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blech + london   567

Risky biscuits | Prospect Magazine
"According to Transport for London (TfL) figures, the number of journeys taken on the Tube in the year to April is expected to reach 1.1 billion—a bit over one seventh of the world’s population. So 164 accidents means that—if my sums are right —0.0000164 per cent of those journeys end in an embarkation/debouchment-related owie." On TfL's Tube poster campaign.
london  transport  tfl  poster  statistics  safety  from instapaper
8 weeks ago by blech
Will Self: Walking is political | The Guardian
"A century ago, 90% of Londoners' journeys under six miles were made on foot. Now we are alienated from the physical reality of our cities. Will Self on the importance of walking." Good stuff.
guardin  willself  walking  pedestrian  london  culture  from instapaper
8 weeks ago by blech
London Blitz Map | Mapping London
"The image above is a photo of part of a large map of London, created just after the Second World War and showing buildings that were damaged or destroyed in the Blitz. The map is the centrepiece of a small free exhibition at the London Metropolitan Archive in Finsbury." Nice, but a scan online would be nicer (please?)
london  map  maps  worldwartwo  londonmetropolitanarchive  via:straup  blogcomment 
8 weeks ago by blech
How Christian Marclay created “The Clock” | The New Yorker
On the art world's most recent hit, The Clock, and its creator. Lots of interesting tidbits here, such as his willingness to turn a blind eye to other's copyright to create his art while insisting that its display be under his control. I still want to see it, mind you.
art  film  video  copyright  christianmarclay  newyorker  newyork  london  twitter/capture  via:@objetsmart 
9 weeks ago by blech
The sad story of Battersea: a graveyard of architectural visions | things magazine
"Few buildings have been submitted to as many masterplans and schemes as Battersea Power Station. Once again in limbo, the great red brick hulk on the south bank of the Thames has acted as a canvas for the shifting architectural visions of the decades, from fun palace to theme park to science centre to culture park to non-descript icon."
london  architecture  battersea  batterseapowerstation  thingsmagazine  history  timeline  from instapaper
9 weeks ago by blech
Icon of the Month: Battersea Power Station | Icon
Owen Hatherley: "Architecture, at Battersea Power Station, was an afterthought." "Giles Gilbert Scott was brought in at the last minute to head off complaints. It is telling that what is London’s best-loved piece of 20th-century architecture is so un-modernist – applied decoration on a big shed."
london  architecture  battersea  batterseapowerstation  owenhatherley  from instapaper
9 weeks ago by blech
Ambient bus arrival monitor | John Graham-Cumming
Using a Linksys WRT54GL, a Sparkfun 7-segment LED block, and a slightly dismembered model of a Plaxton Pointer single-deck bus to make a display of when the next bus is due. Nice.
uk  london  transport  bus  buses  display  datavis  ambient  via:russelldavies 
9 weeks ago by blech
The London Terminals: Kings Cross | London Reconnections
"The opening will not mark the final completion of the Kings Cross project – that will not come until late 2013 when the green canopy that currently hides the impressive facade of one of London’s oldest stations will finally be removed. It will, however, arguably mark the biggest point of change for passengers – because from Monday the way-finding through Kings Cross will change significantly." The usual worthwhile look at a public transport project.
london  kingscross  railway  engineering  architecture  design  londonreconnections  via:iamdanw  from instapaper
10 weeks ago by blech
Saint Etienne - Finisterre | Drowned In Sound
"So what does the new album sound like?
"Tidal waves. A glider darting through clouds high above the Azores. The girl with the cream smile and sky eyes whispering in your ear. Being lost in a frosty, fog-bound maze. Sports cars crashing."
