The Michael Faraday Memorial, located at Elephant Square in Elephant and Castle, London, is a monument to Victorian scientist Michael Faraday. Designed by modern movement architect Rodney Gordon in 1959 and built in 1961, the structure was intended to have a glass casing to show the workings of the transformer, but metal was used due to vandalism concerns. The memorial stands at the center of what was the northern roundabout of the Elephant and Castle gyratory system, and was given Grade II listed building status in 1996.
However, the connection between Faraday and the structure remained hidden until 1996 when a local schoolgirl designed a new lighting scheme for the memorial. Electronic musician Aphex Twin claimed in a 2001 interview to have bought the structure, though this is unconfirmed. The memorial is a reminder of Faraday’s immense contributions to science and the role of art in commemorating scientific achievements.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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