This makeshift dwelling for two is set on the roof of a brutalist building, the Queen Elizabeth Hall concert hall on the banks of the Thames. It will stay there for the entire 2012 - Olympic - year; both ordinary citizens and cultural workers will be able to stay in this "hotel room" for one night; the latter will share their impressions, primarily of the breathtaking views of the river and London, with the general public. However, ordinary guests were also asked to leave a note in the ship's log: what they saw from the windows or about their inner experiences caused by solitude in the center of a noisy metropolis.
Like all other buildings in the Living Architecture program, founded by the popular philosopher Alain de Botton, Room for London is designed to educate the public on the achievements of 21st century architecture and design. According to Botton and his associates, if people are given the opportunity to live in a house designed by a talented architect, then this can dispose them to modern ideas. For this, villas for short-term rentals were erected in the picturesque districts of England: according to the projects of MVRDV (the now famous "Balancing Barn"), JVA, NORD; in front - the houses of Peter Zumthor, Michael Hopkins and other prominent masters.
Room for London is the first project in this series with a lot of “contemporary art”, aided by its unique location and connection to the Olympics, which was the pretext for a wide variety of cultural events in London 2012. The result was not a house, but a ship, as if left at the very edge of the roof of the concert hall by the receding waters of the flood.
As the model that gave the boat its name, the authors of the project chose the steamer Roi des Belges ("King of the Belgians"), which was commanded by the writer Joseph Conrad during his voyage along the Congo River in 1889; his impressions later formed the basis for the novel Heart of Darkness. One of the reasons for such an unexpected choice of the primary source was the comparison of the Congo and the Thames, given by Konrad in his work: both great rivers flow through an unknown world - Africa and a huge European city. The intimate interior of the boat is contrasted with the huge space outside, making the perception of both components of this contrast more acute.
Inside the pavilion, in an emphatically modest wood-paneled space, there is a double bedroom with a bathroom and a kitchen. On the "bow" there is a sofa with a built-in bookshelf. On the upper deck there is a "captain's bridge" - something like a library with large windows; it contains books on London. Ancient maps of the Thames and Congo, an octagonal table and a domino set - details taken by the architects from Konrad's novel.
When the Olympic year is over, Room for London will travel to other key points in the British capital. In the meantime, Living Architecture's idea has proved incredibly popular: the first six months of 2012 were sold out 12 minutes after the start of booking last fall (and this despite the fact that you can spend no more than one night in the pavilion). On January 19 at noon London time, the remaining six months, from July to December, will be put up for sale: everyone should be on the lookout.