I've written about Saint Etienne's film Finisterre before, but the album is a long-term favourite of mine, too.
music  saintetienne  london  drownedinsound  2002  from instapaper
11 weeks ago by blech
Barbican Estate: Concept & design | City of London
"Many of the terrace blocks are raised on columns, a device employed to give continuity between different parts of the layout and to avoid what may otherwise have been, in a high density development, blunt and oppressive enclosures by buildings forbidding in scale."
london  highwalk  barbican  planning  architecture  1960s  cityoflondon 
11 weeks ago by blech
The Museum of London by Powell and Moya | Architectural Review
Michael Brawne’s 1977 review of the Museum of London, one of the final parts of the London Wall development from the 1950s to the 1970s. "It is not only such specific site conditions which cause difficulties but rather more the general problem of approaching a building divorced from the ground and also, or very good reasons, presenting blank surfaces to the spaces which link it to the urban mesh that inevitably continues beyond its boundaries. Somehow the architectural act of recognising that the surroundings are alien, at the same time alienates the building itself from its setting."
london  museum  museumoflondon  architecture  highwalk  barbican  powellandmoya  review 
12 weeks ago by blech
China Miéville on Apocalyptic London | NYTimes.com
One of my favourite - and most London - authors for, of all publications, the New York Times, with a scathing look at the city in the age of Tory-driven austerity. Well worth a read.
nytimes  london  chinamiéville  essay  comment  from instapaper
12 weeks ago by blech
Explaining Londoners | NYTimes.com
"If you had to make a snap judgment about a Londoner, how would you do it? Start with the newspaper he or she is reading." More handy hints are within this New York Times magazine article, such as "Frequent apology is one of an arsenal of clever tricks Londoners employ to obscure their true feelings and remain opaque to outsiders and possibly even to themselves."
london  nytimes  magazine  article  culture  newspapers 
12 weeks ago by blech
Phantom 2011 | CUL DE SAC London
"«Phantom» remakes the Fourth Plinth of Trafalgar Square in a quiet back street in Bermondsey. This scale replica of the famous fourth plinth is built to coincide with the announcement of the next winners of the prestigious London contemporary art commission."
london  art  fourthplinth  sculpture  bermondsey  via:mondoagogo  from instapaper
february 2012 by blech
Supersize superport: London Gateway | Evening Standard
The character of the landscape out east, beyond the M25, is extraordinary. Just half an hour's train ride from the city, you are in deeply unfamiliar territory. It is a stretched landscape, with a feeling of insufficient building to cover the endless, flat land of the flood plain.
london  shipping  transport  container  infrastructure  via:@iamdanw  from instapaper
february 2012 by blech
Lunch Hour Lecture: The Metaphysics of Concrete | UCL
"Almost three tons of concrete are produced every year for each man, woman and child on the planet. It is now second only to water in terms of human consumption. Yet how has the astonishing take-up of this new medium within little over a century been accommodated into our mental universe?" A lecture at UCL's Bartlett School tomorrow.
london  architecture  building  materials  concrete  via:@foe 
february 2012 by blech
The City Is Wilder and Kinder Than You Think | The Morning News
"while some of his work hangs right here—inside the narrow room, up on the building and off into the night—his three most significant pieces are hanging under an overpass just a short walk up the street. Like billboards. Only different."
london  art  poetry  advertising  shoreditch  exhibition  publicspace  from instapaper
february 2012 by blech
Tory AM: Most Londoners don't use public transport | Adam Bienkov
'"It is a fact is it not that relatively few Londoners use London transport in any way. Most people don't use London transport with any sense of regularity."' 'Transport for London's statistics show that the majority of trips are made by private transport although the majority of "journey stages" are made by public transport'
london  transport  politics 
february 2012 by blech
British Institutions: London Underground | FT.com
Matthew Engel: "This is the sixth in my irregular series on British Institutions. After I finished the fifth, I noticed that the themes were becoming familiar: [...] the glory days were over; it was a fight to maintain popularity and relevance; and money was getting ever tighter." "But London Underground is different. It is more expansive and confident now than at any time in memory. How on earth has this happened?" Nice photographs too.
