Lost in space - Frankfurt 1998

When the traveller arrives from sunny Birmingham to arrive at its twin town, Frankfurt after flying through the turbulence, the Boeing 737 descends into Germany on a decidedly grey day to arrive at the even greyer airport. I think we really touched down in Dusseldorf and drove to Frankfurt, the runway was so long! The German organisation takes the traveller from the plane, straight onto a walkway towards Baggage Retrieval.Walking between a forest of grey steel columns, on a shiny grey tiled floor, past grey metal panelling, beneath grey steel roof beams and cladding, and past grey glazing. Following grey signs, efficiently written in German and English, the unsuspecting traveller arrives onto the main concourse at Frankfurt Airport, the grey signs inform them that there are two Baggage Retrieval areas to choose from. Unfortunately the grey signs do not tell travellers which gate they arrive at or that there are indeed two terminals or which one they are in. So choosing Baggage retrieval areas becomes a bit of a challenge. On asking a security guard, who was not dressed in grey! And looked like Thor, the Norse Thunder God, as depicted in Douglas Adams’ Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. Thor says that he speaks very little English then proceeds in in perfect English to give directions involving going upstairs to 'Baggage Retrieval E'. Already being on the top floor, and reading Thor's directions as meaning downstairs and descending some stairs, well it was actually a stationary escalator, into a totally deserted passport control area, except for Thor's mate. Thor's mate who also looks like Thor was standing outside some kind of grey sentry box, and speaking even better English than Thor and being most helpful. The German Security Guard is decidedly military in appearance, dressed in dark green flat cap with red band, khaki shirt, dark green trousers with red belt, and black boots. It is the automatic rifle that gives it away. The sentry box has a khaki coloured telephone that Thor II was using at the time to speak in German to his comrade to find out how it is possible to not benefit from Germany's fabled hyper efficient organisation. An inspection of the tickets confirms that this is indeed the wrong place, actually the wrong terminal, and should go to 'Baggage Retrieval D.' So it's back up or is it down? the stationary escalator. Past tonnes of grey steel, this Fosteresque approach is all very well but could do with a bit of colour here and there. Through passport control, more sentry boxes and a very stringent, efficient look at my passport, and through to a dormant conveyor belt. Where there was an architectural model. This model at Birmingham's Eurohub, airport, was the right way up when the passport-control-baggage-checking-in-type-of-female-person placed 'FRAGILE' stickers on the top. But was sitting on the conveyor in a definitely inverted position which after following Thor's directions this was not exactly a surprise. On passing countless dormant baggage carousels, walking onto the final dead carousel to retrieve baggage, it just had to be the last one.  This grey monster of a building, is extremely large and significantly under-populated. Maybe Frankfurt is anticipating a huge influx of trade in the future. So eventually passing through some automatic sliding doors to be greeted with the anticipated questions about not being able to find our way out of the grey steel maze?

 Why we didn't use the 'Skytrain'?

'What Skytrain?'

From the Air

This is a post that was written a year ago whilst working on a major urban development project in Pakistan and getting to grips with the complexity of the project which is essentially the planning of a city the size of Dubai, as the intensity of the project eases off for a while, there is a small window to reflect on the experience and what is being asked of the team, here is one from one of those rare occasions that on a flight out of Pakistan when it is daylight and I actually have a clear view out of the window, and what a view! 

Most of the fellow travellers on the flight want to sleep the whole way, which results in many annoying requests from the airline staff asking me to close the shutter on the window, which are all politely refused, and this is what they are all missing. 

As the ageing airliner ascends from Lahore, over the Ravi River and the agricultural lands punctuated with sometimes quite large organic developments, the landscape gradually becomes less fertile as the fields give way to rock outcroppings, that become the foothills of the Himalaya as the territory changes to Afghanistan followed by the deserts of Uzbekistan and the rocky landscape of Kazakstan before passing over the vastness that is Russia. The landscape from 30,000 feet is very green, huge agricultural fields punctuated by lakes and forests and the occasional compact city. 

As the landscape passes by very slowly the territories, change from Russia, to Belarus, then Poland and Germany without much change in the continuum of green, until forested slopes of the green valleys, compact towns and cities, nestled in the landscape give way to the flat patchwork that is the agricultural fields of the Netherlands.

