Journal from History of London through Architecture class - 8 sessions

Southward London

LONDON BRIDGE STATION
London Bridge station was the first station in London and also one of the oldest railway stations in the world. The original station was built with a wooden trussed pitched roof, 56 ft by 212 ft (17m by 65m), shortly after opening. In 1838, the station was enlarged by the London and Croydon Railway. It was widened again y the Greenwich Railway from 1840-1842. After that the Britain’s railway industry observed the merger of London and Greenwich Railway as a threat to the new joint committee of the Croydon, Brighton and South Eastern companies. Competition was under high pressure – later in 1847, the Croydon and Brighton companies merged with others to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. The station was then an adjoin station between two companies. An Act of Parliament of 1862 gave the LB&SCR power to enlarge the station further. This had a single-span trussed-arch roof measuring 88 ft by 655 ft (27m by 200m) and was designed by J.

•Location: Bermondsey and Tooley Street, south of the river Thames

•Date of building: The station was first opened on Feb 1836 and was London’s first railway station.

•Description:

–Scale: The original station was built with a wooden trussed pitched roof, 56 ft by 212 ft (17m by 65m)

–Structure: the public concourse has been ‘comprehensively redeveloped’ in a mindless speculators recipe of a twenty-storey tower and supermarket-type low building. The original building lies behind, and the simple elegance of the fine and slender cast-iron trusses (painted white) over the platforms to the right is a rebuke to the crass and lurid space frames of the concourses outside.

GUYS' HOSPITAL

The hospital was founded by Thomas Guy in 1722 to treat the “incurables”. Later, supported by the government, the hospital was granted the south-side of St. Thomas’ Street. The hospital was expanded over the centuries.. These original parts of the hospital are now administrative and social accommodation – Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

34 storey Guys’ Tower was added in 1974 (143 metres high, designed by Watkins Gray) – this is the tallest hospital building in the world – 143 metres high. The latest building added is Thomas Guy House in 1995, known as Phillip Harris House before. There are currently 8,000 staff working in Guy’s hospital and St. Thomas’ hospital. The Guy’s Dental Hospital is also the largest dental hospital in Europe.

•Location: St. Thomas Street, SE1 – in the borough of Southwark in south east London.

•Date of building: 1722

•Architect/Designer: Richard Jupp

•Description:

–Scale: the tallest hospital building in the world, 142.6 m with 34 floors.

–Structure: The original buildings comprised a courtyard facing St Thomas Street, comprising the hall on the east side and the Chapel (Boland House), Matron's House and Surgeon's House on the west-side and the Old Guy’s House located in the south side.

–Materials: Portland stone

–Construction: Two inner quadrangles were divided by a cloister which was later restyled and dedicated to the hospital's members who fell in World War I. The east side comprised the care wards and the 'counting house' with the governors 'Burfoot Court Room'. The north-side quadrangle is dominated by a statue of Lord Nuffield who was the chairman of governors for many years and also a major benefactor.

THE SHARD BUILDING

The Shard Building/The Shard/Shard of Glass, previously known as London Bridge Tower, located in Southward London, expected to be finished in 2012, will be the UK’s and Europe’s tallest building.

Renzo Piano, the architect of the building, is an Italian architect, best known for creating Paris’s Pompidou Centre of Modern Art with Richard Rogers.

Piano considers the slender, spire-like form of the tower a positive addition to the London skyline and believes that its presence will be far more delicate than opponents of the scheme allege. He proposes a sophisticated use of glazing, with expressive facades of angled panes intended to reflect light and the changing patterns of the sky, so that the form of the building will change according to the weather and seasons.

•Location: Bermondsey and Tooley Street, south of the river Thames

•Date of building: expected March 2009 – May 2012, with cost around £450 millions

•Architect/Designer: Renzo Piano, developed by Sellar Property Group.

•Architecture style: Modern Architecture – glass windows on the outside with steel/concrete core supporting the building.

•Description:

•Scale: height of antenna being 310m, height of roof 306m, 87 floors including radiator, floor area around 111000 square meters.

•Form: tower with slender, spire-form

•Structure: 72 floors and additional 15 radiators in the roof (Floor 4-28 are for office space, 53-65 are for residential apartment, and other floors are for services)

•Materials: glass, steel & concrete.

–Construction by Mace, using five cranes.

