B B C notes

8/6/2019 B B C notes

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Ar B M Varun,

A compilation of B B C - Architecture notes

CONTAINS

1. British town planning2. Handrails3. John Smeaton4. Norman foster5. Renzo Piano6. St Pauls Cathedral7.

the story of cement

British Town Planning

This official British system for controlling building and use of

land was set up after 1945 to help bring back economic prosperity

to a country widely leveled by the Second World War. Today, it is

more often used as a political football; an excuse to get even withyour neighbors; a way of protecting the environment; a way of

legally despoiling the environment; and anything else you care to

make it do. Put simply, there are likely to be only two occasions

when you will become involved with the town planning system:

when you want to build on land, or when you want to prevent

someone else doing it.

Glossary

Town and Country Planning is a collection of legislation which

allows the state to control the development of land. This can

include anything from house extensions to airports, to changes of

use of your local newsagent to a kabab.


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DETR stands for the Department of the Environment and the

Regions and is the central government body that oversees the

Planning System.

Planning Departments will usually be found within the echoinghalls of local government offices (Councils) up and down the

country. Sometimes they are hidden in places like 'Environment

Directorate', 'Development Control', 'Environmental Services'

and other similar titles. This is the level at which development

plans are produced and that planning applications are considered,

giggled over and sometimes granted planning permission.

The Planning Officer is a troubled soul whose only consolation isthat Inland Revenue Officers and Journalists are hated more.

They will be found working for local councils preparing the plans

and dealing with the applications. Alternatively, they could be

working for private consultancy firms on behalf of developers or

private individuals.

A Planning Committee is a meeting of elected councilors of the

local council who are generally local politicians and make the mostwonderful, impartial, logical, fair and trustworthy decisions for

the greater good of the country. Ahem...

Development Plans come in many forms. The common ones include

the structure plan, which covers county or large city areas, and

the local plan, showing how housing, commercial and industrial

developments will be spread about either in general terms or

specific terms. These are documents about planning for fiveyears into the future, usually published five years late, using

ideas from ten years ago and trying to deal with the problems we

will meet in five years time. However cumbersome they are, they

are very important for deciding the fate of planning applications.


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Planning Applications are the way of obtaining planning permission

to undertake work on land. Most councils will keep a useful guide

to submitting these and you should not be afraid of talking to a

planning officer at your local council for advice.

Planning Permission is the formal record that what you wish to do

is legal. Not having one is a bad idea, especially after building that

dream home in the Cotswolds1. A planning refusal is the opposite,

but is also not good after building that house. They must contain

reasons for refusal so that you know precisely why you have been

turned down. You can appeal against the decision by referring the

matter to the DETR. Any refusal with the phrase 'detrimental to

the amenities of the area' should be referred back to theplanning officer with a request that they clarify this standard

response.

Common Questions

How do I find out what's happening in my area?

It's a common misconception that you have a right to know.Sorry, you don't. However, councils will be censured if they don't

adopt the best practice in at least trying to let the public know

that something is about to happen. So, read the boring bits of

your local paper usually titled 'Public Notices'. It is here that you

will find new development plan preparations published and it often

lists new planning applications received, giving you a set time to go

to the office, see the plans and comment accordingly. Some

councils will send individual letters to neighboring propertieswhereas others are developing websites to advertise applications.

If I go to the planning office, what can I see?
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Once in your local council office, you will be able to talk to a

pleasant receptionist who is obliged to show you at least two

pieces of information: a copy of the planning application form

which has the basic information on it about what its for and who

is making the application, and a copy of the plans and drawings

that accompanied it. Some councils will allow you to see other

information like copy letters. A few really good ones will let you

see the whole working file, warts and all.

How do I make my feelings known about what I've seen?

You can try writing down exactly what you think and why you feel

the development is a bad idea. Don't be surprised if you receive acourteous but bland letter in reply. Be assured your letter is read

but often lack of time for the staff prevents a more personal

response.

If you really want to object to their plans, try talking to your

local councilor, who may sympathize enough to speak on your

behalf at the committee. Many councils now allow time for you to

speak directly to the committee at the time of the meeting andwhen the decision is about to be made. Write to your MP in good

time so that they can respond. Write to the applicant to see if

they will change their plans, especially if a small change to them

will mean a big difference to you.

Anything I can do about the decision?

If you didn't like the decision and want it changed, generally

speaking, the answer is no. There is no right in this country for a

third party to appeal against a decision to grant planning

permission.


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If you think the council made a right mess of dealing with the

paperwork, try writing to the Local Government Ombudsman to

complain. Their address can be obtained from the Council or the

telephone book. It won't change the decision, but an order for

compensation to you if the complaint is upheld may be possible. If

you think the decision was reached unreasonably, a call for a

judicial review to the courts is possible within six weeks of the

decision. Obtain serious legal advice first though, as it can be

expensive. If you think there is a problem with the system, join

the Council for the Protection of Rural England, your local angry

residents association, Friends of the Earth or get elected to the

council.

HandrailsAlmost all of us encounter the handrail everyday - it's virtually

ubiquitous. From a simple piece of pipe mounted on the wall next

to a stair or ramp to a complex wrought iron structure preventing

falls from a balcony - handrails are diverse in their forms. A brief

glance at almost any magazine will find glossy advertisementsshowing a handsome couple with an exotic background separated

by a railing. Every style of architecture can be accented by the

type of railing used on a faade; sometimes they serve no purpose

other than decoration. In most cases they serve the important

function of preventing serious injury or death from falling.

