Architecture has to a degree become globally homogenous; supply chains, architectural and engineering practices span the planet, so we should not be too surprised that the lines become blurred. I suspect if you did a blind test of new builds (without the context of surrounding buildings, streetscape, skyline, etc…) most people would struggle to identify the city/country except for a few period recreations or stand-out projects.
Canary Wharf is an interesting development; clearly taking aspects of the North American CBD grid and urban design cues, even having Pelli siblings across the pond, but the docks, and the side-lining of vehicular traffic gives it a different perspective.
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Originally Posted by badrunner
You wouldn't want to copy and paste it into Paris or Brussels though. And it's not about any particular building or individual style of architecture, it's the overall style of development that is North American. European cities are nothing if they are not organic. It's a key distinguishing feature compared to American cities. And yet here you have a master planned megaproject - a city within a city, with a fake town center and fake retail streets (what we'd call pedestrian malls here). It just screams generic North American "mixed use project," but perhaps that's what most of London will end up looking like in the future.
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For context, Wembley is a triangular site surrounded by railways on two sides, and historically dominated by swathes of concrete and industrial sheds. Beyond the railways and A479 road, the area is dominated by semi-detached/terrace housing. There was and is little to integrate with, so the whole site was essentially a clean slate for developers and architects to work with. That of course lends itself to designs that most would probably not consider ‘London’, and others that do (the new London vernacular). The aerial picture you posted later (post #83) is the masterplan outline which doesn’t show much in the way of actual building style, cladding, etc…
A key differentiator of a development like Wembley compared to North American projects will be the primary focus around the pedestrian, cyclist and public transport provision.