- South Bank
:otheruses
The South Bank is the area in
London on the southern bank of theRiver Thames nearWaterloo station that houses a number of important cultural buildings/institutions. The South Bank stretches 2 square miles (5 square kilometres) along the shores of theRiver Thames . It was the site of the 1951Festival of Britain , which proposed the name for this post-war urban regeneration project; the ancient name of the area is Lambeth Marsh and Lower Marsh. Presently it is London's fastest-growing section,Fact|date=April 2008 a locale of modern cultural centre with numerous theatre, gallery, andconcert halls . The legacy of the Festival is theRoyal Festival Hall , now part ofSouthbank Centre arts complex. The area is split between the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark (for the part of the riverside which stretches towards Blackfriars Bridge; the riverside beyond that point is properlyBankside .)Since then, the
Queen Elizabeth Hall andPurcell Room were opened in 1967 (on the site of a former Shot Tower),The Hayward in 1968, and the National Theatre in 1976. Nearby are theNational Film Theatre and theBFI IMAX cinema.King's College London has a campus in the centre.Adjacent to the National Theatre is the distinctive white tower of the
London Weekend Television (LWT) building, where (among other things) the long-runningtelevision Arts programme "The South Bank Show " is produced.Carlton Television andGMTV have also broadcast from the building since 1993, and it is now calledThe London Television Centre .Much of the area was subject to various large scale commercial development plans in the 1970s–1980s, which were successfully opposed by community groups. The renovation of the
Oxo Tower and development of mixed housing developments and open space by community groups have encouraged the regeneration of the community in the area.To the west of the RFH, beyond the railway
viaduct leading up toHungerford Bridge , is a public open space called Jubilee Gardens, separating it from nearby County Hall (Incidentally, the County Hall now houses a hotel — the Marriott London County Hall). By County Hall is the largeFerris wheel built to celebrate the 2000 Millennium, theLondon Eye .To the east of the South Bank is the adjoining area of
Bankside , deriving its name from one of the medieval causeways built to hold back the Thames. Bankside is home to theTate Modern art gallery and the reproduction of Shakespeare'sGlobe Theatre and, near London Bridge,Borough Market .Beyond Waterloo Station, to the south, can be found the rest of the Waterloo area, including the historic market street of
Lower Marsh and The Cut, home ofThe Old Vic .The South Bank is also regarded by many to be the unofficial home of British
street skateboarding . Fact|date=July 2008The sheltered section beneath theQueen Elizabeth Hall has provided the skateboarding community of Britain and international skaters alike with ideal banks and stairs since the 1970s, and is conveniently located near other skatespots such asThe Hayward . More recently, a skateboarding related art company, The Side Effects of Urethane, has providedSouthbank Centre with several skatable sculptures in their 'Moving Units' project.In September 2007, a statue of
Sir Laurence Olivier as Hamlet was unveiled outside theNational Theatre , to mark the great actor's centenary.ee also
*
Festival of Britain
*Coin Street Community Builders External links
* [http://www.londoncountyhall.com/ London County Hall Entertainment] (Attraction, Bar and Restaurants, Museum, Venue hire, Entertainments)
* [http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/ Southbank Centre] (Arts and entertainment complex)
* [http://www.sbeg.co.uk/ South Bank Employers' Group] (Business-led regeneration agency)
* [http://www.explore-london.co.uk/ Explore-London.com] (Photographs)
* [http://www.londoneye.com/ London Eye website] (Visitor information)
* [http://www.london-se1.co.uk/ London SE1 Community Website] (Local news and information)
* [http://www.coinstreet.org/ Coin Street Community Builders] (Regeneration group)
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