Passing along the River Rhine south of Rotterdam and over the white steel wings of the Maeslantkering, a huge storm surge barrier, one of the world's largest moving structures, forming a vital component of the sea defences that make Holland so unique, and so over the busy shipping lanes of the Channel, to another major construction in white steel, the elegant wings and slender towers of the vast London Array, dramatic against the blue of the calm waters, dwarfing the ships passing along the channel, the project is partly funded by Masdar along with European energy providers, DONG and EON, the turbines are developed by Siemens, the installation is capable of generating 630MW, enough to power 500,000 homes, without burning a single drop of fuel or emitting a single kilogram of carbon dioxide. 

Passing over the Red Sands forts that once provided a vital defence of a different kind to the Thames Estuary and the city of London, following the river inland to the south of Corringham, the giant cranes of the new Thames Deep Water Port at Thurrock dominates the skyline, the first component of a masterplan to develop a major distribution hub. Heading towards the QE2 Bridge, the Brent Oil refinery and the Dartford Power Station emphasise the significance that the River still holds to the region. The QE2 Bridge also known as the Dartford Crossing where the M25, the London Orbital Motorway splits into two, the clockwise lanes crossing the bridge, whilst the anti-clockwise lanes pass beneath the river through the Dartford Tunnel.

It is curious how countries with greater areas of land have developed their towns in a the compact manner and when passing above England a country with a far lesser landmass the approach followed in Essex seems to be of suburban sprawl punctuated with golf courses, that spread out from established towns. 

Heading along the Thames, past the Royal Docks and the glistening stainless steel shells of the Thames Barrier, the tide of transition from industrial wasteland to vibrant urban centre on and around the Greenwich peninsula is clearly visible, with the Dome as its centerpiece, fed by river ferries and cable cars. Heading North on the approach to Heathrow, along the River Lea and over the impressive Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and on to Wembley, before looping back to look at Greenwich once more before descending to the vast concrete surface that makes up Heathrow, I cannot help but be amazed and more than a little staggered by humanity’s impact on the surface of the planet. 

3 year old navigation - Canary Wharf 2011

From Canning Town on the Jubilee line for two stops and into the world of Foster, a cavernous space with oval columns reaching up to concrete ribs that support the world above the ticket hall, with its automatic entry gates activated by touching in and out with an ‘Oyster’ card and an orderly flow of passengers to and from the trains. A guitarist plays at the foot of the main escalator bank, making a very good instrumental metal interpretation of John Lennon’s Imagine. Both sides of the ticket hall lead directly into below ground shopping centres that run between the towers, something akin to Mike Davis’ City of quartz where he talks of rich people having their own streets, patrolled by private police forces.

The domain below ground is best navigated by my three-year-old daughter, from getting off the underground train at Canary Wharf, she knows where the lift is to get to ticket hall level, which buttons to press, which side to be on when we get to the barriers so she can get through with her buggy where she says hello to the orange man (man in hi-vis orange jacket). Once through the barriers she gets her copy the morning newspaper ‘City AM’ from the lady and heads over to the next lift, most of the big people go up the escalators sometimes some of them are not working, and other times they are all working depending on how many people there are. Sometimes we share the lift with other people in buggies, sometimes with a lady in a wheelchair. 


Once out of the lift we have to keep left to avoid all the people rushing back towards us from the top of the escalators to get to work through the shopping centre, they are all in a rush sometimes reading a book whilst walking along. My daughter knows the way to her creche, she knows the way to her Mummy’s office and where to pickup the ‘Evening Standard’ from a different lady in the afternoon and the way to her favourite food place after work. 


There is another lift that leads down to the car park, but we have to put our tokens in the machine first we don’t use the car very often, but it’s good when we do because she gets to use her scooter. For her, the shopping centre is a large friendly place where it is good to run around, then sit on benches or hide under them, and watch all the other people going by. She knows which train takes her to Canning Town. At rush hour the platform is occupied by orderly queues of people waiting by the sliding doors that line up with the train when it arrives. She knows where to go to get on the DLR, and which line is the best to get her home. I find it quite amazing that the area my daughter knows so well is a whole world that did not exist when I first visited the Docklands in 1989.

A ride up the escalator to a plaza in front of the glass canopy, which is located in a lush green park known as Jubilee Gardens, with rolling lawns where on sunny days she can run around on the grass or play with the water, on a raised water feature that threads its way between the tree canopies, just about seeing over the wall, and likes to watch it flowing down like a stream.

