If you remember, my last rambling was on the subject of the British sandwich. Now I turn my attention towards food for the soul: architecture.
London is full of brilliant and stunning architecture. It is a marvel of structural ingenuity. From the neo-Gothic splendour of the Houses of Parliament, to the pyramid of glass and steel that is the Shard. LSE has its own addition to the architectural landscape with the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre.
Amidst this tremendous canvas, there rises the work of a giant: Sir Christopher Wren.
Sir Christopher Wren was not destined to be an architect. He began his career as a mathematician and astronomer, more at home in the sciences than in the arts. But it is the attention to detail and the meticulous outlook he inherited from his scientific studies that make his architecture so stunning.
Wren’s buildings convey quiet majesty. The Great Fire of London in 1666 enabled him to deploy his genius throughout the capital. He rebuilt churches which still stand today, and his masterpiece, St. Paul’s Cathedral.
St. Paul’s is Wren’s most famous work. It is truly magnificent and finds it equal only in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. If you have the chance, you should visit the Cathedral during Eucharist service, when the dome is filled with music. But you can also explore the architect’s edifices throughout London.
If you have the energy, you can climb the Monument to the Great Fire of London. Once you have vanquished the stairs, you even get a certificate to prove you have survived the task. It is a de facto claim to bragging rights.
Wren’s second most celebrated building in London is the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich (pronounced “gr-n-itch”, rather like a tropical disease, instead of “green-witch”, like a sordid character in a fairy tale). It is wonderful and it is near the Maritime Museum and the Greenwich Royal Observatory of GMT fame. So if Wren’s architecture is not your cup of tea, your trip to Greenwich will not have been in vain. You can always amuse yourself by standing on the Prime Meridian, with one half in the east and one half in the west.
Which half you choose, I shall leave up to you.
