Results tagged “touchuplondon”

With more snow on the way, our friend Mehrdad sends us this example of white-sky thinking to solve the transport problems: carve up underground trains to make cable cars. Check out Mehrdad's blog, Aref-Adib, for a staggering collection of photoshops, look-alikes and other visual amusements.

As noted by the BBC, the recently restored Monument is effectively crowded out of the skyline by office blocks. Fortunately, excavation beneath the column foundations uncovered a clockwork jacking mechanism installed by Robert Hooke. The column now stands proudly over the surrounding midrises, with its crown of gold illuminated like a second Great Fire.

As former KGB officer Alexander Lebedev moves to buy the Evening Standard, we get a sneak peek at the front page of tonight's West End Final edition.

Hmm, that new design for the Routemaster really does look familiar...

     

This semi-apocalyptic artwork from Bermondsey school children covers the hoardings around PriceWaTerHouseRaNdomCapsCooPer's new building, under construction at More London. The kids from St Michael's Catholic School don't need Photoshop to unleash seven shades of Hell on the capital. They've got paint brushes, and bags of imagination. Meteor strikes, a giant robot, TIE fighter attack and, um, a tightrope-walking Boris are just a few of their twisted visions for the Thames.

This could be the fate of St Paul's Cathedral after a (tongue-in-cheek) application to the City of London for complete demolition of the 17th Century landmark. Perhaps for next week's Touch Up London, someone could put together what the cathedral's 21st century glass-and-steel replacement might look like?

With the rising cost of oil, and ergo jet fuel, it's about time we got round to establishing a permanent beach here in London. We propose Greenwich Peninsula, with its underused Tube station and impressive views.

With the Star Over London airship proving such a success, plans are afoot to give it a permanent mooring above St Pancras chambers. When not in service, the curvaceous dirigible will use the Barlow train shed for a hanger.

People are always moaning that London makes insufficient use of the Thames. Well, with a bit of Tower Bridge tweaking, we could build a new port for cruise liners within the Pool of London. Imagine taking the QM2 right into the heart of the City.

Archiving is so important these days. Here's our vision of the ideal place to display former Fourth Plinth occupants. 'Old Stumpy' next to Blackfriars Bridge provides twelve storage pedestals for the growing collection of erstwhile Trafalgar Square plinthians. And how about employing Battersea Power Station's chimneys for the generally larger Turbine Hall sculptures?

Boris Johnson is the new Mayor of London. The Blond received 1,043,761 (43%) first preference votes compared to Livingstone's 893,877 (37%), with Paddick gaining just 10% of the vote. With neither main candidate reaching the magic 50%, second preference votes were taken into account, giving Boris a victory of 1,168,738 votes over Ken's 1,028,966.

Here's an idea. Build temporary cofferdams in historic stretches of the Thames so that archaeologists can really get to work. It's amazing what you can find beneath a river that's served a city for 2000 years.

Another entry from Roll the Dice, showing a cunning method of crossing Tower Bridge without being stopped by tourists.

London and its environs - if Google maps had a cultural bias setting.

Regular reader Mehrdad collects unusual look-a-likies on his blog Aref-Adib. His latest discovery is that the Tube can bear a striking resemblance to the work of Dutch neo-plasticist (hey, we can use Wikipedia) Piet Mondrian.

It's still difficult to tell how the mayoral race is going - where are all the opinion polls? But there's no doubt that, in the past week, the Livingstone campaign has made a huge effort to get its show on the road.

If we were Mayor, we'd order more bendybuses, not fewer as Boris would like. But why settle for just one concertina point? We'd fuse together all remaining double-deckers into a superomnibendysnake to convey tourists about town. All aboard!

At first glance, this looks like a rather pleasant alternative to the Millennium Bridge - a verdant, undulating span like nothing else in London. But look at what's written along the side and you may feel your gorge begin to rise.

This week, our first literal touch up, as two of London's temporary statues get up close and personal. The image comes from Mike Miller, father of US rapper Wrekonize, whose malsized form can be seen squatting on the fire escape.

Here we see a herd of Metropolitanus bestialacus encountering their rare, six-legged cousins the Metropolitanus aureus on the plains of the Serengeti.

One of London's more remarkable tower blocks has begun construction. Strata, also called the Electric razor for not unfathomable reasons, will soon begin to rise from a site just south of Elephant and Castle, reports skyscrapernews.

Gold, frankincense, myrrh. What are these to a small child? If the magi were really such wise men, they'd have headed to Regent Street, where Hamleys and the Disney Store provide all the playthings a growing Saviour needs.

The queues are already forming outside Buckingham Palace to see what lurks behind door number 21. Will it be the Star of Bethlehem? Or Michael Fagin?

Alain Robert isn't the only one scaling London's buildings. Poor old Santa's having a hard time of it in Battersea. Does he just use one chimney, or should he scale all four? And do the resident Cybermen deserve Christmas presents anyway?

So, back to our Christmas theme today, with this mouthwatering picture of St Paul's standing atop Pudgate Hill. The dripping roof no doubt tastes a lot better than its counterpart of 1666. During the Great Fire, the lead roof of Old St Paul's melted, and a plumbate river oozed through the burning town.

OK, so we're going to take a break from our daily dose of yuletide touch-ups to show you this creation from reader Hugh Macdonald. His idea might be just what the capital needs to power all those Christmas lights. Three cheers for genetic modification.

Before the demolition of Old London Bridge, whose narrow arches restricted the flow, the Thames used to freeze over in the coldest winters. In such years, the denizens of London would gather on the ice for a frost fair.

Last week we challenged you to peer into alternative universes and find out what London would have been like had history taken a different course.