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Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links

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The Image of a City.

I spent last weekend ‘stoatin’ aboot’ Edinburgh with Rhondda—32,742 steps of ‘stoatin’ aboot’ to be precise.

It’s Rhondda’s hometown and my first visit. I ran to the beach (5km), ate overpriced steak, went to an engagement party, danced till 3 am in a basement, and argued in the Royal Commonwealth Swimming Pool. I supported a local chap who’d brought his young kids to swim. Sadly, only tidal wave-making aqua aerobic types were allowed in.

It was a brilliant trip, the best company and a great city. Turn the thermostat up ten degrees; you might have the best of everything. It’s a proper, dense, mostly five-storey small city that scores highly on global liveability rankings. I can see why.

Edinburgh is about the size of Bristol, has a bit of Oxford about it, a sprinkling of St Malo’s old town, and has Bath’s homogeneity – it’s mostly all made of one type of stone. Sandstone from a quarry two miles from the city. Not much jars. It’s when architects come along with their conceptual ideas, coloured panels and funny shapes that places start to go wrong. There are exceptions, of course. The Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Sydney Opera House are two.

Three distinct natural markers orientate the entire city. Arthur’s Seat, a 250-metre-high ancient volcano to the east, Castle Hill to the west, and Calton Hill to the North act as significant landmarks. They contain the city by giving it visible edges.

Two districts, the New Town to the North and Old Town to the South, sit between these landmarks and are split by the railway and gardens, running east-west and lying in a valley, creating a path through the middle of the city. The parallel paths of the Royal Mile in the Old Town and Princes and Queen Street in the New Town complete the main structure of the city.

Important nodes such as Grassmarket and St Andrews Square are places where markets happen and major streets converge. There are more domes than I’ve seen in a small city, along with spires, steep streets, a castle, a royal palace and garden squares.

In the Old Town, narrow paths called ‘Closes’ take you deeper into the city. Steep and intriguing, these date back to Medieval Scotland and were narrow access paths for residents whose homes were off the Royal Mile. Closed off at night with gates, they became known as Closes.

Amongst all this, there are some fantastic buildings, most of them ‘old’, but there is the odd post-war building of note. The listed ‘Commie’, the late sixties location of my swimming argument, is one. The Scottish Parliament. Bloody awful in my book, but undoubtedly of very high quality. Why did they ask a Spaniard to design their Parliament?

And then there is the new St James’ Quarter—a recently completed development. Everywhere needs a bland modern mall of chain stores, and this is it. It’s not terrible; I’m sure it’s popular with the shoppers. But give me a narrow, steep Close with a hidden restaurant any day. There is an exciting and unique centrepiece to this new Quarter, though—the W Edinburgh Hotel.

‘What shall we do this mornin Darlin?’
‘Let’s go and see what that funny-looking building with the squiggly top.’ I croak, having sung ‘Help’ and other hits only a few hours earlier.

As we wander, well stoat from the hotel in the Old Town, down through the station and gardens and along Princes Street, we dive into Balmoral Hotel, the door opened by a dapper chap in a kilt; we do a quick tour of the ground floor. This is a proper, grand hotel, but not as impressive inside as out. Back out onto Princes Street, heading east with the acropolis-like Calton Hill ahead, we hang a left to find out what this funny-looking building is all about. First impression?

‘This is exactly what I teach students not to design. It’s just shape making…’ as I admire the restrained Georgian building to the left out of one eye and the weird strand of bronze-coloured steel erupting from the pavement with the other. This strand winds up around the building and becomes the squiggle on the roof. I’d seen an aerial image of the building on a poster and noted a rooftop terrace.

‘Is it possible to go up on the roof?’ we ask another dapper doorman.
‘Aye, I’ll take you up there.’

I can’t remember anything about the foyer, but the lift had a screen buried in the floor, which moved around as we went up. Pointless.

‘Level 11’ said the lady inside the lift.

Doors open. OK, now we’re talking. Nice bar straight ahead, with a backdrop of floor-to-ceiling windows presenting a fantastic view over Edinburgh, Firth of Forth and Pentland Hills. Note: This is a good first thing to do when you make the trip after being inspired by this article.

Now it’s midday, and after a night bouncing around in a basement, a drink was not high on our needs list. But, well, you know…

We notice people going outside after a few sips of the tasty Leith Pilot lager. There’s another level – gradual external steps follow the curve of the building and lead you to a large rooftop terrace just below that squiggly top thing. Note: Come in the summer and get a drink here.

We decided we were hungry and booked a table at the Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian sushi place on level 10. While we waited for menus, I Google ‘Architect W Edinburgh.’ Who’s conceptual idea was this? Oh, I used to work for the practice 25 years ago, and all my mates then now run the firm. I discovered that it’s been nicknamed the Walnut Whip and likened to a poo emoji or a golden turd. So it’s unpopular and was voted the worst building in the world.

OK, let’s calm down and evaluate what we have here. It’s the worst building in the world? Really? It’s not my cup of tea, but really? I give you all of Slough?

And as for funny names, well being likened to sh*t is not good, but a Walnut Whip is fun and has a thing on the top. Besides, my amazing daughter just got a City job in a Scalpel!

Finding out who designed this thing changed my view a little. They would have pushed the boat out and listened to their client. They’ve designed dozens of hotels all around the world. This hotel chain – Marriot – would have wanted a statement piece. A restrained sandstone building that didn’t stand out wouldn’t have cut it for the brand aspirations. And with this, I am reminded of that iconic Alessi juicer. It’s often used as an example of bad design; it doesn’t work like other juicers. But the brief was not to design the world’s most efficient juicer. It was to create an icon to represent a brand. Something that would get people talking. Something that would sell.

So, whilst the W is not my favourite building, it has certainly not ruined the city. It provides a unique vantage point to see the beautiful landmarks of Edinburgh and is a great place to share champagne and Moqueca Mista with shrimp, squid, sea bass, mussels, clams, coconut milk and chimichurri rice.

Thanks for reading. I’m off for a trawl of Rightmove for a beautiful Georgian sandstone apartment with a view of the Castle.

This week’s web links include a load of stuff about Edinburgh.

Feel free to let me know if you have any comments or suggestions. You will always find me at carl@carlarchitect.co.uk.

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This Week’s Links:

Some Edinburgh photos.

The beautiful Alessi Juicer.

The history of Edinburgh sandstone.

A local lager – Leith Pilot

Public swimming times at the Commie

Sushisamba menu – an inventive culinary culmination of three countries: Japan, Brazil and Peru

The W Edinburgh by Jestico + Whiles.

And what The Guardian had to say about it.

My description of Edinburgh comes from many years of studying urban design and cities, including writing a book in 2009. A key book on understanding the physical structure of cities is Kevin Lynch’s Image of the City.

A very hot and cold, I imagine, writers’ studio in Edinburgh.

Haggis with whisky.

The place to go til in the early hours for music and bouncing about.

Main image credit: The best basement in town – Whistle Binkies, Edinburgh

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