Drawing London – 13 & 14 September 2025 – Exhibition Guide
Find a digital map showing all the Drawing locations here.
Captions for the drawings and models can be found below.
Drawing Matter is pleased to be participating in this year’s Open House Festival with Drawing London, an exhibition of drawings and models from our collection. For the weekend, we have transformed the archive into a map of the city, grouping together material made over a period of three hundred years by its relative geography.
Projects on display range from the small scale, such as G. G. Scott’s telephone kiosk (1935), to large infrastructure projects, such as Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Thames Tunnel (1843), and ambitious urban developments.
In some cases, drawings made at different times and for different purposes converge around a single building or part of the city. This is true of the Houses of Parliament, which is represented by Joseph Michael Gandy’s roughs for drawings of John Soane’s Scala Regia (1823–4), Pugin and Barry’s detail drawings for the New Houses of Parliament (1840), Auguste Gagey’s measured study of Westminster Hall (c.1885), and Basil Spence’s sketch for a proposed extension (1969).
Several projects use London as the location for radical and speculative thinking about the city, and urban life more generally, reimagining London in both exciting and provocative ways: OMA/Rem Koolhaas’s ‘Exodus, or The Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture’ (1972), comprises a megastructure called ‘the strip’ that would have cut across central London; Cedric Price’s ‘Bat Hat’ (c.1990) lifts up the towers of Battersea Power Station on scaffolding; and Mike Webb’s ‘Sin Centre’ (1961), which was proposed for a site in Leicester Square, celebrates the joy of mechanised movement in a project based around car-ramps and escalators.
In addition to these unbuilt projects, the exhibition also includes drawings for buildings that have been lost over time, either as a result of the city’s evolution, such as the Smallpox Hospital in Coldbath Fields drawn by George Coke in 1796, which was demolished in the 1860s after the construction of a new hospital, or because of their temporary nature, such as the Skylon designed for the 1951 Festival of Britain.
By organising drawings and models by their location in the city, the exhibition aims to emphasise the layered histories—both of what was built and the possibilities of what could have been—that can be found across London. In preparing the exhibition, we have also considered Drawing Matter’s own place in the city, in an archive which occupies a floor in a former bookseller’s warehouse, adjacent to Georgian Alms Houses, on a street said by some to be the birthplace of Nell Gywn, all tucked behind Drury Lane on a backstreet even the most seasoned of Londoners may not have encountered before.
Drawing Matter would like to thank Laurence Bain and Colin Morris for lending us material relating to James Stirling’s No 1 Poultry, which we have paired with our collages and model photographs for Mies van der Rohe’s unbuilt Mansion House tower, proposed for the same site.
EXHIBITION CAPTIONS
ABK 3795 Ahrends Burton & Koralek, Exhibition Poster, Architectural drawings and models at the RIBA Heinz Gallery, 29 October – 20 December 1980. Poster printed in blue and white, 695 x 510 mm.
Allen 1498 Matthew Allen, Leopold Buildings, 1872. Painted wood model, 12 x 36.5 x 13.5 cm.
Barry 1816 Charles Barry & Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, New Houses of Parliament, Central Portion details, 1840. Black ink and brown, pink and blue washes on tracing paper mounted on (modern) backing sheet, 530 x 740 mm (drawing), 565 x 770 mm (backing sheet).
Belcher 1641 John Belcher, Finsbury Square Estate, c.1904. Watercolour and pencil on wove paper, 508 x 683 mm.
Bentley 1397 Richard Bentley, Chimney piece in Gothic style, Strawberry Hill, 1754. Brown, black and grey wash, black ink and pencil, 335 x 250 mm.
Blomfield 2831.1 Reginald Theodore Blomfield, St James’s Theatre. Pencil on wove paper, 255 x 320 mm.
Bradbury 2051 Ray Bradbury, Ray Bradbury’s Letterhead showing a section through the Sir John Soane museum, 1975. Letter-heading printed in blue ink.
Bunning 3415 James Bunstone Bunning, Proposed Improvements in the Neighbourhood of Smithfield, 1851. Chromolithograph, 460 x 655 mm.