Balustrades, Banisters and Newel Posts

One of the oldest forms of handrail is the balustrade, made from

cut stone or concrete. The continuous upper rail is supported by a

series of upright posts, the balusters. These are most often

shaped like a vase or urn. Castles, manor houses, museums and


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public buildings often have massive balustrades. Today there are

several modern materials that can be used to create a balustrade

without the cost and weight of real stone.

The term 'banister' is often used interchangeably with 'handrail',

although technically this only refers to stairways, and there is

some confusion on the exact meaning of the term. Traditionally

these were elaborately-carved wood grip-rails with a large column

at each end, topped with a decorative piece such as a ball. These

columns are the newel posts. Modern concern for safety and

access for the disabled make these designs impractical in most

new buildings. One of the best displays of banisters can be seenin Professor Henry Higgins's study in the movie My Fair Lady.

Another interesting feature is that many old mansions used the

upper floors to house the servants. Quite often you can see the

intricacy and quality of the handrails decrease in the upper floors

of these homes.

Building Codes

The design of almost every structure built today must meet

certain rules for safety. These include how much weight must be

supported, resistance to high winds and earthquake, and how

quickly a building can be evacuated in an emergency such as fire.

Access to persons with disabilities is also an important

consideration in modern building design. Every building code has

sections dealing with the two types of handrail, guard rails and

grip rails. As the building code requirements become morerestrictive, older structures are usually allowed to only comply

with the codes that existed when they were built: this is known

as a grandfather clause. When the building is renovated or its use

has changed these conditions must be replaced to meet current

codes. Some extremely hazardous conditions may need to be


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upgraded within a certain period of time. Before a building is

turned over to its owner, it must receive a 'Certificate of

Occupancy', where an inspector states that all the building codes

have been met.

Guard Rail

Guard rails, as their name implies, guard people from falling or

entering a dangerous area. Some obvious places where guard rails

are required are the open edge of balconies and stairways. Most

building codes require any drop of more than 30 inches to be

protected by a guard rail. Guard rails are usually required to be acertain height above the floor, such as 42 inches (1.07 metres),

and are designed so that a ball of a certain diameter can not be

passed through the rail, usually four inches (10 cm). The space, if

any, between the bottom member and the floor is often limited so

that items on the floor such as a discarded bottle can not be

accidentally kicked over the edge injuring people below; however

this is sometimes not used in cold climates where it might cause

an excessive accumulation of snow.

Grip-rail

Grip-rails are provided to allow a person to support their weight

in places such as stairs or ramps where tripping could be a

hazard. Nursing homes and hospitals often provide grip-rails along

the walls of every corridor and next to toilets and showers. Grip-

rails are required to be a certain size for easy gripping and to beplaced at a proper height, usually 34 inches (86 cm) above the

floor or line of stair treads. In multi-storey buildings the inside

grip-rails should be continuous so the a person can find their way

out by feel if their vision is impaired by smoke or a power failure.

They must terminate on the floor where there is access to the


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outside so nobody can accidentally find themselves trapped in a

basement. Sometimes a single rail will serve as both grip-rail and

guard-rail on a stair, or a separate grip rail may be mounted to

the guard-rail at a lower height. Buildings that serve small

children - such as infants' schools - often provide a second grip

rail at a lower height.

Styles and Materials

Handrails can be made of almost any building material including

wood, steel, iron, aluminum, brass, glass and any combinations of

these. As stated above the basic design of the building oftendictates the style of handrail used. A Mediterranean-style

building will almost certainly have thin metal railings, while a

modern design may use tempered glass panels topped with a round

tube of brass or stainless steel. The simplest type of handrail is

made from common pipes like those used by plumbers, whereas

others use tubes, either round, square or rectangular in section.

The only difference between round tube and pipe are in the way

they are measured: a 2-inch (5 cm) tube will have an outsidemeasurement of two inches, while a 2" pipe has a nominal inside

measurement of two inches.

One of the most common styles of guard-rail has a top rail

supported by posts, a bottom rail between the posts just above

the floor and a series of pickets running between top and bottom

rail to provide a barrier. Others consist of a series of horizontal

pipes or tubes between the posts. Although quite popular theserails can be used as ladders by small children and impaired adults

- thus defeating their intended purpose. Thick glass may be

mounted into the floor to provide a barrier and are usually topped

with some type of top rail. Panels of glass, metal or wood may be

used in place of the pickets mentioned above. Quite often


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sections of squares, diagonals or circles may be used to provide

an accent to the rail, but in all cases they must be placed close

enough together to meet the building code requirements.

Design Considerations

The first consideration in designing a handrail is of course the

safety requirements to obey the building code. Almost as

important are the ascetic requirements of the particular project

you are building. The now-popular sport of using handrails as

impromptu skateboard parks adds another challenge as how to

discourage this practice without defeating the intended purpose.

John Smeaton - the First Civil EngineerIt is contrary to the usual practice of professional men to give

their opinions upon each other's work unless regularly called upon

in the way of their profession.

- John Smeaton (1724 - 1792)

John Smeaton first described himself as a 'civil engineer' in

1768. In doing so, he identified a new profession that was

distinct from that of the military engineers who, since ancient

times, had undertaken the construction of all public

infrastructures. Thus, at the time, 'civil engineering'

encompassed all non-military engineering. Although in 1847, after

a frenzy of railway construction, mechanical engineering

bifurcated1 from civil engineering as an independent discipline.

