A giant cobalt-blue cockerel has been enthroned in Trafalgar Square since last July. Offbeat? We'd be tempted to say "so British"! Originally intended to house an equestrian statue, the plinth remained empty for a long time. Then it began to host ephemeral works, often controversial. Katharina Fritsch's cockerel was no exception, with some taking offence at the erection of the French national symbol on a site celebrating Admiral Nelson's victory over Napoleon's fleet. The Mayor of London has decided to laugh it off, and the sculpture will remain on the esplanade until January 2015. And so it goes in London, a joyful mix of tradition and modernity, snobbery and impertinence.
Aristo and popu
Sprawling at first glance, the capital of the United Kingdom is in fact a multitude of 'villages', mostly built around large parks. Its urban planning was never planned, and the city developed on the north bank of the
the Thames around two historic centres, the commercial City to the east and the aristocratic Westminster to the west. Today, the conurbation stretches into infinity, but remains a juxtaposition of styles and atmospheres, with monumental grandeur, charming terraced houses and populous suburbs to the east and south of the city.
The chimney of the Tate Modern, a veritable post-industrial totem pole, symbolises the reconquest of the south bank of the Thames. The installation of the Tate Gallery's contemporary art collections in this former power station in spring 2000 launched the 'revival' of Southwark, the long-neglected district where Shakespeare was born. By 2016, a cubist, all-glass extension will have been added to the south façade of the museum, an ambitious project led by architects Herzog and De Meuron, who were already behind the conversion of the factory. A visit to the museum is a must if you want your corporate project to fit in with the city's effervescent modernity.
Heading east
It's clear that London's centre of gravity is shifting eastwards, along the River Thames. The Canary Wharf business district, built on the former docks of the port, and The Shard, a glass tower anchored at the foot of London Bridge, are two examples of this trend. Designed by Renzo Piano, it is the tallest and most daring building in London. You can see it from everywhere, lost in the clouds or reflecting a sky that's usually in turmoil, turning every perspective upside down. In the wake of this audacious skyscraper, where you'll soon be able to sleep as a Shangri La hotel prepares to take over twenty floors, the whole district is being restructured: a gigantic worksite is set to transform an area of warehouses and industrial wasteland into a creative epicentre.
At the foot of the Shard, Borough Market is already up and running, with farmhouse and organic produce, prestigious customers - Jamie Oliver buys there - and mouth-watering stalls inviting you to discover the local gastronomy in the form of a tasting rally. Not far away, restaurants, bars and galleries have taken over Bermondsey Street, a delightfully 'edgy' street, as Londoners say to describe a place that is already trendy, but still a little on the fringe. The latest chic for a business tourism group is to book into one of the very fine restaurants set up within the Shard, a chic alternative to its panoramic platform. The view from the belvedere and the restaurants is breathtaking. In the foreground are the towers that are reshaping the City, some of which are still under construction. With their characteristic sense of humour and irony, the British have been quick to rename these new icons. Norman Foster's bluish ovoid tower? That's the Gherkin. Richard Rogers's skyscraper is known as a cheese grater, and Uruguayan Rafael Vinoly's as a walkie-talkie! Not necessarily very harmonious, but the whole thing has a real energy about it.
Bowler hat and leather jacket
The popular East End begins on the edge of the City, in one of those unlikely collages that London is famous for. Businessmen in impeccably tailored suits like to have lunch at Galvin's, a stone's throw from Spitalfields Market. Featuring a star-studded table and the striking decor of a 19th-century chapel, the place can be hired out for a trendy dinner in a corner where you'll come across many hipsters in search of a cult vinyl or vintage treasure. Bowler hat and leather jacket: the spitting image of the British capital!
The East End has the atmosphere of Dickens's novels, with its old guild signs and brick warehouses. But these once working-class neighbourhoods are changing fast. One of the first to arrive in Shoreditch in the early 2000s was a Frenchman, a Swede and a Malaysian. This trio first transformed a venerable pub into a baroque restaurant - Les Trois Garçons - before creating the boudoir-like Lounge Lover and opening a showroom tea room. A few streets away, Sir Terence Conran himself has set up a boutique hotel - The Boundary - in a former printing works, with each room paying tribute to a great 20th-century designer. If you can't sleep there, you can organise a 100 % arty cocktail party on its rooftop terrace.
Nearby, cosmopolitan Brick Lane is a playground for the big names in street art - Banksy in particular - while the Whitechapel Gallery presents a cutting-edge selection of contemporary art. Pablo Picasso, Lucian Freud and Mark Rothko have all exhibited here in their time. You'll be on the lookout for the geniuses of tomorrow. The restaurant adjoining the gallery is renowned, making it the ideal place to round off a private tour of the collection.
It's also a time for creative industries. In the heart of Shoreditch, the Old Street roundabout has been dubbed the Silicon Round-about, illustrating the government's desire to transform this proletarian bastion into a 'tech city' inspired by California's Silicon Valley. Hip-hop is now spreading to the area around Bethnal Green, where the imposing Edwardian town hall has become a luxury hotel - the Town Hall Hotel - the first of its kind in the East End. If the run-down environment of this design nugget comes as a surprise to newcomers, designers and media people are snapping up its meeting spaces. If you've got a good group, don't hesitate to do what they do! Especially as the Stratford district, which hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics, is nearby. The Olympic legacy should rebalance London around this former deprived suburb, now just seven minutes from St Pancras by fast train.
Sports facilities are being converted one by one, and one of Europe's largest urban parks will be inaugurated next spring. By then, the Forman & Sons salmon smoking factory will once again have a front row seat. Expropriated when the stadium was built, its astute owner rebuilt an ultramodern building that he equipped with a restaurant, modular spaces and a vast terrace that attracted sponsors of the games before and during the event. Today, he is banking on the artists' studios that have taken over the surrounding area. " There are over 600 of them, a unique concentration" says Lance Forman. With its still-secret galleries and exceptional salmon, this is a tempting programme for business travellers in search of originality.
Swing and swing again
Has this mad dash eastwards brought the West End out of fashion? Absolutely not. The districts that swung in the sixties have changed, but the party's not over. Piccadilly Circus remains the city's roaring lung. Around it, the cinemas of Leicester Square, the theatres of Covent Garden, the nightlife of Soho, the posh clubs and eccentric bars of Mayfair are always packed. You have to come here at the weekend to get the full measure of London's vitality. Not a day goes by without a new address dethroning yesterday's favourite, whether it's a hotel on the cutting edge of design or an elegant restaurant where Peruvian cuisine is the latest trend. Yes, Peruvian! It's on the corner of Green Park, it's called Coya, and you have to wait three weeks to get a table.
The atmosphere is calmer in South Kensington and Chelsea. Even if, here as elsewhere, you need to keep your address book up to date. On Fulham Road, Maggie's Club puts the eighties back in the spotlight under the wrathful eye of the Iron Lady: for a wild night out, you can book this irreverent club. Barts is hidden away at the end of the corridor of an ordinary apartment-hotel. With its bric-a-brac decor and elaborate cocktails, it's a very popular speakeasy. Here too, you can make the place your own. But first, take a fish & chip break in the back room of a traditional pub. Because some values, like diamonds, are eternal. Even in London, the very versatile British capital.
