Picturing London

Picturing London: imagining, experiencing and representing the metropolis

  • What is the fundamental character of London's architecture?
  • How have others understood and represented London's architecture?
  • How best can we represent, and design for urban contexts?

Workshop overview

London has long drawn people to its streets and spaces. As a city, it is constantly evolving, a source of energy, decay, and endless fascination. Over the last two millennia, it has been witnessed much of the best – and worst – architecture this country has produced, captivating architects and others passing through this, one of the world's great metropolis.

Workshop selection

Listed on the right is a selection of pictures of London's buildings, streets, and other nooks and crannies has a wide provenance. Divided into three categories, some of the images were made by architects (A) imagining their own future London. Others were made by artists simply wanting to capture their (B) experiences of the city. A small number of them were made to (C) represent London so that others could understand it. When we consider these three things together we can find how London has had meaning for different people at different moments in time.

  1. Imagining
  2. Experiencing
  3. Representing

The majority were produced during the last century and have been created using a variety of media. Above all, they show how basic tools such as pencils, paper and limited colour can be used to create fantastic pictures that tell a unique story of London.

 

Image list

Detailed list of all images used in this workshop and where they can be viewed:
 

09 William Walcot

County Hall under construction, London (1920). Artist: William Walcot Copyright: RIBA Library Drawings & Archives Collection RIBApix no. 12752

A Imagining

Charles Holden|

Ernö Goldfinger|

Oliver Hill|

Eric Mendelsohn|

Grey Wornum|

The Smithsons|

Nigel Coates|

 

B Experiencing

W.B. Reynolds|

William Walcot|

10 Raymond McGrath|

11 A.S.G. Butler |

12 Frank Hoar|

13 Roger Mayne|

14 A. Oppenheim|

15 A. Oppenheim|

 

C Representing

16 Edmund J. Thring|

17 Gordon Cullen|

18 Charles Latham|



 

 

Workshop in action

This selection of images was used with a group of Level 1 architects from the University of East London investigating how to look at buildings afresh, in particular consider how they function in context. They wanted to consider a variety of media and approaches to capturing the experience of the city, to inspire them in their own drawing and photography of London.


Sponsored and supported by:

The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning through Design |
V&A + RIBA Architecture Partnership |
RIBA Trust |