October 2012, first visit to London following the Olympics. When I was last in London it was June and very much a city in anticipation, riding on the tube, the maps had all been updated with purple zones identifying the venues for the games, the O2 had been renamed North Greenwich Arena and around Royal Victoria Dock the sense of anticipation was palpable as the commissioning and testing of the cable car, The Emirates Air Line was under way, the Crystal was nearing completion and the security fences started appearing around the Excel Centre. Over at Stratford, the view across the park seen from the viewing gallery in John Lewis' revealed the Olympic Stadium, Orbit and Aquatics Centre ready and waiting. Throughout the country the torch relay is underway and the media seem to have stopped criticising for a while and actually getting behind people enjoying the moment.
During the games I was in Bahrain, tuning into BBC World news, watching the sun rise over the park each morning, and catching up on events later in the day or following on the live feed on the internet. The view across the park was stunning, and the view beyond over what was the most industrialised part of London revealed a city looking distinctly green, not talking about wind turbines on the skyline although there are a few, but with all the trees in full leaf and the green spaces that have been created. The coverage on the BBC revealed London as a city that was absolutely buzzing with Olympic fever, with the exception of shop and restaurant owners moaning about parts of the city being like a ghost town, and a few occasions where local transport services were compromised for locals as operators were in event mode. The whole world witnessed the 'Greatest show on Earth' with the opening ceremony and events that took place in parts of London that the world has not noticed before, and for sixteen days London was the centre of the universe, and as Brits we could be proud of our nation once again.
A visit to Stratford reveals a city that is still buzzing, on arrival at the transport interchange, and onto the huge pedestrian bridge that spans the railway station below, the bridge is well populated and the air filled with excited chatter. The bridge leads to a 'street' that runs through the Westfield Shopping Centre, lined with designer shops, sports shops and restaurants to define the route to the Park. The park, is a construction site once again, I had thought that it would be possible to walk around the park, or at least the parts that did not involve disassembling of temporary structures, but sadly the whole park is cordoned off, with gates that say 'Authorised Personnel Only' and patrolled by an army of hi-vis jackets and JCB diggers. Behind the fences a new street is emerging with bus stops, benches, trees creating an arrival zone to visit the park when it does reopen. A quick chat with a security guard reveals a slightly different view, it's all closed for 'demolition...will take two to three years'. Good for employment, I guess not everybody got the message about temporary structures, I had heard that many of them will be packaged up and transported to Rio for 2016, I understand that there is a lot of negotiation under way to make that happen. I just hope that is does. In terms of Architecture this process echoes Peter Cook's work with Archigram in the 1960's, with Sir Peter on the team it should stand a good chance.
Returning to London and reading the local press, it seems that the media are back on the hunt for white elephants, last week's target being the Emirates Air Line the new cable car, running at 10% capacity is the claim. My first ride was during the week, alighting on the North Greenwich side, there is steady trickle of people making the walk from the O2, very few cabins are running empty with some completely full. As the cable car makes its gentle journey across the Thames people wave from passing cabins with happy and smiling faces, you never get that on the tube.
The ride itself gives some impressive views on East London, Olympic Park to the North, the Thames Barrier to the East, to the West, the an uninterrupted view of the Dome, with an army of ants trekking over the newest visitor attraction, 'the Skywalk'. a climb to an observation deck at the top and 30 degree descent to the other side a journey taking two hours. in the background the towers of Canary Wharf, with the Shard, Gherkin and the City beyond. The ride takes five minutes, and gives a sense of how far London has progressed at the same time as revealing the enormity of the task ahead. A giant hole in the ground and cluster of cranes and tunnel section demonstrate work in progress on Crossrail, probably London's greatest infrastructure project linking up all the nodes that will allow you to travel from Canary Wharf to Heathrow on 39 minutes without having to lug suitcases from DLR to tube, change on tube, to Paddington to board the Heathrow Express taking anything up to two hours. Probably hugely expensive and undervalued. Over west Silvertown Way and the DLR line, the Tate and Lyle factory to the East and over the vast Royal Docks with the Excel Centre and City Airport and descent over the new gardens to the 'Crystal' an Exhibition showcasing future cities and how we can be sustainable, into the corner of the dock. It is easy to see how this formed a vital lifeline during the games linking all the gymnastic events.
Having observed the cable car running over two weeks it is particularly busy at weekends, there are corporate events at the Crystal bringing large numbers of visitors to the dock, interested visitors taking photographs of everything, from cranes to buildings and the new gardens, to wake boarders playing on the dock. The RNLI demonstrate how they conduct sea rescues as part of an emergency services exhibition at the Excel. It seems that the combination of the Crystal and Air Line have injected life into the dock that will grow over time. The cable car must have cost a fraction of the equivalent length of the Jubilee Line extension and likewise the Crossrail link that is underway, it is difficult to see why the media are being so negative.
The North Greenwich Arena has become the O2 again. Sitting in one of the many restaurants inside the vast Dome presents a good opportunity to reflect on the legacy of hosting great events, the Millennium experience is a distant memory, the Olympics has been and gone and a steady flow of people arrive to see the dome each day, whether attending an event, climbing over the top or just to go for some food or a drink. The lesson here? These things take time, legacy projects need time to mature and for interest to grow, Stratford has already been revitalised, there is significant regeneration of the town centre, rehabilitation of the Lea Valley and major transport improvements that enabled the hosting of the Olympics that are a very real legacy for generations to come, and for my daughter and her friends a major event that they will remember in a positive sense, for them the British flag is not called the 'Union Jack' it is called 'Team GB'. Post Olympic Blues? Not a chance.
