Point of view Book

Point Of View

About this book This book is a collection of photographic images contained in Sokari’s second Solo Exhibition “Point of View” Sokari is a self trained photographer based in East London. The images in this exhibition is inspired by his love for architecture, He uses this exhibition to showcase different perspectives of architectural landmarks and cityscapes around the world. The different perspectives are combined into a whole, to show how certain images can be seen when taken from different “Points of View”.

Point Of View www.sokari.eu shiggwe@sokari.eu +44 7956191078 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sokarieu

Point Of View Exhibition By Sokari 24th - 30th March 2014

Point Of View

Point Of View www.sokari.eu shiggwe@sokari.eu +44 7956191078 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sokarieu

Point Of View Exhibition By Sokari 24th - 30th March 2014

Point Of View

Architecture for me, is an expression of the artistic stance of an architect, it is a creation of something which did not previously exist, and I try to use photography to interpret these artistic expressions by architects. I also use photography to manipulate and highlight the different perspectives and interesting features of buildings and structures, hence the title “point of view�.

I am also fascinated at how architecture transforms our lives, affecting the way we live, the things we do, and how it shapes the environment around us. For me, this is the gift that architecture gives to society.

In this exhibition I have combined my passion for photography with my love for architecture to show how architecture can be viewed from different perspectives depending on the elements (daylight, sunshine, nighttime, shadows, the sky, fog, mist etc). I try to capture the relationship between architecture and the elements, and how architecture can sometimes blend with the environment, and also to show the relationships it has with other surrounding architecture. The goal is to use this exhibition to showcase architecture through my eyes, as I see it.

In taking these images, there are times I have been lucky to be in the right place at the right time, with all the conditions perfect.

However, there were days when I never get the conditions the way I want them. I usually end up making several visits and eventually I get the perspectives or point of view that I wanted in the first place. That for me is when the mind becomes one with the camera.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the collection.

Sokari

One West India Quay Completed in 2004 and designed by architects HOK international. With its knife-edge profile and elegant curves, this 32 storey tower of stainless steel and glass rising 360ft above the quayside of London’s Canary wharf. The bottom 12 floors house a Marriott Hotel, including 47 serviced suites on floors 9-13. Floors 13-33 house 158 apartments.

Commerce Court Building North - Toronto.

The Commerce Court North building was completed in 1931. The building is 34 storeys high, and is the head quarters of the Canadian Bank of Commerce. The building was designed by the Canadian firm Pearson and Darling. The building clad in Limestone was the tallest building in the British Empire/Commonwealth for three deduces until 1962.

City Hall - London Commonly referred to as “The Onion” was designed by Fosters and Partners. the building has 185,00 sq ft of floorspace spread over 10 floors . In conventional terms, the building has no front or back, it’s shape is derived from a geometrically modified sphere. Completed in 2002.

25 The Esplanade - Toronto 25 The Esplanade is a Residential skyscraper located in downtown Toronto. It was designed by Matsui Baer Vanstone architects. Completed in 1988.

It’s Postmodern design references the Beaux-Art style. This 33 storey building is also noted for its similar architect to other Flatiron buildings.

Abbotts Wharf - London A residential development in East London by architects Jestico & Whiles completed in 2006. The building won the Housing Design Award in 2006. The Identical balconies positioned irregularly give an impression they are floating in the air. (I call this the Floating Balconies).

The Heron - London A residential skyscraper in the city of London, completed in 2013. Located next to the Barbican residential estate, designed by David Walkers architects was originally meant to be 44 floors but after criticism by residents, the height was scaled down to 36 floors.

The Angel of the North - Gateshead A contemporary sculpture designed by Antony Gormley. It is a steel structure of an angel 66 ft tall and wings measuring 177ft across. The wings do not stand straight but are angled 3.5 degrees forward to create a sense of embrace.

Penshaw Monument - Sunderland Officially the Earl of Durham Monument, is a folly built in 1844 on Penshaw hill, dedicated to John Lambton (1779 -1840) the Earl of Durham and the first governor of the Province of Canada. Sitting on a 446ft hill the monument dominates the local Landscape as a half-sized replica of the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens.

The Dommersburg - Amsterdam A drawbridge on the Brouwersgracht, built in 1899. Picture was taken from the Binnen Dommerstraat, a street named after Ijsband Jansz Dommer. He owned the land that the street was built on. He was also an Elderman of the city.

The Zuiderkerk - Amsterdam Designed by masterbuilder Hendrick de Keyser in the Dutch Renaissance style, work started in 1603 and completed in 1614, The picture was taken from the Staalmeetersburg. However from 1971 to 2006, you could hardly see the church from the bridge because of long queues of people waiting for the nearby STD Clinic. The clinic was moved in 2006. Good news for Japanese tourist who allegedly joined the queues believing that it was a museum.

