Walkie Talkie tower, Fenchurch St crackles into life
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Manter
Lunch Mob
I think Parliament House should have won out of that lot. Fenchurch street is ridiculous but at least it looks like someone designed itWins the Carbuncle Cup 2015,
Hurrah. Reason has finally prevailed .....there's some other stinkers on this list too. Apparently it's got really bad wind around the base
DJWrongspeed
radio eros
You're probably right but I think the Walkie Talkie was in a much more public position and more people see it. It also promised so much and failed e.g. the viewing garden
I'd cycled past Parliament House a few times and barely registered it.
DJWrongspeed
radio eros
Imperial College's student accommodation in north Acton looks pretty bad too, I guess they were forced to build high :
sleaterkinney
Well-Known Member
I don't get the hate on the walkie talkie at all. I like the bulging out, it makes it different.
Do you have to walk past it on a daily basis or otherwise work in its vicinity?
sleaterkinney
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I walk past it a few times a week. It's not like Fenchurch st is a pretty street full of uniform buildings anyway. I hate the Heron tower much more, it's just boring.
It looms from everywhere. You can't walk down Lime St without it dominating. You see it bulging out unexpectedly over the top of Leadenhall Market or Lloyd's or from Gracechurch and it never belongs to the skyline. It's always there like some kind of horrific boil.
Good piece on Citylab about 20 Fenchurch Street The Walkie Talkie Really Is London's Worst Building
bi0boy
Power User
hash tag
Books, not bombs
My elderly Ma in Law, who lives outta town, has now been up 20 Fenchurch St three times and loves it. On her last visit, she noticed another bar had been added. She much prefers it to the Shard.
Try not to feel too sorry for the good students at Imperial, they are some of the brightest and richest out there.
Imperial College's student accommodation in north Acton looks pretty bad too, I guess they were forced to build high :
Try not to feel too sorry for the good students at Imperial, they are some of the brightest and richest out there.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
I come out of Bank tube most days and it looks like a scene from Half Life 2 some days, this big egregious eyesore in the clouds and morning sun.
Eugh.
None of them loom in the same way though. The walkie talkie is the absolute worst.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
That's actually one of the better days, most days it's just a looming lump.
The Shard say, can look decent at night and in the day unless it's shit weather. The walkie is forever just shit.
If you want the real Half Life 2 experience, you need to go to Manchester.
Half-Life 2's Citadel
Beetham Tower, Manchester
I like the design of the tower.
In context though... a bit weird.
And the walking talkie I think is awful. For me the design is yuck, but add to that, it doesn't fit into an existing cluster - city or Canary Wharf.
Unless you see it from a very specific angle, it just appears plonked. Which it is.
I can't overemphasise how dangerous it is either. Even on a calm day, it's blustery as you walk past. A few months ago when we had those high winds, as I walked into the overhang of the walkie talkie, I was physically blown sideways and came within a whisker of being blown off my feet into the road. I wasn't the only one. People were being knocked all over the place. I saw several hit the ground. The funnelling of the wind is lethal. I actually now cross the road before I get to it and take paths to avoid it.
editor
hiraethified
I visited it again earlier this week. It really is quite an amazing attraction for free.
www.urban75.org
In photos: spectacular views from the Sky Garden in the City of London -
Six years after my first visit, I returned to the Sky Garden in the City of London and took in the spectacular views from the top of the landmark skyscraper. Located in the Walkie Talkie tower at 20 Fenchurch Street, the garden is open to the public for free, but you need to pre-book your
www.urban75.org
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