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David Kohn Architects and the conceptual artist and sculptor, Fiona Banner, have designed a rather odd one bedroom installation in the shape of a boat perched on the roof of Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. The unusual idea is the winning entry for the design competition organised by Living Architecture and Artangel, beating submissions from 500 artists and architects around the globe.
Joseph Conrad’s steamboat Roi des Belges, which travelled on the Congo in the late nineteenth century, and Conrad’s disturbing novella Heart of Darkness were the inspirations behind the quirky hotel room. ‘Passengers’ can enjoy a panoramic view of London from the Big Ben to St Paul’s Cathedral from the lower and upper decks of this peculiar piece of architecture. Visitors are also encouraged to record their experiences in the logbook at the bridge of the boat. An octagonal library of specially chosen tomes and a Soanian cabinet with drawings of the Thames and Congo rivers are other weird but wonderful features of this strange vessel.
David Kohn Architects are no strangers to the arts, or indeed awards. The practice has achieved a number of accolades, such as the D&AD Yellow Pencil Award in 2009 for their work on the temporary restaurant at the Royal Academy of Arts. Fiona Banner’s portfolio includes Harrier and Jaguar, two real fighter jets, which were placed in the neoclassical Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain from the summer of 2010 to last January. Banner’s art work explored the tensions between these war machines as both of objects of incredible beauty and devastating violence.
As well as intriguing visitors, the boat will also serve as an inspiring space for creative individuals as writers, artists and musicians have been invited by Artangel to exercise their imaginations in the boat, creating new writing, images and music to be shared with the public. Special guests include the author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson, and video and installation artist, Jeremy Deller.