A Narrow Lonely Street - Lisbon Unfortunately, I do not know the name of this street, I was walking down the road and suddenly came across this lonely street, with cars lined up as if someone arranged them. I could not help but take a picture. It almost feels abandoned.

Broadgate Tower - London A skyscraper in the city of London, constructed from 2005 to 2009. It is the forth tallest building in the city of London. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architects. It sits in a large construction raft over the entrance of Liverpool street station, as a result, during construction, all work had to be stopped whenever a train was in the vicinity of the station.

Saint Paul’s Cathedral The current Church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, in English Baroque style, construction started from 1675 and completed in 1720. It is the seat of the bishop of London and the mother church of the diocese of London. It sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the city of London.

The Shard - London.

A 95 storey skyscraper in London, began in 2009 and completed in 2012. is the tallest building in European Union as of 2013. It is also the secondtallest free standing structure in the UK, after the Emley Moor Transmitting station. Designed by architect Renzo Piano.

One King West Hotel - Toronto.

A condo hotel in the heart of the financial district, completed in 2006. This tower was added onto the heritage Dominion Bank building 1914, itself an early 12 storey skyscraper. The condo tower stands at 51 storeys designed by Stanford Downey Architects Inc. These pictures were taken on difference days with different weather conditions.

Broadwalk House - City of London Broadwalk House forms Phases 9 & 10 of the Broadgate office complex. Designed by architect the building is 10 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. This 10 storey building was completed in 1990.

The Cloud - The Grand Arche - Paris Spanned between the inside of the Grande Arche is a tent-like structure dubbed the “Cloud�. it was created to reduce wind resistance and it also helps with the effect of reducing the gigantic proportions of the Arch. The cloud is made of plastic panels that are suspended by steel cables at the sides of the arch.

The Shard - London.

30 St Mary Axe - London

30 St Mary Axe, widely known as “The Gherkin” and previously the Swiss Re Building) is a skyscraper in the city of London, completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. The building has 41 floors and stands on the former site of the Baltic Exchange, which was damaged in 1992 by the explosion of a bomb placed by the Provincial IRA. After the plans of the Millennium Tower were dropped, 30 St Mary Axe was then designed by Norman Foster and Arup Engineers.

The building has become an Iconic symbol of London and is one of the city’s most widely recognised examples of contemporary architecture.

The Santa Justa Lift - Lisbon Completed in 1901 and situated in the historic city of Lisbon, it connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Carmo Square. This beautifully decorated Neo-Gothic Iron structure elevator was built by Portuguese engineer Raoul Messnier du Ponsard, a student of Gustave Eiffel, who built the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Looking Up

Left Downtown Toronto - Toronto Downtown Toronto is the primary central business district in Toronto, Located entirely within the former municipality of the Old Toronto. The area is made up of the city’s largest concentration of skyscrapers and businesses. Toronto has a large skyline and by 2015 will have the third most skyscrapers in North America exceeding 200mm in height, behind New York and Chicago.

Right The Barbican Estate The Barbican Estate is a residential estate built between 1965 and 1976 on a 35-arcs site that had been bombed in the world war II. The Complex was designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. It is a prominent example of British brutalist architecture. this style of architecture is very controversial, and has received a lot of criticism from some quarters, including the Prince of Wales, calling many of these structures “pile of concrete”.

However, defenders of the style argue that the criticism comes not only from the design of the buildings but also from the fact that concrete cascades do not age well in damp , cloudily maritime climates such as those of Northwestern Europe.

Milton & Shire House - London Constructed in 1980, and renovated in 1996, is a 12 storey office building on one silk street, next to the barbican estate.

Its contrasting glass facade is a direct opposite of the brutalist style of the barbican tower.

Gooderham Building - Toronto The red-brick building is a historic Landmark of Toronto on the eastern edge of the financial district. It was completed in 1892 and was an early example of a flatiron building. Designed by architect David Roberts, Jr for George Gooderham of Gooderham and Worts distillery and originally cost $18,000 Canadian dollars to construct. In 2005, it was sold for $10.1 Million.

Wonderland Sculpture - Calgary This 12 meter sculpture was created by Barcelona based designer Juame Plensa. was completed in January 2013. Depicting a young girls head and rendered in white bent-wire, this enigmatic bust gazes serenely at the comings and goings of the city. I call this ‘The Eyes of God’.

La Grande Arche - Paris This Picture was taken from the side of the building, capturing the windows to the offices as they show the reflection of clouds which appear to have a smokey effect on the windows.

The Lizard Lighthouse - Cornwall Situated at Lizard Point in Cornwall, was first built in 1619, but was extinguished and demolished in 1630 because of difficulties in raising funds for its operations and maintenance, The current tower was built in 1751. The Lizard Lighthouse marks the most southerly point on mainland Britain.

