1 More London Place by Norman Foster
If you are not a fan of modern architecture, then for this week, this blog is not for you. Few architects achieve fame in the general population, but Norman Foster has achieved it in London. Foster and Partners designed the Millennium Bridge, a cleaned up Trafalagar Square, Canary Wharf Station, British Museum Great Court, Wembley Stadium, The ‘Gherkin’, and City Hall. In short, he redesigned much of the skyline of London over the last decade.
As part of Open House London this weekend, I visited three of his buildings: 1 More London Place, City Hall, and 30 St Mary’s Axe (The Gherkin - a 4.5 hour queue!). These buildings have been rarely, if ever, opened to the public. I’ll be posting images of the others later, but here is probably the least photogenic - 1 More London Place.
As much as the buildings themselves were interesting, it was watching other people enjoy the buildings that was the real surprise. Several people at this building were amazed, as they had “never seen a modern office building before”. Number 1 on their list of queries was “where are the filing cabinets?”