The famous “arch” of the new Wembley National Stadium is now partially erected. Spotted whilst on the bus journey home this evening. However - there was dull and grey sky - and I couldn’t get a decent picture in the low light. STOP PRESS: Got some pics now.
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The new arch will almost certainly become part of the symbol of London’s skyline soon. But in the absence of a decent picture of its rise to glory - I instead reminded myself that there are other features of London’s skyline that tend to be either forgotten, hated - or simply taken for granted. Mobile phone masts for example. The nearest mobile phone mast to where I live is at the far end of the car park of my local Safeway. It’s mounted on a purpose-built grey, aluminium-finish pole about 30 metres high.
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Today’s society probably doesn’t accept the fact that there’s anything at all aesthetic about mobile phone masts - but one day I am sure that someone, somewhere, will appreciate the “architectural beauty” of these artefacts of our 21st century skyline - and there will probably be websites and documentary programmes dedicated to them.
Posted by jag at June 01, 2004 09:48 PMOi jag. I have a new blog setup update it on your URL
Posted by: azeem on June 2, 2004 09:49 AMHi Azeem - done. Cheers - thx for letting me know.
Posted by: Jag on June 2, 2004 11:11 AMYou consider cell phone towers as good architectural examples. If anything, they just spoil the smooth background.
Posted by: sat on June 2, 2004 06:33 PMOh cool. Thanks for the pictures of the arch. Brilliant.
Posted by: Maxx on June 2, 2004 09:59 PMSat: I agree that they are most often considered to be blemishes on the skyline - but over tiem I am sure that they will become accepted as monuments of great beauty! :-)
Maxx: Thanks for the compliment! And many thanks for visiting here too. Your pics are great too.
Posted by: Jag on June 2, 2004 11:25 PMSo are Munich and Wembley having a race to get their new stadiums finished? When will Wembley be finished - or is that a foolish question? I have a sneaking suspicion that we’re going to have to fork out even more subsidies for Munich’s new stadium, what with the Bayern team falling apart at the seams and 1860 (the city’s other team) being relegated. Here’s the website all about our web of steel: http://www.allianz-arena.de/en/home/index.php
Posted by: David on June 3, 2004 11:14 AMIf you can get such nice pics on a bad light day, I think you will need to come down and show me how to use my new toy (Him Indoors got me a didy digital camera). As you have seen, I do not have the hag of the zoom yet - thnaks for infor re hungeford bridge BTW. I had not seen the plans for the new stadiums, only heard they would not keep the towers. It will be nice to see if it grows to be a new landmark.
Posted by: stroppycow on June 3, 2004 04:05 PMDavid: I think Wembley will be finished in early 2006. Best check the website for more accurate details: http://www.wembleystadium.com/
I checked out the Allianz stadium website - very interesting. The thing to point out here is that Wembley is a “National” stadium - and as such does not belong to any particular club - even though I understand that Arsenal FC tried to stake a claim at one point in the past. So - Wembley will be used for national games (i.e. England) and concert shows etc. If you do visit the website you will learn that the “arch” is more significant than I thought it was. Not only is it going to be a landmark - it’s also responsible for holding up the entire roof the new stadium! Fascinating.
Strop: Would love to show you how to work your new cam - but I’m sure that it’s just about me being fussy about my pics - I discard 90% of the pictures that I take on the basis that i think they look awful! Anyway - re Wemley - if you follow the links above you will learn a lot more about the new Wembley Stadium. It’s not just about replacing the twin-towers - it’s a complete rebuild from scratch - and it’s intriguing to hear and see the story of its construction too.
Posted by: Jag on June 3, 2004 10:31 PM