Images from david kohn | click > enlarge
Situated on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, A Room for London is a major new collaboration between Artangel and Living Architecture, in association with Southbank Centre. It is a one-bedroom installation, available for rent, designed by David Kohn Architects in collaboration with Fiona Banner. Apparently inspired by the steamer from Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” a novella set in the Congo in 1890. Artangel, a company that commissions unusual artwork, and Living Architecture, which rents homes, or in this case, rooms, of an equally unique nature, hosted a competition to “create a room with one of the most visible sites in the British capital, where up to two people at a time could spend a unique night in an exemplary landmark.”
Think of A Room for London like a pop-up hotel: it’s in a unique location (atop the Queen Elizabeth Hall) and it has a limited engagement: it’s only open for a year and guests can only stay for one night. It’s exclusive, but it’s not expensive. In fact, at about $185 it’s a pretty darn affordable stay for a London room with a Thames River view. Of course, that only means the wait list is going to run as long as the Thames River itself. If you’re lucky enough to nab a night, you’re invited to open up the room’s log book and “reflect upon what [you] see and hear during [your] one night stay, logging [your[ thoughts, observing cloud patterns, the character of the river and deeper undercurrents.” But if you just want to chuck your diary and get drunk in a cool hotel room, we won’t tell anyone.
Bookings for July through December 2012 go on sale January 19th.