What is Architecture?

In establishing the term architecture it is worth viewing from different contexts. In terms of a city, the Architecture is described as everything that is built that defines the character of the place. Even though much of the built form may not have been designed and supervised by Architects. In terms of the process of Architecture it is about making interventions into the living fabric of the city.

In production terms, it is considered differently. For some it is about the process of making buildings, in this context the expertise of architects becomes marginalized, landscape architecture deals with everything that is outside of the building, engineering disciplines assume that they have priority, over building elements such as structural, mechanical, electrical, façade engineering and so on, architecture becomes dominated by issues associated with coordination, and managing the process.

Taking a step back however, in building terms without the architecture there is no engineering. Procurement processes can significantly influence the amount of control that the Architect has over the process. In many cases the concept design and production are divorced from one another, creating a disconnection between what is intended and what is built.

For some it is a question of scale, on large projects all disciplines fall under the umbrella of Architecture, it is architecture that sets the program for a development, and in this context urban design, master planning, landscape design form part of the Architecture. In this context it is not only the process, but forms the framework allows all the elements to interact with each other to create a unified whole.

To Be continued...

Towers in the Park - Stratford 2014

Animated façades of apartment blocks, nine to ten storeys high, dominated by the interplay of balconies and recesses face out onto a green sward which is actually a wildflower meadow punctuated with a few trees, partly concealing the golden cheese grater façade of the car park and the concealed HS1 line that passes through Stratford International Station set below street level in a concrete channel. Moving up the road to Stratford International Railway station, a kind of understated entrance onto the direct high-speed link to Europe. The station sits on a quiet street, really part of the landscape, which is busy with pedestrians and quiet in terms of vehicular traffic. Punctuated with park benches facing into the meadows and the facades of the Apartment blocks. Behind very colourful site hoardings, and ‘Energy Saver’ portakabins, a new development emerges, named East Village boasting ‘Everyday Living’ and a ‘World Class School’ to compliment the former athletes village.

Large sculptures occupy the meadows depicting ground staff, the thousands of volunteers that made hosting the games possible. Wandering along the street and passing through the meadows with dense clusters of trees, cherry, oak, silver birch, and glimpses of the apartment blocks through the clearings give a sense of a young Central Park. Fine gravel footpaths, stone paving augmented with kerb level lighting, cycle stands and park benches, meandering paths through planted zones with water gardens create a desirable environment to live. Le Corbusier’s towers in the park done right perhaps? Signs within the park identify destinations not only in direction but in terms of walking time in minutes, giving a very real sense that everything is well connected and within easy reach. Cycle lanes are everywhere and are being used including a number of the Barclays bikes knows by locals as Boris Bikes after the current Mayor although there does not seem to be anywhere to procure one nearby.

Crossing a heavy looking concrete bridge carrying the road over HS1, and joining the road that is alive with the red London Bus and the cyclist and a few delivery vehicles, the street facing onto John Lewis is beginning to take on a sense of place as a zone of arrival at the entrance to the Park. Security fences mark areas where work is still in progress. The black and grey clouds make for a dramatic backdrop to the bright colours of the fairground that sits within a gated zone, temporary structures that make up rides, shooting galleries and candy floss stands evoke memories of summers on the English Riviera, where the travelling city would arrive and stay for a few days in a haze of dust and diesel exhaust as the vintage vehicles labour to keep the rides moving, the lights flashing and the music blaring. This one seems to be quiet though, gates locked and rides dormant, set to come alive in the afternoon.  

At the Park entrance, Hadid’s Aquatics Centre on Left, Populous’ Stadium directly ahead and a large fine gravel zone that is completely alive, cycles, scooters and numerous groups walking around and looking, people actually enjoying being in an urban space. The distinctive wave form of the aquatics centre, freed from the stadium seating that was installed for the Olympics, takes on a serene sculptural quality embedded in the very green landscape, very different from the pictures broadcast during the games.

Crossing the River Lea on passing the Aquatics Centre, the stadium still in the process of transition from games mode to post games mode in preparation for the Rugby World Cup 2015, an army of workers operating on scaffolding appear to be installing large box like structures onto the huge white steel truss that supported the tensile fabric canopy, the scaffolding on multiple levels, just emphasise how incredibly large the stadium is. The raw underside of the concrete terraces supported on black steel structure give an elegant simplicity that was previously concealed behind the ‘wrap’ that was so striking on the pictures from the games.

