Gothenburg

At the heart of Gothenburg, dividing the old town into the former districts of Inom Vallgraven (left) and Nordstaden (right), runs Ostra Hamnkanalen. The canal was created in 1620-22, during which time the new city was founded in 1621. An earlier settlement in the vicinity had been named Gothenburg in 1603 but had been destroyed by Danish troops in 1611. The first bridge was completed in 1624, though the current (Fontanbron) was only opened for traffic in 1913. The central square was known as Stora torget before it was renamed Gustaf Adolfs torg in 1854. The city hall (right) was first completed in 1670-72 to a design by the architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, though the current facade is from 1814-17. It was completed by Jonas Hagberg on the basis of a design begun by Carl Wilhelm Carlberg. The tower at the back belongs to the German Church.

Kronhuset is one of the oldest buildings in Gothenburg and was built in 1643-54 as a storage and artillery building. The original design was probably by architect Simon de la Vallée, though construction was stopped already in the first year due to a lack of funds. It was only a single-storey building before work resumed in 1648. The Swedish Parliament met here in 1660. 

The German church of Gothenburg was originally a wooden building that had been moved from the previous settlement of Nya Lodose, which was first established in 1473. A new church in Dutch brick was completed in 1648, with a decorative spire that was added about 20 years later. This church was destroyed in a fire already in 1669. A new one was inaugurated in 1672 though the tower was only completed in 1698. A second fire struck in 1746, though some of the walls could this time be reused. The new tower was finally completed in 1783 to a design by Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz. The building on the left was completed in 1753 and was designed to harmonise with the neighbouring Swedish East India Company by the same architect, Bengt Wilhelm Carlberg.

The main church of Gothenburg was also originally in wood and was first built in 1621. A more permanent structure was built in 1633 and was designated Gothenburg cathedral in the 1680s. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1721 but burned to the ground again in 1802. The current cathedral was built in 1804-15 to a design by architect Carl Wilhelm Carlberg, though the tower was only in completed in 1827.

Several of the buildings near the cathedral were originally built in the early 19th century, including the house on the right, which has been dated to 1813. The black roof with dormer windows were apparently added during a rebuilding in 1914. The white building on the corner of Västra hamngatan was originally a two-storey house from 1810, with third storey and new facade dating to 1869. The red stone facade on the left is a later addition to the area. it was built by architect Isak Gustaf Claeson for Skånes Enskilda Bank in 1907.   

The exchange was built in 1844-40 to a design by the architect Pehr Johan Ekman. The first trade guild in Sweden had been established in Gothenburg in 1661 and a new organisation for the city's merchants was established in 1781. They initially met in the town hall before the purpose-built house was completed, replacing an aristocratic residence, known as Kaulbarska huset. The municipal building on the left was originally completed in 1759 after previous buildings burned in 1746 and 1758. The design was probably by Bengt Wilhelm Carlberg, though the top-storey was added during a rebuilding in 1823. Further left stands Wenngrenska huset, built as a residence in 1760, again by Bengt Wilhelm Carlberg, with a second storey added in 1820.

The city began to demolish its 17th-century bastions and walls in 1807 and new buildings were completed within the moat in the 1850s. Many of the new houses on Stora Nygatan were by German-born architect August Kruger, including the synagogue from 1855. It passes Bastionplatsen, which was named after one of the former bastions, Gustavus Magnus from 1686-93. Its most prominent building was completed in 1905-08 by architect Hans Hedlund. 

A green belt named Kungsparken was established on the opposite side of the moat, where a theatre was built in 1856-59 by architect Bror Carl Malmberg. Two previous theatres had been created in 1814-16 and 1819, but both went out of business fairly quickly. A listed company was created in 1855 to finance the new theatre and the site in Kungsparken was offered for free. The building on the left is from 1883 (or 1890), by architect Hans Hedlund, for Sweden's shipowner's association.

