Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice

A great event takes place this Bank Holiday weekend in and around the canal junction of Little Venice.
From Saturday 3rd until Monday 5th May you will find all sorts of attractions on the water and the surrounding roads and towpaths. These include pageants, entertainment, boat trips, foods, stalls, music and dance.
Find out more here.

 Some of my London canal photos, from Limehouse Basin to Little Venice

African Galleries at the British Museum

Beneath the Living and Dying exhibits, in Room 24 at the back of the British Museum's courtyard, are two flights of stairs that lead down to the African Galleries.
I can't believe I had never found these fabulous treasures until earlier this year – and what a find!
Three rooms contain some absolutely gorgeous hand-crafted pieces including masks, bronzeworks, carvings and even a hat made out of spiders' webs.
Beautiful and inspiring.

Victoria Street – a glass corridor

As you will probably already know, I am not a fan of all these build-it-glass, build-it-fast, and build-it-high architecture that is sprouting up like a fungus all over this once great city.
Due to the homogenous design of these clip-together buildings I have been referring to this invasion of glass as 'The Dubaiification of London'
The latest victim of this spore is Victoria Street, SW1.
This vital route links The Palace of Westminster to Buckingham Palace Road and Victoria Station and, just like Cheapside* is in the process of being turned yet another glass river resembling a crevice in an ice flow.

Exiting Victoria Station one is confronted by the enormous upheaval of demolition and construction on a vast scale. Victoria Station itself is undergoing redevelopment, but works do not stop at the station concourse – there are other projects on the go at the same time and the whole of Victoria Street is a massive building site.
I photographed the area back in 2008, as shown above, and in July last year had access to see the huge hole made at the back of the The Victoria Palace Theatre. As you can see, Land Securities have very kindly kept the theatre but demolished a building of similar age that was to the right of it. The theatre will now sit like a tiny little child surrounded by huge shiny robots as per The Albert, a Victorian yellow brick public house that still survives on the corner of Buckingham Gate and is shown in the collection of images below.

What else is staying?
Little Ben has been removed – I assume he will return in the same position.
I notice the old Victoria Arcade has also been retained. I am hoping this is a permanent feature as I would hate to lose that beautiful (Doulton?) ceiling.  
But I am disappointed that the Overtons' sign on the building at the easter tip of the station concourse has been removed.
Westminster Cathedral's a bit old, so it's a good job we can't really see it. It can only be seen reflected in the glass windows of Victoria Street's upper floors, phew; that's a relief.
Compare and contrast... see the archive image above, bottom right, for how the Army and Navy Store used to look in 1905. Much of the rest of the street would have looked similar; imposing, solid and made to last... until someone with a wrecking ball and a love of mirrors came along.
I despair.
Read more about the plans for Victoria Street here.

*blimey, did I never get around to writing that one?

The tiles of Tottenham Lane and Hornsey

At the beginning of last century, Crouch End and Hornsey looked rather different – Edwardian high streets would have been lined with shops beautifully decorated with tiles and fancy ironwork. And many of them would have had a lot of produce outside the shop, hanging above, around and in front of the window, with the owner and staff smartly dressed in white aprons ready to greet their customers.

At street level, most London high streets show barely a hint of their past these days, but this area of N8, probably due to it's lack of tube station and minimal bus connections, still has a few shops that display some lovely glimpses of the past. I mentioned some of my observations in a post earlier this year. This time I am concentrating on the tiles.

And what amazing tiles! It's hard to fathom how they were chosen to go together as never in a million years would I have thought to put such patterns, colours and textures together on the same wall. But they look fantastic.

The pics below are from just three different shops:

Top row: On the corner of Tottenham Lane and Harvey Road is Garden Transformations who have painted their double-width shop bright blue and kept these tiles which are along the side street (phew!). The mix of colours and patterns is bonkers! As you can see from the pics above, florals are placed next to bright pinks and turquoises, with swags and brown reliefs all mixed in too. And, notice too, that the old curved window frames are still in place along that face.

