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Architecture in London

103 buildings

London's architecture is worth studying because the city has been rebuilt again and again on its old ground. The Great Fire of 1666, which destroyed about nine tenths of the city, was a turning point. Wren's grid plan was set aside: the city was rebuilt on its medieval streets, under a 1667 act asking for brick houses of uniform height and plot size. Pevsner praised Wren's dome for St Paul's as among the most perfect in the world. Most of the city walls came down in the 18th century so London could grow; Victorian London built the world's first underground railway. John Nash laid out Regent Street with James Burton and remodelled Buckingham House into Buckingham Palace.

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The Palace of Westminster (1876), by Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin, wraps the parliament in Perpendicular Gothic Revival detail. Battersea Power Station (1955) is one of the world's largest brick buildings. The Barbican Estate (1982) lifts housing, arts and a lake onto walkways above the street. The Lloyd's Building (1986) sets its lifts, stairs and ducts in plug-in towers around a 60-metre atrium. The Shard (2012) became London's first supertall skyscraper.

See the 103 buildings ↓On the globeSee where they are

Read about London

Wikipedia · Architecture of London

Wikipedia · Great Fire of London

Wikipedia · John Nash (architect)

Wikipedia · List of tallest buildings and structures in London

Books to read

Ernő Goldfinger: The Life of an ArchitectNigel Warburton, 2004

Denys LasdunWilliam J. R. Curtis, 1994 BarbicanBarbican: Penthouse over the CityDavid Heathcote, 2004 Power into ArtPower into Art: Creating the Tate Modern, BanksideKarl Sabbagh, 2000

Building Tate ModernRowan Moore and Raymund Ryan, 2000

Soane: The Making of an ArchitectPierre de la Ruffinière du Prey, 1982

Related

High-tech · Housing · Art Deco · Modernism · Brutalism · Adaptive reuse

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