The plaza in front of the Stadium is animated with dancing water jets and a few very soggy children, who try to run between the jets and getting caught in them amongst squeals of excitement. Beyond, in a dense ring of trees is the ‘Orbit’ a red steel structure, resembling a combination between a 'Helter Skelter' and roller coaster, engineered by Cecil Balmond, a dramatic landmark when viewed from a distance, that seems to move and change as its aspect changes with the direction of approach. Standing almost beneath the observation platform and looking suddenly the whole whacky sculpture makes sense, the observation platform seems to be floating in air as its forces are distributed along the spiral as opposed to straight down which is the conventional fashion. A chance view of the skyline captured between the spiral and the stadium frames the towers of Canary Wharf and the length of the journey becomes apparent, who could imagine this view from standing on the railway sidings surrounded by industrial decay twenty years ago when Canary Wharf was a solitary tower seemingly uprooted from New York and divorced from its urban context? The entry pavilion to The Orbit white planes floating on a black base makes a very cool intervention into the park calmly contrasting with the drama behind.

A cycle expo and people riding every type of cycle in the shadow of the orbit, tandems, trikes, penny farthings, bikes with large child seats in a kind of two wheeled rickshaw and a curious four wheeled cycling contraption that seats six people as though around an oval table, all pedalling in unison. All around this part of the park, the skyline is dominated by towers, the distant landmarks of Canary Wharf, and the closer multi coloured glass clad apartment towers give a very real sense of a new city centre growing out of the industrial ruins.

Yellow Brick Road - Birmingham 2002

Following the yellow brick road, or more precisely yellow, green and purple strips that emerge from the top of three successive lamp posts outside the Navigation Street entrance to New Street Station, with the view straight up Pinold Street to Victoria Square, the strips lead off in another direction. Along Navigation Street, to the pelican crossing at Hill Street, past the listed concrete sculpture that is the New Street Station Signal box, past white painted site hoardings bearing enormous photos of John Rocha, the designer associated with the interior fit out of the concrete structure emerging behind the hoarding. Across the street, the red cage, a car park that is ‘clad’ in a red steel structure, that supports planters, like huge window boxes that are planted with climbers that grow all over the facade of the car park.

To another pelican crossing and across into a plaza formed beneath the flyover supporting Suffolk Street Queensway, soffit and legs painted white, illuminated by coloured hanging globes, the three strips that are very popular with children, walking along then as though balancing, arms spread wide, all the way to until they disappear up the lamp posts, here they lead the way to a cobbled street, where cars proceed very slowly to an ‘underground’ car park, the cobbled street gives way to a monumental flight of steps to a bright ‘pillar box’ red, facade bearing the name ‘The Mailbox’  Birmingham’s newest destination comprising a hotel, apartments, shopping and restaurants inserted into the former Royal Mail sorting office.

At the top of the steps, Harvey Nicholls frames the entrance with the store on both sides and bridging over the thoroughfare, which splits vertically, escalators up to the first floor a kind of gallery with black steel railings and varnished timber handrails, set into a colonnade formed of terracotta rain screen concealing the original concrete structure. looking up the levels above the colonnade are the balconies of the hotel rooms and apartments, open to the sky. A street has been cut out of the existing structure, at street level names associated with New York’s Fifth Avenue, such as DKNY and Ralph Lauren appear in minimalist retail units, lots of frameless glass, stone tiles, timber boarding and  immaculately arranged displays.

The concierge counter for the hotel stands just off the street, in a sort of open lobby. Brushed aluminium pavement cafe tables and serve to animate this artificial street, The Art Lounge a, coffee shop that is also a gallery and bookshop provides a focal point at the end of the street, and also uses vacant shopfronts as additional gallery, studios appear in others slotted in between designer shops, artists, sculptors working in plain view make for a vibrant environment. The street terminates with a flight of steps, augmented with lifts and escalators to take everybody to the upper level, to the BBC television studios, the pavement cafe’s continue in an environment where the shy is replaced with a white painted waffle grid. At the end, Salvage Wharf, part of the canal network, with resident barge, Ramada Hotel, bars and restaurants set amongst a block formed of red brick and grey metal panels, at its base the brick forms huge sloping buttresses and arches, a colonnade along the tow path. Continuing along the footpath formed of aluminium extrusions in a type of grating, galvanised balustrades, steel cables with stainless steel handrails and yacht fittings, make up the edge to the walkway, up ahead a dark brick cone, with glass canopy on steel structure, form ‘The Node’ a lift tower surrounded by spiral stair to get to the wharf side which is dominated by a fish restaurant, a very upmarket version of Ada’s Cafe, where instead of Spam, everything on the menu involves eating fish.

