31 August 2008

Giles Gilbert Scott's masterpiece(s)

Went to see one of the most impressive buildings in London - the Battersea power station.
Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott.

Sadly the power station has been closed since in 1983 and despite intense public enthusiasm the building has been quiet neglected.

Over the last ten years many many schemes have been drawn up for its redevelopment and it was opened today as part of public consultation for it's latest redevelopment plan drawn up by Rafael Vinoly (Sadly this is the worst plan yet to be drawn for this great building!)
Hopefully the city will take better care of this building and stop the horribly out of scale development drawn up for its immediate context!

Here's one last pic of the power station.
In fact Gilbert Scott designed another power station in London - the Bankside power station - near London bridge which now houses the Tate modern gallery.

Here's a few snaps of Bankside (the glass box on top was designed by Herzog and DeMeuron when the building was converted into a mueseum for modern art).

Like Battersea, Bankside also has some great brick work on its huge facades. And the last image is from the terrace of the power station overlooking the Thames and city beyond.
Sorry for the slight diversion -back to Battersea now....

After seeing the power station along with a few friends from my office I made my way to the near by Park along the Thames and spent the rest of the day soaking in some beautiful summer weather while it lasts.

While in the park we also paid our homage to Lord Buddha!

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