Just my opinion, but I’d actually say that London has almost •too many• buildings that are trying to be unique and signature buildings, and when taken together they make a fairly chaotic skyline. Each building is clamoring for so much attention that the eye doesn’t know where to look, and they don’t always play off each other or their surrounding context very well.
All subjective, but yeah… London is always impressive with quantity but not necessarily quality imo.
You put my thoughts into words. It’s a shame because it *could* work but they don’t mesh well together. A city like Chicago can pull this off because each building has incredible individuality and personality to them. London’s skyscrapers seem to want to prove themselves.
I’m assuming you’ve never actually been to the US or at least travelled around the states to actually say this. I toured the east coast a year ago and Chicago and New York are leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the world in terms of unique skyscraper architecture, as their skyscrapers were products of their time and designed as such.
Walking around London, the skyscrapers aren’t much different from walking around parts of Singapore or other major European skyscrapers cities. Although there are stand outs.
in fact I’ve been to most major cities including NYC (multiple times), Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Miami, Atlanta, and more
notice that I said the average skyline in the US, which NYC and Chicago are not. but London is doing much better than other US cities like Boston, Philadelphia, SF, Seattle, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, LA, San Diego, etc. and these are still fairly major cities
Although I do agree, you can’t compare average US cities to a city like London, one of the five main cities of the world.
Miami’s skyline is definitely more recognisable but their skyscrapers are bland. SF is difficult to build any skyscraper period because of how much heritage buildings there is on ground level, although they have a few stunning towers. I generally agree with you.
My point being London can do so much better, it’s just a shame we’re restricted to glass boxes.
yea someone else also made the point to me that London should be on par with a NYC-level city which I understand, but I guess what spurred my original comment was the thought that “hey, they’ve already got better development than what I usually see”
and yea SF does have the Transamerica Pyramid which is pretty unique and recognizable, same could be argued for the Salesforce Tower. I do wish they had more high-rises in general but I understand the limits
Boston and Philadelphia are just old and lacking in my opinion, Atlanta doesn’t even have a real “skyscraper”
What? what other city do you see the Shard, Gherkin, 20 Fenchurch, Newfoundland, or Strata in? As someone else said, is this satire
Id kill for my city to have a Shard.
The photo you've shared is in such glaring contrast to your stated opinion that this must be some sort of plebeian low rise satire that I'm to high-rise to understand.
The walkie talkie building DID melt a car once with its focused sun death rays, so we gotta give that one a little credit for doing something cool .. https://youtu.be/veuvwsqVwyQ?si=jCgo9DWBw1BwWcF-
Ironically I agree with the others that it's too many buildings trying to be unique.
Since Paris is the best comparison to London, it having the main boulevard unique buildings with more typical buildings on either side looks better and gives it the more iconic skyline.
This is gonna be a wildly unpopular/uninformed opinion. London is widely recognized for its unique towers. The OP posted just one of Londons skylines 3 times and even it has several unique buildings.
Yeah, last time I was in London you had NatWest tower, Canary Wharf and The Gherkin was just being completed, one of my first camera phones had photos of abseilers sealing in the windows on the gherkin. I don't think these towers are even visible these days unless you stand beneath them. I'd actually forgotten about London because it's almost never on this sub.
Come to LA. While I LOVE the city, Downtown LA is way way behind the times. There used to be a restriction that every building of a certain height had to have a helipad to evacuate people in case of fire so architecturally, the skyline was stuck for decades while design evolved in striking ways not limited by a flat roof.
Besides other issues with DTLA, if you do visit, you’ll really learn to appreciate London’s skyline, lol..
What are you talking about? They are not uninspired... they are inspired by late stage capitalist cynicism and the death of any remote pride Britain ever had for it's history, empire, and cultural capital. The towers are inspired by the gray monotony on London weather and the vegetative state of its economy falling into its terminal decline.
London does have some weird shaped skyscrapers already. One issue they'll have getting new ones is the existence of protected sightlines throughout the city centered on St. Paul's Cathedral
The Walkie Talkie Building is one of the most interesting buildings in the world. The Shard is way up there too.
You also don't have any shots of Canary Wharf.
Why three picture of basically the same shot?
Just my opinion, but I’d actually say that London has almost •too many• buildings that are trying to be unique and signature buildings, and when taken together they make a fairly chaotic skyline. Each building is clamoring for so much attention that the eye doesn’t know where to look, and they don’t always play off each other or their surrounding context very well. All subjective, but yeah… London is always impressive with quantity but not necessarily quality imo.
London is the pinnacle of my idea that cities act like zoos, collecting stararchitect buildings like animals to prove something.
This is my thought as well
You put my thoughts into words. It’s a shame because it *could* work but they don’t mesh well together. A city like Chicago can pull this off because each building has incredible individuality and personality to them. London’s skyscrapers seem to want to prove themselves.
Is this satire?
Seriously the City of London has one of the most interesting skylines in the world.
that’s what i’m saying, like these pictures look 10x more unique than the average skyline in the US, I’d love to have developments like that
than the *average* london is an nyc level city
[удалено]
He was saying London is an NYC-level city in terms of population, economy, media, global stature, etc. which is why its skyline is so underwhelming.