Middle row 1 & 2: Also in Tottenham Lane. I found these by accident because I had a strange urge for a bag of chips – it must have been serendipity because on entering George's Fish Bar I was amazed to find that the shop is tiled on both sides up to dado level with these wonderful golds, blues and greens. I chatted to the owner and he tells me that there has been a fish shop there for over 100 years; that the tiles are from the first ownership (though he isn't George and he isn't related to George or his family). But how lovely that the tiles are still in situ. Shame the outside of the shop doesn't retain any of the original features though. Now it's got me wondering how many other shops along that stretch have tiled interiors... 

Middle row 3 & 4 and all of the bottom row: These tiles are from either side of a what must have been a terrace of similarly-decorated shops in Hornsey High Street. It's a japanese restaurant at the moment. The crazy mix of Edwardian tiles on both sides of the recessed window have been retained over the decades – I can't see a trace of paint on them, just a few stickers.  

Here's how the junction at Middle Lane has barely changed except for the look and feel of the shops and the kind of things they sell. The shops back then just looked nicer.

Lots Road Power Station

Following on from Monday's post, this takes us out of Chelsea Harbour and into Lots Road itself.
I was last there in November 2008 and took the pictures that form the top row of this collection:

As you can see the metal silo-type building on the opposite side of Chelsea Creek (part of Counter's Creek) has gone and a vast swathe of land now stands empty waiting to be developed. It'll probably end up looking like Chelsea harbour itself, or the opposite bank in Wandsworth, or Battersea.
I just googled 'Chelsea Creek' for the link above and the first thing that came up on the list was a site saying that this is the 'newest and most fashionable dockside development, combining luxurious city living with blissful tranquility'
Aha! Very clever... what they mean here is it's like living in the city at the weekend when all the offices are closed. i.e. it's dead! Tranquil... means there's no one about (see Monday's post re Chelsea Harbour)
Since I am pulling apart estate agent speak here, what exactly is a 'luxurious' in this sense? Most homes these days have flushing toilets, running water, gas central heating etc. Some even have underfloor heating, double-glazing and en-suite bathrooms. But are these luxuries? Surely these are things you'd expect to find in an expensive box-as-home in an area such as Chelsea. I have even seen the word 'luxury' on billboards for flats in Holloway, North London. Does luxury vary borough to borough? Do these homes have wall to wall cashmere carpets and sensor lighting that goes on and off when you wink in a certain way? Perhaps Chelsea folk get even more luxury for their money and their apartments come complete with a butler-mum-PA who does absolutely everything... he/she cooks and feeds you, runs you bath/shower, dries you and even wipes your bum.
Anyway...
Lots Road...
There doesn't appear to have been much change to the Lots Road Power Station main building in the five and half years since I was there last. It's sort of the same as happened to Battersea Power Station – they say developments are pending and then these buildings just sit there derelict for decades. Indeed, the patchwork interior wall, shown top right, still looks the same today. The lovely green concertina goods gates are still intact, as is the building opposite that use to house Cremorne Works.
Further along the road I saw someone carefully renovating the little blue corner shop.
I have made a note in my diary to go back again in another five years to check if anything has moved on or if there is any sign of life there.

A well known London street

Next time you are out shopping in Central London take a break and look up and around you at some of the gorgeous architectural details.
These images were all taken in a 500 metre stretch of one busy street.

Chelsea Harbour and Imperial Wharf

On Saturday I went down to the Chelsea waterfront to check out access points for a future foreshore forage*.
God, it's dull down there. Back in the late 90s /early 00s, I had the misfortune to occasionally freelance at an office within the Chelsea Harbour development. I found it devoid of any life and it made me feel trapped and alienated. It was just expensive furnishing emporiums, expensive boxy apartments, expensive boats and one or two places where you could get some over-priced snacks and drinks. I would breathe a sigh of relief when I reconnected with reality every evening.
I hoped things might have improved over the years and it would now be more of a go-to area vis-a-vis St Katharine Docks etc. But no.
I was in the vicinity for just over an hour and apart from a street cleaner, two people getting into a car, another two looking hungry, one man on one of the many apartment balconies with a river view, one lady with a cute little dog and one jogger, that was it.

Chelsea Harbour still looks like something the props department made for Howards Way. It's accessed via Lots Road, an area now standing mostly empty or derelict, waiting to be transformed into the next set of glass boxes for people who occasionally need a London pad. 

