ART AND INDUSTRY

摘要

There's not much of industrial London left, so the loss of any further little scruffy works can be cause for concern. One such corner in Battersea has just gone, but the spirit of production survives, albeit more cultural than industrial. The Royal College of Art Painting Department's Sackler Building sits in a strong urban brew which was once typical of South London - a blend of industry, small Victorian parades of shops, caffs and pubs and a huge bus garage. Amidst this gritty mix the harbingers of regeneration poke conspicuously through. We might be only just over the bridge from Cheyne Walk, yet this is another city. Foster was here first. The architect's offices are still the most elegant regenerated thing along the river. On the other hand, there's also the great clunking UFO of the same archi- tect's hideous Albion Riverside, which crunches into the urban fabric in a manner that does its best to ruin the neighbourhood.