They say ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ - which sounds like a 24-carat cliché if ever I’ve heard one.

Yet, by definition, there’s plenty of truth in a good cliché (which sounds like another one, right there🤦🏼‍♂️).

The recent deaths, just a few days apart, of two architects who radically changed the face of Camden Town in the 1980s have brought their most controversial/iconic buildings back into the limelight.

Nicholas Grimshaw’s ‘big’ Sainsbury’s - the first, and still only purpose-built supermarket to pick up a Grade II listing from Historic England - landed a huge skeletal steel structure slap bang next door to a small gothic revival church and opposite a fine Georgian terrace.

Many locals have thought it uniformly awkward and ugly ever since.

One problem with ‘modern’-style buildings is that they inherently don’t age very well; the shimmering realisation of their early years making the inevitable arrival of moss, grime and rust more of an affront to their original clean, bold statement.

The Sainsbury’s can look a bit grubby, but if you take a step back, the way the boxy frontage reflect the terrace opposite is clever, and the bulbous apartments that look out over the canal out the back are clearly design classics, at least for those lucky enough to live there.

Just around the corner, Grimshaw’s one-time collaborator, Terry Farrell, went in even harder on his own 1980s local statement piece, the Breakfast Television Centre, designed as the studios of early morning sofa show, TV-am.

It was seen as one of the UK’s first and most influential postmodern buildings, as famed for the boiled eggs on the roof along the canal as for its own sweeping corrugated shiny frontage.

I always wonder how current owners Paramount/Viacom got permission to bland out that front for today’s rather less exciting version.

Back in the early 90s, upon the brekkie telly era’s demise, the studios became the home of then globally massive MTV’s European outpost, where occasional live outside broadcasts from that odd central courtyard saw hip hop stars and pop royalty perform free to excited gaggles of local youths crowding in Hawley Crescent, like me.

I can’t remember what I thought of the architecture back then, but I do have fond memories of how exciting and cool the whole edifice and it’s pop cultural broadcasting power felt.

Although it might not be true - yet - of Camden’s big, functional Sainsbury’s, the passage of time can often cause us to reevaluate our opinion on previously maligned bits of the built environment, especially when there’s an emotional tug to our rose-tinted memories.

But we can also actively choose to see the beauty in seemingly bland or offensively brash buildings at any point - if we just spend a bit more time observing what they mean.

The brutalist social housing of Gospel Oak seemed nothing but ugly to me growing up, as we watched the protracted building work going on opposite our school on Mansfield Rd, which took six years (our entire primary education) to complete.

Now feted as trailblazing properties, and much in demand on the ex-Local Authority house-buying scene (particularly among architects, it seems), I now appreciate how well-designed and imagined these concrete terraces actually are.

At some point along the way I similarly had an about-turn in my opinion of the brutalist classics of the South Bank, the Trellick Tower and the rest, coming to recognise their signature harsh and unforgiving late 1960s hulk as the epitome of a brazenly urban beauty.

Harder to reconcile - although I think I might have just have managed it - is discovering some charm in the ridiculously overbearing 20 Fenchurch St, aka the ‘walkie talkie’ building.

In it’s early ‘death ray’ days, when the concave glass facade concentrated sunlight to car-melting effect on the streets below, it looked to me like a giant exclamation mark, sticking two fingers up at Londoners with a brash financial services wideboy-type superiority.

But then I read about the challenges of adding new buildings to the heart of the most ancient part of the capital, with it’s higgledy-piggledy streetscapes, dotted with archeological sites, historic monuments, cathedrals and guilds.

The City of London’s seemingly random cluster of very oddly shaped towers is as much about navigating the quirks of this landscape as it is about architects imposing their egos and skyscraping one-upmanship upon our skyline.

There’s beauty to be found in the unexpectedly organic roots of these angular glass and steel erections, which makes London’s expansion ever-upwards feel somehow more dynamic, human and deeply connected with our long past than the rigid inevitabilities of something like New York’s grid system.

It’s too easy to shrug off the hodge-podge of styles and scars that dictate how our city looks today as basically a bit of a mess, aiming particular ire at the buildings which dare to push the envelope, but taking a moment to consider the stories behind them, the how and why behind how they came into being, can be transformative.

Reframing what we may otherwise shrug off as ugly can help us appreciate this place and all it’s wonderous, ever-shifting imprints of our collective storytelling.

From the vision of ambitious architects like Grimshaw and Farrell, to the pockmarks of the Luftwaffe, or the financial and social realities behind high density Council developments, reconsidering the irregular beauty of London is a good lesson in life.

Which sounds like another lazy cliche, but is nevertheless a very true one.