An innovative and intelligent man, Smeaton remains one of

engineering's most revered professionals and is commonly

regarded as the father of the civil engineering profession.
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Butcher, Baker, Instrument-maker

The son of a Yorkshire lawyer, John Smeaton was born on 8 June,

1724, at Austhorpe Lodge in the parish of Whitkirk, four miles

east of Leeds, UK. Before his 16th birthday, while still at school,his precocious talent for engineering and use of mechanical tools

possessed him to assemble a turning-lathe. Upon leaving school in

1742, he worked briefly in his father's chambers in Westminster

Hall before persuading his father to allow him to follow some

mechanical profession, young John Smeaton having decided upon a

technical career.

Thus, Smeaton proceeded to become an instrument-maker - firstas an apprentice, until 1750, when he set up business on his own

and set about improving the instruments used for navigation and

astronomy. Between 1750 and 1755 his predilection for

mechanical appliances was evidenced by a number of papers that

were read before the Royal Society, of which he became a Fellow

in 1753, aged only 29.

Engineer

His research into windmills, watermills and other sources of

power resulted, in 1754, in a systematic set of scientific

experiments that made it clear that an overshot waterwheel2 is

more efficient than an undershot wheel3. In 1756, Smeaton made

a tour of the Low Countries where he studied the hydraulics of

canals.

Further, in 1759, Smeaton won the Royal Society's Copley Medal

for his paper An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Natural

Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills and Other Machines

Depending on Circular Motion, which addressed the relationship

between pressure and velocity for objects moving in air.
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Smeaton's research into the hydraulics of Dutch canals stood him

in good stead for his subsequent projects, which included the

construction of both the 21-mile long Calder and Hebble

Navigation, from the Aire and Calder Navigation at Wakefield to

Sowerby Bridge, and the 10-mile long Ripon Canal and River Ure

Navigation, from the centre of Ripon to Swale Nab, where the

rivers Ure and Swale form the Ouse.

However, it is for his work on the Forth and Clyde Canal, which

stretches across central Scotland from Grangemouth on the

River Forth to Bowling on the River Clyde, constructed between

1768 and 1790, that the canal engineer in Smeaton is best

remembered.

John Smeaton's impressive curriculum vitae also includes, among

many others, the following projects:

1762 - 1767 - Coldstream Bridge 1766 - 1771 - Bridge at Perth 1767 - 1768 - Pumps at London Bridge 1774 - 1775 - Steam-pump at the Chasewater Mine 1775 - 1780 - Aberdeen Bridge 1776 - 1873 - Retention basin at Ramsgate Harbour 1777 - 1780 - Hexham Bridge 1788 - 1792 - Ramsgate Harbour jetty

Smeaton's Legacy

Today, having coined the term, Smeaton remains one of civil

engineering's heavyweights - the breadth and depth of his

influence are phenomenal. As the prototype for a flurry of like-

minded 19th Century engineers (eg Henry Palmer, Thomas

Telford, the Brunels) Smeaton, in his career, designed the first

successful Eddystone Lighthouse, he greatly improved on
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Newcomen's steam engine, he designed windmills, watermills,

canals and bridges as well as pumps, ports, mines and jetties.

John Smeaton died on the 28 October, 1792, after he suffered a

stroke while walking in the garden of his family home atAusthorpe. His enduring legacy is more than the engineering

works, some of which remain as monuments to the great man

himself. Not only is he widely regarded as the founder of the civil

engineering profession, but his methods of construction site

management and supervision are still in use today. John Smeaton

clearly understood that managing people correctly was as

important as design and construction.

Stone, wood and iron are wrought and put together by mechanical

methods, but the greatest work is to keep right the animal part

of the machinery.

- John Smeaton

Indeed, it was Smeaton's desire that practicing professional

engineers should dine together - so that they might get to know

one another better and thereby avoid potential hostility thatmight arise in their public dealings - that spawned the formation

of the Society of Civil Engineers in March 1771. The Society met

fortnightly at the King's Head in Holborn, and encouraged

'conversation, argument and social communication of ideas and

knowledge'.

While the Society remains as a social society today (since 1830

under the mantel of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers), itis probably true that the concept of co-operation in competition

between engineers led to the founding in 1818 of the Institution

of Civil Engineers.


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1 It branched away from.2 One operated by water moving the wheel by the force of its

weight.3 One that operates through the action of the flow of water

against blades in the wheel.

Norman Foster - Architect

Few contemporary architects could be described as household

names, but then few architects have had such long and prolific

careers, or have put their name to so many high-profile building

projects, as Norman Foster.

Norman Robert Foster was born in Manchester in June 1935, and

grew up in the working class neighbourhood of Levenshulme. He

was naturally gifted and performed well at school. At the same

time he took an interest in architecture, particularly in the works

of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 - 1959) and the Modernist master

Le Corbusier1. He considered a career in architecture from an

early age, but National Service and a number of rather mundane

day jobs intervened. While working in the contracts departmentof a small Manchester-based firm of architects (John Beardshaw

& Partners), however, his sketching talents were spotted, and he

soon moved into the drawing department.
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Foster did not need much more encouragement than that. At 21

years of age he began his architectural studies at Manchester

University. Lacking in neither the attitude nor the aptitude to

succeed, he won practically every prize and scholarship available.

