Rowan Moore, structure critic of The Guardian within the U.Okay., writes that the proposed 1,000-foot Tulip, designed by Sir Norman Foster as a flowery vacationer commentary deck, ought to be denied planning permission by the London authorities (“The Tulip’s towering vainness should be nipped within the bud“).
Huh? I assumed that Mayor Khan already did that final 12 months. (“Mayor nips Foster’s Tulip.”) As Windfall’s proposed Fane tower not too long ago demonstrated, these ego-driven tasks are like cats with their 9 lives. Apparently, Foster utilized for a redo, and would possibly nicely overturn the mayor’s thumbs’ down. Right here is Moore’s description of the proposed Tulip:
In contrast to different [London] towers, the Tulip’s object is to not maximise lettable sq. metres however to create eating places, bars, viewing galleries and “lecture rooms within the sky,” all positioned in a glass bud on the high of an extended concrete stalk. It may also be guessed that the venture serves to feed the egos of the Safras [its financial backers] and of Lord Foster, as it might restore the pre-eminence on the skyline that the Gherkin has misplaced to a clutch of cumbersome skyscrapers round it.
Moore rejects the concept the Tulip will revive Covid-dissipated London. The Shard, London’s tallest tower, is at 1,016 ft not a lot taller than the Tulip could be. Nevertheless it appears to me the Tulip could be a lot scarier, with its bulbous high atop a slender concrete “stalk.” A confidence-builder certainly! Consider the tulip craze in 1637 Holland, the primary recorded speculative bubble in historical past. As a constructing, the Tulip is a speculative bubble on high of a speculative bubble on high of – you may say – a speculative bubble.
Holland survived its disaster however London is shopping for right into a speculative bubble much more sinister than bulbomania. A whole lot of towers have been proposed or authorised in London. They’re economically and ecologically unsustainable. Ultimately, their dangerous enterprise will meet up with them. Who is aware of: with Covid, possibly it already has.
My guess is that when Covid exits stage left, the recognition of a view from atop the Shard, or the Tulip if and when it’s accomplished, can have been degraded by the lots of of towers which have already arisen in London. There’s no telling when the unsustainability of the buildings or their views will present itself, however it might be before later.
This Dezeen article on the Tulip has extra illustrations. Frankly, if London needs to go the complete folly of Dubai, it would as nicely.