The Thames Path leads west from the harbour, via Imperial Wharf, under the beautiful brick-built Wandsworth Railway Bridge, and on to Wandsworth [road] Bridge. I only walked about three quarters of it before I turned back again.
Despite what Imperial Wharf's website says, nothing is happening there. This 'sought-after location' is dull dull dull. Or perhaps people who can afford £1000 a week rent money are also dull.
Along the path there are a few dockers' mistresses and metal ladders preserved within recesses in a modern fence designed to resemble an ocean liner indicating that this was once a lively and commercial stretch of the river. On the other side of the path there are overly-landscaped and manicured gardens in front of Imperial Wharf's imposing apartment blocks. It certainly doesn't look like a park to relax in. I very much doubt you can kick a ball about there. Ooh, sorry, just remembered I also saw two people sitting in the park, so that's a total of ten.
Next to a identikit riverfront pub there is a restaurant called the Blue Elephant; I think White Elephant might be a better name.
I also spotted near the harbour a few lamp stands with dragons on them and, moored at the river taxi jetty (closed), there was a gilded barge. Who owns this? Is it Royal?
A sign on the old power station gates reads: Chelsea Waterfront – Quintessentially London. Eh? Discuss.

*Sorry, fellow foragers, but there are no easy steps available, so this area won't be an area we'll be visiting in the future.

A London Country Diary by Tim Bradford

I just got this great book containing the musings, observations and illustrations of Tim Harding.
Subtitled Mundane Happenings from the Secret Streets of the Capital, each one- or two-page entry concerns something Tim has spotted in the area of North London where he lives, bounded by Finsbury Park, Stoke Newington, Highbury and Holloway.

Read about pubs, parrots, charity shops, dogs, frogs, football, prams, and plants he doesn't know the name of.
It's amusing, heart-warming and thought-provoking and, living within the same area, I can identify with a lot he writes.

More info here
See Tim's website here.

Discoveries at Temple Place

Discoveries is a small but engaging free exhibition showing at Two Temple Place. It's an intriguing collection of art and artefacts chosen from the millions of objects stored at eight University Cambridge museums and is on until 27th April.

This was my first time inside this building and I am embarrassed to admit that I had no idea about the treasures withi. Built by Lord Astor, the richest Victorian in the world, as his estate office, it's an architectural gem.
I'll say no more... go and see see for yourself. The house is only open to the public during exhibitions, but tours are available.

Penfold's Victorian post boxes

John Wornham Penfold's distinctive hexagonal letter boxes date back to 1866 and were manufactured by Cochrane Grove & Co in Dudley. Made in three different sizes, the nine different designs featured acanthus leaves on the top and balls/seeds around the edges.
Many originals, as well as a few replicas made by Machan Engineering in the 1980s, still grace our streets today and I love it when I spot another one. So far, I have snapped ten in London and one abroad.
It's interesting to note how five of these are situated really close to each other in an area bounded by Clissold Park, Finsbury Park and Highbury Fields.

Top row: Tower Bridge (the first replica), Walthamstow Village (closed with a black metal plate that makes it look like a highwayman!), Battersea Village and Queens Drive.
Middle row: Highbury New Park, Highbury Grove (missing its finial), Prince Albert Road and St Pancras Way.
Bottom row: Aberdeen Park x2 2008 vs 2014 (the second pic shows it needs a new paint job!), Nevill Road (also missing its finial) and Wellington, NZ.

Find more pictures and information in a Flickr group, here.

Doulton tiles and their stamps

At the north end of Black Prince Road is the old Doulton factory, covered in examples of its own creations, like a ornate street-facing brochure.
Doulton produced all kinds of fired ceramics including tiles, crockery, fireplace surrounds and chimney pots (I have an unglazed one in my garden dated xxx). They also designed and made tiles in all shapes and sizes for room interiors and entrance halls and produced the commemorative plaques in Postman's Park.
Many of London's pubs and buildings were decorated and protected mostly at street level with Doulton's distinctive tiles and many of them still remain.
Hand-firing is (and was) a time-consuming and expensive process and so these days we mass produce by machine but the end product is nowhere near as good. For example, next time you are on the Piccadilly Line compare and contrast the modern replacements, such as at Russell Square; the new ones are flat and just haven't got the depth of colour and lovely crackle glaze that the old ones had.
Doulton didn't appear to have a definitive logo stamp or company signature. As you can see from the pics below, the marks* vary a lot even within the same building. Note especially the middle row of photos which are all to be found in the portico of Lloyds, Fleet Street. I have thus far only spotted two stamps that are alike, shown bottom right, and these can be found in Covent Garden and Fulham.
Another thing to note is that even though Doulton achieved 'royal' status in 1901, none of these marks echo that fact, even though most of the tiles were affixed in decades later in the 1920s and 30s.
Still hunting for more... do let me know if you spot any.