The canal makes a ninety degree turn by the node, heading off towards Worcester, lined both sides by derelict victorian warehouses, crossed by a typical  canal bridge, and trees beyond. The brick arch bridge, typical to many crossings of the canals in Birrmingham, cast iron plates along the tow path, heavily scored by years of running cables over them from the time when the barges were drawn along the canal by horses. On the Bridge parapet, two red panels, one above each end of the arch where it is at its thickest, to permit the Fire Brigade to extract water from the canal in case of emergency. The aluminium walkway, forms a bridge over the bend in the canal, and descends gently to arrive onto the towpath, here the one mile walking route continues, along the canal to Gas Street Basin, one side converted victorian buildings, form cafe, night club, on the opposite side 1980s dull brown brick buildings try to mimic their Victorian neighbours, arched windows, pitched roofs and dark colours try very hard and mainly unsuccessfully to blend in.

At Gas Street Basin, the James Brindley, more of the same mock Victoriana, with a glass barrel vault reminiscent of scaled down version of Paxton’s Crystal Palace, but with glazing bars in dark green. Beyond, the plant room to the Hyatt Hotel, the mirrored glass block, the plant room also trying to fit in with the neo-Victorian canal buildings. Along with the glassworks, a pub formed in the ruins of a derelict glassworks, glass planes firm roof and walls behind the restored brick facade fronting onto the canal.  The towpath continues beneath the inhabited bridge of Broad Street, and arrives at the green suspension bridge of Brindley Place. The flight of steps from the towpath ascends to a bandstand next to the bridge, the diagonal street that continues the line of the bridge leads to the square. On the right side of the street is Cafe Rouge, that could just have been transplanted from Paris, green steel supporting the canopy to form the outdoor dining area captures the feel of a Parisian pavement cafe. The place is buzzing with activity, diners in the cafes, a juggler in the bandstand, a steady stream of people walking across the square, on a path that leads through the fountain, past a and sometimes over the base of, a bronze sculpture depicting the blackened railway viaducts that are a prominent feature of Birmingham, across cobbled street to the car park.

Turning back and across the Bridge, the steps lead down to the plaza with mature trees, and green cloud sculpture, still with people walking between the two halves of the mould, looking quizzically wondering what it is, all set against the dark reflective glass of the ICC. Inside the Atrium, the internal street of the ICC, Business suits are everywhere, milling around as the street becomes the breakout space from a conference. Negotiating the stairs, ramps, fig trees and areas not occupied, a quick look in the empty Symphony Hall, lots of timber and on to another glass wall, supported on blue steel, with red and yellow neon sculpture, and out onto Centenary Square and a large ferris wheel.

The Birmingham Eye, a white steel A frame structure supports the hub of the wheel, springing down to Shipping containers filled with water, trimmed on the ground with a brick border where it meets the brick paved surface of the square.   the cabins bearing the french name, suggesting that the whole installation  has been shipped over from Paris. Kids play on the butter sculpture, officially named ‘Forward’, depicting Birmingham’s progression from the industrial revolution, made in fibreglass, in a buttermilk yellow colour eating the name the butter sculpture. Further along the square in front of the Repertory Theatre, another sculpture, a fountain has children playing in the water bouncing off bronze shells. In front of Baskerville house, there is a sculpture, a series of letter punches, spelling the name ‘Virgil’ marking the contribution of Joseph Chamberlain, letter founder, to the city’s ‘progress’. Skateboarders, play on the sloping circular plaza and low walls outside a white stone rotunda with domed roof and four portals, the war memorial, where inside the open door, every citizen on the city is that have lost their life in two world wars is remembered in letters carved in the stone. A mime artist captivates the crowds on the wide bridge over the Queensaway, grey suit, bowler hat, white face, a statue who stands absolutely still, then moves suddenly, freaking out the unsuspecting passer by.

