A skewed seat of government
What a location! City Hall lies on the south bank of the Thames next to Tower Bridge, with a fine view across the river to the Tower of London and the skyscrapers of the financial district. On a site like this, when building a new seat of government for one of the world’s greatest cities, architecture of high calibre was called for. The result, a ten-storey modified sphere with a pronounced lean, met with acclaim from some quarters, but has also been described as a misshapen egg, Darth Vader’s helmet, and a glass testicle.
Why did London get a new City Hall in 2002? Opposite it on the north bank is the historic City of London, the »square mile«, now mainly a banking district. This precinct has its own ancient seat of government, Guildhall, and a lord mayor with ceremonial duties. City Hall by contrast is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority, which administers the whole metropolitan area. It is run by the Mayor of London and London Assembly. Because the left-wing Greater London Council was a thorn in Margaret Thatcher’s flesh in the 1980s, she dissolved it. The city had separate councils for various regions, but no overall administration until the Labour government restored it and instituted the first directly elected mayor for all of London in 2000.
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Address The Queen’s Walk, SE1 2AA | Public Transport London Bridge (Jubilee, Northern Line) | Hours Mon–Thu 8.30am–6pm, Fri 8.30am–5.30pm | Tip A few minutes’ walk west along the river bank is Hay’s Galleria, a warehouse with wharf that has been converted to an atrium of restaurants and shops.
This called for a new seat of government, City Hall, designed by the renowned architects Foster and Partners. They used a lot of glass to symbolise open government. A 500-metre spiral ramp from the basement to the top floor surrounds the assembly chamber and affords views inside, making speakers feel like goldfish in a giant bowl. The most striking aspect of the building, its 31-degree southward tilt, makes it energy-efficient. On the lower storey, where the floor covering is a satellite image of London, the café is open to everybody. City Hall is a metaphor for London itself: surprising, provocative, lovably out of kilter.
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