Island Block, Charbel Ackermann

GLC's Island Block was built in 1973 as an annexe to the monumental County Hall, just south of Westminster Bridge. When the GLC imploded in 1986, the block was vacated; it stood empty for two decades before it was finally demolished.

Artist Charbel Ackermann has created a series of drawings and films to celebrate this short-lived and unloved structure, a web of reinforced concrete and modernist dreams that swiftly degenerated into a graffiti-covered eyesore, squatting just yards from the Houses of Parliament.

All photos are courtesy of the City of London, London Metropolitan Archives.