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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A book for a rather specific audience. If you are very interested in London (living there would count) and architectural/city planning oddities, this is the book for you. There are whole chapters about how best to rebuild the city after the Great Fire of 1666, alternative monuments to Nelson and other famous British heroes, and (my favorite) an ambitious man's attempt to outdo Paris with a tower better than Eiffel's. The book is full of architect's drawings and sketches (black and white only), all by the original planner or others from the period. This book is very hard to rate on a 1-5 scale because it's either something you are really interested in, or it's incredible boring. I gave it a four, because the authors came up with a unique subject and cover it with as much interest and detail as is possible. However, you have to be VERY interested in the subject. As an non-architect American who is fascinated with the U.K. and has done my fair share of reading about Victorian design, but has only visited London once, I was lost at many points. The book has endless references to various concepts of how St. Paul's cathedral might have been or how it could have been improved, but it makes the assumption that the reader is intimately familiar with its current appearance. There are no comparisons with its present form, just the alternatives. And the architectural drawings and discussions about the placements of buildings were sometimes too much for me. I bought it hoping for a leisurely read about grand schemes for London filled with humorous stories about the failed plans for a "railway down the middle of the Thames" (as indicated on the back cover), and got more detail and specifics than I expected. However, if you are a Londoner (and I would welcome your second, much more authoritative, opinion), historical architect, or other interested someone who isn't put off by the above warnings, this is the best (if not only) book on the topic.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I totally agree with the previous reviewer. I first came across this book in the mid-80s, and can still recall some of the crazy schemes (tower blocks shaped like houses of Parliament - but are they not building something like this in Dubai now?). As someone living and working in London, I was familiar with the locations described and it gave fascinating insights; eg the London rival to the Eiffel tower, which they started to build, was located at the site of the current wembley stadium. Some of the schemes seemed missed opportunities; others (monorail down Regent St) I'm glad we were spared. I have no professional interest in architecture or city planning, but found it great to dip into if you know London and have an interest in London as it is, and how it might have been.
Format:Paperback
London is a city filled with iconic buildings, monuments, and locales, all accumulated over the centuries of its existence. Yet for each of these there are dozens of unrealized designs, alternatives that were considered and, for one reason or another, then discarded. In this book, Felix Barker and Ralph Hyde examine some of the alternatives that were offered over the past four centuries, presenting the different plans and proposals that would have made for a much different city than the one that exists today.
The various ideas described in this book make for fascinating reading. Some of them consisted of palaces intended to rival their greatest counterparts on the Continent, while others, such as a mid-eighteenth century plan for a Palladian-style Parliament, might have created a different city architecturally than the one that exists today. Many of them, such as the proposal for a massive pyramid designed to house five million dead Londoners or some of Wren's designs for St. Paul's Cathedral, thankfully never progressed beyond the drawing board. All of them, however, reveal a great deal about the ideas that went into shaping London, and the desire of their proponents to create the grandeur that the city and its people deserve.
In describing the different concepts and why they never became reality, Barker and Hyde shed light on an often-overlooked part of London's history. Well-written, it is supplemented with dozens of images of the various designs, which help readers visualize how the city might look today had the schemes of their originators come to pass. Yet what makes this book such a pleasure is the sense of fun that permeates its pages, both in the speculation it inspires and in the humor with which they address some of the more ludicrous ideas. This is a book for anyone who is interested in the history and architecture of London, one that sparks the imagination of its readers for the city that 'might have been.'
The various ideas described in this book make for fascinating reading. Some of them consisted of palaces intended to rival their greatest counterparts on the Continent, while others, such as a mid-eighteenth century plan for a Palladian-style Parliament, might have created a different city architecturally than the one that exists today. Many of them, such as the proposal for a massive pyramid designed to house five million dead Londoners or some of Wren's designs for St. Paul's Cathedral, thankfully never progressed beyond the drawing board. All of them, however, reveal a great deal about the ideas that went into shaping London, and the desire of their proponents to create the grandeur that the city and its people deserve.
In describing the different concepts and why they never became reality, Barker and Hyde shed light on an often-overlooked part of London's history. Well-written, it is supplemented with dozens of images of the various designs, which help readers visualize how the city might look today had the schemes of their originators come to pass. Yet what makes this book such a pleasure is the sense of fun that permeates its pages, both in the speculation it inspires and in the humor with which they address some of the more ludicrous ideas. This is a book for anyone who is interested in the history and architecture of London, one that sparks the imagination of its readers for the city that 'might have been.'
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