The most beautiful building in London?

Lately we’ve had lots of discussion of buildings and architecture on SE23.life (esp in Politicos).

When it comes to opinions on the “beauty” of a building, there’s no accounting for taste. Some like glass and steel. Some prefer brutalist concrete. Others like multi-coloured Perspex panels.

I’d be fascinated to know what you consider the most beautiful building in our historic and architecturally-diverse City.

As an experiment, let’s avoid criticising or judging each other’s opinions in this topic.

To start the ball rolling, here is my favourite:

The Foster & Partners redesign of the Regent St Apple Store, which re-opened in October:

Majestic yet simple and unpretentious. Neutral colours and solid materials. Airy and spacious. Diffuse lighting that casts soft shadows. Windows that retain the character of Regent Street but are one-of-a-kind (Apple does amazing things with glass).

A serious contender has to be Flamsteed House, the original Royal Observatory, designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1676.

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So many candidates but my current favourite (I do chop and change) would probably be the Westminster Abbey Chapter House. It is also the ancient seat of parliament which is pretty cool. The ceiling, wall and floor are all incredible and the whole perfectly proportioned.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=chapter+house+westminster+abbey&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=imnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjmia2PjovRAhWsKcAKHenLAm8Q_AUIBygB&biw=320&bih=460#imgrc=gqlA2lAfboj95M%3A

Oh wow!

I’ve been pondering this challenge since posted over two weeks ago. But as I was on holiday and sworn to myself to go nowhere near my laptop for the hols, I didn’t want to reply from my phone or tablet.

This is not an easy chose. I guess its no secret by now that I’m a huge fan of brutalist and modernist architecture. So I’ll start by putting forward some of my favourite from these categories.

First, I am in love with the National Theatre on the Southbank. The structure seems to change as the light shifts due to these wonderful angles and terraces. At night clever use of LED lighting creates a new building in which the rich vibrant colours soften the concrete. Thought the concrete isn’t that “hard” as if you look closely the horizontal cast slabs have been cast to look like wood. The interior space mirrors the exterior yet brings warmth through wood, glass and natural stone details. It is a photographer’s dream and still the source of some of my best shots.

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My love extends to the rest of the Southbank including the truest brutalist structures in the group the Hayward Gallery and Queen Elizabeth Hall. I am so excited by the current renovations as they are returning many of the original internal features which made the buildings great and which have been wiped out for many years. Here’s an example:

I am particularly drawn to when architecture becomes monumental so hardly surprising I’m also a huge fan of Gilbert Giles Scott and his Battersea and Bankside (now Tate Modern) Power Stations. There is something pure, simple and therefore beautiful about those giant boxes of brick accented by almost funereal accents; the central tombstone like tower of Bankside and the crematorium like chimneys of Battersea.

It is often a testament to good design that structures like Bankside can transform into the Tate Modern… a building to reflect the period of art it houses, but to then provide exceptional news spaces such as the Turbine Hall for giant commissions. I thought I’d never see anything to surpass Olafer Eliasson’s Weather Project.

But then carston built his slides, and wei wei cast his seeds. Such beauty amids brutal architecture. The two peform perfectly. The refurbishment would have you believe Scott and the conversion architects Herzog & de Meuron were working together. But good architects can also create bad architecture. Such as when Herzog & de Meuron produced the horrible horrible Switch House extension.

It’s the crap they put in the Tate Modern box and call ‘art’ that I don’t like. But whoops! I’m going off-topic. (smacked hand)

I wept from sadness when the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington closed down. I thought we were about to lose one of the finest example of modernist architecture in London. They wept for joy when it was announced the Design Museum was moving in. John Pawson’s conversion is nothing short of remarkable, maintaining the wonderful angular features of the original building and creating an outstanding exhibitions space.

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I’m evading the question a bit, but the London architecture I like most are some of the vernacular housing styles, like Georgian terraces

I love these buildings too. Like just looking at the texture of the concrete. If I built a house I’d make it from concrete.

There is some amazing new technologies in bith casting and finishes which make concrete a great design element. For instance polished concrete floors (with underfloor heating of course). You get tgese amazing colour variations that almosr look organic. Add a wood element and you have something really special.

https://goo.gl/images/yqvdFo

I heard about this place for the first time tonight. Described to me as the most beautiful building in London and as London’s Sistine Chapel, it’s the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

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It is truly stunning. Well worth a trip to Greenwich

Agreed. Do check out the seaman’s chapel opposite as well. The tromp l’oeil is even better there imo.

The Reubens ceiling in Banqueting House is pretty special as well. Often overlooked place where Charles I was executed (or more specifically he stepped out of one of the windows onto the scaffold).

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I don’t think there is anything more impressive than this:

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Natural History Museum does it for me.

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Then there is the sewage pumping station in Crossness. Somewhere I would really like to visit:

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And it is easy to forget to include this great work of architecture:

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Looking for something more modern, how about Shree Swaminarayan Mandir temple in Neasden:

All worthy choices. Was tempted to nominate Crossness Pumping house - have been and it is amazing. A cathedral to the industrial age. Since I visited years ago, they now have steam days for the restored stationary engines which are awe-inspiring in themselves. Would love to return to see that.

Agree - though it’s currently closed for full renovation… https://www.ornc.org/Pages/News/Category/painted-hall-conservation

I love all things Art Deco…and just down the road we have a gem of a building - half Henry 8th, half Art Deco!
Eltham Palace…

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A lovely piece about the Barbican. One of my faves in London.