GEORGE'S INN

George’s Inn was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London that destroyed most of medieval Southwark. It is London’s only remaining working example of the inn type, predecessor of both the model and the theatre (northern side missing). The interiors (more of 18th century) stile provide a plausible impression of an inn’s hospitality; generations of brewers’ improvements have been accomplished discreetly.

•Location: 71 Borough High Street

•Date of building: 1676

•Architect/Designer: Unknown. The building is currently owned and leased by National Trust.

•Architecture style:18th century motel

•Description:

–Form: motel, also as theatre and bars

–Structure: The ground floor of the inn is divided into a number of connected bars. The Old Bar used to be a waiting room for passengers on coaches. The Middle Bar was the Coffee Room, which was frequented by Charles Dickens. The bedrooms, now a restaurant, were upstairs in the galleried part of the building. The courtyard was the prototype for theatres in London (there used to be three courtyards)

–Materials: bricks.

HOPS EXCHANGE

The Hops was introduced to England from Netherlands and are still used in the brewing industry. In the 19th century, raw materials for beer were brought to the market to trade, brew and sell. A glass roof allowed business on the trading floor of the Great Hall to be conducted under natural light. After the fire in 1920, two storeys were removed and the exchanges become offices.

•Location: 24 Southwark Street.

•Date of building: 1866

•Architect/Designer: R.H. Moore (according to Wikipedia)

•Architecture style: Classical building (columns and arches) with Victorian decoration.

–Form: marketplace/floor exchange

–Materials: stucco and cast iron

•Construction: restored by Peer Group Plc,

BOROUGH MARKET

Journal for David. History of London through Architecture

This journal is the requirement for the class I took in Imperial College, by David Garrard - one of the most enthusiastic and passionate teacher I have had. David love his job and every building of London.

The journal is just summarized from David's lecture, my readings from the two required textbook and some other reference online. I will start from the history of London in many periods, short introduction of different architecture styles, and then photo and notes of each lecture sessions about all the buildings that we walked and learnt their stories.

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Cant find my USB =))) Will edit the file as soon as I find it.

Black market for designers' handbags and accessories

As an addicted shoppers of shoes and handbag, I couldnt stop looking at those replica website just to see how crazy those Chinese people can drive the buyers by offering crazy price for all the designer's branches. There are some examples in the first page by Google search engine:

http://www.poshmoda.ws/
http://www.topreplicahandbags.uk.com/
http://www.pursevalley.co/
http://www.worldofreplica.co/
http://www.wholesaledesignershop.net/
http://www.aaa-handbag.com/
http://hotfashionmall.cc/
http://www.contwhatnera.tk/

http://www.watch-report.net/
http://www.buyreplicawatchs.net/
http://www.watchestiming.com/
http://www.towatchesit.com/
http://www.swizwatch.com/

http://koreaways.com/

It will take me forever to list all the websites, since they are hundred of them under various kind of names and keyword. The last website is of someone who longs for all luxury lifestyle - she cited all the replica products websites she know, reviews and give her own opinions.

I looked up the contact information as well as the manufacturers - and it's not any surprise that they are all from China, even though some claims to be Japan ("with their factory in China") or Korean...

I did a little further research. It's said that for designers' clothes, shoes and handbags, the sources are mainly from Korean, China, Thailand and even Vietnam. Korean fake handbags are believed to have the best quality and are the closest to the real one. Chinese fake handbags are of low quality, even some claim to have AAA quality level. (This reminds me of the time I was in Venice and was annoyed by those black people carrying like 20-30 fake handbags standing on the tourism square trying to sell a designer for like 10-20 euro). Fake products are said to come from Vietnam and Thailand also, even though when I was in Vietnam, mostly the stores owner say they buy them from Chinese wholesalers).

Luxury fake watches also have several sources: Swiss, Japan and again China. Swiss replica ones are said to have the best quality, cost up to thousand of $, and also probably can't even be detected by a watch-makers. Japanese replicas are of lower/average/medium quality, around 150-300$ while Chinese replicas are the worst and only cost up to $150 to the max.

I admitted that I was tempted so much to own a Louis Vuitton/Hermes handbags after I visited their stores in London and Paris last month. Not only the shape, the sign, the color or design, but it's the quality of the leather that make the strongest impression to me. I'm not a shopaholic addictive buyer, but it would be so hard for me to resist in front of such a beautiful elegant thing.

The fact is that the replica bag can never achieve such a quality. I'm not sure if I have seen any Korean replica, but the LV one my friend ordered from a Chinese manufacture is surely not 100% - the leather outside seems okay when it's still new, but I can feel the difference in the strap, and of course the other side of the bad inside out. Well it seems worth the cheap price offer.

