From London Bridge to London Wall
Today was beautiful. The weather was great for the time of year. I went out in puffer jacket and it ended up in my backpack. All I had on was my wool suit, a woolly hat and a scarf. The sun was shining and had my brown Church's brogues on. I felt cool and good but also confused. Why? Modern architecture.
Renzo Piano is an architect. I hate his work and by proxy I hate him. But he's talented. Hugely talented. And that was the source if today's confusion.
You can't miss the Shard as you leave London Bridge station. It's over 300 metres high, making it the tallest building in London and the EU. It's pointed like a shard of glass and it's construction probably set new landmarks in engineering techniques.
Renzo first came to my attention when the Shard was under construction. Checking his previous work out, I soon came across the Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Nouméa, New Caledonia. Absolutely wild building, in tune with it's surroundings. Also, the building represents the aftermath of a political storm which culminated in the assassination of the indigenous Kanak independence movement back in 1989.
So where's the beef? Talented, hugely successful, urbane man, making the world more beautiful right? Today, I almost started to see it that way. After a cursory glance up at the Shard I headed over to the News building (also by Renzo - at least it looks like it). I had a meeting and was able to see the café situated on one of the higher floors, affording great views of Westminster and the City. Lots of wood detailing and generous spaces added a sense of calm to what must be an intensely efficient workplace. I was having a good time. It made me feel like a big-shot just being able to gain access to the building, which is probably the point.
The sense of privilege I felt in being in Renzo's creation stayed with me as I crossed London Bridge on my way to the Barbican for another meeting. Half way across I gave all the change I had on me to a man of Hispanic origins, who was begging while walking on crutches with a terrible, untreated foot injury. People were ignoring him and I've just returned from a month working in India, so giving money to beggars has become my default setting (its like a tax in India and most people appear to contribute - there's no shortage of takers either!).
That's when it hit me - the reason for my misgivings. Before I go on, what follows may be quite understandably received as an observation bordering on trite, but nevertheless, its what I believe.
There are roughly 6 billion people living on this planet of ours. Maybe 3.9 million of them are adults. The GDP per capita works out at 7,675 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars. Not much is it? If you do it by country, Luxembourg tops the chart with a GDP per capita of 48,968. Most people could live on that (though not that well in Luxembourg it has to be said). The down at the other end you've got Burundi, scoring 619. Obviously, accommodation and food are going to be cheaper in Burundi, so you might be able to survive on that. Having never been there I can't say.
Numbers are boring though and they never really tell you the full story. Indian people living in the slums are really happy (at least in my photos). You get thousands more smiles per square mile in the slums than you do in the City of London, even though malaria and dengue fever are a constant threat and the evening meal might be a roti and some lentil dal.
As I continued my walk old London revealed itself like weeds growing through the cracks in the pavement. Indeed, the architects have cleverly entwined old and new. Stacks of new skyscrapers appear between the spires of 16th century churches as you approach St. Pauls before the concrete ramparts and chic tower blocks of the Barbican centre greet you. It's incredible. A veritable wonderland. My second meeting was an investment networking event where they served the most exquisite mojitos with mint leaves and fresh lime. I felt more successful and urbane still. Wealth gleams as night falls. Money is king in the City (and why wouldn't it be?).
Getting back to numbers, they get more interesting when you look at each countries share of the world's wealth. I won't bang on because you'll get bored so here's the tasty example: Japan has a population of 127 million and a 7% share of the world's GDP while India has a population of 1 billion but only gets a 5% share. There's my problem. The Gini coefficient (measure of inequality) for Japan is 0.547. India's is predictably higher at 0.669 (a disgrace for such a rich country). Ironically, the richest country of all, America, has the highest inequality with a Gini of 0.801.
So my daft point is that we're being skinned alive by the mandarins. These incredible buildings are workhouses disguised as playhouses, just like the witches house made from sweets in 'Hansel and Gretel'. They give us the cultural capital we so desire, i.e. association with wealth and the products and benefits it brings. Cars do the same thing. But he wages we're on stay relatively low. These buildings are there to fool us into thinking we're doing well, just by being able to think of them as part of 'our city'. The reality is we're paupers compared to the truly wealthy. The final irony is that those same buildings area tacit reminded that we are powerless to change anything, because clearly, whoever built them will have the resources to stomp on us if we do!
Bastards like Piano are making the oppressed low wage earners feel smaller and more powerless to oppose the injustices of the global wealth divide with their inhuman, monolithic buildings (which are surely more inspired by their burgeoning egos than any sense of duty or social conscious or awareness).
If there is to be any progress morally and ethically we must start with architecture that does not overlook the concerns of common people. We need more humane, more municipal orientated architecture. Unless stop this Big Brother style of architecture, ordinary people will continue to be exponentially disfranchised. Having said that, I plan to be pretty rich in five years time, so I probably won't care!