A number of these enabled him to visit Europe and take in its

architecture, including the works of Jrn Utzon (the Danish-born

architect and designer of the Sydney Opera House) and Le

Corbusier.

Foster's academic successes at Manchester won him a Henry

Fellowship to pursue graduate studies at Yale University, USA.

There he met Richard Rogers and they began a life-long

friendship. After graduating from Yale, Foster travelledthroughout the United States for a year, and returned to England

in 1962.

He began professional practice, forming Team 4 with Richard

Rogers and Wendy and Georgie Cheesman, two sisters who were

also Yale alumni. Richard Rogers' first wife Su was also a member

of the team. Wendy Cheesman later became Foster's first wife2.

Professional Practice

Team 4's output began with a number of small and ecologically

concerned residential projects, but it was the 30,000 sq ft

Reliance Controls factory (Swindon, UK, 1965-66) which made

their name. This was essentially just a large steel shell containing

a vast amount of flexible space. Yet it was a turning-point: the

earliest example of the use of lightweight construction andindustrial components, the so-called 'High Tech Architecture'

which would form the basis of both Foster's and Rogers' work,

and that of a great many of their peers, over the coming decades.
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In 1967 the members of Team 4 went their separate ways.

Richard Rogers went on to collaborate with Renzo Piano on the

Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Norman and Wendy formed Foster

Associates, now known as Foster & Partners. 1968 saw the

beginning of a long period of collaboration with the American

architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, which continued until

Fuller's death in 1983. Foster and Fuller worked together on the

Samuel Beckett Theatre project, and on a number of theoretical

designs aimed at developing environmentally friendly offices and

houses. While these designs remain unrealised, this period of

collaboration continues to inform Foster's architecture to this

day, and provided inspiration for the office tower at 30 St MaryAxe in the City of London, the UK's first-ever ecological

skyscraper.

Breaking New Ground

An important early breakthrough for Foster's own practice was

the Willis Faber & Dumas headquarters in Ipswich, UK. This was a

pioneering piece of social architecture completed in 1974. The

client was an insurance company, originally a family firm, whichwanted to restore a sense of community to the workplace. Foster

responded by creating open-plan office floors long before open-

plan became the norm. In a town not over-endowed with public

facilities, the roof gardens, Olympic-sized swimming pool and

gymnasium greatly enhance the quality of life of the company's

1200 employees. All this is wrapped in a full-height glass facade

which moulds itself to the medieval street plan and contributes

real drama, subtly shifting from opaque, reflective black to a

glowing backlit transparency as the sun sets.

Foster remains proud of the building to this day, not only because

it has won as many awards for energy conservation as it has for

architecture, but also because he sees this as the project where
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all his aspirations came together: the concept of the building in

relation 'to history, to a social dimension, to energy usage, and to

the appropriate usage of technology'3. The building is now Grade

One Listed4.

A Major Talent

Foster was able to bring fresh creativity and innovation to a

building type long thought to have been fully investigated by

other architects. This was proof positive that a major talent had

arrived, and led to further commissions.

Among these was the 50-storey Hong Kong and Shanghai Bankheadquarters (Hong Kong, 1979-86), at the time rumoured to be

the most expensive building ever constructed. The building was

innovative in that whereas a traditional skyscraper would be built

outwards from a central solid core, Foster placed the load-

bearing masts and struts on the exterior of the building. This

allows the central space to serve as a vertical daylit atrium,

providing natural light and considerable drama to each office

floor. The concept was so successful that Foster re-usedelements of it in the designs for the Commerzbank headquarters

in Frankfurt, the earthquake-proof Century Tower in Tokyo, and

the hypothetical Millennium Tower once proposed for the site of

the bombed Baltic Exchange in the City of London.

The City of London

The Millennium Tower remained little more than a pipe-dream -

400-metre towers simply do not get built in the City - yet

Foster's impact on the skyline and cityscape of London is

considerable.
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The Baltic Exchange site was used for the 180-metre Swiss Re

Insurance headquarters at 30 St Mary Axe. This is Foster's

second-tallest building in London after the 200-metre HSBC

tower at Canary Wharf. Foster & Partners have also put their

name to mid-rise office developments at One London Wall, 100

Wood Street, and 50 Finsbury Square. They designed City Hall -

the Mayor of London's new offices - along with a further office

development directly adjacent to Tower Bridge. They co-designed

the London Millennium Bridge with engineer Chris Wise and the

eminent sculptor Sir Anthony Caro, and are currently working on

the Wembley Stadium redevelopment in collaboration with HOK

Sport.The Reichstag, Berlin

Foster's work has by no means been confined to the British Isles.

Perhaps the most prestigious commission completed to date was

the rebuilding of the Reichstag - the German parliament building

in Berlin. This was part conservation project, part new build, and

an inherently emotive and sensitive challenge.

The original building dates from 1884. It had been ravaged by

fire and by war, and remained forlorn and neglected until the

decision was made to relocate the German parliament from Bonn

to Berlin during the 1990s. Foster rose to the challenge in style,

successfully preserving the original exterior, the 19th Century

frescoes and the Soviet-era paintings, while creating an entirely

new interior suitable for housing the parliament of a nation far

into the 21st Century.