A competition was held in 1861 to arrive at a master plan to expand the city beyond the moat. Two proposals were chosen to form the basis of a plan that was finalised in 1866. Central in this plan was the boulevard Kungsportavenyn, which stretches for about 1,000 metres from the moat to Gotaplatsen, where most of the buildings were only completed in the 1920s and 1930s. Engelska kvarteret, or the English quarter, were the first buildings of Kungsportavenyn. These were terrace houses designed in 1872 by architects Johan August Westerberg and August Kruger.

The fish hall, generally known as the fish church due to its resemblance to a gothic cathedral, was completed in 1874 to a design by architect Victor von Gegerfelt. The idea to build a hall for the fish market, which had been moved from Gustaf Adolf Torg to Rosenlundkanalen in 1849, was first proposed in 1870. The building on its left is Rosenlundshuset from 1968-70. On the other side of the canal is the district Haga, which was established already in 1660. It became a working class district consisting mainly of wooden houses in the 19th century but was heavily rebuilt in the 20th century. The church is from 1856-59 by Adolf Edelsvard and the district also includes the 16th century fort Skansen Kronan.   

Handelsinstitutet was built in 1881-82 to a design by architect Adrian Crispin Peterson. The school had been founded in 1826 as the first business college in Sweden. It moved to a new building in 1915 and the building is now in use by Gustaviskolan, an elementary school.

The triangular square Vasaplatsen is one of the main features of the 1866 masterplan. A few wooden houses were first cleared, the square was named in 1882, the fountain was completed in 1897 and mansion blocks sprung up around it in the period 1890-1905. Some of the names associated with the area are architects Johan August Westerberg, Hjalmar Cornilsen, Hans Hedlund, Adrian Crispin Peterson, and his son Carl Crispin. To the south stands the main building of Gothenburg University, which was completed in Vasaparken in 1907 by architects Ernst Torulf and Erik Hahr.

The building on the corner of Sodra Larmgatan and Magasinsgatan was built in 1902-04 to a design by architect Isak Gustaf Clason, though the plan is signed Ernst Kruger. It was built for wine merchant C. G. Platin. The two lower stories were for storage, shops and offices, while the upper stories were originally flats. On the left are the old artillery stables from 1835, where Goteborgs  Hyrverksaktiebolag, which served the city with horse-drawn taxis, built an iron shed in 1898. The building on the right is from 1935, by architect T. Svanberg, reclad in 1966.

A number of banks were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on Sodra Hamngatan, after the Swedish central bank built its Gothenburg branch here in 1886, to a design by architect Viktor Adler. The building on the left was built for Goteborgs Kopmansbank in 1891 by architect K Johnson, the pedimented facade is by Ernst Kruger and was built for Goteborgs handelsbank in 1904-05, while the building in between was added for Nordiska Handelsbank in 1921, by architects Arvid Fuhre and Conny Nyquist. Furthest to the right can also be seen Skandiahuset from 1909-11, built for the insurance company Skandia, by architect Gustav Wickman. The modern facade is from 1980 and is by White arkitekter, replacing five merchant houses from the early 19th century. The house under renovation is Chalmerska huset from 1807.

Esperantoplatsen was named in 1954 and consists mainly of old warehouses and former industrial buildings. The square also features remains of the old fortifications of Gothenburg, which were begun in 1624 and mostly demolished in 1807-17. The surviving section was part of the Carolus Rex bastion, one of the 13 polygonal bastions that surrounded the city.  Most of the buildings in this western section of the old town are from the early 20th century due to the hilly topography, which delayed urbanisation here. The narrow stretch between the hills Otterhallan and Kungshojd is now part of Kungsgatan and was one of the entrances to the city, via the now-demolished Karlsporten. 

The 1866 masterplan essentially covered the districts of Vasastaden and Lorensberg, which were mostly built up between 1870 and 1920. Vasastaden was given its own parish when the Vasa church was completed in 1905-09, to a design by architect Yngve Rasmussen. A new plan for the completion of Kungsportavenyn and the villa area of Lorensberg was finalised in 1910 and realised by 1934.

