London & Oxford: Architecture

Depart Home for London, England

• Arrive in London, England
• Airport Transfer
• Orientation Walking Tour – The group will become oriented with their neighborhood, the public transportation systems, nearby pharmacies, markets, ATMs, etc.
• Welcome Dinner – The group will be taken for an authentic dinner with a variety of menu options to cater all diets.

• • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • East London Architecture Tour – The City of London is a thrilling testament to contrast, endurance and change. Medieval churches and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Tower of London dramatically defy soaring skyscrapers and modern glass office blocks, all of which are set against the incredibly well preserved historic grain of ancient, twisting streets and narrow, winding alleyways. Together all these ingredients combine to form a frenzied urban kaleidoscope like no other, a charged and restless cityscape that has been forged by a relentless cycle of destruction and renewal and which today has attracted some of the world’s foremost historic and now contemporary architects.
  • Lunch Break

• London Design Museum – The world’s leading museum devoted to contemporary design in every form from architecture and fashion to graphics, product and industrial design.

• Breakfast & Day Briefing
• West London Architecture Tour – The soaring dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral still dominates the western reaches of the City of London, a constant reminder amongst all the commercial and legal premises that dominate this part of London that it is the City’s spiritual heritage that still forms the core of its historic identity. This theme is most effectively conveyed at the landmark Paternoster Square development beside St Paul’s, the conciliatory culmination of a long-running architectural battle between modern and classical styles.
• Lunch Break
• National Gallery – The collection comprises some 2,000 works, but it is regarded by many as the most representative sampling of European painting in the world.

• Breakfast & Day Briefing
• Modern & Contemporary Architecture Walking Tour – The Royal College of Nursing Library and Heritage Centre is home to Europe’s largest nursing specific collection.
• Camden Market – Over 1000 shops and stalls selling fashion, music, art and food next to Camden Lock.
• Lunch Break
• Serpentine Galleries – They are two contemporary art galleries, the Serpentine Gallery and the Serpentine Sacker Gallery linked by a bridge over the Serpentine Lake. Every year, a leading architect displays his or her design in a temporary summer pavilion near the Serpentine Gallery. Each Pavilion is completed within six months and is situated on the Gallery’s lawn for three months for the public to explore.

• Breakfast & Day Briefing
• Travel to Oxford (approx. 1 hour)
• Architecture Tour of Oxford – Oxford has a compact city centre with an outstanding collection of world famous buildings. Its origins lie in the late Saxon period and its original street pattern still survives along with some of its earliest monuments.
• University Museum – Designed by Benjamin Woodward in Gothic Revival style the work was much influenced by the Oxford-educated John Ruskin. In marked contrast to the Ashmolean, this is one of the first examples of a non-religious Gothic building which glorifies instead the natural world. Inside are columns made of different examples of native rocks. Everywhere the ornamentation incorporates natural forms, plants, birds and animals, under a magnificent glass roof.
• Structured Free Time & Cultural Immersion
• Return to London

• Breakfast & Day Briefing
• London Free Day – The group will be provided numerous suggestions and optional activities to make the most out of their free day.
• Farewell Dinner & Program Closing – The group will be taken for an authentic dinner with a variety of menu options to cater all diets.

• Breakfast & Day Briefing
• Airport Transfer
• Depart London, England for Home