As long as I continue to find more and more Chinese website that sell fake/replica products, I could stop myself thinking about the dominance of Chinese manufactures with their low-quality, cheap products. It's okay for me when they design and make their own products - but they obvhttp://lypham.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpiously use other designs, brand names, trademark of other people to make profit - even though they claim to sell fake ones. I'm not a law student to figure out exactly what cases were tried on this issue - however, it's such against my ethics to see those Chinese people are taking advantages of others to make profit for their pockets. No matter how overpriced those handbags are, the designs belongs to those people who drain their creativity and work hard to develop, maintain and even to marketing the brand to reach their certain popularity - the price of luxury brands isnt for the manufacture cost - they deserve their extremely high price because of their creativity and, most of all, the entire journey of creating and marketing the brand. It isnt right for someone who copy the exact design and even carry their name, sell it for three time of the manufacture cost and still be proud of offering "reasonable" price for stealing others' patent !!!! It's the brand equity that should be protected. Well for those Chinese who just want to make money no matter what, they actually dont care. However, if you are an educated person and have a dream to create something of your own, representing you, and your intellects - you can know probably be sympathy with those designers...

I'm satisfied to find out one of those unethical websites are sued and had to close: http://mypurseworld.com/ I kinda want to quote the whole final judgment form USDC Southern District of Florida since they may close the site LOL, but seem like they keep it like that since Jun 2009 though.

Again, it is a crime to sell counterfeit products, even though the sellers claim it to be replica ones:

I.B.2. Trademarks and Sevice MarksThe federal law of trademarks and service marks protects a commercial identity or brand used to identify a product or service to consumers. The Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051-1127, prohibits the unauthorized use of a trademark, which is defined as "any word, name, symbol, or device" used by a person "to identify and distinguish his or her goods, including a unique product, from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods." 15 U.S.C. § 1127. By registering trademarks and service marks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the owner is granted the exclusive right to use the marks in commerce in the United States, and can exclude others from using the mark, or a comparable mark, in a way likely to cause confusion in the marketplace. A protected mark might be the name of the product itself, such as "Pfizer" or "L.L. Bean"; a distinguishing symbol, such as the Nike "swoosh" or the MGM lion; or a distinctive shape and color, such as the blue diamond shape of a Viagra tablet. Certain symbols like the Olympic rings also receive like protection.
Legal protections for trademarks and service marks not only help protect the goodwill and reputation of mark-owners, but also promote fair competition and the integrity of markets, and protect consumers by helping to ensure they receive accurate information about the origins of products and services.
Federal criminal law has long prohibited trafficking in goods or services that bear a counterfeit mark. 18 U.S.C. § 2320. As discussed more fully in subsequent chapters, in March 2006 the criminal trademark statute was amended to also prohibit trafficking in labels or packaging bearing a counterfeit mark, even when the label or packaging is unattached to the underlying good. Individuals convicted of § 2320 offenses face up to 10 years' imprisonment and a $2,000,000 fine.

I tried eBay - an free online market which has been enjoying its good reputation for controlling trademarks, copyrights and patents; and the result make sense: there is none replica is sold on eBay, except for some "designer inspired" products that somehow copy the shape but not the entire design - no brand name attached. Lots of cheap and low quality handbag from China and Singapore (which speak Chinese as the official language).

Recently I have read some other articles about the Chinese ambition and their way of achieving their goals no matter what road to take ... Cheap clothing and electronics to all over the world, poisonous toys and milk for children, intoxicated fruit and food to Vietnam, their border issue, their humanity issue, ... and recently their occupation in other countries' border - the most obvious example being Singapore, and now even NYC are complaining...

No matter what growth rate they are enjoying, or how much their GDP climb up, China will never can be the leader of the world: it's can't be a low quality manufacture, under-the-table deals and their unethical ways (at least it is to me) to occupy and dominate other markets.

Last summer of my college life

Summer of 2011 before my senior year in the states. How time flies!!!

I'm currently a student in Ohio, double majoring in Finance, and Financial Maths. The late decision to double major have been draining me every day at school last year, together with the honor program - somehow I'm definitely not excited to come back, together with tons of my other plan to finish in these two last semesters ... As if I had just started my college life, haha.