The general post office was built in 1917-25 to a design by architect Ernst Torulf, and was considered the most expensive building in Sweden at the time. It was turned into a hotel and conference facility, with the addition of a modern tower, in 2012. The architects behind the conversion were Semrén and Månsson.  

  

   Lilla Bomman is an 86-metre tower built in 1986-89 to a design by architect Ralph Erskine, in collaboration with White Arkitekter. It was originally built as the head office in Gothenburg for the construction company Skanska but is now owned by Vasakronan AB. The tower is often known by its nickname, the lipstick.

Gothia Towers are three high-rises built between 1984 and 2014. The original tower was 63 metres tall and was increased to 82 metres in 2012-2013. The second tower was completed in 2001 at a height of 77 metres, while the construction of the third tower began in 2012. It reaches 100 metres and is currently the city's tallest habitable building. The design of the latest development of the complex was by White arkitekter. A fourth tower is also being planned. 

The Gothenburg Opera was built in 1991-94 to a design by architect Jan Izikowitz of architects Lund & Valentin. A number of different sites had been debated since the 1960s and a decision had been made in 1985 to build at Gamla Ullevi. A design by architect Carl Nyrén was recommended in 1986 and was supposedly quite similar to the opera that was finally built by Izikowitz. 

Waterloo Bridge

The following images were taken from Waterloo Bridge over the span of more than ten years, and are intended to give a glimpse of how the London skyline had changed over this period. This includes a number of tall buildings in the City of London but also across the river in Southwark.

The first photo was taken on 4 April 2009: Few new towers had emerged on the skyline since the completion of the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe) by Norman Foster in 2003, but several high-rises from the 60s and 70s had recently been demolished to pave the way for a new generation of towers. Also, the Willis Building in Lime Street had been completed to a design by Foster in 2008 and the concrete-clad Stock Exchange Tower by Trollope and Colls from 1972 had been refaced with a glass curtain wall in the same year. 

The tallest building in the City was still Tower 42 from 1971-80 by Richard Seifert, which was also London's tallest until the completion of One Canada Square at Canary Wharf in 1990 (seen in the distance). The tower on the other side of the river, also by Seifert, was completed in 1972 and was still known as King's Reach Tower in 2009.

The next photo was taken in 2011, shortly after the completion of Heron Tower, where construction had been ongoing since 2007. The tower was originally intended at the same height as Tower 42, at 183 metres, and the two towers almost appear as twins from this angle despite the Heron Tower eventually being extended to 202 metres to the roof and 230 metres to the tip of the antenna. The design was by architects Kohn Pedersen Fox.

Just to the left of King's Reach Tower in Southwark can be seen the rising core of what was to become the tallest building in London. The Shard or London Bridge Tower had been under construction since March 2009.

The Shard was nearing completion by early 2012 while a new tower was already making its mark on the skyline. Construction of 20 Fenchurch Street, nicknamed the Walkie Talkie, had begun in January 2009 to a design by architect Rafael Vinoly. It replaced a 91-metre tower from 1968 by William Rogers, which had been demolished in 2008.

The demolition of Bucklersbury House from 1954-58 by architects Owen-Campbell Jones and Sons also opened up a better view of the Rothschild Building by Rem Koolhaas, which was completed in 2010. Also part of this cluster of mini-towers are the Willis Building and the former headquarters of Barclays Bank (1990-94) by GMW architects.

The 306-metre Shard was completed in July 2012, roughly 12 years after entrepreneur Irvine Sellar met with architect Renzo Piano to discuss the redevelopment of the site, then occupied by the high-rise Southwark Towers from 1975. By 3 November 2012, a new tower was also becoming visible as part of the City cluster, the Cheesegrater.

