Explore London Bridge

There has been a bridge on this site almost as long as there has been a city of London, with successive bridges built by the Romans, William the Conqueror and King John. During the Tudor period around 600 buildings and bustling shops lined the bridge. When traffic on London Bridge became too crowded in 1722, a 'keep left' rule was instated that later became the pattern for all roads in the United Kingdom. The previous version of London Bridge (built in 1831 and designed by the architect John Rennie) was bought by McCulloch Oil Corporation of America, who then shipped the bridge across the Atlantic and re-erected it, piece-by-piece, over Lake Havasu in Arizona. Today's London Bridge opened in 1973. The bridge was made three times wider than the previous bridge to accommodate for increased traffic from vehicles and pedestrians. To pay homage to its predecessor, an aggregate sourced from Scotland was used rather than local Thames Valley gravel aggregate to match the style of Rennie's bridge.

Villareal's artwork for London Bridge responds to the continuous stream of movement, colour, noise, and cultural activity in the surrounding area. The simple form and silhouette of the bridge is complemented by fields of broad and warm colour. Through the artist's custom sequencing, the lighting casts a luminous wash that is fluid and subtly changing, dissolving what was previously a monolithic wall of light into a gently kinetic tableau. Inspired by an impressionistic colour palette, Villareal's artwork mimics the play of light on the Thames and links the architecture of the bridge with the currents and tides passing beneath.