Lambeth x2, Greenwich, Waterloo

Fleet Street,

Charterhouse, Fulham, Covent Garden 

* yes, I am well aware that two of these, top left and top right, are not actually maker's marks!

Leake Street graffiti – art or a smelly mess?

This is the last of three posts about Lower Marsh.

It must be that if you have a can of aerosol paint in your hand you will be compelled to just spray whatever is to hand.
I say this because the pedestrian access that leads from Lower Marsh end of Leake Street into the tunnel section itself is covered completely with what looks to me like a complete random mess. I could understand if people were testing out new skills, but this just looks like some kind of free-for-all; the proverbial 'explosion in a paint factory'.
Leake Street is a dedicated space for graffiti and street art and there doesn't appear to be an inch of bare brick visible any more – even the railings and crash barriers have been 'decorated'. And, as I have reported here before, the old market barrows in Lower Marsh have been tagged too even though they are not part of Leake Street's walls or fixed furniture (grr!).

I peered down from ground level above the pedestrian tunnel and saw a group of people spraying a wall in the Station Approach section. The smell of the propellent wafting up to me made me want gag – how do people actually walk through the tunnel?!
As per Parkland Walk, the quality of the work, to my eye (and nose), isn't up to much.
Street art? Really?

Old market barrows at Lower Marsh

This is the continuation of a post I wrote earlier this month about the changes to Lower Marsh, a market street situated just behind Waterloo Station.

I found a few of the old wooden market barrows near the pedestrian access to Leake Street. These once-loved and carefully maintained mobile market stalls are now sitting in amongst a lot of rubbish and hence have attracted the graffiti taggers.
On closer inspection I noticed the original barrow owners' names and addresses or market locations carved into the wooden frames. And somewhere on every one: 'On Hire'.

I am still trying to fully decipher some the names because the hand-carved scripts are hard to read – note the non-joined areas within the m and h of 'Lambeth'.
Of the road names, Fitzalan Street (shown bottom right) is just a short walk away from Lower Marsh, ditto Lambeth Walk which was also a bustling market street decades ago but today shows no real signs of life today. But, so far, I cannot find out anything about Topaz Street, shown second on the bottom row. Holland St, top right, is a bit further away in Southwark at Bankside.
The owners' names are even harder to decipher; possibly 'A Heehn' (second, top), A H Pelin (top right), M J Tala... (middle right). Any ideas?
And how old are these barrows? When do they date back to? If they aren't going to be used any more what's going to happen to them?

Two great shows at Sadlers Wells

There are two really intriguing performances coming up at Sadlers Wells this month. And both are available at affordable prices; from £12.
Sadly, I am going to miss out on both of them. Please enjoy them for me.
First, there's Hofresh Schecter's 'Sun' which, judging buy this promo clip, looks to me a fantastic mix of genres and music. It's the story of liberation from the struggles of an emotive and angry world (I copied that from the press release – you could tell, I am sure!). It's on 20-23 March.
The following show, Tabac Rouge, is a different piece entirely. James Thiérrée is well-known for his inventive, dream-like spectacles and this show mixes mystery, mirrors, music and movement on a dark, ominous stage. 25-29 March.

Here are some London dancers:

The Classic Car Boot Sale – Southbank 15 & 16 March

After the success of the first vintage market in October 2013, The Classic Car Boot Sale returns to the Southbank this weekend.
Two days of beautiful old cars and lots of stalls selling antiques, bric-a-brac, clothes, crafts and more, plus lots of great food stalls, live music and a pub.
Hope to see you there – I will be trading on both days, selling collectibles, old tins, ceramics etc, plus a few selected items from my handmade range. Do come and say hello.

