Public art & sculpture · London
Skylon
Skylon in England London, United Kingdom.
Peter Beaven — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1 h–2 h
- Free entry
- Dog-friendly
- Wheelchair accessible
About
Skylon is a public sculpture in England London, United Kingdom, dating from 1951. Britain's public art ranges from Henry Moore reclining figures and Anthony Gormley installations to the Angel of the North and the surviving statues of empire.
Photo gallery
From the Wikipedia article
The Skylon was a futuristic-looking, slender, vertical, cigar-shaped steel tensegrity structure located by the Thames in London, that gave the illusion of floating above the ground, built in 1951 for the Festival of Britain. A popular joke of the period was that, like the British economy of 1951, "It had no visible means of support".
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
Architecture
The Skylon was the "Vertical Feature" that was an abiding symbol of the Festival of Britain. It was designed by Hidalgo Moya, Philip Powell and Felix Samuely, and fabricated by Painter Brothers of Hereford, England, on London's South Bank between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The Skylon consisted of a steel latticework frame, pointed at both ends and supported on cables slung between three steel beams. The partially constructed Skylon was rigged vertically, then grew taller in situ. The architects' design was made structurally feasible by the engineer Felix Samuely who, at the time, was a lecturer at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in Bedford Square,…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 51.5047, -0.1186
- District
- Lambeth
- Parish
- Lambeth, unparished area
- Postcode
- SE1 8XU
- Parliamentary constituency
- Vauxhall and Camberwell Green
- Established
- 1951
- Official site
- international-brigades.org.uk
Sources
- wikidata: Q7537939 (CC0)
- wikipedia: Skylon (Festival of Britain) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Skylon?
- Skylon is in London, United Kingdom (postcode SE1 8XU), in the parish of Lambeth, unparished area.
- When was Skylon built?
- Built or established in 1951.
- Is Skylon free to visit?
- Yes, Skylon is free to enter.
- How do I get to Skylon?
- Drivers can navigate to postcode SE1 8XU. It sits within the Vauxhall and Camberwell Green parliamentary constituency.