'A Room for London', by David Kohn and Fiona Banner, is a riverboat installation designed to be occupied as a hotel room from July
The duo's collaboration with Alain de Botton's Living Architecture and Artangel, with the vital assistance of the Southbank Centre, takes the form of a colonial riverboat stranded atop the concrete, Thames-side Queen Elizabeth Hall and has a mysterious ghostly presence
The sudden sight of a stubby-bowed, top-heavy little tramp steamer indulges London's ability to conjure up the unexpected
'A Room for London' has been booked solid since shortly after its opening reception in January: as well as all mod cons, crisp white sheets and the best views in town, it offers a carefully curated scattering of objects and artworks, helping to enliven your short, static voyage
Step inside and Kohn's design envelops and cocoons you. The interior abounds with references, most especially to the work of Sir John Soane, who lends his richly polychromatic approach to the finely crafted timber walls and fittings
Above the small kitchen (pictured here) and dining area is a small 'bridge', a book-lined eyrie with access to a balcony on the 'prow'. This room is topped with a tiny crow's nest, tucked within the framework of the pyramidal steel mast (its proportions borrowed from Nicholas Hawksmoor's Christ Church in Spitalfields)
