00115

Gordon Bunshaft for Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Lever House, 1951-52 (390 Park Avenue, NYC), American headquarters of the British soap company Lever Brothers. One of the first examples of curtain wall and the first gondola.

Curtain wall system blocks the access to the external surfaces from the inside of the building, giving a great control over the conditions of the air. ( you can not open a window )

Gondolas are mechanical platforms that allow window cleaners to reach external surfaces of buildings. Gondolas are todays extremely common.

In the original picture from which this illustration was produced, both operators seems to have been black out.

00116

Renzo Piano during a conference, presenting the Shard,in the Shard. In a video, of limited quality Renzo says:

“This .. in a great day you have this view … this transparency this luminosity, when the sun shows up … of course this also makes sense because the shard are multiples and the sun never touch all the shard together, only touch one. I mean, one of the reasons why we in T ( this?) city condensation and intensification is because …..(unintelligible) intense of energy. .(unintelligible)”

At this point all the attention of the public focus on a group of window cleaners situated at the exterior of the building. They are climbing down doing their duties. At first, they stop at the conference level, but understanding that everyone is looking at them, they move down to the next level.

“London we have more than 300.000 people everyday passing by, so this is very … one of the few places in London where you can do something like that (unintelligible), so energy …energy .. consuming energy on expressing energy somewhere in this building are coming together”

00053

Fix windows are a recurrent feature in architecture. The only way to access the exterior surface is from the outside and this can be problematic / dangerous / expensive if you do not have the right tool.

00052

00042

GEORGE FORMBY 1936, "When I'm Cleaning Windows".

Lyrics

Now I go cleanin' windows to earn an honest bob

For a nosy parker it's an interestin' job

Now it's a job that just suits me

A window cleaner you would be

If you can see what I can see

When I'm cleanin' windows

Honeymoonin' couples too

You should see them bill 'n coo

You'd be surprised at things they do

When I'm cleanin' windows

In my profession I'll work hard

But I'll never stop

I'll climb this blinkin' ladder

Till I get right to the top

The blushin' bride, she looks divine

The bridegroom he is doin' ne

I'd rather have his job than mine

When I'm cleanin' windows

The chambermaids' sweet names I call

It's a wonder I don't fall

My mind's not on my work at all

When I'm cleanin' windows

I know a fella, such a swell

He has a thirst, that's plain to tell

I've seen him drink his bath as well

When I'm cleanin' windows

Oh, in my profession I'll work hard

But I'll never stop

I'll climb this blinkin' ladder

Till I get right to the top

Pyjamas lyin' side by side

Ladies nighties I have spied

I've often seen what goes inside

When I'm cleanin' windows

------ banjo ------

Now there's a famous talkie queen

She looks a apper on the screen

She's more like eightie than eighteen

When I'm cleanin' windows

She pulls her hair all down behind

Then pulls down her... never mind

And after that pulls down the blind

When I'm cleanin' windows

In my profession I'll work hard

But I'll never stop

I'll climb this blinkin' ladder

Till I get right to the top

An old maid walks around the oor

She's so fed up, one day I'm sure

She'll drag me in and lock the door

When I'm cleanin' windows

When I'm cleanin' windows