London - Somerset House
Summer in the City
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian building, which was built on the site of a Tudor palace belonging to the Duke of Somerset, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776. It was further extended with Victorian wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856 respectively. The East Wing is now part of the adjacent Strand campus of King's College London. Somerset House stood directly on the River Thames until the Victoria Embankment was built in the late 1860s.
The main courtyard, which had been used as a civil-service car park, and the main terrace overlooking the Thames were refurbished and opened to the public, these alterations being overseen by the conservation architects Donald Insall & Associates. Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund financed the conversion of the South Wing between 1999 and 2003: a visitor centre featuring audio-visual displays on the history of the building, the gilded state barge of the Lord Mayor of the City of London and a shop and café were opened, overlooking the river. The Gilbert Collection of decorative arts, and the Hermitage Rooms, which stage exhibitions of items loaned from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, moved into the same area. The last Hermitage exhibition took place in 2007 and the Gilbert Collection galleries closed in 2008; the collection moved into new galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in June 2009. Somerset House now puts on a programme of art exhibitions, drawing on various sources.
In stages from 2009 to 2013, HM Revenue and Customs withdrew from the other parts of the building; since March 2013 the Somerset House Trust has had oversight of the entire complex. Its management policy has been to rent out the upper floors at a commercial rate to "creative businesses", while devoting the ground floor to "public realm" activities. The trust receives no public subsidy and relies on income from rent and private hire to fund the upkeep of the estate and relies on ticket sales, merchandising and sponsorship to fund its artistic and cultural programme.
Somerset House is now residence to more than a hundred tenants, comprising a large and diverse collection of creative organisations and artists including the British Fashion Council, 7Wonder, Hofesh Shechter Company and the Royal Society of Literature. The largest tenant is King's College London whose Cultural Institute, Executive Centre and Dickson Poon School of Law occupy a large part of the East Wing. For a time the Representative of Anguilla (the diplomatic mission of the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla) was accommodated in part of the West Wing.
In the winter the central courtyard is home to a popular open-air ice rink, as seen during the opening credits of the 2003 Christmas-themed film Love Actually. At other times, an array of fountains display 55 vertical jets of water rising to random heights.
Post-rock band Mogwai playing live at Somerset House.
The courtyard is also used as a concert venue. In July each year the "Summer series" of music events take place, which have included performances from artists such as Lily Allen.
Somerset House is a popular filming location, with its exterior featuring in several big-budget Hollywood films. These include two James Bond films, GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and several scenes of the 2003 film Shanghai Knights, starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, were filmed in the courtyard of Somerset House. The courtyard was also used in the 1991 comedy King Ralph. Elements of the 2008 film The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes, were filmed in October 2007. Somerset House was also used as a filming location in several Sherlock Holmes films, including 1970's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and, more recently, Sherlock Holmes (2009), starring Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr., directed by Guy Ritchie. Exterior shots of Somerset House were used in the 1999 Tim Burton horror film Sleepy Hollow, starring Johnny Depp, and the 2006 film Flyboys. Somerset House was a filming location in the 2012 Bollywood film Jab Tak Hai Jaan, which starred Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, directed by Yash Chopra. Somerset House Courtyard was also used in the 2008 movie Last Chance Harvey, with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. Scenes were filmed in Somerset House for the Olympus Has Fallen sequel, London Has Fallen (2016).
(Wikipedia)
Somerset House ist ein großes Gebäude, das sich auf der südlichen Seite von The Strand im Zentrum Londons befindet. Es überblickt die Themse in unmittelbarer Nähe zur Waterloo Bridge. Der zentrale Teil des klassizistischen Gebäudes, ein Projekt des Architekten Sir William Chambers, wurde 1776 und 1796 errichtet. Später wurde es um nördliche und südliche Flügel im viktorianischen Stil erweitert. Ein Gebäude gleichen Namens wurde bereits an gleicher Stelle zwei Jahrhunderte vorher gebaut. Der Ostflügel des Gebäudes ist Teil des King’s College London.
