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Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

batterseapowerstation.co.uk

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Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#81

Post by lmm »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #47
easytiger wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't understand this view. For a start clearing up the area to make it buildable cost somewhere in the region of £1bn. If you are harking back to a time when it was an undesirable wasteland I can't agree that that constitutes a better world. Much of London complaining about gentrification is complaining that the postwar desolation of London was a good thing; because that's what they are "benefitting" from.

The displaced people still have to live somewhere, even if the bougies like to pretend otherwise.

Everyone has to live somewhere. The idea that those who were lucky enough to be born somewhere that's become desirable are entitled to live there forever at low cost, while those who were born elsewhere can never be allowed to buy a home there, has always struck me as odd.

Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#82

Post by flir »

nly wrote: post #76
mmarq wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sympathetic at all with this idea. They shouldn’t have built shops and restaurants because there’s a council estate? On gentrification, if you own your flat then you have won the lottery, for its price is 8 times what it was 20 years ago. Similarly if you can use the so-called “right to buy”. If you are renting privately, you should get you MP to vote the abolition of section 21, which is an uncivilised law.…

I really don't understand what the hate is with respect to Section 21. If you own property then you should be able to do whatever you want with it, whenever you want, provided you meet your obligations under any tenancy agreement. As a tenant myself I have always accepted the possibility that my landlord could serve notice as my fixed term approaches its end. It literally says the landlord has the right to do so in t…

You've been locked into mobile phone contracts longer than that. Does that really seem reasonable for the roof over your head?

Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#83

Post by mmarq »

nly wrote: post #76
mmarq wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sympathetic at all with this idea. They shouldn’t have built shops and restaurants because there’s a council estate? On gentrification, if you own your flat then you have won the lottery, for its price is 8 times what it was 20 years ago. Similarly if you can use the so-called “right to buy”. If you are renting privately, you should get you MP to vote the abolition of section 21, which is an uncivilised law.…

I really don't understand what the hate is with respect to Section 21. If you own property then you should be able to do whatever you want with it, whenever you want, provided you meet your obligations under any tenancy agreement. As a tenant myself I have always accepted the possibility that my landlord could serve notice as my fixed term approaches its end. It literally says the landlord has the right to do so in t…

First of all this state of affairs is unique to the UK, in continental Europe this section 21 business doesn’t exist and 99% of the population wouldn’t consider it a thing of a civilized country (because it isn’t).

S12 invalidates half of your tenancy agreement, to be precise it allows your landlord to renege on all their obligations. A window breaks and you want it to be fixed it? Bad luck, here’s your S21 and may the next sucker come in. It may not be a problem for you, but if you are poor and especially if you have a family, you may have to decide between living with broken stuff (that your landlord is being paid to fix) or being homeless. This is not a hypothetical, this is how millions of people live here.

Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#84

Post by Waterluvian »

samizdis wrote: post #10
camtarn wrote: post #2

With the beautiful art deco ceiling and walls, it almost feels more like a palatial monument to the power of electricity, rather than a mere control room. Imagine if we strove to make our industrial spaces as attractive nowadays! Modern control rooms are still breathtaking, but more through the sheer volume of stuff - blinking lights, giant monitors, diagrams, and so on - than through decoration.

The Victorians had a similarly grand take on public utility buildings, especially pump houses for water/sewage works. Probably the best example is Crossness Pumping Station [1]. The interior is stunning; this [2] is one image from the Wikipedia page/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossness_Pumping_Station [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crossness_Pumping_Station...

I can hear todays taxpayers screaming.

I wish we could spend the extra money and build things with real love.

Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#85

Post by _dain_ »

ccity88 wrote: post #6

I grew up and live a short 5 minute walk from Battersea Power Station - I have some fond memories of playing in the (admittedly quite unsafe) industrial estate around that area. It's quite sad to see what it's become now; as much as I support the development of the local area, they had to add a bunch of shopping outlets, restaurants, and very expensive boutique outlets. It's completely antithetical to the local ident…

What, so everything has to be rubbish just because there's a council estate next door? If the area had remained undeveloped, that would have just made everywhere else even more unaffordable, due to the reduced supply. London has to build.

I mean, you were reminiscing about playing in an abandoned industrial wasteland, so to hell with the "local identity". I'd bloody love it if this happened to where I grew up. You southerners don't know how good you have it.

Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#86

Post by _dain_ »

jl6 wrote: post #14
detritus wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems to be the case across much of London, sadly. 'Synthetic' is the word that comes to mind whenever I see these developments. Frankly, as much as the effort impresses me from a technical point, I'm content enough only ever seeing it from afar when I pass vaguely nearby on a train going south. I suspect I'll never actually walk through it. Having 'argued' with people on HN about this sort of thing beforehand,…

Synthetic is the right word. They are trying to package and sell authenticity. I just went to the website of the development. Sorry, the “village”. They’ve even got a “street food festival”. I don’t really object to any of the commerce, but the fake brands and lifestyle are intense cringe.

Would you walk up to any of the people at that street food festival and tell them that what they are doing is "fake"? Why should they listen to you?

Are they fake people? Are they living fake lives? Do they not live up to your standards of personhood?

Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#87

Post by imajoredinecon »

mmarq wrote: post #59
ccity88 wrote: post #6

I grew up and live a short 5 minute walk from Battersea Power Station - I have some fond memories of playing in the (admittedly quite unsafe) industrial estate around that area. It's quite sad to see what it's become now; as much as I support the development of the local area, they had to add a bunch of shopping outlets, restaurants, and very expensive boutique outlets. It's completely antithetical to the local ident…

I’m not sympathetic at all with this idea. They shouldn’t have built shops and restaurants because there’s a council estate? On gentrification, if you own your flat then you have won the lottery, for its price is 8 times what it was 20 years ago. Similarly if you can use the so-called “right to buy”. If you are renting privately, you should get you MP to vote the abolition of section 21, which is an uncivilised law.…

> section 21

For any other Americans who were shocked British landlords could evict with 2 months' notice for any reason, I did some googling and it turns out section 21 _does not apply during your lease term_. It seems like a section 21-eligible lease in the UK is just like a US a month-to-month lease that requires 2 months' notice for the landlord to end. (For the Brits reading this unfamiliar with US leases, this is an eminently normal thing to have happen to a lease in the US at the end of its fixed term.)

Source: https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/section-21-and-section-8... ("You cannot use a Section 21 notice if... the fixed term has not ended")

Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#88

Post by LightG »

mmarq wrote: post #59
ccity88 wrote: post #6

I grew up and live a short 5 minute walk from Battersea Power Station - I have some fond memories of playing in the (admittedly quite unsafe) industrial estate around that area. It's quite sad to see what it's become now; as much as I support the development of the local area, they had to add a bunch of shopping outlets, restaurants, and very expensive boutique outlets. It's completely antithetical to the local ident…

I’m not sympathetic at all with this idea. They shouldn’t have built shops and restaurants because there’s a council estate? On gentrification, if you own your flat then you have won the lottery, for its price is 8 times what it was 20 years ago. Similarly if you can use the so-called “right to buy”. If you are renting privately, you should get you MP to vote the abolition of section 21, which is an uncivilised law.…

I'm not sympathetic with locals being priced out of their area.

Your analysis around that is incredibly simplistic.

Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#89

Post by LightG »

202206241203 wrote: post #12
detritus wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems to be the case across much of London, sadly. 'Synthetic' is the word that comes to mind whenever I see these developments. Frankly, as much as the effort impresses me from a technical point, I'm content enough only ever seeing it from afar when I pass vaguely nearby on a train going south. I suspect I'll never actually walk through it. Having 'argued' with people on HN about this sort of thing beforehand,…

In a second-world country, they would just demolish the building and maybe sell some of the control room knobs on e-bay. It might be as good as it gets in terms of involving private capital. I personally think that mid-century technological artefacts are underappreciated.

The UK is a second world country.

Re: Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A

#90

Post by _dain_ »

LightG wrote: post #88
mmarq wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sympathetic at all with this idea. They shouldn’t have built shops and restaurants because there’s a council estate? On gentrification, if you own your flat then you have won the lottery, for its price is 8 times what it was 20 years ago. Similarly if you can use the so-called “right to buy”. If you are renting privately, you should get you MP to vote the abolition of section 21, which is an uncivilised law.…

I'm not sympathetic with locals being priced out of their area. Your analysis around that is incredibly simplistic.

They get priced out because it's so hard to build anything anywhere else. The restricted places where development can happen, end up with all the pent up demand flooding into them. The solution is not to prevent building from happening, it's to loosen restrictions everywhere else. The planning system is in serious need of reform.
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