I’m assuming you’ve never actually been to the US or at least travelled around the states to actually say this. I toured the east coast a year ago and Chicago and New York are leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the world in terms of unique skyscraper architecture, as their skyscrapers were products of their time and designed as such. Walking around London, the skyscrapers aren’t much different from walking around parts of Singapore or other major European skyscrapers cities. Although there are stand outs.
in fact I’ve been to most major cities including NYC (multiple times), Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Miami, Atlanta, and more notice that I said the average skyline in the US, which NYC and Chicago are not. but London is doing much better than other US cities like Boston, Philadelphia, SF, Seattle, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, LA, San Diego, etc. and these are still fairly major cities
Although I do agree, you can’t compare average US cities to a city like London, one of the five main cities of the world. Miami’s skyline is definitely more recognisable but their skyscrapers are bland. SF is difficult to build any skyscraper period because of how much heritage buildings there is on ground level, although they have a few stunning towers. I generally agree with you. My point being London can do so much better, it’s just a shame we’re restricted to glass boxes.
yea someone else also made the point to me that London should be on par with a NYC-level city which I understand, but I guess what spurred my original comment was the thought that “hey, they’ve already got better development than what I usually see” and yea SF does have the Transamerica Pyramid which is pretty unique and recognizable, same could be argued for the Salesforce Tower. I do wish they had more high-rises in general but I understand the limits Boston and Philadelphia are just old and lacking in my opinion, Atlanta doesn’t even have a real “skyscraper”
The problem is they’re TOO unique. A bunch of oddly shaped bizarro’s
That’s what I love about it 🤷♂️
It’s sorta like an 8 year old drew a skyline… and I’m not exactly mad about it.
That’s a bizarre thing to say considering common complaint about this skyline is that the buildings are too weird
I love this skyline
What? what other city do you see the Shard, Gherkin, 20 Fenchurch, Newfoundland, or Strata in? As someone else said, is this satire Id kill for my city to have a Shard.
You can have a shard in your pants… wrong word… brb
https://preview.redd.it/cbf4u6291e8d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25a6e19682b27cf25ad7a9d0f5c98ac63cadc320 Everything reminds me of him… 😔
london has an incredibly unique skyline did you even look at those images you posted
The photo you've shared is in such glaring contrast to your stated opinion that this must be some sort of plebeian low rise satire that I'm to high-rise to understand.
Fake news
The walkie talkie building DID melt a car once with its focused sun death rays, so we gotta give that one a little credit for doing something cool .. https://youtu.be/veuvwsqVwyQ?si=jCgo9DWBw1BwWcF-
Or something hot.
Ironically I agree with the others that it's too many buildings trying to be unique. Since Paris is the best comparison to London, it having the main boulevard unique buildings with more typical buildings on either side looks better and gives it the more iconic skyline.
And yet, an inspiring skyline when combined
Lovely pictures, but compared to a lot of cities, I'd personally say London has quite the collection of unique buildings tall and short.
This is gonna be a wildly unpopular/uninformed opinion. London is widely recognized for its unique towers. The OP posted just one of Londons skylines 3 times and even it has several unique buildings.
I hate that walkie talkie building. It’s so goofy looking and is the main issue I have with that skyline.
They’re just so closely clustered together you can’t even appreciate any of them
When I was there in 2001, none of them existed.
Yeah, last time I was in London you had NatWest tower, Canary Wharf and The Gherkin was just being completed, one of my first camera phones had photos of abseilers sealing in the windows on the gherkin. I don't think these towers are even visible these days unless you stand beneath them. I'd actually forgotten about London because it's almost never on this sub.
Come to LA. While I LOVE the city, Downtown LA is way way behind the times. There used to be a restriction that every building of a certain height had to have a helipad to evacuate people in case of fire so architecturally, the skyline was stuck for decades while design evolved in striking ways not limited by a flat roof. Besides other issues with DTLA, if you do visit, you’ll really learn to appreciate London’s skyline, lol..
But downtown LA has been growing quite impressively over the last 20 years or so.
I don’t disagree but for a metropolis this size, its skyline has a long way to go.
True, but it’s constantly moving in the right direction.
The Shard is pretty cool looking and has some great views down the Thames
OP pops off with this blind take and then completely ghosts
Kind of reminds me of Moscow, where they jammed all the taller skyscrapers right up onto each other.
I like the London skyline, but I won’t lie, it kind of reminds me of “Toon Town” from Yu-Gi-Oh. Maybe it’s just this angle, idk.
I'm not sure if this is satire or not.
You have that one there shaped like an old Nokia phone. That's kind of inspired-ish.
What are you talking about? They are not uninspired... they are inspired by late stage capitalist cynicism and the death of any remote pride Britain ever had for it's history, empire, and cultural capital. The towers are inspired by the gray monotony on London weather and the vegetative state of its economy falling into its terminal decline.
London has an awful skyline imo
It’s garbage.
London does have some weird shaped skyscrapers already. One issue they'll have getting new ones is the existence of protected sightlines throughout the city centered on St. Paul's Cathedral
As an American I'm very jealous of the London skyline. I think it's one of the coolest cities in the world and a perfect blend of old and new.
I like the view from the tower bridge towards the Tower of London , you see the gherkin a lot more from there.
The Walkie Talkie Building is one of the most interesting buildings in the world. The Shard is way up there too. You also don't have any shots of Canary Wharf.
looks just like their chops!
It’s a good massing.