architecture

Image by Wallyg

Westminster Abbey Gets New Hat

Image by Wallyg Or, in the parlance of ecclesiastical architecture, a new corona. Plans are afoot to build a £10 million crown-like structure on the abbey’s roof, directly above the spot where nearly every monarch since the Conqueror has been crowned. The structure would replace …

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In Pictures: Waterside Pavilion @ Barbican Art Gallery

As part of the Radical Nature summer show, the Barbican Art Gallery has built a pavilion by the waterside. Looking not unlike a crashed, balsa-wood Starbug, the curiously titled I am so sorry. Goodbye, by Heather and Ivan Morison, takes the form of twin geodesic …

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Charles Chelsea Barracked

Why is it that royals called Charles have such a talent for winding up their lordships? Lord Rogers, the architect responsible for the Chelsea Barracks development, is furious that – by having the audacity to criticise his work – the Prince of Wales has set …

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A Rebirth For Hornsey Town Hall

Plans for the redevelopment of Hornsey Town Hall in Crouch End, one of London’s earliest and finest Modernist-style buildings, have been unveiled. The Grade II* listed town hall, built in the Thirties, was the home of Hornsey Borough Council until 1966 and nowadays is the …

Apple's new Fifties throwback house-sized computer wasn't an immediate hit

Tweaks For 2012 Media Centre Design

Apple’s house-sized Mac was a tough sell The Olympics media centre, christened (admittedly by us) the ugly duckling of the Stratford site and one so sore on the eye that the government’s design watchdog Cabe was moved to tears by its awfulness, has had a …

Office space for rent, ideal for megalomanic with evil city-takeover scheme

The Shard: Room For A View

Office space for rent, ideal for megalomanic with evil city-takeover scheme A mockup photograph of the viewing platform on the Shard skyscraper at London Bridge has been released. The platform, which spans three stories a third of the way up the 100-story building, will offer …

Image / joseph_beuys_hat

Robin Hood Gardens “Dealt Death Blow”

Image / joseph_beuys_hat The Poplar estate, which has been the subject of a fierce battle between starchitect-backed conservationists and Tower Hamlets coucil (which claims the support of residents) who wish to demolish it, has had its appeal for listed status rejected by culture secretary Andy …

"We're going to need a bigger boat"

Crossrail Construction Begins…Again

“We’re going to need a bigger boat” After some 20 years of scrimshanking, filibusting and fund hunting, the first piling for London’s Crossrail scheme is imminent. Gordon Brown (and his make-up bag) will be on hand later today to formally announce the beginning of enabling …

Image / allyzally

Prince Charles RIBA Speech Warmly Received

Image / allyzally The heir’s keynote address last night, which had provoked rancour among the black turtleneck-wearing crowd and led some to organise a boycott, was smooth, unruffled, and as free from rough edges and unpleasant angles as he wishes architecture to be. He spoke …

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Architects To Boycott Prince Charles Speech

It must have seemed a tempting prospect for RIBA president Sunand Prasad to invite Prince Charles to give a keynote speech, 25 years after his original broadside against modern architecture. The decision has surely become a headache now: following the Prince’s attempted interference over the …

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Skylon, Mother Of All Javelins, To Be Rebuilt On Olympic Site?

Could the Skylon be rebuilt on the Stratford Olympic site? Campaigners are negotiating with Olympics supremos to resurrect the giant spike in time for its 60th anniversary in 2011. The original structure, built for the 1951 Festival of Britain and erected on the South Bank, …