Apocalyptic images of London's nightmare futures
Run for your lives, Piccadilly Circus has flooded, there's a shanty town encircling Buckingham Palace and camels are being used in the Horse Guard Parade.
Well not quite, but these are some of the nightmare possible futures faced by London according to artists Artists Robert Graves and Didier Madoc-Jones.
The duo considered what London could become if global warming, food scarcity and rising sea levels were to spiral out of control and created the photomontages.
Other terrifying images include city skyscrapers housing climate change refugees and Parliament Square being put to work as a rice paddy… we know, the idea of work getting done in Parliament Square is hard to believe.
A display of 14 arresting images is currently on display at the Museum of London along with descriptions by the artists.
Speaking of his work Didier Madoc-Jones said: "We have deliberately chosen ‘postcard’ shots of London, places that all of us are familiar with. By focusing our creative energy on these well known panoramas the images have taken on a life of their own.
"Each picture has become a mini soap opera, alive with colour, drama, triumph and adversity as our city is transformed and Londoners adapt to meet this change."
Piccadilly Circus – a haven of calm (top)
London’s busiest urban hub becomes a haven of calm as water levels rise ever higher. Water lilies, fish and wind turbines drift quietly in the breeze, amid empty buildings which are only left standing to support the infrastructure of power generation. Civilisation as we know it has gone.
Buckingham Palace shanty town
The climate refugee crisis reaches epic proportions. The vast shanty town that stretches across London’s centre leaves historic buildings marooned, including Buckingham Palace. The royal family is surrounded in their London home. Everybody is on the move and the flooded city centre is now uninhabitable and empty – apart from the thousands of shanty-dwellers.
Camel Guards Parade
Traditional rituals have altered beyond recognition, along with the climate. Here, on Horse Guards Parade, horses have been replaced by camels – animals that can withstand the heat of the parade ground. The change was controversial but the London Tourist Board argued strongly in favour. Tourism remains important for London’s economy.
Trafalgar Square shanty town
Nelson looks down on a shanty town of climate refugees. As the equatorial belt becomes uninhabitable, so people are driven north in search of food and security. People settle wherever they can and many reach London.
This is the political dilemma of the day for all European countries. The numbers are overwhelming. London’s strategy is to cluster the new arrivals in the historic centre, rather than spread them through the suburbs, where most Londoners now live.
Well not quite, but these are some of the nightmare possible futures faced by London according to artists Artists Robert Graves and Didier Madoc-Jones.
The duo considered what London could become if global warming, food scarcity and rising sea levels were to spiral out of control and created the photomontages.
Other terrifying images include city skyscrapers housing climate change refugees and Parliament Square being put to work as a rice paddy… we know, the idea of work getting done in Parliament Square is hard to believe.
A display of 14 arresting images is currently on display at the Museum of London along with descriptions by the artists.
Speaking of his work Didier Madoc-Jones said: "We have deliberately chosen ‘postcard’ shots of London, places that all of us are familiar with. By focusing our creative energy on these well known panoramas the images have taken on a life of their own.
"Each picture has become a mini soap opera, alive with colour, drama, triumph and adversity as our city is transformed and Londoners adapt to meet this change."
Piccadilly Circus – a haven of calm (top)
London’s busiest urban hub becomes a haven of calm as water levels rise ever higher. Water lilies, fish and wind turbines drift quietly in the breeze, amid empty buildings which are only left standing to support the infrastructure of power generation. Civilisation as we know it has gone.
The climate refugee crisis reaches epic proportions. The vast shanty town that stretches across London’s centre leaves historic buildings marooned, including Buckingham Palace. The royal family is surrounded in their London home. Everybody is on the move and the flooded city centre is now uninhabitable and empty – apart from the thousands of shanty-dwellers.
Traditional rituals have altered beyond recognition, along with the climate. Here, on Horse Guards Parade, horses have been replaced by camels – animals that can withstand the heat of the parade ground. The change was controversial but the London Tourist Board argued strongly in favour. Tourism remains important for London’s economy.
Nelson looks down on a shanty town of climate refugees. As the equatorial belt becomes uninhabitable, so people are driven north in search of food and security. People settle wherever they can and many reach London.
This is the political dilemma of the day for all European countries. The numbers are overwhelming. London’s strategy is to cluster the new arrivals in the historic centre, rather than spread them through the suburbs, where most Londoners now live.