About this book
This book is a collection of Photographic images contained in Sokari’s first Solo Exhibition - “East of the River”.
East of the River
Sokari is Self trained Photographer based in East London and he uses this exhibition to showcase the Changing face of East London and its surrounding Neighbourhood.
East Of The River www.sokari.eu shiggwe@sokari.eu or sokari@hotmail.com +44 7956191078 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sokarieu
East of the River Exhibition By Sokari 12th - 25th August
East of the River
East Of The River www.sokari.eu shiggwe@sokari.eu or sokari@hotmail.com +44 7956191078 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sokarieu
East of the River Exhibition By Sokari 12th - 25th August
Canary Wharf
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2
Limehouse Basin
Limehouse Basin
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4
St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge
St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge
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Three Mills Studio
Bartlette Park - Poplar
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8
Canary Wharf From West India Quay
St Paul’s Cathedral
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10
Canary Wharf Rising
Canary Wharf Rising
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Royal Naval College - Greenwich
Shadwell Basin
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Emirates Airline
Canning Town - View From Greenwich
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Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf Skyline - View From Regents Canal
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Broadgate Tower and Box Girder Bridge
Limehouse Basin
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Royal Naval College - Greenwich
One Canada Square - Canary Wharf
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One Canada Square - Canary Wharf
The Hertford Union Canal (Duckett’s Canal) - Bow
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The Shard - London Bridge
The Crystal - Royal Victoria Dock
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Britainnia Village - From Royal Victoria Dock
Poplar Dock Marina
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One West India Quay
Canary Wharf Station
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Canary Wharf Skyline from Bartlett Park
Canary Wharf Skyline from Bartlett Park
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Ravensbourne College of Design - North Greenwich
Poplar Dock Marina
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The Art Pavilion - Mile End
Poplar Dock Marina
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Index Canary Wharf Canary Wharf takes its name from No. 32 berth of the West Wood Quay of the Import Dock. This was built in 1936 for Fruit Lines Ltd, a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Lines for the Mediterranean and Canary Islands fruit trade. At their request, the quay and warehouse were given the name Canary Wharf. From 1802, the area was one of the busiest docks in the world. By the 1950s, the port industry began to decline, leading to the docks closing by 1980. The Canary Wharf of today began when Michael von Clemm, former chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), came up with the idea to convert Canary Wharf into a back office. Further discussions with G Ware Travelstead led to proposals for a new business district. The project was sold to Olympia & York and construction began in 1988, master-planned by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and subsequently by Koetter Kim. The first buildings were completed in 1991, which included One Canada Square that became the UK's tallest building and a symbol of the regeneration of Docklands. Upon opening, the London commercial property market had collapsed and Olympia and York Canary Wharf Limited filed for bankruptcy in May 1992. Today Canary wharf has become one of London’s major Financial district after the City of London and has transformed the East End of London. The Limehoue Basin The Limehouse Basin in Limehouse, provides a navigable link between the Regent's Canal and the River Thames, through the Limehouse Basin Lock. The dock originally covered an area of about 15 acres (60,703 m2). The Basin lies between the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) line and historic Narrow Street. Directly to the east is a small park, called Ropemaker's Fields. The Basin, built by the Regent's Canal Company, was formerly known as Regent's Canal Dock and was used by seagoing vessels and lighters to offload cargoes to canal barges, for onward transport along the Regent's Canal. Although initially a commercial failure following its opening in 1820, by the mid 19th century the dock (and the canal) were an enormous commercial success for the importance in the supply of coal to the numerous gasworks and latterly electricity generating stations along the canal, and for domestic and commercial use. At one point it was the principal entrance from the Thames to the entire national canal network. Its use declined with the growth of the railways, although the revival of canal traffic during World War I and World War II gave it a brief swansong. The redevelopment of the Basin started in 1983 as part of the London Docklands Development Corporation's overall masterplan for the Docklands area. However, it took many years for the scheme to come to fruition. The property boom and bust of the 1980s set back progress considerably. However by early 2004 the majority of the once derelict land surrounding the basin had been developed into luxury flats, and has become one of the Docklands most sort after residential area.
