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A mini-guide to the modern, the weird and the wonderful.

The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and St.Paul’s Cathedral: these are the images, the icons that we immediately associate with London. Yet while the city has a long, important and exciting history, that very history continues. London is very much alive and its constantly updated architectural landscape is a source of wonder, controversy and bafflement. Seeing as any visit to the capital is already likely to take in all the above-mentioned landmarks, we’ve compiled a mini-guide to the modern, the weird and the wonderful. The alternative icons of London, if you like.         

30 St. Mary Axe “The Gherkin”

One of the most recent – and controversial – additions to the capital’s skyline, Norman Foster’s 180 metre high office building has already become an iconic symbol. While the work is officially known by its address, it’s commonly referred to as the Gherkin due to its unusual shape. Also more than a little phallic in form, it has been nicknamed the Towering Innuendo, the Glass Dildo and the Crystal Phallus by some Londoners. The structure’s shiny curves and semi-spiralling patterns can easily be seen from afar, but it’s worth getting up a little closer to witness how they contrast with the more traditional architecture of much of the financial district.    
                
The Barbican Complex

A vision of the future from the past, the Barbican is one of Britain’s most bizarre architectural achievements. Loved and loathed in equal measures, this blocky Brutalist complex seems like a zone from a fictional city and is completely at odds with its surroundings. Built amid financial and commercial institutions in a heavily war-damaged area of the capital, the development is utterly unique. Just the idea of housing Europe’s largest performing arts centre in amongst the terrace blocks and towers of a residential estate gives the Barbican an otherworldly edge. The estate itself was opened in 1969 and the step-pyramid Barbican Centre was completed in 1982, but the whole project retains an astonishing level of consistency. With much of it above street level, its solid concrete bulk, internal bridges and maze of confusing walkways conjure up the feeling of a cold war spy movie scene.

Battersea Power Station

If there’s one building that Londoners are almost universally fond of, it’s this defunct electricity generating facility on the Thames. Is it because it’s a symbol of a bygone age, of a mighty (pre-green) industrial capital? Maybe, but its cache of cool was already being built up via pop culture references even while its coal fires were still burning. The sturdy walls and colossal chimneys of Europe’s largest brick building were most notably featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals and have continued to inspire all manner of creative types. In recent years it has been used as a location for hit movies including Children Of Men and The Dark Knight. The site is still occasionally used to provide a dramatic backdrop for cultural events and current plans are set to revitalise it as the world’s first carbon-neutral arts amphitheatre. Genuinely awesome.

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