Beautiful building in a struggling neighborhood

Luxury (only) in the sky
London, ON
November 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

London’s downtown skyline recently welcomed this wild-looking new addition.

Known as One Richmond Row, this high-rise apartment building features offset floor platforms that give the structure a rather striking presence in the sky.

It anchors Richmond Row, which is the city’s Ground Zero for bars, restaurants, and party-seekers from the nearby university looking for a night out in a trendy neighborhood.

The building is all very chic and sleek and tomorrow-looking. And for a sleepy mid-sized city like ours, it’s a bit of a departure.

So when I found myself in the neighborhood the other day, I couldn’t not point my lens skyward and have a little fun with geometry.

But here’s the thing: this is a deliberately composed scene that rather deliberately avoids the reality on the ground. Because not far from this high-end residential tower, a crowd of people experiencing homelessness waits patiently for the nearby mission to begin serving dinner.

They mill about on the street surrounding this oh-so-luxe building, some pushing shopping carts filled with garbage bags containing everything they own, others pacing back and forth trying to deal with their inner demons.

I can’t get myself to point my lens toward them.

I’m struck by the proximity of a beautifully built and marketed residential tower casting shadows on the lives of those who can only dream of living in this rarified structure. I’m struck by how much more visible London’s homelessness problem has become since the last time I was here. I’m struck by the disparity.

This is just a photo, and it won’t remotely solve anything, let alone a crisis that seems to have become part of this city’s post-pandemic DNA.

But I couldn’t not share it, either, even if I lacked the courage to share an actual picture far removed from the marketing perfection that first sold - and continues to sell - this palace in the sky.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #downtown #OneRichmondRow #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #city #sky #monochrome #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded