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City of London skyline reimagined by Featherbottom & Partners

Featherbottom & Partners redesigns London skyscrapers to mark King Charles III's coronation

Modernist City of London landmarks have been given a traditionalist makeover in honour of King Charles III ahead of his coronation this weekend.

Run by an anonymous British architect, Featherbottom & Partners (FAP) is a satirical project that reimagines well-known modernist buildings in a style more in line with the King's tastes.

City of London redesigned by Featherbottom & Partners
Featherbottom & Partners is the creation of an anonymous British architect

Charles has a well-known preference for classical architecture over modern designs and has made several controversial interventions into the built environment over the years.

For its first work, titled A City for a King, FAP has produced concepts for City of London skyscrapers that were "inspired by examples praised by the King."

City of London skyscrapers reimagined for King Charles III's coronation
The satirical designs have been released to mark King Charles III's coronation

These including Foster + Partners' 30 St Mary Axe, better known as the Gherkin, and RSHP's The Leadenhall Building, commonly called the Cheesegrater.

Also refashioned are 22 Bishopsgate by PLP Architecture and Kohn Pedersen Fox's 52 Lime Street, sometimes dubbed the Scalpel.

Glass facades make way for stone, while sleek forms are altered by ecclesiastical gabled roofs and spires, with added touches such as dormer windows, arches and pillars.

The Gherkin redesigned by Featherbottom & Partners
Foster + Partner's Stirling Prize-winning Gherkin is among the redesigned buildings

The tongue-in-cheek FAP project describes itself as "redefining British architecture in devotion to King Charles III".

"Our new monarch has dedicated himself to enlightening British architects on how to conduct themselves and build a Britain to his liking," a spokesperson for FAP told Dezeen.

"Featherbottom & Partners' manifesto is to embrace traditional and classical design principles inspired by our majesty's teachings and architectural critique."

"Our vision for the heart of our majesty's capital is to align to the King's critique of the carbuncle that is the City of London," the spokesperson added.

"The four largest and most significant towers of the City cluster are to be redesigned, inspired by examples praised by the King, such as Poundbury in Dorset where the facade redesign, in particular, is emulating this English architectural gem."

The Cheesegrater redesigned by Featherbottom & Partners
RSHP's The Leadenhall Building also received the FAP treatment

Charles' opposition to modernist architecture goes back a long time. In 1984, Charles gave an infamous speech at the Royal Institute of British Architects in which he described a proposed high-tech extension to the National Gallery as "a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend", with the design later scrapped.

The then-prince also spearheaded a successful campaign to kibosh plans for a Mies van der Rohe tower in the City, which would have been the hugely influential architect's only UK building.

Charles has also helped develop new towns built in a classical style, most notably Poundbury in Dorset.

The images are courtesy of Featherbottom & Partners.

More images

22 Bishopsgate redesigned by Featherbottom & Partners
52 Lime Street redesigned by Featherbottom & Partners