london  underground  tube  infrastructure  funding  uk  institution  business  from instapaper
january 2012 by blech
Francesca Woodman -€“ review | The Observer
"Seeing so many photographs of Woodman, mostly naked, often posing in empty rooms with peeling paint and fading wallpaper, is a slightly disconcerting experience, though. It's not just that she becomes more elusive the more photographs you see, it's more the tightrope walk she takes between an almost adolescent self-obsession and artistic self-exploration."
photography  art  francescawoodman  london  exhibition  review  from instapaper
january 2012 by blech
Barbara Hepworth sculpture stolen from London park | guardian.co.uk
That both this sculpture and the Dr Salter statue in Rotherhithe have been stolen in the last few months is very, very saddening.
london  dulwich  barbarahepworth  sculpture  art  crime  metal  via:ohskylab 
december 2011 by blech
cityofsound: Journal: Passport Control to Pimlico
Dan Hill on Pimlico. When I worked just over the Lambeth Bridge I got to wander through the area a bit, and I was lucky enough to do a walking tour looking at the various social housing with Owen Hatherley. There's a good section on second housing, too.
london  housing  architecture  design  living  danhill  from instapaper
december 2011 by blech
Don’t Zone-1 It When You Can Boris Bike It | Suprageography
"Ever thought what the tube network would look like if you took out the expensive Zone 1? Me neither, until this morning, when I was wondering if it was possible to utilise my current “Boris Bike” bikeshare 24-hour membership to save a bit of money on commuting in to work."
london  bicycle  transport  tube  map  hacks  via:straup 
december 2011 by blech
Anatomy of a 21st century skyscraper | Ars Technica
On The Shard, at London Bridge, and simulating load. "We use sophisticated finite element analysis and advanced nonlinear dynamic analysis. It's the same software car designers use except we're modeling steel and concrete, and how they interact."
london  architecture  engineering  theshard  via:ohskylab 
december 2011 by blech
The London River Park: place for the people or a private playground? | The Observer
"The London River Park is a proposed floating green space on the Thames that could be ready in time for the Olympics. But is it really a 'public' amenity? Our architecture critic charts the stealthy rise of pseudo-public spaces." Rowan Moore, and a subject that I hope more people will become aware of, especially since "these places had their bluff called by the Occupy movement. Anxious to keep out the tented rebels, Broadgate and Canary Wharf reached for the injunctions that asserted their rights as private landowners. Paternoster Square put up barriers, manned by both police and private security, that jarred with its architectural look of traditional civic values."
london  space  public  private  property  capitalism  cityoflondon  river  thames  park  via:stml 
november 2011 by blech
Creed's Olympic bells project criticised | More than the games
"We are looking forward the Olympics, for example we are aiming to ring church bells throughout the UK to announce the arrival of the torch relay.
"Also it's also the intention that church bells in London will be rung every time Great Britain wins a gold medal."
london  olympics  music  art  church  bells  martincreed  via:iamdanw 
november 2011 by blech
This unaccountable Corporation is ripe for protest | The Guardian
George Monbiot on the Corporation of the City of London.
guardian  politics  uk  london  cityoflondon  economics  from instapaper
november 2011 by blech
Lavinia Greenlaw: Audio Obscura | Artangel
"In Audio Obscura, equipped with headphones, you enter the crowd and overhear voices around you. What did that woman mean? Did he really say that? Does she realise what she is saying? You might wish you hadn’t listened or you might want to know more. You will look for stories and you might even find them..."
london  art  audio  installation  sound  stpancras  todo/gone  via:@stml  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
John Martin: Apocalypse | Tate Britain
"John Martin (1789–1854) was a key figure in the nineteenth-century art world, renowned for his dramatic scenes of apocalyptic destruction and biblical disaster. While he was hugely popular, he remained something of an outsider, scorned by the art critics of his time." Opens 21st September, closes 15th January 2012.
london  art  apocalypse  todo?  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
Glamour of the Gods | National Portrait Gallery
"Glamour of the Gods is a celebration of Hollywood portraiture from the industry's 'Golden Age', the period 1920 to 1960." Closes 23rd October 2011.
london  photography  exhibition  todo?  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
High Arctic : Exhibitions | NMM
"Conceived as a response to the expedition, High Arctic uses a combination of sound, light and sculptural forms to create an abstracted arctic landscape for visitors to explore." Closes 13th January 2012.
london  art  climatechange  arctic  todo/gone  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
Exhibition - Sense and the City | London Transport Museum
"Always on your smart phone, or still asking a policeman? Sense and the City: smart, connected and on the move, which runs until 18 March 2012, explores how emerging technologies are changing the way we access and experience London and compares this with past visions of the future." Closes 18th March 2012. Also: "The travel posters of artist and illustrator John Burningham"
london  transport  museum  todo  urbanism  informatics  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
The Shape Of Things To Come | Saatchi Gallery
"This is the first time that the gallery space has been devoted entirely to three-dimensional works." Closes 16th October 2012.
london  art  sculpture  todo/gone  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
Postmodernism: Style and Subversion | V&A
"What does postmodernism mean, and where did it come from? The V&A will explore these questions in the exhibition Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970–1990." Opens 24th September, closes 15th January 2012. Also at the V&A: Power of Making, closes 2nd January 2012.
london  art  postmodernism  exhibition  todo/gone  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
Pipilotti Rist | Southbank Centre.
"Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist is one of the world's leading contemporary artists, acclaimed for her innovative video installations." Closes 8th January 2012.
london  art  todo?  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
Kenneth Grange - Making Britain Modern | Design Museum
"Kenneth Grange is Britain’s leading product designer, his prolific career spans over 50 years and he is responsible for designing some of the most iconic and familiar products and appliances that shape our daily lives." Closes 30th October.
london  design  museum  todo/gone  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
Eyewitness: Hungarian Photography in the 20th Century | Royal Academy of Arts
"Brassaï, Robert Capa, André Kertész, László Moholy-Nagy and Martin Munkácsi each left Hungary to make their names in Germany, France and the USA, and are now known for the profound changes they brought about in photojournalism, as well as abstract, fashion and art photography" Closes 2nd October 2011.
london  art  photography  todo/gone  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
The Unilever Series: Tacita Dean | Tate Modern
"Tacita Dean will be the next artist to create a commission for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall as part of the Unilever Series." Opens 11 October 2012, Closes 11 March 2012.
london  art  todo  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
Gerhard Richter: Panorama | Tate Modern
"Gerhard Richter: Panorama is a major chronological retrospective that groups together significant moments of this remarkable painter’s career."
london  art  todo/gone  tatemodern  from delicious
september 2011 by blech
A Grand Day Out: Taking Boris Bikes to Paris | Ian Visits
"One person with two tickets is a waste, so I was joined by fellow blogger (and French speaker), Tom for the day out, on a mission to take the Boris Bikes to Paris, take photos in suitably Parisian locations, and return them back to London on the same day."
london  paris  bicycle  cyclehire  tourism  from delicious
august 2011 by blech
London From the Outside In | polis
"A recent trip had me in London for four days, and I thought, [what if] I started from the outside and worked my way in? Since Heathrow is right at the edge of Greater London, it made perfect sense just to land, clear customs, and start walking." Eighteen miles from Heathrow to the City.
london  newyorkcity  travel  flight  walking  via:straup  from delicious
august 2011 by blech
Peter Campbell · At the Royal Academy | LRB
A review of Eyewitness: Hungarian Photography in the 20th Century at the Royal Academy and Thomas Struth: Photographs 1978- 2010 at the Whitechapel Gallery. Both look interesting, although Campbell definitely prefers the former: "As photography moves into the museums of modern art it loses some of the sprightliness and poetry that the Hungarians brilliantly exemplified." (Subscriber only.)
