The Things I Do for Architecture

For my architecture class, I sometimes go on group visits to sites, and I also have to write a descriptive paper about a building/structure. For our first visit, we went and looked at the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) which is home to Big Ben (name of the bell inside, not the actual tower but most people still call the tower itself Big Ben).

FUN FACTS:

-In 1834, most of the building burned down. Charles Barry was the architect chosen to create the new section, but his assistant Augustus Pugin did a lot of the work. Pugin was a close-minded proponent of Gothic architecture and made a lot of the details in that style. He did not receive a lot of credit for his work, partially because he was Catholic.

-The style of the newer sections is in Tudor Gothic, which was a style much earlier than the construction. They made it this way to make this important government building seem historic and thus stronger. The part of the building that survived the 1834 fire is much simpler than the ornate and newer Tudor Gothic parts.

-In the original design, the Big Ben tower was higher than the Victoria tower (on the opposite side of the building), but they changed it because they believed that the sovereign's tower should be the highest. It was Victoria tower that was meant to be the most important landmark and not Big Ben, but in history, the opposite has proved true.

The tower on the right is the Victoria tower and is taller than Big Ben.

The day we had our tour, there were student protests at Trafalgar Square so there were a ton of police present in case the protests escalated into violence. Buildings down by the square had boards over some of the windows where students had thrown rocks during prior protests. We didn't see the protests because they started later in the day, but our professor kept telling us, "If I say the word, you all have to get away from here." Luckily, it ended up not being an issue.

It was sunny but cold, so I got some hot chocolate.

For my descriptive essay, I'm planning on writing about the Albert Memorial, which is located in Kensington Gardens, so on a rather chilly day, I went to go look at it and to wander around a little.

The Albert Memorial. It's really huge, but the picture doesn't convey its scale very well.

I walked along Kensington until I found it, and it's really very impressive. There are tons of figures sculpted all around, and the actual Prince Albert statue is enormous. I took a bunch of pictures for reference for when I write the paper. The memorial was commissioned by Queen Victoria, who was very devoted to her late husband. It underwent a thorough renovation in 2009 so it is presently in very good condition.

Princess Diana memorial fountain.

After looking at the memorial, I crossed to the Hyde Park side to see the Princess Diana memorial fountain. It's like a giant loop with water running from the high point in both directions until it meets at the bottom. It's right next to the river which runs through part of Kensington Gardens also. I followed it back to the Kensington Gardens side. 

A lady feeding the swans.

I walked along the river a little bit. There were a bunch of runners, but not too many people out strolling because it was so cold. I really love seeing all of these swans because they're not very common back home, but I guess here it really isn't a big deal. On a similar yet dissimilar note, I read an article in the Evening Standard about a raccoon in someone's garden, which was a notable occurrence since raccoons are only native to North America. I still thought it was funny that it was in the newspaper though.

Peter Pan statue.

This statue was donated by J. M. Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan. It's very pretty all around, with figures of woodland creatures and fairies. This is one of 7 identical statues that are located around the world, but this is the original (I believe) because Barrie set a Peter Pan adventure in Kensington Gardens and apparently frequented the spot. I wanted someone to take my picture with it, but no one was walking by at the time, which just means I'll have to go back when someone visits (Beth or Macy).

This is a drinking fountain with two bears hugging, which I thought was super cute.

Upcoming blog posts: Royal Opera House and Football game.