One of the most tragic things about 20th Century architecture in London is that there were a whole host of beautiful old buildings that were demolished, not by WW2 bombs, but by 60s planners. St. Pancras was fortunately saved from this fate thanks to the likes of John Betjeman. Euston Station, just down the road, wasn’t so fortunate.

In 1961 the grand Great Hall of Euston Station was swept away, along with the famous Euston Arch, to make way for the modern terminus that still stands today. This is what was lost:

According to the Euston Arch trust, “the station was the first mainline terminus station opened in a capital city anywhere in the world. It was opened on July 20, 1837, as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway constructed by Robert Stephenson and architect, Philip Hardwick . The station first had only two platforms, one for departures and one for arrivals.

It was also Hardwick who designed the Euston Arch, a 70 feet 6 inches high Doric propylaeum, the largest ever built and which formed the entrance to the station. The grit stone structure complemented the Ionic entrance to the Curzon Street Station in Birmingham (which still exists) which was the other end of the  railway’s mainline.”

 

   In the above photo, Euston Road runs along the very bottom and Euston Square can clearly be distinguished on the North side. The arch and station frontage can be seen towards the centre of the image, much further back than today’s concourse from Euston Road; in fact, the entrance was on Drummond Street which was cut off with the building of the modern station (left). 

 

The demolition of the arch and buildings were actually considered much earlier than the 60s. “In the late 1930s the London Midland and Scottish Railway company proposed a compete rebuilding of the complex according to an American-inspired design by Percy Thomas. Returning from a tour of modern stations in the United States, he proposed a large stripped-Classical block with wings which incorporated the station, a hotel and offices. There were considerations to move the arch to another site. Ultimately the plans for re-construction were never realised, the Second World War commencing shortly afterwards.

More recently, plans have been floated to try and rebuild the Euston Arch with the construction of a new concourse in preparation for the future High Speed 2 line. Whilst this is excellent news, as the CGI below shows, more work needs to go into the proposed buildings to even come close to recreating the awe and intrigue of the lost Great Hall.

Click here to see the few objects that remain from the old Euston Station.

During the second world war, the Palace of Westminster was hit by bombs fourteen times. The most serious attack occurred on the night of 10-11 May 1941. On that night the Palace was severely damaged, the chamber of the House of Commons was destroyed and three people were killed. (ABOVE: Barbed wire defences in Parliament Square, and the shattered south face of Westminster Clock Tower.)

The Members’ Lobby, with the House of Commons chamber beyond. The damaged archway was the only portion not to be restored as a reminder to all members of war as the enter the chamber. The view today:

 

Sir Winston inspects the bomb-damaged interior of the House of Commons.

Recently I discovered some old photographs of Baker Street Station from the 1920s. These were taken before the grand building of today was built above the Metropolitan line platforms; replacing a number of shops, houses and the beautiful Leslie Green entrance around the corner.

The photo above shows the original station on Marylebone Road (facing towards Euston). This is the same view today from Google Street View. (Note that the front wall remains complete with the semi-circular windows that originally allowed light to flood into the brick-arched Circle Line platforms below.)

This is from another angle (towards Paddington). On the far left, behind the man, is 'Marylebone Circus'; the name for the crossing of Marylebone Road and Baker Street. Sadly this  name has been forgotten about today.
If you had taken the right on the Circus onto Upper Baker Street you would have seen the 'newer' part of the station. The photo below shows the then 20 year old Leslie Green surface building for the new Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (today the Bakerloo line).

Street View. Shortly after this photo was taken the building was demolished and replaced by the large Chiltern Court that remains today (the 20’s promotional image is shown below).

  

There are currently plans being worked up to improve the access to the station. This includes incorporating a dingy pedestrian subway into a new exterior Underground entrance. It was due to start in summer 2009, but the Credit Crunch has delayed it until after the Olympics.

Looks a bit half-hearted in my opinion…

I’ve always felt that the Science Museum in South Kensington was a little lost cousin compared to the Natural History Museum and the V&A. This, due to being largely hidden away and also having a lack of landmark entrance to pull people in from the street.

This is all set to change by the look of some radical new proposals released this week to give the museum’s facade an attention seeking architectural ‘blob’. Perhaps more importantly though, the whole of Exhibition Road is being pedestrianised and it looks like the ground floor will be opened up with a line a doors onto the street. I bet this would increase foot-fall into the museum significantly by itself.