This summer so far has been the best spent summer of my life, without friends and family in Europe (I met some of them, but only for several days.) I have visited Prague, Paris, Venice, Rome, Barcelona and is still dont want to leave London for the states.

I'm still working on the rest of my journal book of London with a class of history through architecture with some American students, will upload it before my semesters start. I'm starting this blog to share with whoever are interested my journeys around the world, my experience and some lessons I have learnt on those days around the world. I was lazy to start blogging ever since grade 12 - college was even a huge experience everyday that makes me lazy. However, reading those old entries amazed me of how growup I'm after everyday, and the lessons and feelings I learn will never be the same. I guess that is to say I appreciate every enjoying moment of my life; usually life sucks and just turn out to be so hard haha.

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Travel around the Europe

This process is not needed for American, Japanese, Korean and lots of other countries' citizens, but is still quite simple for tourist visa: you show them your plan for your travel itinerary: booking of hotel/hostel, indicate how many day you plan to stay in each country, buy insurance for your trip, and your flight ticket reservation. I choose France consulate in Chicago (since I'm in Ohio, which corresponds to Chicago-based office) since I will stay in France the longest, but any country in the area will be able to provide the permit to go to the whole area anyway. I messed up with some documents and requirements and was scared to death if they ever refused my application and noted "refused" in their record... It was such a relief to hear "You're done" all the time everywhere you are in line waiting for paper works.

2 weeks after the interview (more of the finger prints and photo taking day) the visa arrived my mailbox. It takes two other weeks to send my application package to the UK embassy for my different visa to London. Today, looking at my passport book with visa to the US, UK, EU... I just couldnt hide my little happiness ("evil laugh") However the waiting time was so close to the travel day, so I could make any earlier planning (not to say I was still overloaded with school and stuffs). For all of you have already know, late planning and bookings resulted in extremely high cost for transportation and accommodation, especially cities like Paris and Rome.

I have tons of random things noticed everywhere I go, but here come some general reviews about each city only, since I dont want and cannot publish a novel in the first blog entry (and quietly disappear LOL)
Prague is a very pretty and quiet capital of Czech. Different from other gorgeous pretentious tourist attraction, Prague has much less noise than all later city in my journey. The city displays all the old building, none of them has the modern architecture style of steel and glass, but all old bricks, painted bright colors. I went to Prague because of a recommendation from a friend, and somehow the impression of a humble pretty city make be feel peaceful whenever I think of Prague...

Berlin, is one of the most boring city to visit as a tourist haha. People can come there to live, well they probably can know more bars and clubs or nice places to 'hang out' and enjoy a nice modern city. However for a tourist it didnt have a lot to offer =]] Well, at least I have been there. Ticked.

Paris didnt overwhelmed me at first, but on the contrary reminded me of the Hanoi train station - Gare de Lyon was like that, quite old, crowded and quite chaotic. The traffic jam in front of the train station and the street in outbound Paris to my hotel exactly looked like Hanoi streets...
I stayed in Paris for 4 days and I couldn't make it to visit and fully enjoy all the places I wanted to be. Paris is just way too much beautiful glamorous city, also luxury and fashionable.

Leaving Paris for Venice, we've had a long journey to a small island near Venice and I was confused when I could see any sign of 'Venice' which I always had in mind. However the camp where we stay were such a wonderful camp for group, and the beach nearby and the nice weather just refreshed us. Venice was a very pretty pretty romantic tiny island, with excellent 'Venice' mask and the boat team. Some part of Venice are in construction, so I could see them entirely, or take a best photos of them. Guess I would want to come back.

I feel like I have walked to every corner of Rome in 5 days staying there with friend and shortly see my family. Rome is such a small city that the hotel staff recommenced us to walk instead of the inconvenient underground. Later, I figured out that local bus is free (well it was so crowded that you would not have chance to swipe your card, even though I bought my Roma Pass already). It was amazing walking on the old brick road, turning to all the tine lane and looking at all the vespa on the street - oh how much I missed those motorbikes, nowhere to be found in the states). Italian gelato was a super plus. Of course, just like Paris, Rome was overcrowded with people - we couldnt even find a nice place to take picture with the Trevi Fountain =]]

Barcelona is another peaceful place of my interest. The architecture of Gandi was incomprehensible to me LOL. The city didnt offer much of tourist attraction for me to rush, but enough to enjoy a nice trip and the beauty of the city.

That's way too general reviews of those cities, after that I came to London and it's another great experience. I may return with more craps about EU cities ^^