Butterfield 3211.1 William Butterfield, Proposed New Church, Upper Edmonton, 1883. Pencil, pen, ink and watercolour on wove paper, 390 x 565 mm.
Butterfield 1302 William Butterfield, Three views for the design of a processional cross, All Saints Church London, 1872. Black ink, pencil, yellow and grey wash, 330 x 485 mm.
Cadbury Brown 1296.1 Henry Thomas Cadbury Brown, Royal College of Art extension, 1972. Mixed media, 950 x 1200 mm.
Casson 3918.1 Sir Hugh Casson, The Royal Academy (The Great Room, Somerset House). Blue felt pen on yellow paper, 640 x 560 mm.
Casson 3918.2 Sir Hugh Casson, The Royal Academy (RA 1st Premises Pall Mall 1768; Somerset House). Blue felt pen on yellow paper, 750 x 500 mm.
Chambers 1024 William Chambers, ‘Gothic Cathedral’ pavilion for garden at Kew Palace, c. 1758. Black ink, pen and watercolour, 320 x 400 mm.
Chesterton 3450.5 Elizabeth Ursula Chesterton, Design for flag poles on Bond Street, 1936. Pencil and gouache on wove paper, 765 x 560 mm.
Coke 1875 George Coke, London Smallpox Hospital, Coldbath Fields, 1796. Pencil, black ink and grey wash on paper, 168 x 280 mm.
Connell, Ward & Lucas 3934.1 Connell, Ward & Lucas, 26 Bessborough Road, 1939. Pencil on print, 557 x 760 mm.
Cook 3909 Peter Cook, Exhibition: Cheer-Up it’s Archigram, 1983. Imprint with hand colouring, 210 x 297 mm.
Coop Himmelblau 2352 Coop Himmelblau, Just a House. Haus Mit Fliegendem Dach, 1973. Imprint, 300 x 210 mm.
Cullen 3499.2 Gordon Cullen, Re-positioning of Temple Bar, c.1980. Pencil, pen and ink on paper with designer’s overlay, 297 x 210 mm.
Cullen 3527 Gordon Cullen, Elephant and Castle Competition, 1959. Pen, ink, coloured crayon, wash on tracing, 467 x 582 mm.
Cundy 2991.2 Thomas Cundy, No. 14 Front in Gore Road, 1857. Pen, ink and watercolour on thick wove paper, 630 x 964 mm.
Dannatt 3504.16 Trevor Dannatt, 33 St Mary’s Grove, London N1, March 1956. Pencil, pen and ink on tracing, 420 x 255 mm.
Diniz 2044 Carlos Diniz, Projected view of Canary Wharf from St Paul’s, 1988. Pen and ink on trace, 910 x 1430 mm.
Diniz 2176 Carlos Diniz, Projected view of Canary Wharf, London in 2025, 1988. Pen, ink and watercolour on board, 1070 x 1290 mm.
Elmore 1762 Richard Elmore, View of City of London from Waterloo Bridge, 1851. Brown ink with some pencil on wove paper, 232 x 330 mm.
Erskine 3539 Ralph Erskine, The Ark, 1989–1992. Pencil and crayon over print base, 590 x 840 mm.
Fretton 3560.131.9 Tony Fretton, Lisson Gallery 2, 1990. Photograph by Diego Ferrari, A1 Photographic Print.
Fretton 2886.6 Tony Fretton, Sketches of Ground Floor Gallery & Ceiling, Lisson Gallery 2, 1991–92. Pen and ink on trace, 298 x 420 mm.
Fretton 2890.1 Tony Fretton, Sketch of exhibition design, 2001 Exhibition of Finalists in the Southbank competition, 2001. Pen and ink on tracing, 418 x 593 mm.
Gagey 1874 Auguste Gagey, Westminster Hall, Palace of Westminster, c.1885. Pencil, pen, ink and watercolour on wove paper, 313 x 479 mm.
Gandy 1357 Joseph Michael Gandy, Scala Regia, House of Lords, 1823. Pencil and watercolour, 460 x 357 mm.
Goldfinger 3495 Erno Goldfinger, Planning Your Neighbourhood, 1944. Lithograph on card, 493 x 356 mm.