True to Foster's ongoing dedication to 'green' architecture, the

finished building is entirely energy self-sufficient, burning only

renewable fuels such as rapeseed oil to provide both heating and

electricity, and storing excess heat deep below ground in summer,
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ready for use in winter. The new parliament is crowned with an

enormous glass dome, which simultaneously makes historical

reference to the building's original 76-metre dome, and acts as

an evocative symbol of democracy. The dome is accessible to the

public, and the German people are welcome to enter and to gaze

out across their city or down from the helical access ramps into

the main chamber, to watch their parliament in session. This is

the embodiment of symbolic transparency, accessibility and

democracy - identical principles to those underlying Foster &

Partners' work at City Hall in London.

The Present Day

Today Foster & Partners are one of the very largest

architectural practices in the world, employing roughly 500

people. They maintain offices in Hong Kong and Berlin, along with

their headquarters on the South Bank of the Thames next to

Battersea Park - the studio itself being a Foster creation. The

firm's output is phenomenal and shows no sign of abating.

As quickly as the buildings roll out, the honours and awards roll in.Foster was knighted in 1990, and in 1993 was awarded the

prestigious Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British

Architects. In 1998 his American Air Museum building at

Duxford, UK, was awarded the Stirling Prize, while in 1999 he

became both a Pritzker Laureate and a Life Peer, assuming the

title of Lord Foster of Thames Bank.

Of course, in a practice with such a prolific turnover of projects,it would be unrealistic to expect one man to design each and

every building the firm creates. Despite his talents, Norman

Foster is no exception, and these days is content to oversee the

work of his team and his senior partners5.
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Foster ceaselessly travels the world, frequently in aircraft

piloted by himself, casting a watchful eye over the numerous

projects which the practice has on the go at any one time. His

influences, his ambition to reduce energy consumption, and his

determination to utilise cutting-edge technology in order to

create the finest buildings possible, continue to inform every

piece of work the practice completes.

1 Pseudonym of Charles Edouard Jeanneret, the Swiss-born

architect and artist (1887 - 1965).2 Reports of this period are frequently confused, and often

incorrectly imply that Su Rogers was the fourth partner. GeorgieCheesman, the only fully-qualified architect at the very beginning,

left after only a couple of months, but the Team 4 name was kept.31999 Pritzker Prize Monograph, Sir Norman Foster.4 Valuable and historic buildings in the UK are often 'listed' by

the Department of National Heritage, with the intention of

ensuring that the architectural and historic interest of the

building is carefully considered before any alterations are made.

Grade 1 is the highest listing, reserved for buildings defined as

being of exceptional interest.5 For example, City Hall and 30 St Mary Axe were ostensibly

designed by senior partner Ken Shuttleworth, and most of the

Great Court at the British Museum by Spencer de Grey.
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Renzo Piano - ArchitectWe build with love.

- Renzo Piano

If built, the London Bridge Tower - a 1016 foot (310m) 'shard of

glass'1 designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano2 and rising

directly above London Bridge station - would be by far the

tallest, and perhaps the most immediately identifiable building in

Europe. Many cities would jump at the chance, but this is London.

Protected views and the 'heritage' lobby are given at least as

much credence as civic regeneration and economic development.

As a result, such a proposal is guaranteed to generate

controversy. Londoners would be justified in asking therefore,

just who is this man who would build Europe's tallest skyscraper

in our city?
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A Life in Architecture

Born in Genoa, Italy in September 1937, the young Renzo

practically grew up on construction sites. The son of a successful

builder, Piano studied architecture at the University of Florenceand at Milan Polytechnic, while simultaneously working in the

family business.

He graduated in 1964 and founded Studio Piano the following year

with the support of his father. Between 1971 and 1978 he worked

in partnership with Richard Rogers and it was during this period

that both Piano and Rogers were catapulted into the international

spotlight, as co-architects of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Atonce shocking, controversial and yet genuinely elegant, Pompidou

was a moment of enlightenment, quite literally redefining many

people's concept of architecture overnight.

A lengthy and illustrious partnership with the engineer Peter Rice

followed, initially as Piano & Rice Associates, and later through

Piano's own practice, the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Today,

the Building Workshop boasts an exemplary portfolio of projectscompleted over more than 20 years and employs around 100

staff, with offices in Genoa, Paris and Berlin.

An Exemplary Portfolio

Pompidou was revolutionary in that all services - pipes, elevators,

ventilation ducts - are banished to the exterior, leaving the

internal spaces as free and as flexible as possible. The result is

an unorthodox and uncompromising exterior aesthetic which,

perhaps not surprisingly, created a flurry of controversy. While

Rogers took this idea to its literal extremes with his famous

Lloyd's Building (City of London, 1986), for Renzo Piano it became
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merely one aspect of the architectural language he was to employ

over the coming years.

The Building Workshop's Menil Collection (Houston, 1986) is an

elegant counterpoint to the high-tech of Pompidou. It is a galleryand study centre, clad in clapboard and utilising a roof of ferro-

concrete 'leaves' which allow the maximum of natural light to

enter while fending off the direct rays of the merciless Texas

sun. The Menil Collection provided a contemplative environment

for the study of artworks, and demonstrated the extent to which

Piano's style had matured in the decade since the completion of

the Centre Pompidou.

A great many high-profile and diverse commissions followed

including the 41-storey Aurora Place in Sydney, a wind tunnel for

Ferrari and AS Bari's San Nicola Stadium. Arguably the Building

Workshop's most ambitious project to date is the Kansai

International Airport terminal, built on an artificial island in

Osaka Bay, Japan. Stretching 1.7 kilometres - quite probably the

longest building ever constructed - and with a vast, sweeping roof

clad in stainless steel panelling, this is a truly beautiful structureand a remarkable feat of engineering. Peter Rice did not live to

see the project completed, but Kansai serves as a wonderful

climax to, and a fitting legacy of, this period of collaboration.

