London's new skyscraper - The Shard
RemadE
Global Moderator
I recall walking past this a load of a times whenever I went to the Capital and it didn't look big at all (as in diameter) but how wrong I was as we are now catching up to other Cities around the World, despite some thinking it's good, others thinking not and Nick Clegg sitting on the fence with a splinter up his arse as always.
The new addition to the skyline of London, which was designed on the back of a napkin in Germany by and mostly financed by Dubai/Qatar, is now finally open. Hooray for Human Rights abuses and an addition to London to bring corrupt businessmen here which will no doubt be the backdrop for films like a new "Rock'n'Rolla" (a film where a wealthy Roman Abramovich-type was buying property in London). And just to rub it in, I used to ride our Horses round his Country estate near our house. Ooh yeah.
Anyway, enough gloating - time for some history! The Shard had come under security concerns in April, a year after a group of awesomely talented and insanely ballsy Urban Explorers managed to get past Security AND CCTV to scale the height of the then-incomplete and bloody gusty, windy building. Here are some amazing photos, too. Beats the official ones taken on a murky, cloudy day.
Ok so enough of my painfully annoying cynicism. It looks alright. Not completely my style despite liking almost everything Futurist but it is the tallest building in Europe (take that, Eiffel Tower and the previous record holder - the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt). The viewing gallery, so I am told, will be open February 2013 and charge £25 (approx. $38.80 - thanks XE converter) per adult, but the views are of course, never before seen over London unless you got some help. Say, you're a migrating bird or flying from a local airport. When I was in a Helicopter over the Capital, I could see all the way past the M25, and the Shard offers a similar view, seeing just shy of that distance I could see if it's a clear day. Loving how it says "splendid isolation south of the Thames" playing into the hands of oppositions seeing as Southwark/South bank is Hipsterland, too.
Yes, I had to put that in here - it's small because I had a HDD break on me and they were recovered from my old Facebook account
Statistics for the Shard can be found here, and here is a video news report along with one from those who do not think The Shard is suited to London's skyline and think Manhattan would be better (plus they say the price is higher, which conflict with the £25 BBC report).. Anyway, come over, Yank tourists! Bring your devalued Dollar and give us it all and take a photo with our grenadier Guards with their big, fluffy bear-fur hats *evil Limey laugh*
The new addition to the skyline of London, which was designed on the back of a napkin in Germany by and mostly financed by Dubai/Qatar, is now finally open. Hooray for Human Rights abuses and an addition to London to bring corrupt businessmen here which will no doubt be the backdrop for films like a new "Rock'n'Rolla" (a film where a wealthy Roman Abramovich-type was buying property in London). And just to rub it in, I used to ride our Horses round his Country estate near our house. Ooh yeah.
Anyway, enough gloating - time for some history! The Shard had come under security concerns in April, a year after a group of awesomely talented and insanely ballsy Urban Explorers managed to get past Security AND CCTV to scale the height of the then-incomplete and bloody gusty, windy building. Here are some amazing photos, too. Beats the official ones taken on a murky, cloudy day.
Pictures:
Under construction
**
Almost done - the eye of Sauron would fit perfectly in there!
**
Et voila! A monument to all the drunken bottle fights and the leftover shards found in the morning across all British City centres late at night...perfect!
A massive photo of the laser opening tonight, thanks and credit to WholeWideWorld from www.reddit.com/r/london
Under construction
**
Almost done - the eye of Sauron would fit perfectly in there!
**
Et voila! A monument to all the drunken bottle fights and the leftover shards found in the morning across all British City centres late at night...perfect!
A massive photo of the laser opening tonight, thanks and credit to WholeWideWorld from www.reddit.com/r/london
Ok so enough of my painfully annoying cynicism. It looks alright. Not completely my style despite liking almost everything Futurist but it is the tallest building in Europe (take that, Eiffel Tower and the previous record holder - the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt). The viewing gallery, so I am told, will be open February 2013 and charge £25 (approx. $38.80 - thanks XE converter) per adult, but the views are of course, never before seen over London unless you got some help. Say, you're a migrating bird or flying from a local airport. When I was in a Helicopter over the Capital, I could see all the way past the M25, and the Shard offers a similar view, seeing just shy of that distance I could see if it's a clear day. Loving how it says "splendid isolation south of the Thames" playing into the hands of oppositions seeing as Southwark/South bank is Hipsterland, too.
Yes, I had to put that in here - it's small because I had a HDD break on me and they were recovered from my old Facebook account
Statistics for the Shard can be found here, and here is a video news report along with one from those who do not think The Shard is suited to London's skyline and think Manhattan would be better (plus they say the price is higher, which conflict with the £25 BBC report).. Anyway, come over, Yank tourists! Bring your devalued Dollar and give us it all and take a photo with our grenadier Guards with their big, fluffy bear-fur hats *evil Limey laugh*
Comments
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100169311/the-shard-a-giant-middle-finger-directed-by-the-super-rich-at-the-rest-of-london/
It's strange, that people complaining of a Government, be it the current one or previous - Labour, have screwed them over, yet don't look further than the Olympics, such as what the accommodation will be turned into, or where the money came from etc. It's just "Oh look! An amazing event, I'm so proud to be British!", which I feel is the same for this building, what with it being the tallest in Europe. The trade-off between that title and the ridiculous cost of it isn't worth it, and that's one reason why I can certainly understand where that Telegraph report comes from.
Link.
To be fair, I'd love to go up it.