lrb  review  london  photography  exhibition  todo/gone  subscriberonly  from delicious
august 2011 by blech
Demonstration at death bridge | This Is London
On the cyclist protests at Blackfriars Bridge. "Ben Plowden, TfL's director of better routes and places, said the changes were designed to cope with a huge increase in pedestrians using the pavements around Blackfriars station, as a result of extra trains and the closure of pedestrian subways." As a student of (the often threatened) highwalks, their subterranean counterparts seem to be equally (and admittedly for good reason) out of fashion, but that does lead to the surface being even more contested.
london  traffic  cycling  pedestrians  highwalks  from delicious
july 2011 by blech
Catch the Underground with Maps | Official Google Blog
"Starting today, you can get public transport directions for London within Google Maps. One of Europe’s largest metropolitan areas, London is a major destination for both business travelers and tourists. More than 1 billion passengers are serviced by Transport for London (TfL) every year across over 18,000 bus stops and over 250 Underground stations." Good. Questions: Does this mean TfL has a GTFS feed, or that Google converted the data? Is there any way of getting data back out?
london  transport  tfl  google/maps  directions  from delicious
july 2011 by blech
‪Stand Your Ground‬‏ | YouTube
"On Tuesday 21 June 2011 six photographers were assigned different areas of the City to photograph. Some used tripods, some went hand held, one set up a 5 x 4. All were instructed to keep to public land and photograph the area as they would on a normal day." "All six photographers were stopped on at least one occasion. Three encounters led to police action."
video  london  photography  police  law  securitytheatre  via:tomtaylor  from delicious
july 2011 by blech
55 Broadway's Future Under Review | London Reconnections
"The continued occupancy by London Underground of 55 Broadway, its iconic headquarters, is currently under review. The Grade 1 listed building, which includes St James Park station, is widely regarded as one of Britain’s finest pieces of architecture – one of the lasting legacies of Frank Pick’s time at London Underground." Sigh.
london  underground  architecture  design  history  heritage  from delicious
july 2011 by blech
Vivian Maier | London Street Photography Festival
"The London Street Photography Festival is proud to host the first UK exhibition of the most talked about photography phenomenon in recent months: Vivian Maier. Forty-eight framed prints will be exhibited, both black and white and colour, alongside a selection of her fascinating silent films." I considered going to Chicago in February for this, so if you're near London going to King's Cross would seem to be worth it. Closes 24th July.
london  photography  exhibition  vivianmaier  from delicious
july 2011 by blech
Henry Beck Rules, not OK? | Max Roberts
A 27 page PDF by Max Roberts studying how - and how not - to design a diagram of a railway system. Given the "London Tubemap" that's been doing the rounds, tl;dr types should skip to page 14: "The arbitrary breaking of the single-angle rule introduces an disorder into the design with no payback." It also contains some of Beck & Roberts' alternatives, such as the attractive 60 degree version on p12.
london  underground  maps  design  history  tube  pdf  commentary  via:tomc  from delicious
june 2011 by blech
Jeremy Hunt turns down Broadgate for listing | Building Design
"BD revealed last week that bookmaker William Hill was predicting that Hunt would refuse to list Broadgate, thanks to an unpredecented lobbying campaign by the City of London and the wider financial sector in favour of Make’s proposed new building." This is not a surprise at all.
london  architecture  broadgate  planning  englishheritage  from delicious
june 2011 by blech
New Statesman - The tax haven in the heart of Britain
There is an institution with a murky history and remarkable powers that acts like a political and financial island within our island nation state. Welcome to the Square Mile and the City of London Corporation.
london  cityoflondon  economics  politics  power  tax  economy  uk  from instapaper
june 2011 by blech
Power Down | diamond geezer
From the archives (via Tom Taylor), diamond geezer on taking down the pylons around the Olympic site in Stratford.