Barclays Bank Tower - Canary Wharf

One Churchill place is a skyscraper in canary wharf. This 32 floors story building is Head quarters of Barclays Bank. The building is the 7th tallest office block in the United Kingdom and the fourth tallest building in the Docklands. The building was originally planned to be 50 stories in height but was scaled down after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Designed by Architect HOK international, the building was formally opened in June 2005 by the chairman of Barclays and it merged Barclays offices across London into one Building. This replaced the former corporate HQ at 54 Lombard Street.

The Eiffel Tower - Paris Designed and built by Gustave Eiffel, in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. it has become a global cultural icon of France and the most visited paid monument in the world. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.

Up at The O2 - London A new attraction on top of the O2 which takes visitors across the roof of this Iconic structure to an observation platform at the summit. Visitors can enjoy spectacular 360 degree views of London from the viewing platform, giving them a unique perspective of the city.

The Zizkov Television Tower- Prague The tower, was built between 1985 and 1992 and looms above the skyline of Prague on top of a hill. The sculptures of babies crawling up and down the tower are by artist David Cemy. They were originally meant to be temporary but they were loved by the public and were returned in 2001 as permanent fixtures.

La Grande Arche - Paris Designed by Danish arctitect Johann Otto von Spreckelsen and Danish engineer Erik Reitzel. The monument completed in 1985, is an office building in the business district of La Defence. The Arche is in the approximate shape of a cube, it has a prestressed concrete frame covered with glass and Carrara Marble.It completed the line of monuments that form the Axe historique running through Paris.

Downtown Calgary Downtown Calgary is not a a single neighbourhood per se, but a larger community containing three neighbourhoods and a number of districts. They are the Downtown West End, the Downtown Commercial Core, and the Downtown East Village. the neighbourhood of Eau Claire to the immediate north, Chinatown to the Northeast and the Beltline to the south.

The Bow - Calgary A 58 storey (1.7 million sq ft) office building in downtown Calgary It is currently the tallest office tower in Calgary. Completed in 2012 by architect Fosters + Partners. The Bow is also considered the start of redevelopment in Calgary’s Downtown East Village.

The Cutty Sark (Featuring the Greenwich Foot Tunnel) - London Built in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping line, was one of the last and fastest tea clippers to be built. The ship was badly damaged by fire in 2007, but was restored in 2012 and is now open to the public. The Foot Tunnel at the background (actually opposite the Clipper), crosses underneath the thames in East London linking Greenwich in the south. Designed by Engineer Alexander Bunnie. The project started in 1899 and was completed in 1902.

The Peace Bridge - Calgary Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, for both pedestrians and cyclist crossing the bow River in Calgary, it connect the southern Bow river pathway and Downtown Calgary. The centre of the bridge is used by cyclist while the left and the right sides are for perdestrians. The Bridge was open for use in March 2012. I still don’t know why it is called the Peace Bridge.

Toronto City Hall - Canada Designed by architect Viljo Revell and completed in 1965. It is the home of the municipal government of Toronto. The building is made up of two Towers. The two towers are curved in a cross section and rise to differing heights, the east tower is 27 storeys while the west tower is 20 storeys.

The London Eye

Also known as the Millennium Wheel, is giant Ferries wheel on the south Bank of the Thames. The entire structure if 443ft tall and the wheel has a diameter of 394ft. It is currently Europe’s tallest ferries wheel.

When erected in 1999 it was the worlds tallest ferries wheel, until it was sup passed first by the 520ft Star of Nanchang in 2006, and then the 541 ft Singapore Flyer in 2008.

Supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike the taller Nanchang and Singapore wheels, The Eye is described by its operators as “the worlds tallest Cantilevered Observation wheel”.

It offered the highest public viewing point in the city of London, until it was superseded by the 804ft observation deck on the 72nd floor of the Shard.

The Heron - London A residential skyscraper in the city of London, completed in 2013. located next to the Barbican residential estate, designed by David Walkers architects was originally meant to be 44 floors but after criticism from the locals, the height was scaled down to 36 floors.

Canary Wharf - London Construction for this business district began in 1988, designed 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 regeneration of the docklands. 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.

Old Town Square - Prague A historic square in the Old town quarters of Prague. located between Wesceslas Square and the Charles Bridge, it features various Architectural styles. The square’s centre is the home to a statue of religious reformer Jan Hus who for his beliefs was burned at the stake. The statue was erected on July 1915 to mark 500th anniversary of his death.

Old Town Square - Prague

Gibraltar A British Overseas Territory, located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsular at the entrance of the Mediterranean. The Rock of Gibraltar is the only landmark of the region, (where this picture was taken from). At its foot is the densely populated city area, home to almost 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.

References Wikipedia, the free Encyclopaedia http://en.wikipedia.org