Renzo Piano's creativity continued to reach new heights with the

Tjibaou Cultural Centre on the small South Pacific island of New

Caledonia. The last of Franois Mitterand'sgrands projets(and

therefore the product of a colonial government) this was asensitive commission. Piano responded in style, basing his

structure around lofty, soaring, wooden shells which evoke native

building traditions and integrate almost organically with the

landscape. Rarely, if ever, is architecture so romantic and yet so

subtle.
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From Pompidou to New Caledonia

From Pompidou to New Caledonia, Piano's style is remarkable for

its broad heterogeneity. There are common factors, such as

extensive use of natural lighting, frequently exposed structuralcomponents, and a determination to combine cutting-edge

technology with local traditions and materials. Yet the fact

remains that no two of his buildings look the same. This is

because each single project is approached as exactly that: a

unique challenge. For Piano, creating a building which is right for

its users, for its location and for the local community is just as

important as placating his fee-paying clients.

This is entirely consistent with the man's natural humility and

humanity: there is a warmth which shows through in his buildings.

His ability to create built environments of vast scale and which

cope with enormous numbers of people - stadia, basilicas, airport

terminals - and yet which empower rather than marginalize the

individual is a strength all too rarely found among his peers.

Piano is characteristically understanding about Londoners'scepticism surrounding the London Bridge Tower. After all, our

existing tall buildings are closed, hostile and usually very ugly

office towers, machines for making money out of us and keeping

us at arm's length. Renzo Piano, however, is no ordinary architect,

and the London Bridge Tower would be no ordinary office block.

In fact less than half of the floors will be given over to office

space. The architect talks of public accessibility, sky gardens,

and a peace chapel 260 metres up in the sky, not to mention acornerstone of the ongoing economic and urban regeneration of

Southwark, widely considered to be one of central London's

shabbiest neighbourhoods until very recently. In describing his

plans, Piano's vocabulary speaks volumes: words such as

'democratic', 'dreams' and 'love' abound.


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Conclusions

Now well into his late sixties, Renzo Piano is as busy as ever, and

the talents of the Building Workshop are in constant demand,

with Piano finding it necessary to turn down 'more or less a job aday'3. The decades of outstanding work have been honoured

around the world, with Piano having been awarded the Royal

Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal, the American

Pritzker Prize and the Cavalieri di Gran Croce in his native Italy,

among numerous other prestigious awards.

Renzo Piano is unquestionably regarded as one of the very finest

architects in the world and one of few living architects who couldbe described as a 'Master' without fear of promptly being taken

to task. Long may he continue.

1 Renzo Piano's own words.2 Pronounced 'Rent-zo Pee-ar-no'.3The Guardian, Friday 29 March, 2002

St Paul's Cathedral (from 1666AD), London, UK

The present St Paul's Cathedral is at least the fourth to occupyits site on Ludgate Hill; the first cathedral dedicated to St Paul

was built in 640AD. As the cathedral of the capital city of the

UK, it is considered the spiritual home of the nation, and is where

many major events are celebrated.
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Sir Christopher Wren had been approached to draw up plans to

refurbish St Paul's Cathedral in 1663. The cathedral was in a very

sorry state after years of Puritan neglect - Cromwell's troops

had stabled their horses there, and it had become a place for

'after-dark entertainment'. His advice - to demolish it and start

again - was not considered to be acceptable. Other plans he came

up with were also dismissed until one week before the Great Fire

of London when one was finally approved. A week later the only

option was to demolish the remains of the colossal Norman

Cathedral and rebuild and so Wren had to go back to the drawing

board. His ideas meant a total change of architectural style.

Planning St Paul's

Wren came up with a number of plans before one was finally

approved (again). The rejected designs included an equilateral

Greek Cross ground plan and a plan which he built as a model at a

cost of three times his annual architect's fee, reducing him to

tears. In 1675 he finally gained the royal warrant to start

building, which gave him leeway to 'make some variations rather

ornamental than essential'. He used this leeway to make somechanges which would not have been approved, but since it had

taken over a decade to finally gain permission to start after being

first approached, who can blame him? He shortened the nave and

changed the planned steeple to the now famous dome - something

that wasn't considered appropriate for English cathedrals.

The old walls were demolished with gunpowder and battering

rams, and the first stone of the new building was laid in thesummer of 1675. The final stone was not laid until 35 years later,

by Wren's son when he placed the highest stone of the lantern

upon the cupola of the cathedral in the presence of his father to

mark its completion.
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Normally structures such as St Paul's would be built section by

section from the east, opening each completed area as they went.

Wren was concerned that rising costs would cause the project to

be aborted, or that he would be pressured to scale down his

designs so he built the entire building from the ground up, rather

like a child building a Lego house. This also allowed him to keep his

plans to build a dome secret until it was too late. Due to the way

it was built, none of the building could be used before 1697, and

he didn't get away with it entirely; half of his fees were held

back so that on completion he had to petition the monarch for

payment.

Numbers

The building costs were met by a levy on coal which also financed

the rebuilding of other public edifices. St Paul's had nearly half

of all money raised, 750,000, although as the cathedral wasn't

complete until 1710 the cost was spread over half a century.