The Southbank area including a dancing junction

Battersea Foreshore Forage

Yesterday, a day with the best weather since October, I met up with a few friends for another of my Amelia Parker foreshore forages and this time we walked the strip between Battersea Village and Battersea Bridge.
It was a lovely. As these pics show.

Inspired by a brick with an R on it, I also took photos of things that resembled letters of the alphabet. The M could also be an E, and the Q could be a B. Now all I need to do is create some words out of them... any ideas?

There were also a lot of stones with holes in them, many of which looked like face. Finally, bottom right, eagle-eyed Jenny spied the base of a stoneware pot sticking out of the silt with Battersea stamped into it. She took it home and cleaned it up and it turns out to be a crucible: Find out more here.

Angels at the Royal Academy

Earlier this month I urged you to go and see 'Sensing Spaces' at The Royal Academy.
In that post I alluded to how the exhibits interact with the gallery spaces and encourage the visitor to notice and be engaged with the features and details of the rooms themselves.

I don't think I have ever noticed the lovely gold angels and crowns before, though when visiting the Summer Show 2013 I found the metal grilles on the floor more interesting than the 'art' on the walls.

Lower Marsh, Waterloo – a market street

Earlier this year I heard that there a new Saturday market was planned for Lower Marsh. I was under the impression that there was a market there already so I checked on Google Streetview and as you can see from the snaps below, the market pitches were clearly visible with a few of the old-style barrows in position.

On Saturday 1st February, a beautiful clear and bright, yet very cold day, I went down to have a look for myself and discovered that the road has been re-laid and the outlines for the stalls were no longer in existence. The 'market' consisted of three brave traders at the eastern end.
Perhaps the street renovation is a work in progress and the pitch markings will be reinstated in due course? Watch this space.
Adjacent to the pedestrian underpass that leads to Leake Street I found five of the old wooden barrers [sic] and I am sad to report that they have been splattered with day-glo graffiti as per Leake Street itself. I will write about both of these things separately in subsequent posts.

Lower Marsh is still a lovely street and it's hard to believe when you are there that you are actually so close to a big bustling train station. It's dotted with specialist shops selling gifts, vintage clothes etc, plus some great cafés that are perfect places to grab a snack before getting on your train – much better than the mass-produced gunk offered by the corporate chains in Waterloo station's concourse.
Some lovely old architectural features still remain on Lower Marsh...
There's a large faded ghost sign at the western end advertising a catering company then, as you walk east you pass the Scooter Cafe's typographically elegant bar sign on your left, followed by some old lamp oil urns on a building that has seen quite a few changes over the decades and is now a thai restaurant.
On the other (south) side is Trussons (which sounds to me like a made up name for a Carry On film!). Close to and above is a sign for a long-gone optician and further along is Lounge 34 (originally The Spanish Patriot) – note the wonky spike on the very top.
I crossed over the junction into The Cut. Back in the early 1980s I used to work with a girl from Bermondsey who would go to The Cut's market every weekend because, she told me, it was so good and you could buy anything and everything there.
Sadly there is no sign of a market there now. The street is wide and it's possible to imagine a row of traders on each side with plenty of room for vehicles to pass through between them such as in this image.
See here for more history on the area.

Battersea – we must rebuild it

Continuing from my from my previous post about a tour I attended around the around Nine Elms area.

Battersea riverside is changing apace. I wrote a while back here about how I am none too happy with the large ugly glass buildings that will be built to wrap around and obscure what is left of Battersea Power Station. All artist impressions or computer-generated images of how the site will look after the project is finished mostly show the area from the air or from the river, but I have not seen any views depicting how it will look from street level.

As we followed our guide westwards along Nine Elms Lane I took some photos, shown in the top row above (the bottom four pics were taken in February 2009). These views of the power station will not be possible once the new construction is in place. I noted how the brickwork of the building is in really poor condition. 

There is a hoarding that runs along the street with a quote on it. I now wish I'd made a note of whole thing. From my photos I can make out: "...have seen me before, but you don't know me. I stand here bold and strong. My proud heritage, combined with the future world, I will be like nothing you have seen..".