As part of a wider regeneration of the Exhibition Road revitalisation as the ‘cultural heartland of London’, the Science Museum will undertake a redevelopment designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects which incorporates a new facade, new galleries, lifts and SkySpace - a cavernous rooftop space and 'destination cafe' dedicated to cosmology.

The ‘Sky Space’ (large blue thing on bottom left image, gold on bottom right) looks very interesting too and will probably be an impressive room to stand in if you can find it through the museum’s vast corridors. Although it won’t all be finished for at least 5 years, it looks like the road will be completed in time for the Olympics.

 

See the current facade on Google Street View.
Read more about the project here.

New York City is full of advertisements and billboards as you know, but a fair chunk of them have not been authorised and thus residents and visitors are submitted to even more advertising which is illegal. Thus pro-humanity campaign group ‘Public Ad Campaign’ have organised a project with many volunteers whom set out this week to white-wash hundreds of illegal ads and then replace them with public art, created by themselves.

Public art: High Five!

It’s a great idea in my opinion as we’re constantly bombarded with commercialisms nowadays and perhaps lack some of the more cultural elements which symbolise what it means to be human.

Public Ad Campaign acts on the assumption that public space and the public's interaction with that space is a vital component of our city's health. By visually altering and physically interacting with the public environment, residents become psychologically invested in their community. 

I’m a huge fan of smart governance and of not just solving problems but turning them to your advantage. This project is one of them and the results are good for everyone. Quite-Banksy-esque.

Source: http://www.woostercollective.com/2009/04/new_york_street_advertising_takeover_bri.html
Public Ad Campaign Website: http://www.publicadcampaign.com/

The United Kingdom has some of the most historical and awe-inspiring Crown Jewels in the world. Treasures that would never, ever, come together in today’s politically fair and correct culture, but fortunately they have done over centuries past, and thus remain for us to cast the greatest dignity and majesty upon our heads of state. Despite the fact the post is hereditary, I believe they do a fantastic job and the fact that they are not elected is perhaps a huge benefit. Taking the messy politics away from the Head of State role allows the country’s representative to keep decorum through political embarrassments that rest with the Prime Minister, and it also grants a careful and considered role to ceremony, charity and cultural work.
Did you know that the Monarchy is one of the UK’s biggest promoters of British business abroad? Many of the junior princes in particular travel often to business conferences around the world, and the price ‘mark’ actually gives tremendous weight to their arguments.

Anyway back to the topic of this blog post… The earliest surviving Crown Jewels date back to the 11th Century, with various elements having been added throughout the centuries, in particular the coronation crown (St. Edward's Crown) and many of the sceptres were added in the 17th Century after the restoration of the Monarchy following melt down of the previous jewels by Oliver Cromwell. (Don’t get me started on him!). In the 19th Century the jewels were added to with elements more suited to the modern age, for example Queen Victoria ordered a lighter crown be made for her coronation due to St. Edward's Crown weighing at over 2kg! This is the crown that has been worn in coronation processions since, however St. Edward's Crown is still used for the seated coronation itself.
Did you know that on the day of a coronation the new Monarch is allowed to wear the crown for several hours during the morning to get used to the weight. It has been said that one palace waiter walked in to see the new Queen Elizabeth II in her dressing gown, having breakfast with the crown on, on her coronation day in 1953.

Also did you know that the Crown Jewels were stolen from Westminster Abbey in 1303 (most items were  recovered but not everything!), and there was another attempt in 1671 when the Irishman Thomas Blood carried out a successful raid of the Jewel House at the Tower of London. Having knocked the jewel keeper on the head with a mallet, he squashed the arches of Charles II’s state crown so as to hide it under his cloak whilst his son started to saw the Sceptre in half! Their friend Robert Perot stuck the Orb down his breeches. Just as they were about to escape, the keeper’s son returned unexpectedly and raised the alarm. Blood was arrested, but no-one’s sure quite why, but ‘the merry monarch’, Charles II, pardoned Blood and in fact gave him a pension! After Blood’s escapade, security was tightened, iron bars replaced the wooden ones around the Regalia, and, from then on, visitors were not allowed to touch the Crown Jewels.

An amazing history, but even that can’t describe their inherent beauty. I am yet to see them for myself; the Tower is next on my list of places to visit in London, having already done many others. I’ve included some images to give a taste.

There are many other interesting facts surrounding the Monarchy which I’ll bring up over time. The diamonds in the crowns themselves are a whole topic. The coronation church and chair in particular.

Webpages of Interest:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/crownjewels.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Jewels_of_the_United_Kingdom