The Cathedral is 515 feet long including the portico but not the

steps. The interior is 479 feet long. The transepts1

from door todoor are 250 feet. The nave and aisles are only 102 feet. Height

from the pavement to the top of the cross is 365 feet. The inner

dome is 225 feet high with a diameter of 102 feet. The western

towers are 221 feet in height. The golden ball on the top of the

dome is six feet in diameter (with room inside for ten people).

The statue of Queen Anne which stands outside the west front

shows which monarch ruled England at the time the cathedral wasfinally finished in 1710. This statue is not the original that was

erected in 1712 and made by Francis Bird, but an exact (though

some say inferior) replica made by Richard Belt in 1886 as the

original had become dilapidated. The ladies around the base of

the statue represent England, France, Ireland and North
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America, as at that time Anne considered herself to be queen of

them all.

The original Carrara marble statue of Anne and four ladies-in-

waiting was given to Augustus Hare, a writer of travel guides toLondon and Rome who had paid for Belt's version. He moved it to

his home in Holmhurst St Mary, Sussex.

During the Blitz in September 1940 raiders dropped a landmine

which lodged beneath the south-west tower of St Paul's. As

Winston Churchill had declared that 'the cathedral must be

preserved at all costs'every effort possible was made to save it.

It took two demolition engineers three days to dig out (a featwhich won them the George Cross) and when it was detonated on

Hackney Marshes it made a crater 100 feet across. In December

the same year the dome caught fire during a raid and the

Cathedral fire watch quickly dealt with it. Another incendiary

burnt through the roof and fell inside where it could be

smothered safely.

Services

The Cathedral is still a 'working church'. A full list of daily

services and special events is listed on the official website. It is

possible to get married, or have your children baptised there, but

only if you are the holder of a very short list of British Orders

and decorations.

How to get there

St Paul's is in the City of London and is near to the Thames. It is

on a roughly triangular site, with Ludgate Hill at the west (top) of

the triangle, Cannon Street to the south and the junction of

Cheapside and Newgate Street to the north. The closest bridge
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across the Thames is the Millennium Bridge, directly south of the

cathedral.

The nearest London Underground station is St Paul's on the

Central Line, a five-minute walk from the Cathedral. Other localstations include Mansion House, Cannon Street and Blackfriars

stations which are on the District and Circle Line and are slightly

further away. There are six bus routes running past the

Cathedral with convenient stops, and another two in nearby

Newgate Street, so it is easy to get to from many places.

Free Visiting and Charges

Although services are free, visiting the Cathedral as a tourist

does incur a charge (see their website for current charges). It is

open from Monday to Saturday from 8.30am until the last

admission at 4pm. Members of the public are allowed in at no

charge for quiet reflection and prayer outside of services, but

movements within the Cathedral are restricted. It may close to

visitors at short notice for special events.

Attractions

The Dome

A marvel of engineering, the walls and eight pillars support a

dome weighing 64,000 tons. It is made of wood with a thin

covering of lead. Because it is so large and heavy, its weight would

have pushed out the walls that supported it, so Wren came up

with the idea of putting a giant chain into the material to preventthe walls from collapsing. He also created three domes, to lessen

the weight. This meant that he could make the outer dome the

size he wanted, without adding to the weight.
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The inner dome is built of wood, to keep the weight down as much

as possible. The middle 'dome' is a supportive cone-shaped

skeleton made of wooden rafters - it wasn't solid to further save

weight. The outer dome is a protective skin of lead.

Galleries

Whispering Gallery - the most famous of the galleries and the

only one on the inside, it has been described as one of the most

amazing acoustical oddities in the world, although the official St

Paul's website is slightly less enthusiastic and calls it a 'charming

quirk.' Whispers heard on one side of the gallery can be heard on

the other side. Some people have trouble making it work, so hereis some advice from a visitor.

It only works if you whisper, not if you talk. Lots of people try

speaking normally and are disappointed. Even then, you have to

talk in a 'loud whisper'. The guys who work in the place (deacons?)

often give demonstrations.

You have to put your mouth less than six inches from the wall, andthe listener should have their ear within six inches of the wall.

The best place to speak is in one of the doorways, because you

can put your mouth right at the wall without actually touching it.

Stone Gallery - 378 steps up to the top, this gallery is on the

outside of the dome.

Golden Gallery - the highest point of the outer dome and the

smallest gallery, visitors have to walk up 530 steps in total to

reach this gallery. The panoramic views from the top are well

worth the climb.

The Crypt


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The crypt is one of the largest in Europe, so large that it is

possible to hold corporate dinners and receptions there2. Some of

the most famous people in Britain have been buried in St Paul's.

They include:

John Donne, a Dean of St Paul's, was buried in the crypt in1631. His is the only monument from 'old St Paul's' to

survive the Great Fire of London. Scorch marks can still be

seen on the urn on which his statue is standing.

Admiral Lord Nelson. Duke Of Wellington. His 12-ton funeral carriage was given

model horses and was erected at the west end of the Crypt

in 1855. It stayed there until the early 1980s when it wasremoved to the family seat at Stratfield Saye.

Sir Christopher Wren is also buried here, in a very plaingrave. On the wall at the head of his tomb is a plain

inscription, in Latin, arranged by his son. It translates as If

you seek his monument, look around you. Wren himself had

not wanted a memorial at all.

Fascinating Facts

Wren once said I build for eternity. As St Paul's preparesfor its 300th anniversary his words have not been proved an

empty boast.

