Shipwrecked In London Or Dream Vacation?

Popular representations of getting shipwrecked don't make the whole experience sound very appealing. You may find yourself creating a creepy family commune or worse, arguing with a deflating volleyball on a deserted island. However, if you're like us, then architect David Kohn and artist Fiona Banner will have you dreaming of a marooned vacation in no time.

The creative pair recently won a design competition run by Living Architecture and Artangel with their installation, "A Room For London." Perched on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre in London, the coarse facade doesn't do justice to the luxurious interior, which doubles as a boutique hotel.

"A Room For London" functions as a once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunity. The one bedroom unit boast some of the best views in London, which is probably why it's already booked until the end of June. Kohn was among one of the first guests to try out the not-so-humble abode, but for him, the process was just as interesting as the final product.

Kohn told the NY Times, "We knew that it would ideally be built off-site and craned into place. This would also mean that the journey from the place of its construction to London and on to the roof would be a significant aspect of the project."

Both Kohn and Banner cite Joseph Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness" as the inspiration for the surreal house boat. Kohn said,

"Fiona has regularly referenced the text in her work, in particular its adaptation in 'Apocalypse Now,' Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam movie. The book is narrated aboard a yacht moored on the banks of the River Thames. This fit well with our desire to create a vessel that would be a place in which to create new narratives, to think about one's place in the contemporary world."

View a slideshow of "A Room For London" below.