Chimney of the Bankside Power Station / The Tate Modern (London, UK) - Unique Chimneys and Chimney Pots on Waymarking.com

Depicted huge brick chimney is a key architectonic element of former Bankside Power Station, converted into famous Tate Modern gallery in London.

From a far visible central chimney is 99 high. The chimney's height was limited to less than the spire of St Paul's Cathedral, which already stood on the direct opposite side of the river.

The impressive building of the Bankside Power Station, called often "Cathedral of Energy", was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, author of another iconic London's piece of industrial architecture - the Battersea Power Station. Bankside Power Station started generating electricity from oil in 1952. The power station didn’t remain useful for long - and was closed in 1981 after just 29 years of electricity generation thanks to the rising price of oil and also the environmental issues. For 13 years, building remained empty, until the Tate Modern acquired the site in 1994. Various international architects competed for the contract to redesign the site, with Herzog & de Meuron the eventual winners. Their design was the only one which retained the existing power station shell substantially intact, with the two storey glass roof being added to allow light in to the gallery. The Tate Modern has been a great success fom the day it opened (2000) - two million people visited in the first three months alone.