The Cheesegrater, also known as 122 Leadenhall Street, had just been completed when this photo was taken on 12 July 2014, only two months after the completion of the Walkie Talkie. The former was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners and replaced a previous high-rise from 1969, which had been demolished in 2008. The King's Reach Tower had been renamed the South Bank Tower in 2013 and plans were approved to extend the tower from 111 metres to 155 to a new design by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

The revamp of the South Bank Tower had been completed in 2015, while the new tower One Blackfriars was beginning to impact the Southwark skyline when this photo was taken on 16 May 2016. Designed by SimpsonHaugh and Partners, the tower was scheduled for completion in 2018, at a height of 163 metres. The 90-metre 240 Blackfriars was completed across the road in 2014 by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.

The glass cladding on One Blackfriars was starting to come along when this photo was taken on 8 January 2017. Another core had also started to rise in the City on the other side of the river. This is 52-42 Lime Street, nicknamed the Scalpel and built to a design by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

The last in the series was taken on 10 July 2019. One Blackfriars on the South Bank had been completed for some time. The cluster of towers in the City is now dominated by 22 Bishopsgate, a 278-metre tower which began construction in late 2016. Demolition at the site began already in 2007 and the plan at that time was to build a 288m tower named the Pinnacle. This scheme was abandoned in 2013 and the site was re-sold. PLP Architects designed the new tower that was actually built.

Westminster

The Jewel Tower was built in 1365-66 as part of the royal palace of Westminster. It was built to house the personal treasure of Edward III and continued to be used as a treasury until the royal palace was moved to Whitehall in 1512. It was used to house parliamentary records in the 17th and 18th centuries and some building work was completed during that period. The tower was originally crenellated and surrounded with a moat. Its one of the few vestiges of the palace of Westminster that existed before the fire of 1834.

The Henry VII's Chapel was built from 1503 to about 1512 and replaced a previous Lady Chapel from 1220 at the east end of Westminster Abbey. The design may have been by brothers Robert and William Vertue, who specialised in fan vault ceilings and had worked as masons on Westminster Abbey. They were also involved in projects at Bath Abbey, Greenwich Palace and St. George's Chapel in Windsor. Another possibility for the design is a royal master mason named Robert Janyns the younger, who also worked at Windsor Castle and Richmond Palace.

The tomb of Henry VII from 1512-18 by Florentine sculptor Pietro Torrigiano is considered one of the first renaissance designs in England. Torrigiano also built an altar, retable and canopy for the chapel, and fragments of this work remain though much of it was destroyed by puritans in the 17th century.

Ashburnham House was built in the 1660s, incorporating the remains of the old Prior's house of Westminster Abbey and the monks' refectory, where the House of Commons met in the 13th century. The design of the house has been attributed to Inigo Jones or his pupil John Webb, but the architect is now more commonly believed to have been William Samwell. The house has been property of Westminster School since 1882 and is located in Little Dean's Yard, which is a private gated yard. 

Berlin

The Zeughaus is the oldest remaining building on the boulevard Unter den Linden and was built in 1695-1730 as an artillery arsenal. The original architect was Johann Arnold Nering, who was followed after his death in 1695 by Martin Grunberg, Andreas Schluter and finally Jean de Bodt. It was turned into a museum in 1875 and now serves as the German historical museum.   

The Reichstag building was built in 1884-1894 to a design by Paul Wallot, after winning an architectural contest in 1882. The first contest had been held in 1872 but the project stalled due to difficulties in acquiring the property, as the site was already occupied by an aristocratic palace, and political disagreements. The interior of the building of the building was gutted and rebuilt to a design Norman Foster in 1992-1999. 

The Berlin Cathedral was built in 1894-1905 to a design by architect Julius Raschdorff. The original design was somewhat simplified and the northern wing was demolished during reconstruction in the 1970s, when it was finally restored from war time damage. The present cathedral replaced a previous baroque building from 1747-50 by Johann Boumann the elder, though the facade and interior had already been remodelled in neo-classical style by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1817-22. The previous building has been dated back to ca. 1345, though it too had been transformed on several occasions, in 1538 and 1717.