Eh?
Further along near Battersea Park station, in Prince of Wales Drive, behind a lovely old wall made from London stocks are Battersea's gas holders and other buildings including an impressive 3-storey detached Victorian house called 'The Field'.

The lower floor of the house is at the moment being turned into a pop-up gallery for an exhibition of large framed photographs taken on a dull day with an expensive camera. It strikes me that if you care about a building and want to take some good shots of something you choose a good day for it as I did for my photos above.
The house itself is far more interesting than the framed prints. With a bit of elbow grease and tlc this sturdy brick structure that has stood there for approx 150 years would make a fantastic home or business space(s) as it contains most of its original features; hand-painted stained glass in the doors and windows, architectural mouldings, intricate Pugin-esque hallway floor tiles, and wooden stairs with curved wood and metal bannisters. I'd have included some pics of it here but we weren't allowed to take photos, though I couldn't really fathom why not.

Sadly this 2-acre site, including the unusual 80-year old pale blue gas holder, and probably the surrounding wall as well, is going to be demolished to make way for – yes, you've guessed it – a development of metal and glass containing homes, shops and businesses – as if that hideous complex next door isn't bad enough.
It was all too much for me to take in and attempt to make sense of – too big, too much and too fast.
After seeing what was going to become of the Nine Elms area earlier that day, then walking past what's left of the power station, this was the final straw for me and it moved me to tears. Really, it did (sorry, this is 2014; I mean 'literally').

Ian Nairn used to get emotional about this kind of thing decades ago. He must be rolling in his grave. We are learning nothing – I doubt these glass replacements will last 50 years, let alone 150.
Sigh.
Soon there may be no historical details left for me to photograph and this blog will be all rants and sadness.
Sigh again.

New Covent Garden Flower Market and the Promenade of Curiosities

Last Wednesday I went on a tour of the Nine Elms area. I have written about the some of the bad bits so here's the nice stuff.

I had never been inside New Covent Garden Flower Market before and really enjoyed listening to Helen Evans, director of business development and support as she told us all about imported plants, sundries, plant buying, problems with the existing building and the plans to relocate to the other side of the road near the fruit market. 

Flower prices are, of course cheaper and fresher at NCGFM  than from your local supermarket where they sit just inside the entrance doors batting to stay alive as the temperature changes by the minute. Anyone can shop at the market – you buy by wraps (bunches) and pay by the stem +VAT. It's option anxiety. I was really impressed by how many other things are available, not just plants – there are pots, planters, lights, ribbons, driftwood, fake flowers, architectural elements galore – anything you might need to make a display.

From there we wandered eastwards and heard about the The Promenade of Curiosities which will create a pedestrian walk linking Nine Elms through The Pleasure Gardens and all the way east to Lower Marsh. We stopped off half way for tea and scrummy cakes at the beautifully renovated Tea House Theatre, formerly the rather down market Queen Anne pub. Then along Vauxhall Walk and across Black Prince Road to look at the construction of Damien Hirst's new art gallery in Newport Street (bottom right) which I will probably write something scathing about when it opens (!).

The Dubaiification of Nine Elms

Earlier this week, as part of a promotional walking tour around the Nine Elms, Battersea and Vauxhall area I got to see a the scale model of the plans.
My jaw dropped – I knew there was a lot of building work going on but I had no real concept how bullying and oppressive the scale would really be.
At the moment there is one very tall boring glass tube near Vauxhall station – you may recall that a helicopter crashed into it last year. Well, hold on to your hat – there are going to be plenty more tall buildings like that – pilots; take note!

The local councillors who were there, outlined the regeneration scheme and talked about iconic buildings and creating community (note: iconic buildings are not created; they become so, and community is not created; it evolves).
A skinny little grassy space will meander through the area intended to create environments for outdoor events, markets, fairs etc which will "link the town centres".

Towns? As far as I am aware 'Vauxhall town centre' is a train, tube and bus station. Where is the library, town hall, butchers and post office? It's got a nightlife though – there are over 20,000 people going there every weekend for the clubs and bars in the arches area. It's really 'Club Town', I suspect, due to the demise of the nightclub scene that used to be at Kings Cross.