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St Paul's Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral London, is a Church of England cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. The present church, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren. Its construction, completed within Wren's lifetime, was part of a major rebuilding program which took place in the city after the Great Fire of London. The Millennium Bridge The Millennium Bridge, officially known as the London Millennium Footbridge, is a steel suspension bridge for pedestrians crossing the River Thames in London, linking Bankside with the City of London. It is sited between Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge. The Millennium Bridge is owned and maintained by Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation. Construction of the bridge began in 1998, with the opening in June 2000. Londoners nicknamed the bridge the "Wobbly Bridge" after participants in a charity walk on behalf of Save the Children to open the bridge felt an unexpected and, for some, uncomfortable swaying motion on the first two days after the bridge opened. The bridge was closed later that day, and after two days of limited access the bridge was closed for almost two years while modifications were made to eliminate the wobble entirely. It reopened in 2002. Three Mills Studios The Three Mills are former working mills on the River Lea, in the East End of London, one of London’s oldest extant industrial centres. The largest and most powerful of the four remaining tidal mills and is possibly the largest tidal mill in the world. It is mainly accessed by a bridge over the Limehouse Cut and River Lea. The House Mill was Built in 1776. It is s Grade 1 listed building. The site is now one of London's most important film and TV studios. From 2010 2012 it played host to the LOCOG teams organising the opening, closing & victory ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Planning, auditions and rehearsals as well as costume, set, music and lighting design all took place at the 3 Mills Studios. Films made at the Studios include; Eastern Promises, Fantastic Mr Fox, Made in Dagenham, and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Television shows include, Bad Girls and London's Burning. Theatre and Opera rehearsals include English National Opera (ENO), Wicked, Chicago, Billy Elliot the Musical, Dirty Dancing, AEG Live Jesus Christ Superstar, Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty, We Will Rock You (Musical).
Bartlett Park Bartlett Park is a public open space in Poplar in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets; its address is Upper North Street, London E14. It is located to the south of the Limehouse Cut waterway. St Saviour's Church remains in the centre of park, surrounded by a single row of self-build housing. The park named in honour of Prebendary Philip M. Bartlett, who died in 1958 and had been vicar of the Church for 39 years. St. Saviour's was almost destroyed by fire on 25 May 2007 but the shell remains since it is a Grade II listed building The Old Royal Naval College The Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London. Described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as being of “outstanding universal value” and reckoned to be the “finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles”. The site is managed by the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College (Foundation), set up in July 1998 as a Registered Charity to “look after these magnificent buildings and their grounds for the benefit of the nation”. The grounds and some of its buildings are open to visitors. The buildings were originally constructed to serve as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, now generally known as Greenwich Hospital, which was designed by Christopher Wren, and built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it was the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Shadwell Basin Shadwell Basin (built in 1828 – 32) was part of the London Docks, a group of docks built by the London Dock Company at Wapping, and part of the wider docks of the Port of London. Today Shadwell Basin is the most significant body of water surviving from the historical London Docks. It is situated on the north side of the river Thames east (downstream) of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge and west (upstream) of Limehouse. Unlike the rest of the London Docks which has been landfilled, Shadwell Basin, the most easterly part of the complex, has been retained. It is now a maritime square of 2.8 hectares used for recreational purposes (including sailing, canoeing and fishing) and is surrounded on three sides by a waterside housing development designed by British architects MacCormac, Jamieson, Prichard and Wright. The residential buildings are four and five storeys with façades of alternating open arches and enclosed structure, echoing the scale of traditional 19th century dockside warehouses, with a colonnade at quayside. Shadwell Basin is a popular public route for cyclists, joggers and pedestrians with a walkway alongside the water as part of the linked open spaces and canals between the river and Hermitage Basin near St Katharine Docks to the west.
The Hertford Union Canal The Hertford Union Canal or Ducketts Canal, is part of the Grand Union Canal and runs from Hertford Union Junction with the Regents Canal to the junction with the River Lee Navigation. It is 1.9 kilometers (1.2 miles) long with 3 broad locks. Virtually straight from one end to the other the canal was constructed to provide a direct link between the Regents Canal and the River Lee Navigation which not only saved time but avoided the difficulties of a short trip along the tidal River Thames before the Limehouse Cut was dug. The canal is surprisingly quiet, being bounded along its northern edge by Victoria Park. Many of the features date from the opening in 1830 and are now listed structures. Like its 1766 predecessor, the Limehouse Cut, the Hertford Union Canal was intended to provide a short-cut between the River Thames and the River Lee Navigation. It allowed traffic on the Lea heading for the Thames to bypass the tidal, tortuous and often silted Bow Back Rivers of the Lea via a short stretch of the Regent's Canal, and provided a short-cut from the Lea to places west along the Regent's Canal. Royal Victoria Dock The Royal Victoria Dock was opened in 1855 on a previously uninhabited area of the Plaistow Marshes, it was the first of the Royal Docks and the first London dock to be designed specifically to accommodate large steam ships. It was also the first to use hydraulic power to operate its machinery and the first to be connected to the national railway network via the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway section of what is now the North London Line. It was initially known as "Victoria Dock”, the prefix "Royal" was granted in 1880 The dock was an immediate commercial success, as it could easily accommodate all but the very largest steamships. By 1860, it was already taking over 850,000 tons of shipping a year. It was badly damaged by German bombing in World War II but experienced a resurgence in trade following the war. However, from the 1960s onwards, the