The End of an Unsightly Era

The Curtain Finally Falls on a London Landmark

A few years back, I was showing a university chum round the sights of London. We’d done the Tate and Shakespeare’s Globe and we were pottering up the river towards London’s greatest centre for the arts. "Bloody Hell!" she exclaimed as we arrived "...what a dump! I might as well have stayed at home." Since her home was in the middle of one of Coventry’s least attractive post-WWII concrete architectural disasters, this was far from being a compliment to the South Bank Centre.

Described by Prince Charles as a "Monstrous carbuncle", it’s a remarkable example of brutalist 1960s architecture. Although a few of the very trendiest Londoners pretend to love it, most people’s reaction is total amazement that anybody could have thought it was a good idea. Even in the 1960s, they can’t have been THAT stoned, surely.

Actually, most people’s reaction, at least the first dozen times they visit, is "Where the hell am I? Why does this staircase appear to go nowhere? What am I doing in this car park full of skateboarders when I'm supposed to be watching Macbeth?"

But that is part of the joy of the place, and one of the things I will miss most when the £91 million rebuilding of the Royal Festival Hall is finished in 18 months. It may not have been deliberate, but putting these great cultural gems at the heart of a terrifyingly ugly maze made them seem so much more valuable.

The labyrinth is being opened up, the madness refined away, access to the arts improved. And I for one will be a little sad. Londoners hate the mainstream: we want our culture tough, obscure, and underground. Putting it in a concrete complex that was half council estate, half skatepark was the ideal way to give an edge to the arts.

The hoardings are up now, and the building underway. Arguments over the London Eye, as well as the multi-stage, multi-architect, half-assed nature of the planning all suggest the results are going to be pretty bad, but they surely cannot be as stunningly dreadful as the original. One of the world’s greatest architectural follies is disappearing, and I’m sure I won’t be the only Londoner to shed a tear.

Life's A Beach

Lambeth Council’s planning committee have finally approved a bid to transform part of the South Bank into a beach. A series of delays in making the decision (which was due to be announced a month ago) could, however, make it impossible for the project to open in time. Organisers have less than a month to turn Hungerford Coach Park and part of Queen's Walk into a sandy riverside paradise. Watch this space.

Travellers Tapped by Topped-Up Traffic Toll

London’s Congestion Charge is set to rise from £5 to £8 on the 4th July. Mayor Ken Livingston says the £45m raised by the increase will help cut traffic levels and improve public transport. Opponents to the scheme believe the charge will have a negative impact on city businesses.

The Heir of Shares

Prince William will join the capital’s rat-race this summer when he begins work experience with a large financial institution in the City. The 23-year-old heir, who has just graduated with a 2:1 degree in geography, hopes the experience will help him with charitable fundraising in the future.

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