May 2009

5/31/09

Westfield Shopping Centre, London UK

^zoonabar - flickr/cc license
Michael Gaballini and Kimberley Sheppard designed Westfield, London's largest shopping mall. Having evolved from London's technological wonder the Crystal Palace, and coincidentally on the site of the exotic White City, the Westfield mall has become the symbol of London's preoccupation with shopping and opportunism.

The £1.7 billion mega-mall has an 43-acre glass canopy for natural light. Marble and natural stone covers the floors. It has the Las Vegas flash and sheer scale that attracts consumers. With 256 shops, the mall has unusual venues to offer including a library and wilflife center.

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^Wolfiewolf - flickr/cc license

5/28/09

Lady Bower Reservoir Plug Hole, Derbyshire UK

^Wedesoft - wikipedia/public domain
About 3 miles long, the Ladyblower was once the longest reservoir in England. Completed in 1943, the dam was built by Richard Baillie and Sons to compensate for water held by two dams higher up in the rivers.

This plug hole is one of two enclosed bellmouth overflows.

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5/27/09

London City Hall, UK

^sashafatcat - flickr/cc license
Completed in 2002, Norman Foster combined his interest of urban circulation with new techniques for a curved structure.

A grand spiral staircase reinforces the same round skyscraper form he used in the Swiss Re tower. It organically tilts toward the sun and each level cantilevers, providing some shade on that south end and opening the other end to views out to the river Thames and tower bridge.

This flowing theme continues on the entire site, with an urban outdoor plaza next to the river. The flowing procession takes the form of a staircase inside which swirls above the governmental debate chamber. It is a representation of Hegel's philosophy of social development- which became manifest in communism.

Communism. Hegel considered the development of Weltgeist through dialectic and conflict. Karl Marx illustrated history as a series of thesis and anti-thesis which resulted in a synthesis and elevation to a higher system. It's an upward spiral to a higher society with production at the base (street level) and communism at the top.

Also by Foster and Partners: Millennium Bridge, Swiss Re
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5/2/09

Caminho de Oscar Niemeyer, Niterói Brazil

^we-make-money-not-art - flickr/cc license
The "Niemeyer Path" by Oscar Niemeyer stands close to his Niterói Contemporary Art Museum and the Juscelino Kubitschek.

The facility inludes the domed Memorial Roberto Silveira, which acts as a digital library. Closer to the coastline, the theater has yellow tile walls and a flowing white roof. Accessed by a spectacular ramp, the people can congregate under the building in a large plaza before entering.

It is a "very festive place" says Neimeyer. The recently completed structure is an eye-widening addition to this cultural and architectural vein in South America.

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