ROOM FOR LONDON

The design competition for A Room for London, which attracted entries from around 500 architects and artists from across the world, was instigated by Living Architecture, and Artangel, in association with Southbank Centre. The brief was to create a room on one of the most visible sites in the British capital, where up to two people at a time could spend a unique night in an exemplary architectural landmark.

David Kohn and Fiona Banner's winning design is for a boat which, perched on the Queen Elizabeth Hall roof, will appear to have come to rest there, grounded, perhaps, from the retreating waters of the Thames below.  From the lower and upper ‘decks' of this beautifully crafted timber structure, there will be extraordinary views of a London panorama that stretches from Big Ben to St Paul's cathedral.

Bookings for a night at A Room for London will be from January to December 2012. Advance bookings will be available through this website from 8^th September 2011.

Alongside public booking, the Room will play host to a guest programme of special visitors - artists, writers and cultural commentators of all kinds. These ‘thinkers-in-residence' will be invited to stay and encouraged to muse on the city at a moment in time, through writing, image-making, online postings or live webcasts from the Room itself as their own idiosyncratic entries in the logbook. Some contributions will be instantly experienced by the public; others developed slowly during the course of the year. All visitors will be offered a chance to share experiences of a night in the Room.

A Room for London is a cultural collaboration between Living Architecture and Artangel, in association with Southbank Centre and the London 2012 Festival.

David Kohn Architects is a young London-based practice founded by David Kohn in 2007. The practice is known for its emphasis on collaboration and attention to detail. Recent completed projects include a rooftop pavilion for the Architecture Foundation, a temporary restaurant for the Royal Academy and a West End contemporary art gallery.  Awards include the 2009 Young Architect of the Year and the 2010 One-Off House Architect of the Year for a holiday home in Norfolk.

Fiona Banner is an artist. Her work repeatedly explores the themes of narrative and history. For her recent installation "Harrier and Jaguar" she placed two fighter planes in the central atrium of Tate Britain. She has explored the retelling of history through war movies, most notable through her book The Nam, which retells major Vietnam films in her own words.