December 2015 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold the proposed new headquarters for “artist” Damien Hirst’s new one-man gallery (i.e. Museum gift shop) in Lambeth, south London, just west of Waterloo station. As with so many contemporary Gotcha buildings, it seems as though we’ve seen this one a dozen times before because it’s so original. It would replace an ugly five story apartment building that was only just completed in 2007. Note the extra-special bonus fear-inducing top-heavy design, because artists and architects in our time believe that everyday life does not produce enough anxiety; it is their duty to supply more. Below the rendering of art zombies moiling outside the building, see two of Mr. Hirst’s notable “art” works.

Below is Hirst’s 2003 sculpture, Charity. The artist’s website describes it: “…a 22-foot bronze sculpture based on The Spastics Society (now ‘Scope’) collection boxes commonly found outside local chemists in the 1960s, has been installed on Undershaft in front of the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe, EC3A 8EP) next to St. Helen’s Church. The sculpture was originally displayed as part of Romance in the Age of Uncertainty.”

Below is one of Hirst’s most popular early works, a cow and calf bisected and preserved in formaldehyde. Title: Mother and Child (1993).