Getting to the Point

It seems that the sanitisation of St Giles continues. Plans have been announced to transform Centre Point and its immediate surroundings.

Centre Point, built by property tycoon Harry Hyams and designed by Richard Seifert, has had a rather chequered life. From its completion in 1966 it remained empty for many years, Hyams, for reasons of his own, apparently holding out for a single tenant. There was even speculation that he was being paid a large subsidy by the government to keep it empty.  You can create your own conspiracy theory for the reason behind this story!

Whatever the reason, this prominent building came to be regarded as something of a white elephant until Hyams finally agreed to let it out floor by floor.

In 1995 Centre Point became a Grade 2 listed building and despite being described by Pevsner as “coarse in the extreme” it was given the Mature Structures Award by the Concrete Society. Yes, there really is a Concrete Society!

Love it or hate it (and I love it), it is a major London landmark and it is now about to undergo major changes. A year ago it changed hands for the princely sum of £120,000,000. The new owners now plan to pedestrianise and redevelop the area around the base of the Tower to include a new public space to rival Trafalgar Sq and Covent Garden with the intention of attracting “high quality” shops and restaurants. 

Although the 117 metre, 34 floor tower itself, described by the developers as a “flawed icon” is currently filled with business tenants, the new owners say this is not sustainable as the rents do not bring in enough income to successfully maintain the building. It will therefore be converted into 82 apartments, ranging from one to four bedrooms. Given that the project is expected to cost some £350,000,000, in addition to the original purchase price, I think that is safe to assume that affordable housing does not feature highly in the plans.

As an interesting aside, the first theatre to be built in the West End for over thirty years is to go up just across the road from the new piazza. It will be built on the site of the much loved Astoria which was demolished as a result of the Crossrail project. I’m sure it will be a glossy and accomplished building but it’s doubtful that it will ever match the scuzzy charm of its predecessor.

The Turks Head Café

  

 If you are wandering around Wapping, or passing just through whilst walking the Thames Path, and you fancy a little light refreshment, can I suggest that you drop into the Turks Head Café.

 Located within a former pub it is clean, bright and comfortable, having counters and stools around the perimeter, tables in the middle and even a couple of  sofas tucked in a corner. I called in on Saturday afternoon and indulged in an excellent full breakfast and a very decent cup of coffee but there was a large selection of other items on the menu. There is a small outside area overlooking Wapping Gardens and the staff were very friendly. What more could you ask?

The building itself was formerly and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Turks Head pub. A Taylor Walker house which, after a period of dereliction, was purchased by a local community who set  up a charitable trust  to restore the building and then let out the café space on the ground floor and some studio spaces on the upper floor. The rents raised from these go towards community projects.

The TurksHead Cafe can be found at 1 Green Bank (previously Bird St) on the corner with Tench St. It can be accessed from Wapping High St via Scandrett St, which is between the Town of Ramsgate pub and Wapping Police Station.

Scandrett St is also the location of the former St John school. Now converted for residential use, the building has a very fine pair of Blue Coat figures over the doorway.

There are some wonderful old photographs of Wapping on the Idea Store web site (the Turks Head can be seen just beyond S John's Church in the 1938 photograph). It is also worth checking the rest of the sites Digital Gallery for pics throughout Tower Hamlets

Foot In Mouth!

Politicians, what an extraordinary bunch they are. For some time now there has been the threat of strike action by fuel tanker drivers. The dispute, as is often the case, being about pay and conditions.

The press, as expected, has been stirring up concerns over fuel shortages which would lead to huge disruptions. Affecting personal vehicles and, more importantly, public services and  transport of goods, food etc. All of this whilst negotiations were still ongoing and with no strike date yet set. Potentially a huge problem but, generally speaking, the public seemed to be taking it in its stride and taking a wait and see attitude.

Until, that is, our great political leaders decided to offer some advice and it wasn’t “keep calm and carry on”. 

