It starts tomorrow, folks. The London Festival of Architecture runs for a whole month and comprises some 600 events and installations. Previously, we selected a few ticketed events so you could book early. Today, we present a few highlights that run for several days and don't require any planning on your part. Just turn up. We'd encourage you to take a closer look at the full listings too, as we can only highlight a very......

It’s still three weeks away, but you’d better book now for some of the more popular-sounding happenings at this year’s London Festival of Architecture. From 20 June to 20 July over 600 events will celebrate the capital’s buildings. Here’s our pick of one-off events. We’ll do a round-up of exhibitions and other longer-lived diversions nearer the time. Check out the full programme here. 28 June Bank of England Open Day Highly recommended tour for those......

It was just last week that Londonist speculated our new mayor might not be so enthused about the skyscrapers redrawing London's skyline as his predecessor was. Now we have confirmation from the blond-barnetted one himself: he is to demand tougher rules on high rise buildings. Johnson outlined his views on skyscraper requirements thus: "They should be buildings of quality, they should be buildings of distinction... I do think we should be protecting strategic views......

There's nothing shabby about Derelict London, a thoughtful compendium of unloved and forgotten buildings, the necrotic ulcers in London's hidden underbelly. Photos from the author, some taken in locations where we wouldn't want to risk an expensive SLR, are backed up with illuminating research and tip-offs from fans of his web site. The book opens with a sorry tale. A ramshackle Victorian cottage in East Dulwich is in limbo - it is Grade II......

At first glance, this looks like a rather pleasant alternative to the Millennium Bridge - a verdant, undulating span like nothing else in London. But look at what's written along the side and you may feel your gorge begin to rise. The Diana Memorial Bridge is one of dozens of abandoned London schemes in a long-running thread on skyscrapercity forums. These include an X-rated erotic gherkin, a bulbous colander for Trafalgar Square and, our......

Crowd-surfing in a mosh pit down the Astoria or Brixton Academy is the closest most in London can readily get to the waves and Waikiki lifestyle. That could be about to change: plans are afoot for a permanent outdoor surf machine in East London. As we reported yesterday, big things are happening along London's riverside. Spelling-shy Venture Xtreme have gone for the ambitious: they've released pictures of a "unique surf centre and extreme sports......

Earlier this week, the Trinity project got the go-ahead from the City of London. You might not have heard of Trinity. It’s a cosy threesome of office buildings set for construction in that obscure corner of the City known as Minories. Just shy of 100 m tall, its loftiest section will stand taller than the Westminster Clock Tower. Not so exciting in its own right. But when you look at some of the other......

It's tempting to bask in the success of the re-branded O2 and write off the building's seven year existence as useless white elephant de nos jours as a bad dream. Unfortunately, that was no nightmare, and it seems that financially the Millennium Dome never stood a chance. The assembled politicians and VIPs had barely clunked their awkward way through Auld Lang Syne on December 31st, 1999, before the whole project was skint. Newly released......

A Putney cottage designed by Erno Goldfinger has been illegally destroyed. Arbus Ltd, of Croydon, applied for permission to pull down the building in 2002, but was refused. Living up to his surname, Director of the company Rajiv Laxman paid little heed to the order and the building’s Grade II listed status, demolishing the cottage anyway. He’s now been ordered to pay £11,000 and forced to rebuild the property using the same design and......

There’s plenty of tomes on the market describing our city’s buildings. A search on Amazon for the term ‘London architecture’ yields 1070 results. Into this crowded marketplace - one of the few not designed by Horace Jones - steps the London Atlas of Architecture. It’s a highly visual guide with up to eight photographs per page and plenty of maps. Section one is a chronology of architecture, spanning 1800 years from the Roman wall......