I was not surprised to learn that retail spaces are planned for the ground floor of these new buildings, so expect to find all the same things you see everywhere else such as large coffee chains and express supermarkets with those annoying self-service check-outs. I doubt there will be any shops there selling normal things like groceries, haberdashery, hardware etc. Or pound shops for that matter.
I asked how much of this huge scheme had been sold already and got a woolly politician-style response. When I asked if the local community been involved in the plans, again, I got no real answer, just that there will be schools and health centres. Oh, so that's OK then.

The build is already underway, using glass from the US. I find it scary how so many enormous structures can be erected in one swathe. Nothing is allowed to evolve these days. What they are building here is, I think bigger than the City of London – a pop-up, slot-together 'Meccano' world.
But there are plenty of empty office spaces available in London, even in the pointy thing... so why build more? Just because there is a large piece of land that doesn't mean something big has to be built on it to fill the available space. It is beyond me how they can start with a blank canvas and yet still end up with a spider's web of outdoor areas that not that much different from high-rise housing estates of the 1970s.
And, regarding 'community', do the developers ever think to revisit the areas they have 'regenerated' 5, 10 or 15 years after to see if a community vibe has indeed taken hold? Has anyone been to the Isle of dogs lately?
It's so depressing.

If Ian Nairn was still alive today he would be as agitated by this as I am. Everything will end up looking like Dubai – a sea of glass and metal. Soon there won't be any details for me to find at all and the only things I will write about here will be rants about glass and loss.
For balance, here's Nine Elms' official site so you can hear their side.
Next week I'll write about plans for Battersea...

Actually, speaking of Ian Nairn... His series of programmes and his books about how he cared so much about the buildings around him just show that you don't have to be an architect to be interested in or have a view on or a love of architecture and how it makes us feel. 
If the BBC would like to make a similar series of programmes with a caring, opinionated, woman driving around the UK in an old Morris Minor... then look no further... I am here.  

For more of my posts in this vein London's please enter 'architecture' the search box top left.

Mosaic musings at the National Gallery

I expect most people think all the interesting arty stuff at the National Gallery is hanging on the walls in the galleries.

But slow down as you climb the stairs in the vestibule (what a great word!) and look below your feet – the landings are covered in the most amazing mosaics created by Boris Anrep in the 1920-30s depicting the labours and pleasures of life.

It's a bizarre range of illustrated topics that features many famous people of the time and Anrep's arty friends in place of muses/mythological characters. These include Winston Churchill, Margot Fonteyn and Greta Garbo.

I am at a loss how some of the images tie up with the words but, that aside, they are fabulous. 

See the National Gallery's site for more.

And find more pics here.

Lucidity, Astronomy, Compromise, Delectation,

Humour, Folly, Dance, Sixth Sense,

Pursuit, Art, Football, Defiance.

A lack of movement in Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is full of statues including Nelson, George IV, some lions and a big blue cockerel that are made of stone, bronze and other strong arty substances, but there are also some other statues to be found there.
I am referring to the street entertainers who stand motionless like a statue but then move slightly or suddenly to scare or amaze passers-by.

I have seen some very clever ones in Barcelona, Prague, even Covent Garden, and marvelled at their strength and ability to stand still for so long, possibly just moving their eyes, but what we have here in Trafalgar Square these days are people making no real attempt at all – they don't even paint their bodies to look like statues any more. Instead they dress up head to toe in purchased outfits complete with rubber masks and then most of them wobble about on platform constructions intended to make it look like they are levitating. On the day I took these photos, back in November, there were four Star Wars characters including two Yodas and a girl in a Stormtrooper outfit who just made five minute attempts to hold poses but mostly stood around holding her helmet.
And the really annoying thing about this? People actually give them money!!!

David Hockney's prints at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Blimey he's talented and prolific, as these snaps I took there clearly show.
The show is almost a how-to of print-making techniques and really inspirational.
More here – on until 11th May and well worth a visit.

Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined

This fabulous show at the Royal Academy is really worth a visit and great for all ages; it's not just for people interested in architecture.
The seven exhibits have been cleverly built to interact with the RA's gallery spaces and are designed to inspire you to consider how architecture makes you feel, both mentally and physically.
Climb, make, smell, sit, engage, ponder...
Go... take the kids... they'll love it too.
On until April 6th. More info here.