A post-modernist bimble on the Isle of Dogs
A short pictorial tour of post-modernist buildings in the East London docks.
“Less is a bore.”
Robert Venturi
After being mesmerised by The Cosmic House1, I am taking a brief break from chasing brutalist buildings around the sun and turning my camera towards the quirky fun of post-modernism.
A few weeks ago I spent some pleasurable hours bimbling2 around the Isle of Dogs in search of the best post-modernist buildings…
One Canada Square (1991)
Between 1991-2012 this was the tallest building in the UK. It was nicknamed ‘Vertical Fleet Street’ when eight national newspapers made it their home.
Clad in stainless steel it initially caused 100,000 people to lose their television signal until the BBC built a new relay station.
The then Prince Charles declared he “would go mad if I had to work in a place like that.”
Isle of Dogs Pumping Station (1988)
Is there a more playful pumping station anywhere in the world?
Nicknamed ‘The Temple of Storms’, it pumps flood water into the Thames. The colourful details are no mere decoration. The two columns are ventilation ducts and the Cyclops eye is a fan which prevents the build-up of methane gas.
The building was designed to last 100 years without on-site supervision
Cascades (1988)
Nicknamed ‘yuppie towers’, 3 it was the first high-rise development on the Isle of Dogs.4
Great post-modernist5 buildings take a pluralistic approach to influences and features.
Cascades is a prime example of this with nods to a Docklands coal conveyor, the portholes and funnels of an ocean liner, the remnants of a warehouse and some good old brutalist inspired concrete.
Cabot Place (1991)
The yuppies needed to flash their cash somewhere so four floors of retail therapy was opened three years after Cascades was finished.
Canary Riverside Plaza Hotel (1999)
The 5* hotel was built on the West India Quay (once the centre of the British spice trade). Based on designs by Philippe Starck6 and inspired by Ancient Egypt.
“There is nothing as toxic as the recently fashionable.”
Dan Graham
Architects, planners, politicians and the public rarely appreciate the recent past.
Like most architectural styles, post-modernism has been hit by the wrecking ball. It was the same with brutalism, Victorian Gothic and even Palladian buildings from the Georgian era (see the Sack of Bath).
When will we learn and give some more time before we decide whether to destroy?
You can read all about my cosmic experience here.
A bimble is a leisurely walk. Appropriately the word originated in the 1980s. The same time as gentrification of the Isle of Dogs began.
Yuppie is short for ‘young urban professional’. First coined in the early 1980s it was often associated with gentrification and spending lots of money on luxuries.
The Isle of Dogs is also known as the Docklands and includes Canary Wharf. During the 19th century it was an important trading port but the growth of shipping containers made it obsolete during the 1970s . Decline led to mass unemployment and neglect. In 1981 the London Docklands Development Corporation was established and the Isle became an Enterprise Zone. New housing, offices and transport infrastructure were built. Regeneration continues to this day.
Post-modernism is a late 20th century architectural style that reacted against the minimalist modernist look that went before. It’s a mix of classic and modern styles which create playful, colourful, controversial and idiosyncratic buildings.
"Subversive, ethical, ecological, political, humorous… this is how I see my duty as a designer.” Philippe Starck
Photos taken on 20th July 2023 on my trusty Leica Q and iPhone 12.
I’m so going to be using the word ‘Bimble’ from now on - great pics - IOD is an interesting area - the problem is that I still think of the 80’s as being quite recent!!!
As an unabashed fan of Venturi and the controversial “PoMo” architecture and design, I appreciated going through this post.
I have a feeling this fun, exuberant style will be far more appreciated in 50 years. Modernist architecture only recently began to be appreciated en masse, and even still there’s a lot of naysayers. Although high end modernist interior design has long been appreciated. PoMo is far more derided though. I hope as much can be preserved but it’s unfortunately unappreciated and “ugly” because of its place in time relative to us right now.