img(height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=2939831959404383&ev=PageView&noscript=1")

C(h)anadalier

Words:
Jan-Carlos Kucharek

We’ve clearly moved on from the South Park movie’s ‘Blame Canada’ song, where all the world’s troubles are placed on the shoulders of the USA’s Royalist neighbour. The Canadian High Commission in London sure has, with  57:157 – a stunning futuristic glass chandelier installed in its new, refurbished interiors, designed by Vancouver and Berlin based designer Omer Arbel and his multi-disciplinary design company Bocci. Each of bulbous handmade glass forms is one-way mirror-coated to create a reflecting form that responds to the ambient light in its 1829 stairwell – until it is illuminated, when it glows eerily from within. The result is a beguiling installation that, like the movie, is ‘Bigger, Longer and Uncut’ –in all the right ways.


 

Latest

20 May 2025 from 9am to 11.30am

RIBAJ Spec: Architecture for Housing and Residential Development Webinar

Farrells’ high-end Chelsea Waterfront scheme absorbs the former power station, spans two London boroughs and oozes wealth. But its integration of public realm and affordable housing holds out the possibility of an inclusive future

Chelsea Waterfront integrates public realm and affordable housing to hold out the possibility of an inclusive future

In Plockton, Baillie Baillie Architects employed contemporary techniques while drawing inspiration from local traditions, and timber, to maximise the potential of a modest plot

In Plockton, Baillie Baillie Architects used contemporary techniques while drawing inspiration from local traditions

What do psychology and neuroscience tell us about what architects should promote or avoid in facade design? Eleanor Young speaks to two experts

What does neuroscience tell us about what to promote or avoid in facade design?

This year's best buildings in full - with drawings, images and all the judges' views

2025 RIBA Awards West Midlands winners