We were advised to fill our tanks and to stockpile (small) quantities of fuel . This, inevitably, has led to large queues at the pumps and petrol stations running out of supplies……exactly the thing that the negotiators were trying to avoid. This advice has since been toned down, but too late, the damage has already been done.

Some people are unable to open their mouths without shoving their feet a substantial  distance down their own throats!

Politicians……..don’t you just love ‘em!

Pit Stop 2012

Yesterday, in response to an ad that I saw in Friday’s Evening Standard, I trekked all the way to Queensway (OK, it was only a brisk 10 minute walk, but it was raining!) to take a look at a free street event. Pit Stop 2011 seems to have passed me by, but Pit Stop 2012 looked promising on paper, if you happen to be a petrol head. Offering, among other things, Dream Cars, Cult Cars from TV and Film, a Full Size F1 Car, a Giant Scalextic Track and even a VIP appearance by the original Stig.

Great, I thought, it sounds as if  we have a replacement for the now carless Connaught Village Festival. However things didn’t turn out that way. Of course, the weather didn’t help, Saturday was a fine day and would have been perfect for a street event. Sadly, on Sunday it was cold, wet and windy. Perhaps it was this that put off both the visitors and the owners of the promised vehicles, but that wasn’t the full extent of the problems.

The Cult Cars from TV and Film were represented by a replica of KITT from Knight Rider, the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo (was the Mystery Machine really a VW?) and the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard (an orange Dodge Charger with a bull bar and the necessary graphics). A slightly underwhelming selection. I assume that the late model Dodge Challenger (mildly and, to my mind at least, tastelessly customized) was there to represent Dream cars.

The Giant Scalextric Track wasn’t giant and the Full Size F1 Car was little more than a plastic shell. I suppose that the Stig was there, but I didn’t see him.

As far as the Classics were concerned, I made the mistake of walking past the whole show in order to have a quick bite to eat before returning to take a few photographs. In that short time 50% of the cars had disappeared. The owners of the two E Type Jags had clearly had enough and had departed for greener pastures, which left just an MGB and a Volkswagen Karmen Ghia, both worthy vehicles but they did look a bit sad sitting there on their own.

I have to say that having made the (admittedly small) effort to get there in the first place, there was nothing to keep me there. If I had been a family group, travelling in from another part of London, I would have considered that effort to have been wasted.

I accept that the organisers had no control over the weather but, in this country, the weather is liable to effect events throughout the year. In early March rain is always going to be on the cards. Weather aside, as a visitor, my impression was that the whole thing wasn’t that well put together in the first place.

 If the intention was to increase footfall (a loathsome expression) in the Queensway/Bayswater area at a quiet time of year then, this year at least, I'm pretty certain that it didn’t work.

I really hate to be so negative about this event because it did seem to have potential. Last year, apparently, it attracted somewhere around 3000 visitors. I don't know if that is considered to be a decent figure for a show of this kind but I would be surprised if they got anywhere near that figure this year. More importantly, it's not just about visitor numbers, it should be about how long they stay in the area. I'm sorry to say that there was nothing about Pit Stop 2012 that I liked.With a major rethink it could still be viable in the future. Sadly, after this years showing I suspect that it may be a case of once bitten, twice shy!

I hope that I'm wrong

A Table In The V&A

London’s V&A modestly describes itself as “the world’s greatest museum of art and design” and I, for one, am not about to argue with that. As a child, I found it’s neighbours in South Kensington, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum, completely fascinating., but the Victoria and Albert always seemed a little dusty and, frankly, quite dull.

Luckily both the V&A and myself  grew up. It has moved on from just being a fantastic repository of the entire history of the decorative arts to a dynamic and constantly evolving, modern museum but, more importantly, it has done this without either dumbing down or losing its focus. As for me, well, I just grew older and slightly less stupid and I just love it.

It’s  impossible to pick a single favourite piece from a collection of this size, but there are several items that I am always happy to stand and look at whenever I visit. The one I have chosen for  this post is the Cinderella Table.