Royal Victoria experienced a steady decline – as did all of London's other docks, as the shipping industry adopted containerisation which effectively moved traffic downstream to Tilbury. It finally closed to commercial traffic along with the other Royal Docks in 1980. Today, the Royal Victoria Dock has experienced major redevelopment under the London Docklands Development Corporation. The dock itself still exists and is accessible to ships, although its western entrance has been filled in and it is now used chiefly for watersports. Its transport links have been greatly improved with new roads and Docklands Light Railway lines running along both its north and south side. Most of the original warehouses have been demolished but the historic 19th century K-S and W Warehouses – both listed buildings – have survived. On the south side of the Dock is Britannia Village. (The Row of houses at the background). The award winning development, which included the high level footbridge, was commissioned by LDDC and carried out by Wimpey Homes, the Peabody Trust and the East Thames Housing Group between 1994 and 2000
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Regent’s Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in East London. The canal is 13.8 kilometres (8.6 miles) long. The Regents Canal was built during the early 19th century after an Act of Parliament was passed in 1812. Noted architect and town planner John Nash was a director of the company; in 1811 he had produced a masterplan for the Prince Regent to redevelop a large area of central north London – as a result, the Regent’s Canal was included in the scheme, running for part of its distance along the northern edge of Regent's Park. Continuing eastwards beyond the Islington tunnel and passing many notable landmarks, it then forms the southern end of Broadway Market and then meets the Hertford Union Canal by Victoria Park, after which it turns south towards the Limehouse Basin, where today it also meets the Limehouse Cut. At this point the canal ends as it joins the River Thames. The Shard The Shard, also referred to as the Shard of Glass, is a 95-storey skyscraper in London that forms part of the London Bridge Quarter development. The Shard's construction began in March 2009, Practical completion was achieved in November 2012. Its observation deck officially opened to the public on 1 February 2013. Standing approximately 310 metres (1,020 ft) high, the Shard is the tallest building in the European Union as of 2013. It is also the second-tallest freestanding structure in the United Kingdom, after the concrete tower at the Emley Moor transmitting station. The glass-clad pyramidal tower has 72 habitable floors, with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck – the UK's highest – on the 72nd floor, at a height of 244.3 metres (802 ft). It was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, and replaced Southwark Towers, a 24-storey office block built on the site in Southwark in 1975. One Canada Square One Canada Square (often incorrectly called Canary Wharf, after its location) is a skyscraper in Canary Wharf, and was the tallest building in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 2010, standing at 235 metres (770 ft) above ground level and containing 50 storeys. In late 2010, it was surpassed by The Shard (completed in July 2012), which stands at 309.6 metres (1,016 ft). One Canada Square was designed by principal architect Cesar Pelli, who based the design and shape mainly on the World Financial Center and the Elizabeth Tower. One of the predominant features of the building is the pyramid roof, which contains a flashing aircraft warning light, a rare feature for buildings in the United Kingdom. The distinctive pyramid pinnacle is at 240 metres (800 ft) above sea level. One Canada Square is primarily used for offices, though there are some retail units on the lower ground floor. It is a prestigious location for offices and as of January 2013 was 100% let. The building is recognised as a London landmark and it has gained much attention through film, television and other media (and my
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The Broadgate Tower and Box Girder Rail Bridge The Broadgate Tower is a skyscraper in, the City of London, situated in the northeast corner of Liverpool Street station. next to a Box Girder Rail Bridge on Worship Lane. It was constructed from 2005 to 2009 and is currently the fourth tallest building in the City of London. Built at an estimated cost of £240 million, it marked the next major phase of construction in the Broadgate estate that began in the 1980s to provide high-specification office space for the Square Mile. The Broadgate Tower was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and developed by British Land. It utilises air rights in the form of sitting on a large construction raft that has been built over the entrance to Liverpool Street station. As the tower lies over major railway lines heading into Liverpool Street, groundwork took longer than would normally be expected for a tower of this size, as all work had to be stopped whenever a train was in the vicinity of the station. It was the first skyscraper to be built in London since One Churchill Place at Canary Wharf. The tower was completed in early 2009, and became a significant addition to the London skyline, as well as setting precedent for future developments in the area. Today the tower is the 4th-tallest building in the City The Crystal Based in the Royal Victoria Docks, the centre of London's new Green Enterprise District. The Crystal is a natural home for thought leadership on urban sustainability. It provides a global knowledge hub that helps a diverse range of audiences learn and understand how we can all work to build better cities for ourselves and for future generations. The concept of the Crystal was driven by a vision of a multi-faceted urban world. Its crystalline shape represents the many facets of sustainability and the complexity of urban life. For London, the Crystal has an historical and cultural reference, drawing inspiration from the Crystal Palace, which in 1851 dazzled visitors at London's Great Exhibition showcasing innovation and the latest technology from the Industrial Revolution. It was housed in a magnificent structure of shimmering glass and iron - an engineering marvel of its time. Today the Crystal takes that iconic name to a new level, symbolising the dawn of a new, sustainable, age. The Emirates Air Line The Emirates Air Line (also known as the Thames cable car) is a cable car link across the River Thames in London built with sponsorship from the airline Emirates. The service opened on 28 June 2012 and is operated by Transport for London. It has an average ridership of 31,601 passenger journeys a week. The service, comprises a 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) gondola line that crosses the Thames from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Docks. Construction began in August 2011. The cable car is based on Monocable Detachable Gondola (MDG) technology, a system which uses a single cable for both propulsion and support. The MDG system is reportedly cheaper and quicker to install than a more complex three-cable system, which would allow for larger-capacity cars.
