55 Broadway, London
55 Broadway was designed by
Charles Holden and built between
1927–
29. It was built as the headquarters building for the
London Underground.
Faced with
Portland stone, the upper office floors of the building are on a cruciform plan, stepping back towards the central clock tower at the top. The ground floor contains a shopping arcade and many
art deco details. The whole building is built on top of
St. James's Park tube station.
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North Wind, one of Eric Gill's three reliefs decorating the seventh floor pediment. |
On each elevation, the pediment above the seventh floor is decorated with a relief, collectively known as 'the four winds', although the four points of the compass are repeated twice for a total of eight reliefs. Each relief was carved by a contemporary sculptors of the day.
 |
Jacob Epstein's Day and Night drew most of the critism from the public of Edwardian London. |
Above the two main entrances are a matched pair of sculptures,
Day and
Night by
Jacob Epstein. The modernism and graphic naked of these sculptures created public outrage on their unveiling. Newspapers started a campaign to have the statues removed and one company director even offered to pay the cost.
Frank Pick the managing director of London Underground at the time took overall responsibility and offered his resignation over the scandal. In the end, Epstein agreed to remove a couple of inches from the penis of the smaller figure on
Day and ultimately the furore died down.
*
Day and Night Jacob EpsteinNorth Wind A.H. Gerard
*North Wind Eric Gill
East Wind Eric Gill
East Wind Allan Wyon
South Wind Eric Gill
South Wind Eric Aumonier
*West Wind Samuel Rabinovich
*West Wind Henry Moore
Modern Architectural Sculpture, Ed. William Aumonier, The Architectural Press, London 1930
