The whole trip has been special to me to a whole different level, but Thursday I finally got the chance to be up-close to my favorite style of architecture; contemporary. It was fascinating to be so close to buildings that I followed throughout their whole construction process. I was so intrigued and amazed by the inside out building. It was like seeing all the architecture rules being broken in a single design. The services for the building such as ducts, stairs, and elevators are located in the exterior in order to maximize space in the interior which I found super interesting and challenging. I was so curious to see how the building looks in the inside that I searched for more pictures, and that’s when it really shocked me. The inside of this building is as fascinating as the outside is. It has multi-story escalators criss-crossing in the center on the building as well as several large concrete columns in the center.
Another of my favorite buildings I saw that day was the Gherkin. It is a building that would take your breath away. The spiral lines on the design are truly remarkable. I watched an episode of the show megastructures that was about the construction of this building and it was pretty amazing to hear how it uses energy saving methods that allows for the use of power/electricity in the building. As well as shafts on the bottom that are creating a giant double glazing effect not only to allow ventilation to the building, but also add contrast to the design. Overall, it was really nice that all of these contemporary projects were located right next to each other. It gave me different perspectives of how different designs in this style of architecture work in many ways to create something so massive and spectacular for the city.
The Gherkin
Another view of the structure
Part of the Inside-out and the Gherkin in the back
Inside out building
The spiral lines on the design of the Gherkin