Torre del Oro View Seville
by Joan Carroll
Title
Torre del Oro View Seville
Artist
Joan Carroll
Medium
Photograph - Digital Art
Description
Frankly, the short climb up the Torre del Oro alongside the Guadalquivir River in Seville Spain was a huge disappointment. And I am almost NEVER disappointed by a tower climb! But then again, I love a good climb when I am rewarded by a good opportunity for a photo and this is where the disappointment was. Perhaps with the idea to stop people from throwing things off the tower, a plexiglas barrier was erected a meter or more from the crenellated wall of the tower so that it was impossible to actually get to the edge of the tower platform to peek over the edge. With the narrow crennelations, a panormaic photo was therefore impossible. The one and only spot to get a panoramic view the river was to climb a further 10 stops up to a tiny tiny viewpoint, behind part of the tower, where there was room for a tripod and little else, and which provided only a limited field of view. Here is my small reward: the Guadalquivir River with the Triana bridge, the promenade along the east side of the river and the very controversial Cajasol Tower along the west bank. There was traditionally a height restriction for buildings in Seville, disallowing anything higher than the statue on La Giralda tower. How this was circumvented is not clear to me. The Cajasol tower is an office skyscraper that will have a height of 180.5 metres (592 ft) and have 40 floors. The tower is being built in La Cartuja, the former zone of the Universal Exposition that took place in Seville between April and October 1992. It is located next to the river in an area being redeveloped since the early 2000s. It had been reported that UNESCO was considering putting the Seville's monuments which are classified as World Heritage Sites (the Cathedral, Alcazar and Archivo de Indias) into the "Threatened List", because of the tower's 'negative visual impact' on the old town skyline of Seville. The proposal was rejected in 2012 but the meeting regretted that work on the tower had not been suspended, as requested by the Committee at its previous session, and that no discussions or consultations had been undertaken to consider how the project could be improved and any possible impact further reduced. Supporters argue the tower is a necessary evil, bringing opportunities for employment in a country where unemployment levels hover aroundf 25%. But detractors say the building is a blight on the city's architectural heritage.
FEATURED PHOTO, Spanish Theme Artwork group, 3/14/15
FEATURED PHOTO, Urban Images group, 3/13/15
FEATURED PHOTO, The Road To Self Promotion group, 2/2/15
FEATURED PHOTO, The World We See group, 2/2/15
Uploaded
February 2nd, 2015
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Viewed 4,909 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/18/2024 at 10:54 PM
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