London is not characterised by any particular architectural style, having accumulated its buildings over a long period of time. Few structures predate the Great Fire of 1666, with notable exceptions including the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Banqueting House and several scattered Tudor survivors in the City of London.
The City itself contains a wide variety of styles, progressing through Wren's late 17th-century churches and the financial institutions of the 18th and 19th century such as the Royal Exchange and the Bank of England, to the early 20th century Old Bailey (England and Wales' central criminal court) and the 1960s Barbican Estate.
What exactly is contemporary architecture? It is usually defined as the architecture of the present day. As you can imagine, this definition can lead to confusion. One might think that any recently constructed building counts as an example of contemporary architecture, but this is clearly not the case. Contemporary architecture is based on a principle that is shared by all those who practice I the desire and the will to design and build things that are different from what was done in the past and what is usually done today. Contemporary architecture aims to break away from the processes and ways of thinking that have become standard. It is innovative.
Contemporary Architecture is not a movement, it can offer a number of varied architectural choices, provided that they stand out from conventional designs.
Besides making cities more affordable and architecturally interesting, tall buildings are greener than sprawl, and they foster social capital and creativity. Yet some urban planners and preservationists seem to have a misplaced fear of heights that yields damaging restrictions on how tall a building can be. From New York to Paris to Mumbai, there’s a powerful case for building up, not out. For centuries, ever taller buildings have made it possible to cram more and more people onto an acre of land.
The City of London Information Centre introduces a dynamic contemporary structure to an area of exceptional architectural and urban heritage. Destined to become a local landmark in its own right, this exciting new building provides all the facilities required to offer a state-ofthe-art information service to the millions of people who pass through the area each year.
City Hall houses the chamber for the London Assembly and the offices of the mayor and staff of the Greater London Authority. It forms the focal point of the More London development – a new working community on the south bank of the Thames between London and Tower Bridges.
A reaction against the Modernist approaches gave rise to new buildings that re-invented historical details and familiar motifs. Look closely at these architectural movements and you are likely to find ideas that date back to classical and ancient times. Neo-Modernism and Parametricism The name for computer-driven design is up for grabs. Perhaps it began with Frank Gehry's sculpted designs or maybe others who experimented with Binary Large Objects—BLOB architecture. No matter who started it, everyone's doing it now, and the possibilities are stunning.