Posted: Nov 1, 2009, 6:49 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 42
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The pictures are excellent and stunning. Congratulations to the "author". First-rate work! Captured the essence of London most well.
But let me just make a statement. One often hears this "the world's greatest city" - mostly from Londoners, which is always kind of self-defeating. As I wanna believe that this is a democratic forum I wish to explain myself why I say and hold this view (I would've stayed mum were itnot for the proliferating "world's greatest city which asks for a response.)
I have spent a month in London, and probably go back there for work - in an admin office before the end of the year.
London is actually one of the greatest cities on earth. One of the greatest in its history, size (at least in Europe), diversity, heterogenity, multiculturalism (which is a smear-word for me), financial influnce - in this letter it's almost secong to none.
What London is not the "greatest" - far from it - is its phisical appearence (I am on the opinion, like it or not that it is an ugly place for me - and some others - especially IF one thinks about Paris, Rome, Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona or Prague. I intentionally left out budapest precisely because I want to avoid even he appearance of being biased, though I would run the risk of adding it to the list. (The chief architecture of Budapest actually told us on a discussion that Budapest's skyline panorama is a Beethoven symphony compared to London. I thoughtabout that after and I had to agree.)
London is a hodge-podge of a cavalcade of styles, forms and types. This is its strongest suite, perhaps even its very essense. It's extremely heterogenuous, much more than the places mentioned above. But it's not, nevr has been, and never will be BEAUTIFUL, charming or attractive by its beauty. If you see it carefully you can spot the immense concrete slab towers all over the place, the office blocks everywhere, places where they do not have nothing to look for. Prime example is the city and the more eastern part of the downtown. I suppose these were built b/c the Blitz did immense damage in the city and new building were called for. but it's stull ugly. You can't help thinking why on earth had to erect just a couple of hundreds meter from the Parliament and Victoria tower a 110 m skyscraper down the line on the Thamesbank. Or just take a look opposite side of the river and see the Shell tower. These are two examples. There are dozens. I don't even want to tell anything about the London Eye. It's a wonderful project put in the worst place imaginable. "It's more than a crime, it's a mistake." There are hundreds. Almost the whole ciy is f***** up because of this. Just look at the skyline, look at Barbican almost immediately behind St. Paul's, look at the view of St. Paul from Blackfriars bridge just blocked by a glazed office block. Horrible... Just look at the mess immediately behind the Tower of London or the concrete hotel of an abomination on the nortern bank right beside the truely astonishing and beautiful Tower Bridge (virtually the only creature I am fond of besides the Russell Square red-brick neo-gothic magic hotel and the Parliament perhaps). Simon Jenkis, an ex-Times columnist (now working at the Guardian) agrees with me. These immense wounds on the city would "never have been done in Paris or many other places." I think the exact same. And I think not just him. This doesn't mean for a second that London doesn't have many beautiful quarters and streets, parks, gardens and places separately. But all in all, put everything it just doesn't make it to the level of Paris, Rome or Madrid or Barca even if - correctly and justifiably - you reposte with the line that London is a wholly different chracter - which is to a great deal true. Still...
And yes, I spoke to other foreigners on Waterloo bridge who didn't really find the city as "beautiful". Of course it still could be a great city, but greatest? Please...
So, yes in some sense London could be great and one of the greatest. The greatest actually? What about New York, Paris, Rome, Sydney, Rio or Madrid? Only if one who makes it is hell-bent of triggering a chuckle or a bittersweet smile. Sorry. I hope the moderators won't censor me as a troublemaker. Frankly, nothing could be further from me concerning my intentions...
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