⬇️ Scroll down for a little video about the showstopping architecture of 15 Clerkenwell Close, which proved so controversial it managed to earn both a RIBA award and two demolition orders, but thankfully remains to behold today.  

FOOD & DRINK

St John open new cafe in the neighbourhood

There are a few big names on London’s food landscape that get people proper excited, but St John have been consistently smashing it in this respect for over 30(!) years now.

News of the pioneering nose-to-tail restaurant, bakery and winemaker’s latest outpost landing in Bloomsbury already has locals salivating, as St John at the London Review Bookshop opened this week.

They do coffee and pastries, Eccles cakes and donughts for the early risers, then savoury tarts, sandwiches and their famous baked-to-order madeleines at lunchtime, a short wine list, plus there are house cocktails and snacks for the days the shop is open for evening events.

All can be enjoyed while browsing a book or two, with tables spilling out into the hidden terrace at at the back, which all sounds like a particularly fabulous way to make the most of LRB’s already enviable and charming ye old London setting, right in front of the British Museum.

Autumnal North Yard chefs takeover

A season of specially curated dishes by some of t’internet’s biggest foodie celebs kicks off tonight at Camden Market’s underrated cobbled North Yard.

At The Dark Horse, legendary chef, TV presenter, author and proper North London Turkish-Cypriot, Hasan Semay (aka Big Has), is making his mark on the burger menu, with a spiced lamb köfte patty draped with cheese, sumac parsley onions, muhammara, tomato and punchy pickles.

Alongside him, Eat With Spoons supperclub connoisseur and ‘chef to watch’ according to British Vogue, Rahel Stephanie, has created her own Sticky Sambal Wings, inspired by Indonesia’s beloved Sambal Bawang. They come double-fried, smothered in a glaze of garlic, shallots, chilli, palm sugar and kecap manis, and served with a cool, tangy acar pickle.

Then, over at conveyor-belt restaurant, Pick & Cheese, food pairing expert Claire Dinhut (aka CondimentClaire) is showcasing six special cheese pairings alongside her candied jalapeños and whipped rosary goats' cheese doughnuts.

🍽️ Two more posh dining options to salivate over, if not to visit without something fairly big to celebrate, come in the shape of Cicoria, which sees celebrated chef, Angela Hartnett, bring seasonal Italian cooking to the lovely terrace of the Royal Opera House. Meanwhile, in Fitzrovia, Luso is the brand new contemporary Portuguese to try over on Charlotte St.

🥕 Remember to sign up and try out the joys of Vegbox, who we profiled in Camdenist last week

✍🏼 The latest local boozer to be fighting for survival is Highgate Newtown’s lovely watering hole The Star, currently the subject of a petition to gain Asset of Community Value status. Sign to give your support and drop by for a supportive pint soon, too.

CAMDEN CURATED

October Oompah & more things to discover this week

DRINKING: 🍻 If your idea of fun is cosplaying a thigh-slapping, lederhosen-clad Bavarian or a buxom, bratwurst-munching fräulein, then fill yer haferlschuhe (boots) over the next four Saturday afternoons at the Electric Ballroom. There’ll be plentiful steins of imported beers, wild party games, a live oompah band and all the trappings of a big Oktoberfest on our doorstep.

MUSIC: 🎷 Never ventured out on a Monday night for the legendary Jazz in Kentish Town? Why not make it this week, as on Mon Oct 6th creative jazz and improv of George Crowley Trio are back at the intimate gig, found upstairs at The Bull & Gate.

STAGE: 🎭 The UK debut of Reunion opens tonight at the Kiln Theatre. Set on an island off the west coast of Ireland, a family is gathering and a storm is brewing, and when an unexpected visitor drops by, scores will be settled, beliefs challenged, and truths disclosed. Runs to 11th Oct.

SHOPPING: 💳 As Camden’s big 2025 Black History Season kicks off, the award-winning Cashblack rewards platform is hosting an their very first Cashblack Market open-air event at Hawley Wharf this Sat 4th Oct., featuring 40 stalls of fashion, health and beauty products, arts, crafts, toys and games, plus lots of food and drinks, too.

STAGE: 🚨 Silent Approach is a story of how one woman navigated her way back from the trauma of psychosis and arrest to a return to work as a serving police officer and then create her own mental health organisation. At at the Etcetera Theatre Wed 8th & Thurs 9th Oct.

EXHIBITION: 📸Catch the final days of the Wellcome Photography Prize 2025 exhibition, showcasing the most thought-provoking 25 entries submitted from over 100 countries, from captivating medical imaging to stories of the alarming health impacts of climate change. You’ll find it in the free ground floor gallery at The Francis Crick Institute until 18th Oct.

Read Camdenist contributor Hina Pandya’s review of this week’s special panel discussion at the Crick:

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