From Unherd, June 1:
High-rise architecture was built for a globalised world without infectious disease
Ten years ago one of the weirdest — and, some would say, ugliest — buildings in London was completed. Officially known as the Strata tower, it is better known as the Electric Razor — or simply the Razor.
Twenty-first century London is a jumble of oddly-shaped towers: the Gherkin, the Cheese Grater, the Walkie-Talkie, the Shard and the Boomerang. The Gherkin was the first, completed in 2003; the Shard is the tallest; but the Razor is the most symbolic of its era.....MUCH MORE
*In 2010, the country had just emerged from what we then imagined to be a once-in-a-lifetime recession. The UK economy, with its all-important financial sector, had been especially vulnerable to the Global Financial Crisis. And London was right at the epicentre.
At the time, there were doubts as to whether our capital would ever fully recover. After all, there’s nothing inevitable about its leading position. We forget it now, but for most of the 20th century, London lagged behind Britain as a whole. It was a city in decline in a country in decline. Bombed by the Germans, scarred by post-war development, and seemingly bypassed by modernity, London was lost in the fog.
But then came the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher and the Big Bang — the deregulation that would establish London as the financial capital of the global economy.
It wasn’t, of course, an end to the city’s woes. But now the poverty and decay and riots existed alongside surging prosperity. Waves of regeneration and gentrification transformed entire districts. Most dramatically, the derelict Docklands was rebuilt as a second fortress of finance. In particular, there was One Canada Square — a.k.a. ‘Canary Wharf’ — a steel-clad expression of the new London confidence. By the time it was finished (1991) so was Margaret Thatcher, but for London the good times would continue. Not even the prospect of a Labour Government was enough to dampen spirits. Indeed, during the so-called ‘Prawn Cocktail Offensive’ Labour politicians went to great lengths — or, at least, long lunches — to persuade the financiers that the City would be safe in Labour hands.
And so it proved. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had no desire to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. And so, as promised, things only got better. The London property market took off again, triggering a building boom. If Canary Wharf symbolised the Thatcher years, then the Gherkin (officially: 30 St Mary Axe) symbolised Blairism — every bit as as bold as Thatcherism, but without the sharp edges.
In 2005, one of the Gherkin’s glass panels came loose, tumbling down to the street below. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but in retrospect it can be seen as a portent. Trouble was brewing in America’s sub-prime mortgage sector, setting off the events of the Credit Crunch and the ensuing Global Financial Crisis. The economy fell off a cliff and the property market crashed. Once busy cranes disappeared from the London skyline — but not completely. A few big projects, begun in the good times, continued through the bad — not least the Strata tower.
*Which is why, ten years ago, it symbolised hope — a fresh start for a shaken city. Certainly, there was no ignoring it. Standing almost 500 feet tall, the mostly-residential Razor dominates its neighbourhood....
