Charles Saumarez Smith on Architecture

An American city in London

ONE EVENING IN THE HIGHSUMMER, I found myself bicycling through Canary Wharf. Although in the 1980s, we lived in view of its rising towers, I seldom visit. I think of it as a business district and I have never been to any of its offices. Recently, the press has been very negative about the future of Canary Wharf, greeting the news that HSBC is moving its offices back to the City with disproportionate glee, as if Canary Wharf might have been a failed experiment. So, I was surprised to find its streets full, the waterside restaurants and bars packed. I had thought it would be empty, but it felt energetic, full of life, a contrast, as it happens, to my recent experience of the City. I have realised that Canary…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024

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