Gegen Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts entwickelte sich Somerset House zu einem Zentrum der bildenden Kunst. Das Courtauld Institute of Art, einschließlich der Courtauld Gallery, die eine wichtige Gemäldesammlung Alter Meister und Impressionisten besitzt, hat hier ihren Sitz. Der Innenhof wurde als Parkplatz für Regierungsangestellte benutzt, und die Flussterrasse wurde für die Öffentlichkeit geöffnet. Im Gebäudeteil mit Ausblick auf die Themse befindet sich ein Besucherzentrum mit audiovisueller Ausstellung über die Gebäudegeschichte. Dort findet man auch die offizielle Staatsbarke des Bürgermeisters sowie einen Souvenirladen und ein Café.
Die Gilbert Collection mit ihrer Kunstgewerbesammlung und die Eremitage-Räume, in denen Leihgaben der Eremitage in St. Petersburg gezeigt wurden, fand man ebenfalls dort. The letzte Eremitage-Ausstellung fand 2007 statt: Die Gilbert Collection schloss 2008, die Sammlung zog 2009 ins Victoria and Albert Museum um. Die Ausstellungsräume von Somerset House werden heute für Wechselausstellungen genutzt.
Im Winter wird der Innenhof zu einer Eislauffläche umgebaut, während dort im Sommer Fontänen betrieben werden. Auch Konzerte werden dort abgehalten.
Somerset House wird gelegentlich als Kulisse für Film und Fernsehen benutzt. Neben Silvestershows wurde dort unter anderem eine Folge der Fernsehserie Spooks gedreht und Somerset House dabei zum Buckingham Palace umgebaut.
2008 war Somerset House einer der Schauplätze des Filmdramas Die Herzogin mit Keira Knightley und Ralph Fiennes. Ebenfalls 2008 wurden dort Szenen des Guy-Ritchie-Streifens Sherlock Holmes (2009) mit Jude Law und Robert Downey junior gedreht und im selben Jahr für den Liebesfilm Liebe auf den zweiten Blick mit Dustin Hoffman und Emma Thompson. Im Frühjahr 2015 fanden dort Dreharbeiten für den Actionfilm London Has Fallen (2016) statt.
(Wikipedia)
London - Somerset House
Summer in the City
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian building, which was built on the site of a Tudor palace belonging to the Duke of Somerset, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776. It was further extended with Victorian wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856 respectively. The East Wing is now part of the adjacent Strand campus of King's College London. Somerset House stood directly on the River Thames until the Victoria Embankment was built in the late 1860s.
The main courtyard, which had been used as a civil-service car park, and the main terrace overlooking the Thames were refurbished and opened to the public, these alterations being overseen by the conservation architects Donald Insall & Associates. Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund financed the conversion of the South Wing between 1999 and 2003: a visitor centre featuring audio-visual displays on the history of the building, the gilded state barge of the Lord Mayor of the City of London and a shop and café were opened, overlooking the river. The Gilbert Collection of decorative arts, and the Hermitage Rooms, which stage exhibitions of items loaned from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, moved into the same area. The last Hermitage exhibition took place in 2007 and the Gilbert Collection galleries closed in 2008; the collection moved into new galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in June 2009. Somerset House now puts on a programme of art exhibitions, drawing on various sources.
In stages from 2009 to 2013, HM Revenue and Customs withdrew from the other parts of the building; since March 2013 the Somerset House Trust has had oversight of the entire complex. Its management policy has been to rent out the upper floors at a commercial rate to "creative businesses", while devoting the ground floor to "public realm" activities. The trust receives no public subsidy and relies on income from rent and private hire to fund the upkeep of the estate and relies on ticket sales, merchandising and sponsorship to fund its artistic and cultural programme.
Somerset House is now residence to more than a hundred tenants, comprising a large and diverse collection of creative organisations and artists including the British Fashion Council, 7Wonder, Hofesh Shechter Company and the Royal Society of Literature. The largest tenant is King's College London whose Cultural Institute, Executive Centre and Dickson Poon School of Law occupy a large part of the East Wing. For a time the Representative of Anguilla (the diplomatic mission of the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla) was accommodated in part of the West Wing.
In the winter the central courtyard is home to a popular open-air ice rink, as seen during the opening credits of the 2003 Christmas-themed film Love Actually. At other times, an array of fountains display 55 vertical jets of water rising to random heights.
