3 Ghostly Illustrations of London’s Iconic Brutalist Building

trellic ktower

Ernő Goldfinger’s Grade II* listed Trellick Tower

All three images were drawn by French illustrator Thomas Danthony. Whether you love or hate brutalism as an architecture style, there’s something oddly compelling about these ghostly illustrations of some of London’s best known brutalist buildings.

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22 Amazing Historic Photos Of The Battersea Power Station

Coal Ships unload at Battersea, 1950

Now that the Battersea Power Station chimney dismantling has begun, I thought it might be neat to have a look at some historic photos of the Battersea Power station in its heyday and beyond.

The photos below all come from art.com and copyright belongs to the respective photographer. You can learn more about each photo by clicking on it.

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15 More Stunning Paintings Of Old London Compared To Modern Location

The Thames at Westminster Stairs by Claude de Jongh

The Thames at Westminster Stairs (1630s) by Claude de Jongh

Halley Docherty (Reddit user halz) has created 15 more stunning images of London by mashing up old paintings and placing them in their modern setting. You can view the original set of images here.

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What Do You Think Of The Loaf? London’s Newest Skyscraper

The latest addition to London's skyline
The latest addition to London’s skyline?

Bread company Warburtons have announced a new central London HQ. Already dubbed by the Londonist as ‘The Loaf,’ the two towers would sandwich the Gherkin on either side. While it is still on the drawing board, it may just become London’s 237th high-rise development.

Do you think they will improve London’s skyline or ruin it? Leave your comments below:

Have You Seen The Stunning Old Paintings Of London In Their Modern Settings?

Northumberland House (1752) by Canaletto
Northumberland House (1752) by Canaletto

Halley Docherty (Reddit user shystone) has created 10 mashups of old paintings of London and placing them in their modern settings. I think you’ll agree that the juxtapositions created are stunning.

A View of Greenwich from the River (1750-2) Canaletto
A View of Greenwich from the River (1750-2) by Canaletto
Blackman Street London (1885) by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Blackman Street London (1885) by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Covent Garden Market (1737) by Balthazar Nebot
Covent Garden Market (1737) by Balthazar Nebot
St Martins in the Fields (1888) by William Logsdail
St Martins in the Fields (1888) by William Logsdail
The 9th of November, 1888 (1890) by William Logsdail
The 9th of November, 1888 (1890) by William Logsdail
The River Thames with St. Paul's Cathedral on Lord Mayor's Day (1746) by Canaletto
The River Thames with St. Paul’s Cathedral on Lord Mayor’s Day (1746) by Canaletto
The Strand Looking East from Exeter Exchange (1822) Artist Unknown
The Strand Looking East from Exeter Exchange (1822) Artist Unknown
View of The Grand Walk (1751) Canaletto
View of The Grand Walk (1751) by Canaletto
Westminster Abbey with a Procession of Knights of the Bath (1749) by Canaletto
Westminster Abbey with a Procession of Knights of the Bath (1749) by Canaletto

You can learn more about each image on the imgur album page.

Where to Stay & Things to Do in London: An Incomplete Guide

London is only this grey 90% of the time
London is only this grey 90% of the time.

London in a sentence: “London is a city by a river, plus lots of villages joined up by an underground railway.”@TubeRambler

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This Picture of The Shard Looks Like It Could Have Been Taken In the 19th Century

A rather Dickensian looking Shard
A rather Dickensian looking Shard

How’s this for a Friday photo? Daniel Thorndycraft describes how he took the picture above:

“I was looking at trying to find somewhere to upload a photo that I took at 09:30 Tuesday 21st January as I was on my way to a training course just over the Southwark Bridge

I was gutted that I didn’t take me DSLR with me and this was taken on my iPhone 5, the only things on my phone that was switched on was the HDR function and its not been adjusted on the phone at all, and I was stunned at to how perfect it looked, and I know have it on my background on my work computer, I hope you like it as much as I do!”

Well I certainly do, what do you think?

What Are The Best Things To Do In London That No One Knows About?

Reddit user cr3ative (twitter @cr3) has a few ideas I bet you may not have heard of:

For example did you know this about the London Eye?

223 - London Eye on The Thames

Between 3am and 4am (usually, weather permitting), the London Eye is put in to a self-cleaning cycle and rotates at about 6RPM. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s one revolution every 10 seconds! It gets all the rain, dust, grime etc off, all the mud etc ends up in the thames.

They don’t “offically” allow you to ride it in this time, but slipping the cleaners (who aren’t the normal ride operators) £20 will get you on one of the pods.

It’s a hell of a rush but tbh only a matter of time until someone gets hurt and they stop this.

Or how Celebrity Spotting works?

Celebrity Spotting in London is a fun hobby, but the first and only rule is DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THEM OR POINT, it’s rude and intrudes on their day, and then we won’t get to see them again.

Boy George hangs out at Cargo in Shoreditch quite often for example. Go out and hang around the pubs and clubs and see how many celebs you can spot in one night.

Each celeb has a card punching tool which verifies you have seen them. Ask politely when they’re not busy and they’ll punch a card for you. Once you have a card with ten punches on, the City of London police will let you have a go on their taser gun (in the safety of their training course).

I tasered an owl out of a tree on my go, and it was fucking hilarious.

Want to look like a real London pro? Make sure you do the following in front of a big crowd

Continue reading What Are The Best Things To Do In London That No One Knows About?

Aerial Footage of The City of London At Night By Jason Hawkes

In this 40 second video Jason Hawkes shots The City at night. Pay special attention to the Walkie-Talkie and the Cheese Grater, both of which are still under construction.

Jason is arguably one of the best aerial photographers in the world and has certainly photographed some of the most iconic and exciting aerial shots of London in the past decade. He’s documented the enormous changes that have taken place to London in that time.

For more of his videos watch:

Visit his website: http://jasonhawkes.com/

Watch London Timelapse By Mattia Bicchi

The second timelapse film from Mattia Bicchi this week, this one is simply titled London Timelapse. It features footage from November 2012 to February 2013 and includes locations such as City Hall, Covent Garden, Liverpool Street Station, Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge, London Eye, Westminster and Canary Wharf.

The shots of the Millennium Bridge and Battersea Power Station are particularly good with latter likely no longer possible in a few years time. Overall a really enjoyable timelapse, but I don’t think quite as good as his previous films: London Architecture Timelapse and Is Christmas Time. That said this is still miles ahead of most other timelapse film makers.

You can follow Mattia’s work on his website, Facebook, and Twitter.