Goldfinger 3156 Erno Goldfinger, Westminster Bank, Elephant & Castle, 1961. Pencil, pen and ink additions to print base, on paper, 550 x 760 mm.
Gowan 2802.1 James Gowan, Schreiber House, Hampstead, 1964. Photograph and drawing, laid on hardboard, 285 x 405 mm.
Gowan 2461.2.1 James Gowan, Skylon, Festival of Britain, c.1950. Black and white photographs, 210 x 160 mm.
Gowan 2781.1 James Gowan, Greenwich Housing Project Reminagined. Collage, 280 x 388 mm.
Gowan 2658.18v-19r James Gowan, Drawings for Millbank Project, Sketchbook 7, 1977. Pen, ink and crayon, 148 x 210 mm.
Gowan 2483.1 James Gowan, Roof Plan, Brunswick School, Camberwell, 1958–60. Green crayon on blue print, 41 x 50 cm.
Grimshaw 3411.8 Nicholas Grimshaw, Block of flats for Mercury Housing, 125 Park Road, London NW1, 1968. Print, 410 x 593 mm.
Guerbois 2715 Henri Guerbois, Design for Barker’s department store, 1921. Pen, ink and watercolour, 675 x 975 mm.
Hadid 3793.04 Zaha Hadid, Charring Cross, Exhibition Catalogue, Projects 1977-81, 1981. Imprint, 180 x 225 x 10 mm.
Hodgkinson 2739 Patrick Hodgkinson, Brunswick Centre, 1969. Pencil on architects’ detail paper, 700 x 1220 mm.
Hutchison 3912 Edward Hutchison, Cleaver Square, 2015. Print, 630 x 920 mm.
I’Anson 1650.2 Edward I’Anson, Interior Perspective, Corn Exchange, Mark Lane, London, 1875. Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour on thick wove paper, 450 x 280 mm.
I’Anson 1650.1 Edward I’Anson, Cross Section, Corn Exchange, Mark Lane, London, 1875. Pencil and grey and blue washes on paper, 490 x 670 mm.
Jiricna 3407.2 Eva Jiricna, Design for Asprey’s Jewellers, Old Bond Street, London, c.1980. Collage drawing on card, 288 x 207 mm.
Kent 1848r William Kent, Study for the Duke of Grafton’s Dining Room, Grafton House, 1728. Pen, ink and wash on laid paper, 225 x 430 mm.
Kent 1379r William Kent, Wimbledon, landscape commission, 1738. Sepia ink, wash and pencil on paper, drawing 200 x 317 mm, page 400 x 634 mm.
Kolář 1489r Jiří Kolář, Crumplage, 1971. Magazine print and paste, 235 x 365 mm.
Levete 2909.9.1 Amanda Levete, Making Visible the Invisible – Above Ground, Victoria & Albert Museum. Digital print, 635 x 915 mm.
Luder 3502 Owen Luder, Hays Wharf – Sector 3, 1973. Print, 425 x 600 mm.
Marshall 1442 George Marshall, St Stephen’s Church, Walbrook, 1679. Watercolour over pencil highlighted with touches of bodycolour, with original washline mount, 525 x 400 mm.
Mies van der Rohe 2377.8 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Photographs for the Mansion House project in the City of London, 25 August 1982. Colour photographs, 300 x 405 mm.
Mies van der Rohe 2377.1 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Photographs for the Mansion House, 30 January 1985. Colour photographs, 300 x 405 mm.
Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1:1250 scale model of Mansion House Square, 1982. Made by Colin Morris Associates, Acrylic, (H) 110mm x (W) 350mm x (D) 210mm.
MJP Architects 3945.1 MJP Architects, BBC Building Portland Place, 1988.
OMA 3151.6 OMA, Exodus, or The Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture, 1972. Photograph, 285 x 380 mm.
Peach 1467 Charles Stanley Peach, Electricity Generating Station with Italian garden, 1904. Pencil and watercolour on board, 760 x 1345 mm.
Pope 2022r Alexander Pope, Design for a Monument, St Mary’s Church, Twickenham, c.1720. Ink on paper, 260 x 198 mm.
