The working life of Museum of London

Was it a bird? Was it a plane? Well no… it was an oversized plywood sofa with a print design by Eley Kishimoto. Hmmm, didn’t really see that one coming. But never mind, the big pink couch landed in front of the Museum of London last week as part of the London Festival of Architecture. No one’s seen it diving through a revolving door as yet, but it must have some kind of superpower as it arrived simultaneously outside Museum in Docklands, along with several other venues across town.

After a little head-scratching, visitors have been making themselves comfortable, acting out Big Brother confessions, reaching for the invisible remote control, and generally turning themselves domestically inside out. And whilst lesser locations are content to let their new furnishings be, plans are afoot to get out some of the gorgeous Kishimoto goodies from the Museum’s costume store. Could be a ridiculously chic tea party in the offing…

The Museum is all over the London Festival of Architecture this year. There are huge brightly coloured toilet roll sculptures at various places around the city. The makers are calling them pods, but we know better. Anyway, beside the showcasing of nearby architectural projects, they feature glorious panels outlining the quirkier histories of well known sites, courtesy of you-know-who. Duelling knights, medieval hoodies, Roman bikinis, bone skates and buried cheese are amongst the delights awaiting passers by.

Oh, and there’s a traditional street market festival in Cheapside on 19th July where Museum of London archaeologists are stepping back in time and showing what treasures the City has been offering up through recent excavations. It’s more of the LFA’s doing, and bartering and groat-spending possibilities should be rife.

Do you have photos of these sofas about town? Let us know with a comment on our Flickr photos.