Still Here
I'm still hanging out in (unseasonably warm and sunny) London, getting a fix of culture by hitting a few museums and galleries this past week. The monumental National Gallery, the equally monumental Tate Modern, the grandeur of the Natural History Museum, the sun drenched court of the British Museum and the vague disappointment of the Design Museum.
Why vague disappointment at the Design Museum? They're in the middle of setting up new exhibitions, so there's only one gallery on display at the moment. Their little design shop was entertaining enough to while away at least an hour or so before moving on.
Today's random trivia: Sir Giles Gilbert Scott is the architect behind the Bankside Power Station, the giant cathedral to industry that's now home to the Tate Modern gallery. As a power station the building had a very short life, being shut down after less than twenty years because oil became prohibitively expensive as a fuel for generating electricity.
Scott is also the architect of the Battersea Power Station, an imposing part of London's skyline which has been the subject of a few failed apartment conversions over the years. At the moment the building and the surrounding site is lying dormant, which seems a shame.
But Scott's most famous contribution to London is probably the iconic red telephone box, which first appeared on the streets in 1926 and has since been the subject of plenty of photos.
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 and filed under Europe 2006-2007.
Comments
Hi Si! Glad to see you are still having fun in London.
Posted by: Greg on March 13, 2007
