I've just visited the New City Architecture exhibition, in the City of London (in the middle of this square in Broadgate, which has somehow metamorphosed into a public area, complete with a subterranean exhibition space.
The exhibition celebrates, funnily enough, new architecture within the Square Mile. Essentially, the exhibition consists of a number of architect's models, featuring small-scale model of the City, including the foreshore of the South Bank of the Thames where it comes within reach; larger-scale models of the buildings under consideration; and your typical largely uninformative blurb and pretty photographs of the buildings.
I should make a brief nod to Bega, who happened to be hosting a sales talk about their new (exciting) light fittings in the exhibition space, and who were the gracious (if unwitting) providers of drinks and canapes for our (Schulze, Phil Gyford, and Phil's mate David) visit.
The exhibition itself was weird. This was due to several factors. Primarily this was due to the way that the lines between the built and unbuilt were blurred. Everything was represented by beautiful architect's models, including some quite large-scale examples. This is the crux of the problem: there was no difference in quality -- models are not sketches, after all -- between the finished and the un-started. Also, all the models were lumped together, and the only way to tell the status of one from the others was a single line which told you whether the bulding was complete or whether planning permission had been applied for (or granted). In fact, the majority of the exhibits which celebrate 'the world class quality of design and urbanism displayed by recently completed buildings in the City' (from the exhibition bumpf) may not ever be built.
The other main reason for the weirdness was the disparity in scale of the models. They were just ('just'! Model makers, please excuse me) random architect's models for the projects, and so came in all shapes, sizes, and materials. The centrepiece of the exhibition was a table with models of all the projects in the heart of the City, St. Mary Axe (the Gherkin) and others, which were laid out on top of an aerial photograph. The models were all of different scales, so they didn't fit each other, and they didn't accurately fit the photograph either.
Weirdness aside, my other grumble was that the selection of photographs were generally exactly the kinds of architectural photos which obscure rather than reveal, focussing on details and making it very difficult to get a picture of the whole edifice.
Grumbles aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition. The models were lovely, and a good deal more time could have been spent (had there been less people) pointing and kneeling down to look through models. The large-area, small-scale, model of the whole city was really nice.
It's open until tomorrow, in Finsbury Avenue Square, Broadgate. Maps at http://www.newcityarchitecture.com/location/location.html. It has directions and maps of limited usefulness.
Rodcorp has been to visit too.