Poplar Dock Marina Poplar Dock is a small dock in east London. It connects to the Blackwall Basin of the West India Docks and, although independent of this system, has never had a direct connection to the Thames. Originally a series of reservoirs built by the West India Dock Company and completed in 1828, Poplar Dock was converted into a railway dock, in the days before any of London's enclosed dock systems were connected to the railway network. The dock was built by the East & West India Docks and Birmingham Junction Railway Company (later the North London Railway Company). It was alone among the docks to remain outside the control of the Port of London Authority in 1909, and remained in the ownership of British Rail until closure in 1981. Much of the dock survives today as a mooring connected to Blackwall Basin. Poplar Dock is now known as Poplar Dock Marina. It was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 1999. The marina is overlooked to the south by Landons Close (part of the Jamestown Harbour development) and to the west by Boardwalk Place.
No 1 West India Quay Tower No1 West India Quay Tower was designed by international architects HOK International It was the final phase of the redevelopment of the West India Quay & Port East area. With its knife-edge profile and elegant curves, this 32-storey tower of stainless steel and glass rising 360 ft above the quayside of London’s Canary Wharf. This luxury development offers 152 apartments and six penthouses on the 13th to the 32nd floor. Below these apartments is the 301-bedroom five-star Marriott Hotel, which occupies the lower 12 storey’s of the building. Room service is available in this development. Ravensbourne College Building in North Greenwich Formerly Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, is a university sector college in the field of digital media and design, with a vocationally focused portfolio of courses, spanning fashion, television and broadcasting, interactive product design, architecture and environment design, graphic design, animation, moving image, music production for media and sound design. Designed by the Foreign Office Architects, The façade is composed of 28,000 anodised aluminium tiles in three different shapes and colours. The tiled façade is perforated with round windows of varying sizes, with two rows of windows per floor to provide views of the surrounding city. The pattern of the tiles is determined by the size and positioning of window openings, while the size of windows depends on the corresponding interior function. Perforations on the north side are larger and more frequent than those in the south side to regulate light levels.
Canary Wharf Tube Station The tube station was intended from the start to be the showpiece of the Jubilee Line Extension, and the contract for its design was awarded in 1990 to the renowned architect Sir Norman Foster. It was constructed, by a Tarmac Construction / Bachy UK Joint Venture, in a drained arm of the former dock, using a simple "cut and cover" method to excavate an enormous pit 24 metres (78 ft) deep and 265 metres (869 ft) long. The size of the interior has led to it being compared to a cathedral, and it has even been used to celebrate a wedding. However, the main reason for the station's enormous dimensions was the great number of passengers predicted; as many as 50,000 daily. These predictions have been outgrown, with as many as 69,759 on weekdays recorded in 2006. On 9 January 2013, the station appeared on a £1.28 British postage stamp as part of a set commemorating the 150th anniversary of the first London underground train journey. The stamp's captions read "Jubilee Line at Canary Wharf" and "1999". The Canary Wharf stamp represented the most modern phase of the Underground in the set of six stamps. Canning Town - View from Greenwich Canning Town is a district in East London, part of the London Borough of Newham. It is situated in the area of the former London docks on the north side of the River Thames. It is the location of Rathbone Market. The area is thought to be named for the first Viceroy of India, Charles John Canning, who suppressed the Indian Mutiny about the time the district expanded. The opening of the Royal Victoria Dock in 1855 accelerated the development of the area creating employment and a need to house dockworkers and their families. As a result new settlements around the dock developed, starting with Hallsville, Canning Town and Woolwich, and later the areas now known as Custom House, Silvertown and West Silvertown. Despite being a neighbour to many Dockland developments, Canning Town remained one of the most deprived areas in the UK. However, the area is currently undergoing significant regeneration. - 'The Canning Town and Custom House Regeneration Programme includes the building of up to 10,000 new homes, creation of thousands of new jobs and two improved town centres. This £3.7 billion project aims to transform the area physically, socially and economically.
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References Sources of all written materials were collected from the following: Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org The Crystal website http://www.thecrystal.org
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