St Pancras in Spheroview

May 14, 2007

The deteriorated Gothic splendour of George Gilbert Scott’s railway hotel at St Pancras station, London, in a series of 360 degree views. The empty building looks distinctly creepy in many of these panoramas, like unused maps for a computer game.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Adolph Sutro’s Gingerbread Palace
• Giant mantis invades Prague
• Whirling Istanbul

6 comments or trackbacks

#1 posted by Wiley

May 14th, 2007

Whoa, the full screen option is trippy as hell when looked at in the dark.
#2 posted by John

May 14th, 2007

The big views are cool indeed.
#3 posted by Martin Jones

May 14th, 2007

An Alice In Wonderland playground for London’s jaded commuters. Lost men in bowler hats wander up and down the stairs for eternity. St Pancras always LOOKS like the station you should be alighting from, rather than Kings Cross. The last time I stepped out there was in 2006, to see The Cramps. Fitting. Deranged chambers of the mind. “All I wanna do is join the happy crowd behind the green door…”
#4 posted by Nathalie

May 15th, 2007

It does look more like a theater set than a (discarded?) hotel.
#5 posted by John

May 15th, 2007

Martin: I agree, I’ve had a fondness for Victorian stations since early childhood and the sight of the old North Station at Blackpool. They demolished that (of course!) and replaced it with a horrible concrete barn that makes Euston look classy.

Nathalie: I seem to remember reading about a theatre group putting on a performance there where you had to walk around the place (with guides) and actors would appear and do their bit. I forget the details, I think they were supposed to be ghosts of dead workers or something. And I think it’s been used in TV productions as well.
#6 posted by marly youmans

Mar 5th, 2009

Came back to look at this and the other architecture-in-decay pictures again. They are fascinating–the world’s best parkhour playground, I suppose.