Understanding Architecture Through Drawing

Chapter 13

Landmarks, skyline and city image

Tall buildings, church spires and vertical features such as
chimneys or pylons provide reference points to aid our
navigation through towns. They are normally external
landmarks in that we do not usually enter into them. In
the city tall buildings rise above a basecourse of lower
structures that comprise the everyday buildings – houses,
warehouses, offices, and so on. For the landmarks to be
read clearly they need to have background contrast so
that they stand out from their neighbours. This means
that landmarks are best set in an envelope of free space,
and have a distinctive profile. Many towers in historic
cities are so treated, especially the spires of churches or
domes of town halls. The modern city poses a difficulty
since the tall buildings are normally office blocks and they
can look much like each other. So in many contemporary
cities such as London or Birmingham one cannot navigate
by the tall structures. Instead, one must search out the
lower but more profiled and distinctive towers of earlier
times to aid one’s navigation.
Generally speaking, the basecourse of lower buildings
is about four to six storeys high, and structures that rise
significantly above this become ‘landmarks’. Tall buildings
can be ‘dominant’ structures – that is, they assert
themselves through bulk – or ‘prominent’ structures that
establish their presence through a distinctive profile or

use of colour. Many modern office or residential blocks

are ‘dumb boxes’ in visual terms since they fail to

communicate a civic presence. A new generation of tall

buildings that recognise their urban responsibilities is

currently appearing on our city skylines (for instance, the

SwissRe Building in central London or Canary Wharf in

London Docklands). These structures are more profiled

than their predecessors, especially at their tops.

If the success of a landmark depends upon its

distinctiveness or uniqueness from its neighbours, then

the designer can either manipulate the shape of the

whole tower or (and this is cheaper) simply profile the top.

Either way, uniqueness can be achieved and the skyline

of the city enhanced. As we tend to view landmarks from

within the city, the lower buildings obscure the bulk of the

tower, thereby focusing our attention upon its top. Hence

it may be legitimate only to shape the cap of the tower.

Yet it should be also be borne in mind that from outside

the city the whole landmark is visible, so that

concentrating on the profile of the whole tower, and not

just the top, becomes important (Manhattan viewed from

across the water is a good example).

As landmarks compete for attention, there is some

argument for treating skyscrapers as an ensemble.

Skyline competition can enliven the urban scene, but it

108 Understanding architecture through drawing