Architecture
Charbel Ackermann exhibition
Architecture
London's least-loved buildings have a habit of vanishing off the map; only last week we were startled to discover that Mondial House, a shiny-white architectural homage to a piece of office equipment, is no more.
The GLC's Island Block suffered a similar fate; a vast concrete hexagon, it 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.
Click on the image above to see more from the exhibition.
A pioneering open plan office space, the Island Block's replacement will be a pedestrian glass and steel building with none of its predecessor's chunky presence.
The exhibition is being held as part of Architecture Week 2007: on 30 June there'll be a performance by musicians Hildegard Kleeb and Roland Dahinden, who have collaborated with artists Daniel Buren and Sol LeWitt in the past.
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Island Block, an exhibition by Charbel Ackermann, 18-30 June 2007; The Launch Pad, The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT
www.buildingcentre.co.uk/
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