The design "London Gate" by Rotterdam-based practice DONIS is the winner of the international competition for a gateway to the City of London. The entry proposes the 100 meter-tall structure as a temporary landmark for Aldgate on the eastern edge of the City of London, to stand for the duration of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, to open in January 2012.
Sort of brings back memories from the ThyssenKrupp Elevator Architecture Award from last year...
The competition, hosted by London's Architecture Foundation and the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects, was open to (but not limited to) architects, designers, artists, product designers, and/or any other disciplines. Nearly 100 designs from around the world were presented and judged by a panel including Alderman Mike Bear, City of London; Achim Borchardt Hume, Chief Curator, Whitechapel Gallery; Roger France, Master of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects; Sarah Ichioka, Director, The Architecture Foundation; and Peter Murray, Chairman, New London Architecture. Participants were required to design a New Aldgate, a temporary landmark on the eastern edge of the City of London, to stand for the duration of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, to open in January 2012.
Rather than creating an entirely new landmark, the ‘London Gate’ will regenerate the City (London’s historic financial centre) by reinventing the antique Ald-gate into a modern outlined ‘access’ for the public at High Street 2012, connecting the East of London and celebrating the Olympic Games.
Instead of only functioning as a horizontal gateway, the project also allows vertical access via a glazed elevator platform within it, running along the structure. The scheme works as a public ‘naked’ tower amidst the extravagance of privacies; a post- and-lintel type measuring 100 meters by 12 meters part of a system of architecture.
The following designs also made it onto the competition shortlist earlier this year:
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