Animals it is without a doubt one of the albums of Pink Floyd most iconic. The concept album, released in 1977is a harsh criticism of British society of the time, allegorically divided into pigs (the powerful), dogs (social climbers) and sheep (the masses). On the album cover – a photograph of Storm Thorgerson – a pig is seen flying between the chimneys of a coal-fired power plant. The power plant actually exists: it is the Battersea Power Stationin London, no longer active but visitable today. But what is the history of this building? And what happened to today?
The construction of Battersea Power Station in 1929
Located along the banks of the Thamesa Batterseathe coal plant began to take shape in 1929when the work for its construction was entrusted to the architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scottstill known today as the man behind the iconic red telephone booths. In the 1933 the power plant came into operation and in 1935 the first phase of the project, which included the pair of western chimneys, each tall, was finally completed about 100 meters.
Just think that during the Second World War the smoke produced was so much that it became a real point of reference on foggy days, both for the military pilots of the RAF as for those of the Luftwaffe. Nonetheless, it was hit on several occasions, although it never suffered fatal damage.
In the 1955 work on the second phase of the project, which included the two eastern chimneys, was completed.
The power plant on the Pink Floyd album
The real success of the power plant – so to speak – however, came a few years later, in 1977. That year i Pink Floyd they chose to use that enormous building as the main subject of their new musical effort, Animals. But they didn’t just take a photograph of the structure: they also attached a inflatable pig long 12 meters nicknamed Algie between the two chimneys.
Brief anecdote: on the first day of filming the weather was terrible and it was decided not to inflate the pig but to just photo of the power station and of cloudy sky behind him. On the second day the situation seemed to improve and therefore Algie was inflated and tied with straps ropes to one of the fireplaces. Unfortunately, due to the strong wind, yes he pulled away and began to fly, even obstructing some air routes. Eventually, after a long flight, it landed on a farm in Kent and was repositioned on the roof of the power station the next day. In the meantime, however, the sky had become clear and this was in contrast with the mood of the album. In the end we opted for a photomontage: The photo of the pig taken on the third day was superimposed on the one of the cloudy sky taken on the first day.
Returning to the power plant, however, the authorities understood that a coal plant of this type could no longer continue to remain open, especially due to its enormous environmental impact. Precisely for this reason the site was closed in 1983 – but not before being included among the cultural heritage to be preserved.
Battersea Power Station today
The following decades were rather uncertain: the structure passed from hand to hand, without managing to find a new identity and falling into disuse. This, at least until 2012, when the structure was acquired by SP Setia, Sime Darby Property and Employers Provident Fundthe current owners. The idea behind the new project was to make the former coal power plant a multipurpose center with shops, bars, and spaces for cultural events, as well as a new residential complex with numerous apartments both inside and next to the power plant.
Between the 2017 and the 2021 new residents began to settle in while in 2022 the center officially opened to the public, becoming in just a few years one of the most interesting landmarks in the city.
