contradictions usually involves the residential housing blocks and financial, giant office buildings. In the past, due to the construction of the Waterloo Station on the south bank, housing projects with moderate and low density were built around the railway station. With the evolution of the London society, currently the territories of residences are gobbled up by trade and marketing business. In traditional residential neighborhoods,

The strange feeling walking on the streets of the south bank. The huge difference in scale between different buildings and programs.

What is the order between the bricks and steel on the south bank? The value of the land? Preservation of the history on the south bank? Architecture or revolution. Should we keep the existing housing project on the south bank?