Designed and constructed during 2005/2006  it is the work of Jeroen Verhoeven. Conceived to explore the capabilities of CAD/CAM, that is, Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing, it is an extraordinary, complex and, importantly, repeatable piece of furniture.

Verhoeven took his inspiration from the classical forms of  the 17^th and 18^th century. In this case a commode (no, not the chair/chamber pot combo of this century) and a side table. After entering his simplified 2D drawings into a computer, he set about combining the two items into a single organic 3D form.

It took him 3 months to achieve the final shape which was then sliced into 57 virtual slices. These were then carved into shape by a 5 axis CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling machine. Each of the 80mm thick, birch ply, pieces  was cut from the back and the front to copy all of the curves and undercuts of the original design. Finally, the individual slices were joined together and the whole thing finished by hand. The milling and final finishing were carried out by the Rotterdam company Demakersvan.

It truly is a thing of beauty. At the same it seems to be intensely complex and stunningly simple. There is no decoration apart from the lines of the birch ply which appear to swirl over the surface. It is sensational, sensuous and sexy…………..and I want one!

The V&A example is number 2 of an edition of 20.Several other museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, have examples of this table in their collections which is an indication of the importance of the design in the development of design and construction. An example was sold by Sotheby’s in New York in 2006. It went for $42,000.………so it seems unlikely that I’m ever going to get one!

Finally, this design has also been reproduced in white carrara marble. An edition of 6 were produced in 2008, they are a stunning technical achievement and wonderous to look at, but if I had the choice I would chose a birch ply example every time. Oh well, at least I can dream.

 

The Cinderella Table is in room 76, part of the Twentieth Century Gallery.

Brighton or Bust

It’s been a good weekend for old car enthusiasts in the Capital. The annual London to Brighton run took place, as usual,  on the first Sunday in November. 

Commemorating the Emancipation Run of the 14^th November1896 which, in turn, celebrated the Act of Parliament raising of the speed limit for “light locomotives” on the road from 4mph to 14mph. Commonly known as the Red Flag Act, the earlier law originally required vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot carrying the said flag. Although the need for the flag had been abolished in 1878, the walking pace speed limit remained. The jump to 14mph was seen as a great leap forward by the motorists of the late 19^th century.

In 1896, thirty three motor enthusiasts set off to drive from Central London to Brighton. Although only fourteen of the vehicles made it to the final destination, it was a fine achievement considering the available technology and the state of the roads. It does however seem that there may have been some ungentlemanly behaviour on the day. There is a suggestion that an electric vehicle may have made most of the journey by train, Although it wasn’t a race, I suspect that there may have been a wager involved somewhere along the line.

The first official rerun of the 1896 event took place in 1927 and, with the exception of the war years and 1947 (due to petrol rationing), it has taken place every year since. Organised since 1930 by the Royal Automobile Club, the run started from Hyde Park at sunrise on Sunday morning. 

At this point I have to confess that I wasn’t there to see it. I’d like to say that it was due to circumstances beyond my control……..but I can’t. I will say no more! I have been to the start before and it is well worth making the effort. Next year I will try a little harder and, who knows, one day I may even make it down to Brighton to see them arrive at Madeira Drive.

Fortunately,  for the last few years, it has been possible to see a number of the cars in Central London on the preceding Saturday. Part of Regent St has been closed of to allow the cars, and their owners, to be displayed for the public to enjoy. There is also a Concours d’Elegance with prizes awarded for a variety of categories.

This year the event was extended with the introduction Regent St Motor Show. Featuring vehicles from three centuries, the19^thC was represented by the earliest of the London to Brighton cars, the 20^thC by the remainder of the veterans and the 21^stC by a politically correct range of  fuel efficient and zero emission vehicles. The 20^thC was further enhanced by the fact that this year is the 50^th anniversary of both the Jaguar E Type and the Mini Cooper and there were some very fine examples if both of theses marques on display.