uk  london  ihatetheolympics  stratford  pylons  infrastructure  via:tomtaylor  from delicious
may 2011 by blech
The impact of transit maps on path choice | The Transportationist
"the map effect is almost two times more influential than the actual travel time. In other words, underground passengers trust the tube map (two times) more than their own travel experience with the system."
london  transport  underground  maps  diagram  via:straup  from delicious
may 2011 by blech
A New Subterranean Map of London | LT Museum
From Stephen Walter, who drew The Island: "When London Transport Museum came to me for a new idea, I thought of it straight away – An Underground map of London where I could finally include those lost rivers and develop my own tube map. I am currently developing the ideas for this subterranean map of London and entries to this blog may contribute to its development." Possibly worth watching.
london  transport  museum  map  art  from delicious
may 2011 by blech
A life in writing: China Miéville | The Guardian
An interview with China Miéville in the Guardian, talking about genre fiction, London, politics, and all sorts of other things.
guardian  interview  books  sciencefiction  london  politics  from delicious
may 2011 by blech
Chronicler of suburban sprawl Nick Papadimitriou | BBC News - Newsnight
"The writer Nick Papadimitriou has spent decades taking walks to explore the urban environment, and documenting these journeys and the items he finds on them in minute detail." It's a bit weird seeing the three people the BBC chose to praise him- Will Self and Iain Sinclair, fine, but Russell Brand? Good stuff, though.
london  suburbia  topographer  psychogeography  video  from delicious
march 2011 by blech
Sohei Nishino - Diorama Map London | Michael Hoppen Gallery
"Discovered in 2008 by Michael Hoppen, 28 year old Nishino’s extraordinary photographic dioramas, monumental in size, map out the artist’s personal impressions of the  world’s major cities in several thousand intimate details." If you're in London, go and see this.
london  exhibition  art  photography  hockneyesque  diorama  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Diorama map London (Detailed info) | Sohei Nishino
I mentioned this on notes.husk.org, but as it's just come up again: this looks amazing, a composite map of London made out of a huge number of 6x4 black and white prints. It's currently being shown at the Michael Hoppen Gallery in London, and if I were any closer I'd be heading there to see it.
london  art  photography  composite  hockneyesque  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Hidden City | David Long
"Each time I turned a corner I found another gem. Among the seemingly numberless secret gardens, winding alleyways, tiny squares and ancient courtyards I found stories of the old city and its characters, many extraordinary and unlikely architectural survivors, and a wealth of evidence to remind one again that the City - built, burned, bombed, rebuilt and rebuilt again - is still a uniquely fascinating, rich and engaging place to wander through."
london  books  history  urbanism  alleys  via:philgyford  cities  tobuy  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
London’s latest landmark | FT.com
A Financial Times article on the construction of the Shard, including a sequence of construction photos, and some details about the way they plan to use an internal crane to finish the construction. Worth battling the FT's crazy article limits for.
london  shard  architecture  construction  photography  via:antimega  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
What's Missing In London | Design 1973 Journal, VADS
Another article from Design magazine on cycling, with a guinea pig trying to get from once side of the central area to the other on a folding bike.
london  cycling  bicycle  history  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Priority for the Cyclist | Design 1973 Journal, VADS
I'm amazed that I haven't bookmarked this before: a 1973 article in Design magazine, from the London College of Communication. "In their blind devotion to the interests of private cars and goods vehicles, Britain's traffic planners have forgotten the pedal cyclist."
london  history  design  bicycle  cycling  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Words on the street: Stephen Walter's city maps | Art and design | The Guardian
Last October, artist Stephen Walter and I walked from Wedding, Berlin's north-western suburb, to the shores of the Tegeler See
london  berlin  maps  art  walking  geography  culture  from instapaper
february 2011 by blech
Isotype: international picture language | Victoria and Albert
While I'm listing exhibitions in London that I can't go to, in the hope some of my friends will, this roundup of the work of the Isotype group was one of the highlights of my visit to MAK in Vienna last summer. It's small, but worth a look, particularly for the book covers by Marie Neurath.<br />
Closes 13 March 2011.
