建筑专业英语介绍伦敦

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London

London is the capital of England and the United

Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United

Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the European

Union by most measures. London has been a major

settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its

founding by the Romans, who called it Londinium .

London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains

its

square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London

has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this

conurbation forms the London region.

London is a leading global city, with its strengths in the arts, commerce,

education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services,

research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It

is the most visited city in the world. London's five international airports make its

airspace the busiest of any urban centre worldwide and London Heathrow is the

world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London has a diverse

range of peoples, cultures and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken

within its boundaries. And the London Underground network is the oldest

underground railway network in the world.

The Great Fire of London destroyed many parts of the city in 1666 in Pudding Lane

in the city and quickly swept through the wooden buildings. Rebuilding took over ten

years and was supervised by Robert Hooke .In 1708 Christopher Wren's masterpiece,

St. Paul's Cathedral was completed.

Greater London is the top- level administrative subdivision covering London. The

small, ancient City of London at its core once contained the whole

d urban expansion is now prevented by the Metropolitan Green Belt,

although the built-up area extends beyond the boundary in places, resulting in a

separately defined Greater London Urban Area. Beyond this is the vast London

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commuter belt

。

Greater London is split for

some purposes into Inner London and Outer

London. The city is split by the River

Thames into North and South, with an

informal Central London area in its interior.

Modern London stands athwart the Thames,

its primary geographical feature, a The City

of London is the main financial district in

the Docklands to the east .The West End is London's main entertainment and

shopping district, attracting tourists

，

The East End is the area closest to the original

Port of London, known for its high immigrant population, as well as for being one of

the poorest areas in London.

London's buildings are too diverse to be characterized by any particular

architectural style, having been built over a long period of time. High-rise

development is restricted at certain sites if it would obstruct protected views of St.

Paul's Cathedral. Nevertheless, there are plans for more skyscrapers in Central

London (see Tall buildings in London), including the 72-storey

which will be one of the tallest buildings in Europe. Development temporarily stalled

as a result of the recent financial crisis, but is reported to be recovering.

London was the world's largest city from about 1831 to 1925. London's

overcrowded conditions led to cholera epidemics, claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and

6,000 in 1866. Rising traffic congestion led to the creation of the world's first local

urban rail network. Although the majority of journeys involving Central London are

made by public transport, car travel is common in the suburbs. The inner ring road

(around the city centre), the North and South Circular roads (in the suburbs), and the

outer orbital motorway (the M25, outside the built-up area) encircle the city and are

intersected by a number of busy radial routes

—

but very few motorways penetrate into

inner London. The M25 is the longest ring-road.

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Cycling in London has enjoyed a renaissance since the turn of the Millennium.

Cyclists enjoy a cheaper, and often quicker, way around town than those by public

transport.

The largest parks in the central area of London are the Royal Parks of Hyde Park,

its neighbor Kensington Gardens at the western edge of Central London and Regent's

Park on the northern edge. Regent's Park contains London Zoo, the world's oldest

scientific zoo, and is located near the tourist attraction of Madame Tussauds Wax

Museum. Closer to central London are the smaller Royal Parks of Green Park and St.

James's Park

，

Hyde Park in particular is popular for sports and sometimes hosts

open-air concerts.

Leicester Square

Leicester Square is a pedestrianised

square in the West End of London. The

Square lies within an area bound by

Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross

Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the

south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west.

The park at the centre of the Square is

bound by Cranbourn Street, to the north; Leicester Street, to the east; Irving Street, to

the south; and a section of road designated simply as Leicester Square, to the west. It

is within the City of Westminster, and about equal distances north of Trafalgar Square,

east of Piccadilly Circus, west of Covent Garden, and south of Cambridge Circus.

The Square is named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, who purchased

four acres (1.6 hectares) in St. Martin's Field in 1630; by 1635, he had built himself a

large house, Leicester House, at the northern end. The area in front of the house was

then enclosed, depriving inhabitants of St. Martin's Parish of their right to use the

previously common land. The parishioners appealed to King Charles I, and he

appointed three members of the Privy Council to arbitrate. Lord Leicester was ordered

to keep part of his land (thereafter known as Leicester Field and later as Leicester

Square) open for the parishioners.

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The area was developed in the 1670s. It was initially fashionable and Leicester

House was once residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales but by the late 18th century,

the Square was no longer a smart address and began to serve as a venue for popular

entertainments. Leicester House became home of a museum of natural curiosities

called the Holophusikon in the 1780s and was demolished about 1791

–

1792.

In 1848, Leicester Square was the subject of the land-law case of Tulk v.

Moxhay. The plot's previous owner had agreed upon a covenant not to erect buildings.

However, the law would not all

ow purchasers who were not ?privy' to the initial

contract to be bound by subsequent promises. The judge, Lord Cottenham, decided

that future owners could be bound by promises to abstain from activity. Otherwise, a

buyer could sell land to himself to undermine an initial promise. Arguments continued

about the fate of the garden, with heirs erecting a wooden hoarding around the

property in 1873. Finally, in 1874 the flamboyant Albert Grant (1830

–

1899)

purchased the outstanding freeholds and donated the garden to the Metropolitan

Board of Works, laying out a garden at his own expense. The title passed to the

succeeding public bodies and is now in the ownership of the City of Westminster.

By the 19th century, Leicester Square was known as an entertainment venue,

with many amusements peculiar to the era including Wyld's Globe which was built

for the great exhibition and housed a giant scale map of the Earth. Several hotels grew

up around the square making it popular with visitors to London. A large theatre, the

Alhambra, built in 1854, dominated the site, to be joined in 1884 by the Empire

Theatre of Varieties. The square remains the heart of the West End entertainment

district today.

During the Labor government's 1979 Winter of Discontent, garbage collectors

went on strike. Leicester Square was used as an overflow dump, earning it the

nickname of ―

Fester

Square‖.

There is the Shakespeare fountain and statue Bust of Hogarth in the Square.

In the middle of the Square is a small park, in the centre of which is a 19th

century statue of William Shakespeare surrounded by dolphins. The four corner gates

of the park have one bust each, depicting Sir Isaac Newton, the scientist; Sir Joshua

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