The usual view of St Paul's is from Ludgate Hill, approachingfrom the west, but the best view is from the Millennium

Bridge. This is the view the Wren had each morning as he

was ferried across from his house over the river. A strange statue by Edward Bainbridge Copal, erected in

1973, is permanently falling to the ground outside among the

bushes along the cathedral's south side. The statue is of St

Thomas Becket, the 40th Archbishop of Canterbury

murdered on Henry II's orders.
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The nearby London Underground station St Paul's wasoriginally to be named Newgate Street but opened as Post

Office in July 1900. It was changed to St Paul's in February

1937.

Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married in StPaul's in 1981. This was unusual because Westminster Abbey

was the more traditional venue for royal weddings.

The major cleaning project of St Paul's began in 2003. Thewest front of the cathedral was totally covered by

scaffolding, hanging from which was one of the largest

prints ever seen in London - the covered parts of St Paul's

had been faithfully reproduced. The cover was made of PVCto withstand sun and rain and was removed in 2005. The

dome has also been cleaned, along with all the stonework,

gilding, mosaics and sculptures. In total, 15,000 square

metres of stone has been cleaned. It was all financed by a

single donation of 10.8 million.

1 The 'cross-arms' of the church which help to stabilise the

weight over the crossing by providing lateral thrust against it.2 Check the official website for more information.

THE STORY OF CEMENT

It's more than likely that you don't think about cement very

much at all, even though it sticks most of the urban environment

together. It must surely be one of the most taken for granted

man-made products around. It's a grey powder that is mixed with

sand and water to make a mortar that's perfect for bonding
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bricks and stones together. It's also mixed with sand, water and

aggregates to make concrete.

Once Upon a Time, Far, Far Away...

... In Mesopotamia, the dressed stones used for buildings were

sometimes stuck together with lime mortars. Lime is simply made

by heating up limestone to drive out the water, then the stone is

ground to a powder. Later sand is added for extra strength and is

mixed with water to form a paste that slowly hardens. The

ancient Greeks and Egyptians continued this practice (yes, The

Pyramids are stuck together with a mortar that uses lime as a

cement).

More Recent Ancient Times

The Romans later found that adding clay to the lime mortar made

it set quicker and it formed a strong material. They also found

that adding volcanic ash (a silicate material) had the same effect.

However, many of the Roman methods were lost through the

ages, but all round the world lime continued to be used as acement. Some of these small-scale producers will surely have

included clay and other materials to add strength and to control

the setting, much as the Romans had done.

Let's Blame Napoleon

In the mid-18th Century, an English engineer, Smeaton, was

commissioned to build a lighthouse on the partially-submerged

rocks 14 miles off the coast of Plymouth, England. In his effortto build a longer-lasting structure, he took great care in selecting

his lime from the many varieties available and he re-introduced

the Roman practise of adding a silicaceous material. His

Eddystone Lighthouse was so successful that the progress of
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cement went ahead apace with many people experimenting by

adding different materials and types of lime.

However, these lime-based silicate cements and the mortars that

were used were not very strong and took a long time to set. Asthe Napoleonic era began, at the end of the 18th Century, there

was a demand for the quick construction of strong buildings for

the military, such as forts, harbours and barracks. The French,

the British and engineers in many other countries were building

furiously for their armies and navies and great rewards were in

prospect for anyone finding a material that would enable faster

building work and stronger structures.

Cement Stones

As the 18th Century came to a close, a type of limestone was

discovered that contained naturally the right amount of clay.

When these special 'cement stones' were fired in the same way

as traditional lime, they produced a cement that was strong and

fast-setting. These 'natural cements' were first found as single,

unattached rocks or 'nodules' on the Isle of Sheppey in the UKand near Bordeaux in France. Similar rocks were soon found

elsewhere around the coasts of England, France, Russia and

Germany and cements made from them were a great and

immediate commercial success. Very soon other deposits of

suitable limestones were found, and mines opened up to exploit

the deposits, notably in New York State, where the mine owners

were able to supply the construction of the fast-growing city of

New York using the purpose-built Hudson and Delaware Canalsystem.

A Whole Load of Different Cements
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Deposits of suitable limestone were not always so conveniently

located and the rush was on to manufacture an artificial material

to compete with natural cements. Working in France for the

military, Vicat was among the first to come up with a method of

mixing clay and limestone to the right proportions and he also

discovered the correct firing temperature for the mixture. He

was instrumental in setting up the first cement factory near Paris

in 1816. Very early in the 1820s English and German engineers and

scientists developed similar methods and it was an Englishman,

Aspdin, who first used the name 'Portland' Cement because of

the similarity in colour of this latest version of cement to the

Portland stone of Dorset in England, used for a lot ofconstruction work at the time.

Ordinary Portland Cement

From the 1820s to the 1880s there existed thousands of small

factories producing different types of natural cement, artificial

portland cement and limes, each with its own characteristics of

strength, setting time and colour.

In the 1860s there was another landmark change in the history of

cement. Instead of using the traditional vertical kilns of the lime

industry, manufacturers began using a new rotating horizontal

kiln, which enabled higher burning temperatures and a consistent

product. The cement produced using this method was much

stronger and faster-setting than its predecessors, and could be

produced to much tighter quality standards. It also required a

much greater capital investment, a circumstance which mitigatedagainst many small traditional family firms in favour of larger

companies. By the 1920s this new Ordinary Portland Cement had

by far the greater part of the market, and is the root of the

modern family of materials that we blithely call cement,


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