london  exhibition  art  design  infographics  information  history  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Shape my language | Design Museum
"Located in the Design Museum cafe and atrium, the Shape My Language installation combines a display by renowned type designer Bruno Maag, from the typeface and logo design agency Dalton Maag, with images from his work on the Ubuntu font project" I wanted to see this in Vienna, but I got there a week too late. Now it's in London, and I'm not. If you are, you should go. (If necessary, you can sneak in to the shop without paying.) <br />
Closes 28 February.
london  design  designmuseum  art  typography  ubuntu  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Church Farmhouse Museum | diamond geezer
"Nextdoor, in two upper rooms, is the reason you'll probably want to visit soon. The museum is hosting a special exhibition devoted to Harry Beck, designer of the world-famous tube map, who was born down the road in Finchley." You'll also need to visit soon, because Barnet Council want to  close the entire museum. 
london  culture  maps  museum  tube  underground  exhibition  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Clapham Common, Ground Zero of the Saints | Strange Maps
"This map, dated 1800, depicts the common at what may have been its high society high-water mark. These were the days of the Clapham Saints, a loose association of agenda-setting Anglicans."
london  maps  history  geography  culture  strangemaps  via:kasei  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Stealing from the poor, to give to the rich... | entschwindet und vergeht
"I thought I’d take a quick look at the Blackwall Reach Regeneration Project, picking out some of the more significant points." "I think that Architects do themselves no favours by aestheticising something that has to be lived in, without a care for the residents, but the regenerators certainly have nothing like the best interests of the residents at heart." A good read on the area around Robin Hood Gardens.
london  architecture  urbanism  politics  housing  via:mondoagogo  from delicious
february 2011 by blech
Robin Hood Gardens remodelled | Building Design
"Sarah Wigglesworth Architects has devised a scheme that could save east London flats Robin Hood Gardens from the bulldozers. The architect has shown how the blocks could be remodelled into modern family homes." I doubt this has any chance given the priorities of Tower Hamlets and central government, but it'd be nice if it did.
london  architecture  publichousing  housing  urbanism  modernism  via:cityofsound  from instapaper
january 2011 by blech
1.21.11 - London | David Byrne's Journal
"I decided to try what are referred to here as Boris Bikes—a bike hire system that was recently installed. It is modeled after the French Velib system. Barclays Bank is a sponsor." "Would a US bank do the same? One Goldman Sachs exec’s bonus would probably cover a whole city’s worth of these things." David Byrne on London's bike hire. Unlike Sinclair, he hits fewer troubles and seems fairly happy with it.
london  cyclehire  comment  cycling  via:jystewart  from delicious
january 2011 by blech
ef0f371a-1df1-11e0-badd-00144feab49a.html
"Seven years ago I strolled around London writing what started as a guide and ended up almost an epitaph, discovering [...] the remnants of a culture once fuelled on strong tea but now forced to subsist on a paper cup of nearly boiling water with a tea bag floating disconsolately on its surface." Edwin Heathcote's eulogy to the British caff.
london  cafes  food  via:mondoagogo?  from instapaper
january 2011 by blech
Owen Hatherley: A flat festival tonic for Britain | The Guardian
"The new festival – especially if it gives in and rebuilds the Skylon – will be an exercise in nostalgia, in morbid and wildly inaccurate historical analogy, at a time when we desperately need an infusion of the original festival's socialist, futuristic spirit."
london  architecture  modernism  history  austerity  owenhatherley  via:mondoagogo  culture  nostalgia  comment  from instapaper
january 2011 by blech
Home | Utopia London
"These young idealists were once united around a vision of using science and art to create a city of equal citizens. Their architecture fused William Morris with urban high-rise; ancient parkland with concrete. Utopia London examines the, social and political agendas of the time in which the city was rebuilt. The story goes on to explore how the meaning of these transformative buildings has been radically manipulated over subsequent decades. Inspired by the optimism of the past it poses the question; where do we go from here and now?" I didn't bookmark this before; this rectifies that.
