architecture

This day in London’s History 1978: Man executed with brolly. Unless you live in Chile, the date September 11 will only ever be remembered for the one, obvious historical event. Of course, plenty of other stuff can claim today as its anniversary, including the remarkable …

“The biggest gherkin in Christendom could soon be overshadowing London” So utters Jeremy Paxman to open the trailer for improbable movie ‘Building the Gherkin’. That’s right. Everyone’s favourite pickle-shaped landmark has made its first flick, co-starring Norman Foster and Ken Livingstone. Just a month and …

A particularly silly article entitled Is London the New New York? Or Is It the Other Way Around? appeared recently in the New York Sun. The main arguments for the immediate twinning of our two cities put forward by the hackette what wrote said article …

After what was supposed to be a relaxing city break to Barcelona that turned in to a flight-majorly-delayed, bags-lost, hotel-not-quite-as-advertised, weather-not-great, get-stuck-in-hotel-lift-during-storm ordeal, I’m back! I had got to the point where my life was stressing me out so much on a day to day …

Just one of the nerdilicious diversions on Metro Bits, a website celebrating the world’s metro/tube networks. As well as logos, you’ll find a fascinating section on metro architecture, the world’s best views from tube trains, loopy track topologies and plenty of lists. There’s even a …

The London Design Festival is back next month, running 15 -30 September and if you’re that way inclined, take out your Philip Starcke pen and put it in your Moleskine diary now. Established in 2003 to celebrate and promote London and the UK’s design creativity, …

This column appears every Wednesday. If you want to let us know about any upcoming science or technology events, you can contact us on LondonistSciTech@Gmail.com OK, so we lied last week when we said the column was in summer recess. Sorry. Although there aren’t many …

Join the Village Fete at V & A – for tonight, the museum will be taken over by over 30 creative types who will be running stalls, activities and other village fete style stuff. Tombola, fish and chips, freaky vegetable competitions and body painting will …

Love it or hate it, Pimlico School is going to be pulled down. The Brutalist secondary school building in SW1 has been simultaneously revered and reviled for years, in similar ways to London’s other Brutalist buildings such as the Greater London Council Traffic Island, the …

Surely it’s not possible to dislike the gherkin? It’s that rare Lineker of buildings –distinctive profile, super-famous yet loved by all. Or so we thought… Washington Post architecture critic Roger K Lewis isn’t the biggest fan. His latest column pours careful scorn on Foster’s masterpiece, …