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This April London’s postmodernism geeks will get to feast their eyes on another of the city’s treasures. The Cosmic House in Kensington, a private home turned museum which rarely lets people peek inside its walls, is opening to the public.
Since becoming a museum in 2021, The Cosmic House has been open for visitors between April and December. Because it is on a residential street, the museum has restrictions on when it can open and how many visitors it can have, which is why getting a chance to look inside is no easy feat. This year it will open its doors again on April 22.
Only a five minute walk from Holland Park station, the house is one of only two Grade I-listed post-modernist buildings in the UK. The west London structure was built between 1978 and 1983 by writer Maggie and architect Charles Jencks in collaboration with Sir Terry Farrell, who also designed the iconic MI6 building. Its white stucco walls regularly hosted debates between architectural legends such as Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers.
The Jencks were fascinated by stuff like the human body and the cosmos, themes they worked into their design for the Cosmic House. The home is filled with oddities, including house-shaped bookshelves, a luminous sundial arcade and a ‘Dome of Water’ – a jacuzzi designed by Piers Gough, the architect behind China Wharf and The Circle in Bermondsey.
Alongside taking in the stunning designs, this April the Cosmic House will also host an installation by British artist Isaac Julien. All That Changes You. Metamorphosis is a film about landscapes and architecture starring Gwendoline Christie and Sheila Atim.
From April 22 until December, visitors will be able to mill about the Cosmic House’s halls to soak in the Cosmic Oval’s mythological friezes, climb its calendar-inspired spiral staircase, and explore the Time Garden and its many doors.
The Cosmic House will be open from 12.30pm until 4.30pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Tickets cost £16 with donation, £13 without donation and £5 for students. They are currently available to book here.
Guests are warned that children under 12 are not allowed, heels are prohibited and that the building has a steep spiral staircase.
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