During the games I was in Bahrain, tuning into BBC World news, watching the sun rise over the park each morning, and catching up on events later in the day or following on the live feed on the internet. The view across the park was stunning, and the view beyond over what was the most industrialised part of London revealed a city looking distinctly green, not talking about wind turbines on the skyline although there are a few, but with all the trees in full leaf and the green spaces that have been created. The coverage on the BBC revealed London as a city that was absolutely buzzing with Olympic fever, with the exception of shop and restaurant owners moaning about parts of the city being like a ghost town, and a few occasions where local transport services were compromised for locals as operators were in event mode. The whole world witnessed the 'Greatest show on Earth' with the opening ceremony and events that took place in parts of London that the world has not noticed before, and for sixteen days London was the centre of the universe, and as Brits we could be proud of our nation once again.
A visit to Stratford reveals a city that is still buzzing, on arrival at the transport interchange, and onto the huge pedestrian bridge that spans the railway station below, the bridge is well populated and the air filled with excited chatter. The bridge leads to a 'street' that runs through the Westfield Shopping Centre, lined with designer shops, sports shops and restaurants to define the route to the Park. The park, is a construction site once again, I had thought that it would be possible to walk around the park, or at least the parts that did not involve disassembling of temporary structures, but sadly the whole park is cordoned off, with gates that say 'Authorised Personnel Only' and patrolled by an army of hi-vis jackets and JCB diggers. Behind the fences a new street is emerging with bus stops, benches, trees creating an arrival zone to visit the park when it does reopen. A quick chat with a security guard reveals a slightly different view, it's all closed for 'demolition...will take two to three years'. Good for employment, I guess not everybody got the message about temporary structures, I had heard that many of them will be packaged up and transported to Rio for 2016, I understand that there is a lot of negotiation under way to make that happen. I just hope that is does. In terms of Architecture this process echoes Peter Cook's work with Archigram in the 1960's, with Sir Peter on the team it should stand a good chance.
Returning to London and reading the local press, it seems that the media are back on the hunt for white elephants, last week's target being the Emirates Air Line the new cable car, running at 10% capacity is the claim. My first ride was during the week, alighting on the North Greenwich side, there is steady trickle of people making the walk from the O2, very few cabins are running empty with some completely full. As the cable car makes its gentle journey across the Thames people wave from passing cabins with happy and smiling faces, you never get that on the tube.
The ride itself gives some impressive views on East London, Olympic Park to the North, the Thames Barrier to the East, to the West, the an uninterrupted view of the Dome, with an army of ants trekking over the newest visitor attraction, 'the Skywalk'. a climb to an observation deck at the top and 30 degree descent to the other side a journey taking two hours. in the background the towers of Canary Wharf, with the Shard, Gherkin and the City beyond. The ride takes five minutes, and gives a sense of how far London has progressed at the same time as revealing the enormity of the task ahead. A giant hole in the ground and cluster of cranes and tunnel section demonstrate work in progress on Crossrail, probably London's greatest infrastructure project linking up all the nodes that will allow you to travel from Canary Wharf to Heathrow on 39 minutes without having to lug suitcases from DLR to tube, change on tube, to Paddington to board the Heathrow Express taking anything up to two hours. Probably hugely expensive and undervalued. Over west Silvertown Way and the DLR line, the Tate and Lyle factory to the East and over the vast Royal Docks with the Excel Centre and City Airport and descent over the new gardens to the 'Crystal' an Exhibition showcasing future cities and how we can be sustainable, into the corner of the dock. It is easy to see how this formed a vital lifeline during the games linking all the gymnastic events.
Having observed the cable car running over two weeks it is particularly busy at weekends, there are corporate events at the Crystal bringing large numbers of visitors to the dock, interested visitors taking photographs of everything, from cranes to buildings and the new gardens, to wake boarders playing on the dock. The RNLI demonstrate how they conduct sea rescues as part of an emergency services exhibition at the Excel. It seems that the combination of the Crystal and Air Line have injected life into the dock that will grow over time. The cable car must have cost a fraction of the equivalent length of the Jubilee Line extension and likewise the Crossrail link that is underway, it is difficult to see why the media are being so negative.
The North Greenwich Arena has become the O2 again. Sitting in one of the many restaurants inside the vast Dome presents a good opportunity to reflect on the legacy of hosting great events, the Millennium experience is a distant memory, the Olympics has been and gone and a steady flow of people arrive to see the dome each day, whether attending an event, climbing over the top or just to go for some food or a drink. The lesson here? These things take time, legacy projects need time to mature and for interest to grow, Stratford has already been revitalised, there is significant regeneration of the town centre, rehabilitation of the Lea Valley and major transport improvements that enabled the hosting of the Olympics that are a very real legacy for generations to come, and for my daughter and her friends a major event that they will remember in a positive sense, for them the British flag is not called the 'Union Jack' it is called 'Team GB'. Post Olympic Blues? Not a chance.
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