Houses of Parliament—so, so obvious but risk taking a tour, get inside, a colossal masterpiece and one of the most influential buildings in modern times.
Banqueting House, Inigo Jones, 1619-22—the most chaste and elemental form of delicious Classicism. Nobel and sumptuous at the same time. Rare feat. Near St. James Park—very sweet area.
Museum of Natural History—Alfred Waterhouse, 1860-80. A giant among museum buildings. The empire at its full flowering, world straddling, avaricious and strangely obsessed with organization.
St. Paul's by Wren 1675-1710. A perfect expression of architectural genius, engineering inventiveness, National pride, Nazi-surviving glory. All this and one of the most inspiring and peaceful places on earth.
Sir John Soane's House museum, near Lincoln Inn Field—one of the most intriguing, quirky, idiosyncratic, bold, arresting, talented, elegant and never disappointing homes in the Western world. Ever. Yes, ever.
St Martin in the Fields, James Gibbs, 1722—as important as it is for London and England (and it is) it also inspired scores, if not hundreds, of churches in the early, naive, inchoate and derivative United States.
Whitechapel Art Gallery, C. Harrison Townsend, 1897-1901. An exuberant burst of late Victorian/early Edwardian creativity. Odd, beautiful, recently restored and in Jack the Ripper's neighborhood to boot!
Cadogan Square (above the Museum of Natural History and all of Albertopolis, ask anyone smart in these things). A fabulous 1880s neighborhood of exquisite and charming (almost overly charming) late Victorian homes—many for artists and architects themselves.
All Saints, Margaret Street, William Butterfield, 1859. A titan, profoundly influential and a strong-willed, risk-taking, no-nonsense, overly-ambitious, critic-hated, and hugely successful artist. The exterior is almost (and undeservedly) lackluster now but the interior, especially on a good day, is literally overwhelming in its detail, complexity, masterful execution and unexpected and convincing harmony. Wow.
Tower House, 29 Melbury Rd, William Burges, 1872—his own house and once Jimmy Page's (Led Zeppelin). Both drug-addled aesthetes at their peak. Demure exterior but a dynamite interior. The neighborhood has many, many architects and artist houses. You can get a guide. A wonderful walking tour and then lunch at Harrods.
Also here see Debenham House, 1906 on Addison Road and Lord Leighton House, 12 Holland Park Road. Now a museum 1884. Exotica (Arabian) at its most wonderful and convincing. What a painter. Fashion and current tastes be damned!
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