Rennie 3448 John Rennie, Waterloo Bridge, c.1815. Pen and ink on wove paper, 165 x 240 mm.
Roberts 2161 Henry Roberts, View of Fishmonger’s Hall from London Bridge, 1838. Pen, ink, watercolour and bodycolour on thick wove paper, 505 x 747 mm.
Stirling James Stirling, 1:1250 scale model of No1 Poultry, 1988. Made by Colin Morris Associates, acrylic, (H) 110mm x (W) 350mm x (D) 210mm.
Rysbrack 2756 John Michael Rysbrack, Design for monument to naval hero, c.1757–63. Pen, ink and wash on watermarked laid paper, 368 x 260 mm.
Schnebbelie 1643 Robert Bremmel Schnebbelie, Burlington Arcade, 1827. Black ink and coloured washes on paper, 215 x 275 mm.
Scott 3198.1 Giles Gilbert Scott, Jubilee Kiosk K6, 1935. Pencil on tracing, 317 x 190 mm.
Siza 2618 Álvaro Siza, Sensing Spaces Exhibition, 7 November 2013. Pen and ink, 295 x 210 mm.
Smirke 1707 Robert Smirke, Covent Garden Theatre, 1809. Sepia ink, pencil and grey wash, 11.7 x 16.5 cm.
Smithson 3371 Alison and Peter Smithson, Golden Lane Housing Project, 1951–52. Original collage, photograph, pen, ink, gouache, 285 x 320 mm.
Spence 1104 Basil Spence, Sketch, Enlargement of the Houses of Parliament, 1969. Pencil on paper, 245 x 480 mm.
Spooner 3267 William Spooner, Spooner’s Protean Views No.28, The Thames Tunnel Changing to the Coronation Procession from Buckingham Palace, c.1838. Hand-coloured lithograph with second image backed by tissue in card frame, 227 x 271 mm.
Starck 2762.1 Philippe Starck, Canary Wharf Hotel, 1996. Pencil on tracing paper, 210 x 297 mm.
Summerson 2151 John Summerson, Hand-written letter with illustration of the Soane cat “Puss” on Soane Museum letterhead, Date unknown. Pen and ink on headed paper, 204 x 126 mm.
Talman 1248.2r John Talman, Whitehall Palace, 1709. Pen and ink, 316 x 198 mm.
Tatham 1504.17 Charles Heathcote Tatham, Duchess Street House, 1799. Black ink and coloured wash, 335 x 540 mm.
Tod 2247 A. Tod, Mr Tassie’s House, Leicester Square, 1806. Pen, ink and wash on paper, 362 x 250 mm.
Unknown British School 3520.1 Unknown British School, Crystal Palace High-Level Station, 1865. Pencil on paper, 166 x 324 mm.
Webb 1101.29 Michael Webb, Sin Centre, Leicester Square, 1961. Print with white paint and yellow film, 290 x 370 mm.
Webb 1101.15 Michael Webb, Sin Centre, c.1961. Photocollage with pencil and letraset numbers, 455 x 340 mm.
Wilkinson Eyre 2909.12 Wilkinson Eyre, X-Ray Isometric Projection, Battersea Power Station, 2013. Digital print, 1010 x 840 mm.
Wilson 2760 Colin Alexander St John Wilson, The British Library, 1980. Pencil on tracing paper with print lettering, 705 x 1000 mm.
Wilson 2950.2 Peter Wilson, Blackburn House, 1988. Print with hand colouring on board, 416 x 572 mm.
Wilson 2950.1 Peter Wilson, Blackburn House, 1988. Print with hand colouring on board, 416 x 572 mm.
Woodley 3306.5 Harry PC Woodley, Sketch of rear of Mile End Section House, Hand-drawn plan for a Criminal Case at the Old Bailey, 1903. Pen, ink and coloured crayons on wove paper, 503 x 690 mm.
Zünd Up 2126.1 Zünd Up, Erotische Architektur Photo Collage, 1969.
Subscribe
Subscribe to our free bimonthly newsletter, which highlights new writing on the site and offers a snapshot of Drawing Matter's activities – new publications, exhibitions, events.
