TOP PLACES TO VISIT IN LONDON FOR DESIGN FANATICS

London has always been one of the best places in the world for design enthusiasts. With such a long history, the architecture of London has spanned millennia. From the Gothic to the Brutalist, there are buildings from throughout the ages, amalgamating in a wonderful collage of London’s personality. Whatever period of history you’re interested in, there’s design, in both architecture and artworks, which will reflect your passions. That’s why staying somewhere like the London Paddington Court Hotel is the perfect way for you to see the many colours of London right from your doorstep, giving you easy access to the city centre alongside the fringes of London. Below are some of our favourite spots in the city for influential and mind-expanding design.

The Design Museum

The Design Museum is an obvious must see for design fanatics. Put simply, it’s in the name. Here you can find not only a rotating carousel of innovative exhibits, but the building itself is well worth a look as well. For its first thirty years of life, the Design Museum was in the Shadwell Thames area of London, housed within a former riverside banana warehouse. Now you can find it in the borough of Kensington where it is housed within the former Commonwealth Institute.

Serpentine Gallery

The Serpentine Gallery is one of the best-known spaces in the UK for contemporary artists and doubles up as a beautiful spectacle to behold in the beautiful Hyde Park. The Serpentine Gallery is well known for being innovative in its art works, ensuring that guests have a wide range of different mediums to choose from during their visit. On a design front, we can expect to see the new work from Junya Ishigami grace the Serpentine Pavilion. This innovative project will hopefully manifest later in the year, where Junya will create a rock face and smog cloud out of the side of the Pavilion, creating a disorientating addition to the royal park.

The Barbican

The Barbican in East London is one of the best-known arts venues in the UK, and brings a mix of dance, music, theatre and art to gallery spaces and stages within the building. Created in the 80’s in the Brutalist style by architecture firm Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, the Barbican is well known for its use of bold and intricate concrete structures. This captivating spectacle is in the middle of the Barbican estate, the courtyard of which includes water features and urban style garden areas.

The Tate Modern

Located next to London Bridge and just along the South Bank, the Tate Modern was created on the site of the former Bankside Power Station, using its large and spacious interior to showcase some of the best art from both this century and the last.

Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Chelsea which was established by famous entrepreneur Charles Saatchi so that he could showcase his personal collection of art works. This has meant that the building, a beautiful building named the Duke of York’s HQ has become the home of the new Saatchi collection.

Victoria and Albert Museum

The V and A is a beautifully designed Victorian building based in the heart of South Kensington’s Museum Row. Alongside its amazing collections of decorative jewellery and art, the V & A is well known for its stunning architecture.