City Hall (London)
The City Hall is the City Hall of London . It is the seat of the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London . It is located on the south bank of the Thames in Southwark , between Tower Bridge and London Bridge station . The building, designed by Norman Foster , is 45 meters high and opened in July 2002 .
The building has an unusual bulbous shape. This is intended to reduce the surface area of the building and increase energy efficiency. The shape of the City Hall has been compared to numerous objects, including Darth Vader's helmet , a dented egg , a motorcycle helmet or a “ testicle made of glass”. Foster's vision for this building was originally a huge sphere hovering over the Thames, but he decided to go for a more conventional construction.
Location and structure
The City Hall was built on the site of a former shipyard . It is part of a larger urban development area , further to the west separated from ordinary high-rise office buildings by an “ amphitheater ” excavated in the ground . The building does not belong to the Greater London Authority but has been leased for 25 years.
A 500 meter long spiral staircase , similar to the one in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York , winds up the council chamber. At the top of the ten-story building is an exhibition and meeting room called “London's Living Room” with an open viewing platform that is occasionally open to the public. The spiral staircase is intended to symbolize transparency, similar to the glass dome of the Reichstag building in Berlin designed by Foster .
Administrative headquarters
The seat of the actual city administration of the City of London is not the City Hall, but the Guildhall north of the Thames. The predecessor organizations of the City Hall user, the Greater London Authority (GLA), were the Greater London Council and the London County Council . They were based in County Hall before the move . This building faces the Palace of Westminster and can no longer be used for administrative purposes today. It was rebuilt and now houses a luxury hotel and an aquarium.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 30 '17 " N , 0 ° 4' 42" W.