Hotel de Carnavalet

Hotel de Carnavalet 

Hotel de Carnavalet was originally built in 1548-60 on commission by the president of the Parlement of Paris, Jacques de Ligneris. The name Carnavalet comes from its second owner, whose real name was Kernevenoy or Kernevenoch. 

The street front on Rue de Sevigné was rebuilt by the architect Francois Mansart in 1655-61, after the financier Claude Boisleve took over ownership of the house in 1654. Mansart incorporated the original entrance arch by building over and around it. The sculpted figures on the ground floor represent force and vigilance and are by the Flemish 17th-century sculptor Gerard van Opstal. Among his most famous work were three sculptures that were added to the now-demolished city gate Porte Sainte-Antoine, which was built in the 16th century and also featured sculpture by Jean Goujon. The low relief above the balcony on the corner of Rue des Francs Bourgeois is also by Opstal.

The rusticated entrance arch is from about 1550 and is commonly attributed to Pierre Lescot, though this is disputed. Rusticated arches, inspired by Italian models, had already been built at Fontainebleau -  at Grotte des Pins or Hotel de Ferrare - but is here much smoother in texture. The relief work seems to be from the same period, except the figure on the keystone, which was likely added after the house passed to Kernevenoy. The figure represents abundance and stands on top of a carnival mask, presumably as a pun on the name Carnavalet.

 The single storey entrance arch was originally flanked by two pavilions of equal appearance; including a mezzanine, pitched roofs and dormer windows. 

Walking through the arch, the visitor arrives to a courtyard, which was also rebuilt by Mansart in the 17th century but still retains some of the original features.  

This applies primarily to the main block, which in French is typically referred to as the corps de logis. It includes four relief sculptures by Jean Goujon from the mid-16th century. The figures are allegorical representations of the four seasons. The involvement by Goujon may be one of the reasons why the house has been associated with Pierre Lescot, as the sculptor and amateur architect famously collaborated on the Louvre.   

The corps de logis was restored by Victor Parmentier in 1866-70. This included the return to mullion and transom windows, though not the original dimensions. The balustrades and dormers were based on an engraving from around 1650 but this may not have been how it was actually built. Parmentier also replaced the 17th-century mansard with a new and steeply sloped roof, and removed some decorate medallions that had been added to the ground floor.  

The wing on the left was originally just a single-storey gallery, which screened off the courtyard from Rue des Francs Bourgeois. The second storey was added by Mansart, who also built a completely new wing on the opposite side where there formerly had been stables. The relief work by Opstal is in imitation of Goujon's originals and represent the elements on left and divinities on the right.

The bronze statue of Louis XIV was placed in the courtyard in 1890. It was first made in 1689 by Antoine Coysevox and previously stood in the courtyard of the city hall.

The original features of the garden front (right) is not known but may have included some kind of rustication. The section to the left was built by architects Felix Roguet and Joseph-Antoine Bouvard after 1871. It includes a pavilion, which originally belonged to Hotel Desmarets, a building by an unknown architect from 1710. 

Elements of several buildings slated for demolition were added during this period, as Hotel Carnavalet had been bought by the city of Paris in 1866 and turned into a museum. This includes a frontispiece of the merchant draper's guild from 1660 by Jacques Brand. The archway on Rue des Francs Bourgeois was part of the Palais de la Cité and had been built in in 1552-56 by Guillaume le Breton. It is known as the Arc de Nazareth and spanned across the Rue de Nazareth, a street on Ile de la Cité which disappeared in 1883.

English palaces, mansions and stately homes

Knole House was originally built in 1456-86 for the archbishop of Canterbury on the site of a previous house. Works to extend the building continued into the 16th century, including the main facade. It was seized from the archbishops by Henry VIII, as was Otford Palace, and has been the seat of the earls and dukes of Dorset since 1603.  

