A steam ship in the City of London
There are quite a number of ‘Holland Houses’ in the capital – the remains of a Jacobean country home in Holland Park, Kensington; a school […]
architecture
London’s newest castle: The US Embassy, Nine Elms
Don’t call it a moat. Let’s be clear about that from the start; it’s not a moat – it’s a lake. Well, that’s according to […]
Farm Street Church, Mayfair – a gothic wonder
The Victorians loved the medieval. The ‘gothic revival’ actually started earlier – in the late 1700s/early 1800s as a reaction to classicism – but it […]
“One of the sights of London”
“Miss the Tower of London, if you have to, but don’t miss this” wrote Ian Nairn in his 1966 guide, Nairn’s London. A Nash terrace? […]
Up on the Roof – the Walkie Talkie’s Sky Garden
I’ve tried hard to like the Walkie Talkie, Rafael Vinoly’s skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street, but so far I’ve been unsuccessful. The thing dominates the […]
The Development Plan for Greater London
Before Abercrombie and Forshaw, with their 1943 and 1944 plans for modernising London , with new ring roads, ‘zoned’ areas and satellite new towns, there […]
The Lloyd’s Building
In 1978, the year after architect Richard Rogers’ Pompidou Centre opened in Paris, construction started on his first major London project, The Lloyd’s Building in Lime […]
Wren’s Monument to the 1666 Great Fire
Climb the 311 stairs today to the top of the Monument and the the 21st century City spreads out around you. To the north the […]
Book review: Up in Smoke by Peter Watts
I have a terrible confession to make, one that will see me shunned by London society, if not drummed out of the city altogether: I […]
Bricking It – the Tate Modern Extension
Step out of the back door of the Blue Fin Building (as I did this morning) and rising up in front of you is the […]