Post-rock band Mogwai playing live at Somerset House.
The courtyard is also used as a concert venue. In July each year the "Summer series" of music events take place, which have included performances from artists such as Lily Allen.
Somerset House is a popular filming location, with its exterior featuring in several big-budget Hollywood films. These include two James Bond films, GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and several scenes of the 2003 film Shanghai Knights, starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, were filmed in the courtyard of Somerset House. The courtyard was also used in the 1991 comedy King Ralph. Elements of the 2008 film The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes, were filmed in October 2007. Somerset House was also used as a filming location in several Sherlock Holmes films, including 1970's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and, more recently, Sherlock Holmes (2009), starring Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr., directed by Guy Ritchie. Exterior shots of Somerset House were used in the 1999 Tim Burton horror film Sleepy Hollow, starring Johnny Depp, and the 2006 film Flyboys. Somerset House was a filming location in the 2012 Bollywood film Jab Tak Hai Jaan, which starred Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, directed by Yash Chopra. Somerset House Courtyard was also used in the 2008 movie Last Chance Harvey, with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. Scenes were filmed in Somerset House for the Olympus Has Fallen sequel, London Has Fallen (2016).
(Wikipedia)
Somerset House ist ein großes Gebäude, das sich auf der südlichen Seite von The Strand im Zentrum Londons befindet. Es überblickt die Themse in unmittelbarer Nähe zur Waterloo Bridge. Der zentrale Teil des klassizistischen Gebäudes, ein Projekt des Architekten Sir William Chambers, wurde 1776 und 1796 errichtet. Später wurde es um nördliche und südliche Flügel im viktorianischen Stil erweitert. Ein Gebäude gleichen Namens wurde bereits an gleicher Stelle zwei Jahrhunderte vorher gebaut. Der Ostflügel des Gebäudes ist Teil des King’s College London.
Gegen Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts entwickelte sich Somerset House zu einem Zentrum der bildenden Kunst. Das Courtauld Institute of Art, einschließlich der Courtauld Gallery, die eine wichtige Gemäldesammlung Alter Meister und Impressionisten besitzt, hat hier ihren Sitz. Der Innenhof wurde als Parkplatz für Regierungsangestellte benutzt, und die Flussterrasse wurde für die Öffentlichkeit geöffnet. Im Gebäudeteil mit Ausblick auf die Themse befindet sich ein Besucherzentrum mit audiovisueller Ausstellung über die Gebäudegeschichte. Dort findet man auch die offizielle Staatsbarke des Bürgermeisters sowie einen Souvenirladen und ein Café.
Die Gilbert Collection mit ihrer Kunstgewerbesammlung und die Eremitage-Räume, in denen Leihgaben der Eremitage in St. Petersburg gezeigt wurden, fand man ebenfalls dort. The letzte Eremitage-Ausstellung fand 2007 statt: Die Gilbert Collection schloss 2008, die Sammlung zog 2009 ins Victoria and Albert Museum um. Die Ausstellungsräume von Somerset House werden heute für Wechselausstellungen genutzt.
Im Winter wird der Innenhof zu einer Eislauffläche umgebaut, während dort im Sommer Fontänen betrieben werden. Auch Konzerte werden dort abgehalten.
Somerset House wird gelegentlich als Kulisse für Film und Fernsehen benutzt. Neben Silvestershows wurde dort unter anderem eine Folge der Fernsehserie Spooks gedreht und Somerset House dabei zum Buckingham Palace umgebaut.
2008 war Somerset House einer der Schauplätze des Filmdramas Die Herzogin mit Keira Knightley und Ralph Fiennes. Ebenfalls 2008 wurden dort Szenen des Guy-Ritchie-Streifens Sherlock Holmes (2009) mit Jude Law und Robert Downey junior gedreht und im selben Jahr für den Liebesfilm Liebe auf den zweiten Blick mit Dustin Hoffman und Emma Thompson. Im Frühjahr 2015 fanden dort Dreharbeiten für den Actionfilm London Has Fallen (2016) statt.
(Wikipedia)