Tower of London

The Tower of London

When I think of the Tower of London I think of a medieval prison for kings, a lonely circular tower top with stone floors and a straw bed, with iron bars in place of a door.  Alas I am revealing my ghastly American side.   The White Tower structurally is a keep, and one of the oldest of its kind therefore a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tower was also whitewashed by Henry the III.  I will write about whitewashing, not the whitewashing that happens when white actors are chosen to play ethnic roles such as Asian or Indian, but   whitewashing the décor by painting everything white.

  In Manhattan you will hear the synonymous term “French Country” whispered by decorators to give an impression of something sophisticated and elite.  To explain my relationship with whitewashing you have to understand a little bit about my childhood, my father is a master cabinetmaker, specializing in French cabinetry.  I can still smell the ebony dark woods, and feel the texture of the aged hard woods as I ran my small fingers down the raw beams.  To me the materials of a structure are like the ingredients for a chef, to be celebrated, appreciated, and the center point of an experience.  For myself, I find painting white over an exposed brick wall, an aged oak door frame, a mid century cherry cabinet, the same as pouring a container of salt on top of a meal at a 5 star restaurant. 

The Tower of London was built with Caen stone from France, Kentish Ragstone, Portland Stone, and Mudstone.  Beautiful ingredients that I would never paint white over.  As an architectural student, I appreciate the patina of materials within the structure, the worn out corroded bolts on a steal door, the discoloration of subway tile mosaics from the one train on the IRT line, the foggy glare of an antique mirror made from silver, the oxidized copper roof ornament, the splintering beams supporting a stucco ceiling or the weight of a quarter ton door dragging along creating a crease on its floor trajectory in an factory loft.  Please don’t add a can of white paint to sterilize the space in an effort to be sheik.  White is clean like a hospital, and is an easy technique to makeover a space, what is hard, is to preserve the soul of a structure while adding your signature touch.          

Sources
http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/visit-us/top-things-to-see-and-do/white-tower/#gs.12UJ2as
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=+white+washs+walls+toer+of+london&view=detailv2&&id=49121F2392E10CAAA4AB7996C6454A0D4A51C2AB&selectedIndex=22&ccid=IUodleKu&simid=607986487834707820&thid=OIP.M214a1d95e2ae8f2ebe4b88a6d1e7a52fo0&ajaxhist=0