Beneath the library, Hooters, a bar best known for the uniforms of the waitresses, Raphaels, a bar that always seems to be empty and Mc Donalds best known for...? set in the plastic forum. Outside two Japanese tourists act out a ritual that is seen the world over. One stands at the top of the steps forming the amphitheatre with their back to the Museum and Art Gallery building whilst the other takes a photograph of them, they then change places and repeat the process before walking off down the steps in the direction of Victoria Square and New Street, probably to photograph themselves standing in front of more of the city.
Heading out onto the top of the very crowded Amphitheatre that frames the rather circular Chamberlain Square, a band play on a stage outside the Town Hall, to quite a lively audience. Passing the town Hall and through the crowds, Gormley’s Iron Man Sculpture, a view down the street and there it is, the Navigation Street entrance to New Street Station, the sculptural lamp posts, the yellow brick road and the completion of the one mile route.

Fairy Wings - Library of Birmingham 2013

Crossing Centenary Square in the pouring rain is nothing new to Birmingham, Mecanoo’s  Library on the other hand is, situated between Baskerville House and the ICC, encapsulating the Repertory Theatre, a series of glass boxes stacked on top of each other, in such a way as to create huge dramatic cantilevers, very much in Dutch tradition of Koolhaas where heavy objects appear to float in the air, also in the tradition of Koolhaas, is the reference to context, in fact there is none, it forms its own context, significantly taller than its two counterparts, an exquisite object, a jewelled box referred to my four-year-old daughter as a building made of fairy wings. The fairy wings are a series of overlapping metal rings on the outside of the glass, probably offering a degree of solar protection, if there was any solar radiation falling on the surface, but mainly they are for decoration, to make a statement. 

On passing beneath the floating jewelled box, the cantilevered volume above provides a welcome respite from the rain, enough to shake of an umbrella before entering. On entering the lobby, a glass fronted space it is the library itself that the the main exhibit, a long travelator leads up across a circular atrium, a drum that descends to an underground level, the drum seems to be made out of books, or at least the circumference is lined with books on black shelves. In front of the books, black steel structure and balustrade line the edge of the atrium, wood floors complete the effect of making this feel like a comfortable place to read books. 

At the head of the travelator, a glass fronted space, with glass fronted corridors leading off to library offices where the staff can be seen working in an open environment with clear views out aver the city. A glass lift ascends through a smaller circular space above the drum, much to the bemusement of an elderly couple who have just ridden down in said lift, wait while others get in, only to be transported back up to the top. At the top an exhibit that feels like it has been transplanted from another time, which of course it has, the Shakespeare room, disassembled in the 1970s and reassembled in the 2010s, timber panelling, cabinets, empty drawers, and a collection of artefacts associated with William Shakespeare. 

Outside is a not so secret garden, not so secret because there are signs pointing to it, and it is listed on the appropriate level in the lift. Coats on, umbrella up, and out onto the roof of the library and into the rain , which has actually eased a bit, and wow! For a nine storey building, an unexpected clear view of the Birmingham skyline, demonstrates the benefit of building on the top of a hill. This is amazing, a tranquil space with intimate seating areas surrounded by shrub planting, with the whole city as a backdrop, Le Corbusier’s Solarium, from Vers une Architecture. City landmarks punctuate the skyline giving the impression of towers set in a green park, as distance hides the roads and low rise buildings and houses that exist between the trees. John Madin’s iconic inverted ziggurat, still bearing the name Birmingham Central Library, a pure sculpture in a plane of blocks, looking rather sad, rain stained, neglected. 

Make’s Cube, another sculptural object with no relationship with its context, pure form, making its own bold statement, a huge cube seemingly made up of many smaller cubes in a type of three dimensional puzzle, on the higher levels, sections are left out, and at the top glass planes are folded to form the roof.  A statement of creating a place within the neglected industrial plane, very much part of the thinking of the 2000s in stark contrast, the dull brown low rise blocks of 1980s conservatism, that stand directly in front. Scanning around, the rotunda, designed in the 1960s by Jim Roberts, rehabilitated by Urban Splash, now a cool address to live, a glass cylinder looking very much like Roberts’ original design. The absence of any sign of new street station from this vantage, shows how much has been removed in the current progress of reorganisation. 