Charlton House was built in 1607-12 for Adam Newton, Dean of Durham and tutor at the royal household. The architect is assumed to have been John Thorpe. A wing was added in 1877 by Norman Shaw and the chapel wing was rebuilt in non-matching bricks after bomb damage during WWII.

Kew Palace was originally built in 1631 as a private house for the Samuel Fortrey, but became a royal residence in 1734 though the crown only bought it in 1781, it previously being held on a lease. Plans for a large Palladian palace were presented in 1735 by William Kent but a new palace was only begun in 1802 to a design by James Wyatt. This was a castle-like building, which was never much liked and was demolished already in 1828.

Eltham Lodge, or the royal manor of Eltham, was built in 1663-64 to a design by the architect Hugh May in the style of Dutch classicism, such as in the example of the Mauritshuis at the Hague. The same architect also designed Cornbury House in Oxfordshire, in a similar style but larger and dressed in stone, and Berkeley House in Piccadilly. The latter was destroyed in a fire as early as 1733, while May's work at Cassiobury House in Hertfordshire has also been lost.

Ham House was originally built in 1610 for Thomas Vavasour, though the south front is largely the result of a rebuilding in the 1670s. The architect behind the original H-shaped plan was Robert Smythson.

Appuldurcombe House was begun in 1702 by architect John James on the site of a previous Tudor house but was still unfinished when the owner Robert Worsley died in 1747. The house was further extended in 1770s but has been an empty shell since WWII, due to a mine dropped close to it in 1943. The property began as a priory in 1100.  

Blenheim Palace was begun in 1705 and completed around 1722 as a reward to John Churchill, the duke of Marlborough, for his efforts in the War of the Spanish Succession and more specifically the battle of Blenheim. The duke choose John Vanbrugh as the architect, but Vanbrugh was latter banned from the site by Churchill's wife, who had always preferred Christopher Wren as architect and largely managed the project in her husband's stead. The work was carried on by Vanbrugh's associate Nicholas Hawksmoor but was beset by funding problems. Royal contributions had ceased in 1712, at which point the relations with the queen had deteriorated so much that the duke and duchess were forced into a two-year exile. Work was resumed in 1716 but was completed at the Marlboroughs' own expense.

The palatial front of Stoneleigh abbey was built in 1714-26 to a design by the architect Francis Smith.   The older buildings are from the second half of the 16th century, though the gatehouse is from the 14th century when the property was still an abbey. The Cistercian abbey was originally founded in 1154 but became a private estate after the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII.

Marble Hill House was built in 1724-29 to a design by Roger Morris and the amateur architect Henry Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. The design is supposedly based on Palladio's Villa Cornaro and also served as model for plantation houses in the American colonies.

Moor Park Mansion was originally built in 1678-79, but the present facade is from 1720s by Giacomo Leoni, with assistance from the painter James Thornhill. The main body of the building was originally linked to service buildings on either side via by curved colonnades but this feature was removed in 1785.    

Holkham Hall was built in 1734-65 to a design by architect William Kent, working in cooperation with the aristocratic architecture enthusiasts: the earl of Burlington and Thomas Coke, who was made earl of Leicester in 1744. The land had been acquired by the Coke family bit by bit in the 17th century. Thomas Coke inherited it in 1718 but his plans to create a classical monument was delayed in the 1720s due his financial losses from the South Sea Bubble. 

Osterley House was originally an Elizabethan mansion from the 1570s that was remodelled by the architect Robert Adam in the 1760s. 

Althorp House was first built in 1508 and had by 1586 been extended to its current shape. It may have been replaced with a new building in the 17th-century and is depicted in 1677 as baroque design in red brick. The current facade is from 1788 by the architect Henry Holland, who encased the building in grey tiles and added four giant pilasters to the front. The house is famous as the childhood home of Princess Diana.