ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the second visual genre that the notion of the skyline refers to: the skyline as a line. Returning to the new London skyline and discussing six speculative tower developments in the City, it shows how the built environment is reduced to an assessment of skyline profiles and sky gaps with the aim of offering tall buildings as structures that can enhance the visibility and appreciability of the historic St Paul’s. In an attempt to occupy the line, an account of publicly accessible spaces that these tower developments provide at street level and on top floors is included. It is argued that with the help of these pseudo-public spaces, distance to the financial and advanced business service industries is maintained: either by means of redirecting views towards structures in the city elsewhere or by redirecting views to the city as a whole. It is suggested that the new London skyline is an optical rather than a haptic space that is defined by distant rather than close vision and by highly controlled orientations and landmarks. Therefore, it is a space that is fundamentally different to a nomad space.
