Being an architectonic freak, visiting London is always great fun. This week I really enjoyed learning both the names and the nicknames of some of London’s buildings that my good friend kindly taught me. It may be part of the famous British sense of humour, but Londoners tend to use unofficial names when referring to some of the landmarks that form part of their city such as Big Ben (lilac above) which is actually named Elizabeth Tower.
I also visited my favourite gallery Tate Modern which sells products by Yoni Alter, an Israeli-British graphic artist who has made success by his overlapping of bright colors in order to highlight the buildings and landmarks in London (above). So if you are not updated of the nicknames, here follows a small guide: The Cheesegrater (orange), The Walkie Talkie building (blue left) in which London’s highest public garden is located on the top, The Gherkin actually a small cucumber used for pickling (pink middle), The Shard (glasskår in Norwegian) which is the real name, referring to the white glass in which the façades are constantly changing colours according to the weather and seasons (yellow).
With a sharp eye you may spot real name buildings such as Battersea Power Station (green), London Eye (middle), BT Tower (blue right) and Tower Bridge (pink right).
Yoni Alter’s prints can be purchased from here !