Not everyone will think that closing a large chunk of Regent St on a Saturday is a good idea., I think that we can easily live with it. This is a free event in the heart of the Capital and seemed to be enjoyed by everyone. You can get up close and personal with some very interesting and colourful vehicles, you can talk to the owners and, if you ask them nicely, you may even be able to sit in one and honk the horn!

Go and take a look next year. It may even inspire you to get up early to watch the cars leave Hyde Park or, perhaps,  to stake out a place along the route to offer your encouragement to the participants.

 

Did I mention that they still symbolically destroy a red flag before the first cars are waved off? It makes you proud to be British!

The Power of Tech To Disappoint and Other Assorted Ramblings

So, the clocks went back at the weekend and we had the pleasure of reclaiming the hour we lost in the Spring. I woke early in the morning and heard the soft click that my alarm clock makes when the  alarm itself is switched off, so I actually knew what time it was but I was still looking forward to checking the time, knowing that I still had that extra hour to play with. A simple pleasure perhaps, but a pleasure nonetheless. My ancient clock radio (now all clock and no radio) was no help. It’s display was flashing random numbers due to me not resetting it after a brief power cut a couple of days ago and my alarm clock was out of reach (designed to make me take positive action to silence it on a work morning), so I reached for my mobile, clicked the button and was, sadly, presented with the real time. Not a big deal perhaps, it does after all claim to be a smart phone. It just went about its business and simply reset itself while I was asleep, thereby depriving me of that brief, annual pleasure. Even my wristwatch managed without me, it gets its power from the sun and it's accuracy from a mysterious signal beamed out by some distant machine and will, in all probability, continue to function efficiently well after I have departed this life. Just once in a while I’d like to think that the tech needed my help, rather than the other way around!

On Friday I went to see the new installation in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern. I had avoided reading anything about it, hoping to be mightily impressed as I walked in but it didn’t work out that way.

I like to enter the building via the western entrance to get the full experience of that amazing space. A friend (who describes the Tate as a bookshop with a gallery attached……..she’s not a fan!) considers this a waste of space, but I think of it as a rare luxury and one to be enjoyed. Having said that though, it is sometimes nice to see something in it. In this case, as so often, there is nothing to be seen, all of the action being at the eastern end, beyond the bridge.

Having read the blurb and admired the fact that the artist had used traditional methods to create this work. Cutting, splicing and hand colouring the frames of film to create something outstanding. Bouyed up with anticipation, I made my way through to see the finished result.

I really tried to appreciate what I was seeing, but I couldn’t. It was 11 minutes (I think) of my life that I will never see again and 11 minutes that I wish I had spent elsewhere. There are, I’m sure, plenty of people who will recommend that you should not miss this exhibition at any cost. Sadly, I’m not one of those people.

I freely admit that I am an art klutz, but I know enough to be able to say that all art is subjective and is reliant completely on prodding your emotions. Walking around any gallery you will see some things that you will love and others that you will hate. Things that stimulate you and things that just bore you. Things that will make you say “I could have done that” and others that will make you think ”I wish I could have done that”. In this case, my emotions remained completely unmolested!  

Luckily, it was a fine evening and the view across  the river from the Tate didn’t fail to please. The tide was high and fast flowing, and St Paul’s and the Millenium Bridge always look brilliant at night. So it wasn’t a complete right off. 

On the way to the Tate I noticed that the South Bank Tower appeared to be wearing a pink bra! I’d missed this story but a little investigation showed that this was an attempt to create the World’s largest bra and is now a Guiness World Record holder (no pun intended!) It was also a charity event in support of the Breast Cancer Campaign. For the record, it had a bust measurement of 29.6 metres and had a size of 1360 B.

Sadly, when I returned on Saturday to take pictures (after all, it’s not everyday that you see an office block wearing a bra!) the building had returned to it’s naked state. It hasn’t been a photographically productive weekend.

Finally, be aware that the Capital is being overrun by zombies. 

Zombies are obviously “in” at the moment, last year it was vampires, next year, who knows. I’m hoping that the current Zombie plague is related to Halloween, if it isn’t, we really are in trouble.