Directly opposite the library, Arena Central, or at least the parts that were undertaken, Alpha Tower stands in a clear plaza following the removal of the television studios, a face lifted Crowne Plaza Hotel, essentially painted black and white to make it relate to the white concrete and graphite panelling of the apartment development. The neo-classical bank building that line the edge of Broad Street stand empty awaiting conversion into boutique hotels. The registry office now offices for the department of sport, out front the very shiny statue of the three Victorian industrialists, Watt, Newcomen, Priestley, studying a map of how they were going to transform the world. Beyond, a large concrete block with air handling units on the roof, reads as the Ballroom to the Crowne Plaza. In the background, the grey clad sides of the Mailbox. 

Looking up Broad Street, The Hyatt hotel, the 1990s glass tower a symbol of confidence in the future of Birmingham, along with its partner the Symphony Hall and ICC. Beyond Brindleyplace makes its own mark on the skyline, Porphoryos’ curious venetian tower, stands out among the brick clad blocks, historic buildings, Ikon Gallery in the former Oozells Street School, and the Church Nightclub, in a former Church, with their clock towers just poking up above the later blocks. Along Broad Street itself, office towers that were built in the 1970s have been reused, converted to hotels, breathing new life into the city.

My daughter does not share my interest in viewing the skyline, she wants to go swimming, we take a ride down in the glass elevator and to my surprise she wants to go out onto the roof terrace that fronts onto Centenary Square, there are quite a few people out here, enjoying the gardens on the top of the cantilevered box, benches are set into the landscape, some are the edge of the raised planters, one such bench has no planting, the space enclosed by the wooden slatted bench is lined with blue acrylic playing surface, a little person climbs over the bench, into the blue zone, now extremely happy, she is swimming! Must have noticed this from the secret garden on the roof.

Johnnycab Anyone: Exploring Masdar 2014

Masdar, the city itself is a series of car parks, augmented with lush planting, many of the car parks seem to be closed off, probably because they are already full. Eventually a car park with vacant spaces does present itself, so having found a space, it is off in search of the Personal Rapid Transport, the PRT, from images in the Masdar Brochure these seem reminiscent of the JohnnyCab from the 1984 movie Total Recall. Walking towards the buildings sitting on the concrete podium, there is no sign of a Johnnycab or a terminal where to meet them. 

The first building is the Siemens building, one of the major players in the work of Masdar, some of there projects are not in the UAE, in fact one of them is the London Array, the world’s largest wind farm located outside the Thames estuary. A lot of suits seem to be heading that way, to the Seimens building, not the Thames Estuary, and it seems a bit of a closed shop. So I head up through the covered plaza onto the raised podium into the Masdar Institute, which is a university campus acting as a satellite to Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT). The campus forms the heart of the city the buildings designed by Foster and Partners, in fact the entire master plan for the city is devised by Foster, an experiment in achieving a zero carbon city in probably one of the most difficult climatic conditions on Earth.

The campus comprises laboratories researching advances in renewable energy: Solar, Wind, Tidal. The Knowledge base which is the university Library, Student accommodation, in the distinctive red precast blocks that look as though they have been sculpted out of clay and fired to become terracotta. Some of the screens are adorned with UAE flags as students try to assert their identity on the development. At podium level, there are signs of a village coming to life, posters on the inside of the storefront glazing announce the arrival of Organic Cafe, and other restaurants. One that is operational Caribou Coffee, a lively environment with students and tutors sitting outside enjoying coffee and pastries in the external environment where in the car park the temperature registered 34 degrees Celcsuis, the shaded courtyards really do make a difference. The courtyards shown bare in the brochure are occupied with shrub planting and trees and are alive with the sound of birds singing.

Wandering through the network of courtyards, considerably cooler than outside, the view up between the buildings, a narrow alley with a jagged top, solar panels on the top of the buildings serve the dual function of generating power and reducing cooling load through preventing direct solar radiation from landing on the roof. Steps lead down into a sunken courtyard, shaded by planting, is what looks very much like a PRT terminal, the automatic doors open to a large concourse space that is covered in plastic sheet, looking very much like work in progress, that will make this a major PRT terminal in the site.

Driving around the development, past the solar farm with the vast array of all of the different solar panels available from all manufacturers around the world to the Masdar Office, a kind of portakabin security office, with a solitary security guard who wants to direct me back to the Masdar Institute, I was expecting a visitor centre, probably something akin to the Crystal at Royal Victoria Dock in London, a venue where it is possible to see a model of the master plan and to understand progress that is being made. I suppose for now we have to be content with the website.