documentary  film  london  cities  urbanism  architecture  housing  planning  via:cityofsound  via:everyone  from delicious
january 2011 by blech
5 Broadgate, London - review | The Observer
"A pedestrian route across the site will be closed, forcing people to squeeze round the edges of the new building's bulk. A covered arcade through the block might have been possible, but this is banned for security reasons, as are shops or cafes at the building's base. The ban is a deal-breaker, apparently: if the City's planners insisted on these humanising touches, UBS would up and go – to Canary Wharf or, worse, Frankfurt." Rowan Moore's worth-reading dissection of Make Architect's plans for 5 Broadgate. (Only 20 years old, yet still down for demolition and rebuilding.)
london  architecture  observer  rowanmoore  broadgate  finance  via:antimega  from delicious
january 2011 by blech
Hugh Pennington · Bug-Affairs | LRB
As Joe Moran put it in his link on Twitter: "Hugh Pennington on bedbugs, and why they like the London Tube less than the NYC subways." A good read.
lrb  bedbugs  health  hygiene  london  newyorkcity  via:@joemoransblog  from instapaper
december 2010 by blech
TechHub and Silicon Roundabout | Unboxed Consulting
"Yesterday, I posted a message on twitter. It went like this: “TechHub is currently just a PR company producing misleading press releases. The idea they represent Silicon Roundabout is wrong.” I thought quite hard about this short update, even running a few drafts past friends. I believe it to be true, and I thought I’d just run through a bit of my thinking as to why." James Darling on Techhub and being (mis)represented.
london  brig  coworking  startups  government  technology  via:@ashberlin  from delicious
december 2010 by blech
The Smoke A London Peculiar Board Game | Soho
"Soho! is a game of skill and judgement for 2-6 players of all ages inspired by the two things for which this small, historic patch of London is famous around the globe: its pubs, and its one-way system." Nice. (I miss the magazines, though. Ah well.)
london  smoke  games  uk  tobuy  from delicious
december 2010 by blech
The Thames Gateway Arises | London Reconnections
Subtitled "Why London Needs to Stop Nobblin' the GOBLIN", this (long) post looks at the container ports in the south east of England, their rail links, and in particular, what the Mayor of London should be doing with the orbital railways in the city to support the new container terminal on the Thames.
london  railway  overground  container  shipping  transport  planning  infrastructure  via:davehodg  from delicious
december 2010 by blech
Why do south London trains suffer in snow? | BBC
"Why are trains in south London more affected by snow than those elsewhere?" Short answer: the third rail ices over, which makes it stop working. Overhead cables (used north of the river) aren't affected, while the DLR's third rail connects underneath (not above) the rail, so that's OK too. It's good to see the article note that the old Southern Railway actually converted away from overhead to third rail in the 1920s.
london  transport  railway  trains  infrastructure  engineering  via:candacep  from delicious
december 2010 by blech
Thamestide: A London Companion | booktwo.org
"'Romance has lived too long upon this river' is a single-serving web page that tells you how high the tide is at London Bridge: explicitly close up, but also, roughly, at a glance." More lovely glancables from James Bridle and the assembled at RIG (see also: Dextr).
london  thames  river  tide  visualisation  singleservingsites  rig  via:stml  from delicious
november 2010 by blech
Where is London? | Suprageography
"It turns out there are a lot of official and unofficial ways to define London’s extent." Oliver O'Brien writes a post I've been meaning to for ages (although he misses some definitions I'd use, or have seen people use: the combined Cities of London and Westminster, the inner London ring road, zone 1, and the old 0(1)71 dialing code area spring to mind). Maybe I still should...
london  maps  definitions  geography  cartography  place  via:straup  from delicious
november 2010 by blech
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