If you have a thing for over-processed photos of concrete, then boy you are in for a treat.
Holy crap, I love the Switch House – the new addition to the Tate Modern building. I’ve watched it spring up at the back of the Tate Modern over the last couple of years but could never imagine that it would turn out as beautiful as it has.
It had been open for about a month when Tim and I visited a couple of weeks ago. We assumed it would be rammed so got there for just after opening time, but we had most of the space to ourselves – it was amazing.
We couldn’t have picked a better day to visit as the sun poured in through the windows. We did look at the art – the Marina Abramović exhibit sticks in my mind for many reasons – but this visit was all about the building. The concrete, the sharp lines, the sweeping curves. It feels very deliberate and unapologetic, completely unpretentious, and like it’s always been there.
The floors become narrower as you get closer to the top, before it opens out to amazing views of London from the roof. And an opportunity to be nosy on the neighbouring buildings. I don’t necessarily recommend taking the stairs all the way to the top floor as it does get a bit constricted towards the top. Also, it’s 10 floors. Oof.
At the top, I of course had to take a few tilt shift photos.
But my absolute favourite thing of the whole building was the staircase. The smoothness of the concrete was just so satisfyingly touchable. I’ve decided that any future house I own will have to have an epic formidable staircase. I think that might mean I need to buy a huge Brutalist mansion, but it’d be worth it.
Just looking at that shiny concrete floor is giving me all the feels.
untold blisses 