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Looking back at some of the most popular London attractions of the recent years, including restaurants, retail events and art exhibitions, Something Curated reflects on the city’s longest queues.

 

Random International: Rain Room at The Curve, Barbican || Hannes Koch & Florian Ortkrass (4 Oct 2012 – 3 Mar 2013)

Founded in 2005 by Hannes Koch and Florian Ortkrass, Random International invited visitors to experience what it’s like to control rain. Visitors were able to choose to simply watch the spectacle or find their way carefully through the rain, putting their trust in the work to the test. The Curve space was transformed by the monumental proportions of this carefully choreographed downpour and the sound of splashing water. In order for visitors to enjoy the sensory experience as intended, there was a limited capacity of five people at a time, and given the attraction’s popularity, queue times averaged at around six hours, with longer waits at weekends.

 

Yayoi Kusama: Sculptures, Paintings & Mirror Rooms at Victoria Miro Gallery || Yayoi Kusama (25 May – 30 Jul 2016)

Spanning Victoria Miro’s three locations and waterside garden, this major exhibition included new paintings, iconic pumpkin sculptures, and immersive mirror rooms, all conceived specially for the presentation. Reflecting the artist’s lifelong preoccupation with the infinite and sublime, as well as the twin themes of cosmic infinity and personal obsession, as found in pattern and repetition, the show was naturally immensely popular. The Wharf Road site in particular, where Kusama created three mirror rooms, attracted enormous daily queues, becoming a firm Instagram favourite of 2016.

 

Padella, Borough Market || Tim Siadatan & Jordan Freida (Open Now)

(via Double Skinny Macchiato)

When it comes to lengthy queues for food, there are plenty to choose from in London, from Granger & Co. and Dishoom to Bao, to name a few. Padella, Created by Tim Siadatan and Jordan Freida, the duo behind Islington’s much-loved Trullo, Padella offers a simple menu of eight seasonal pasta dishes, combining traditional Italian techniques and flavour combinations with quality British produce. The pasta is all freshly made on site, and passers-by can watch it being rolled out by hand in the window of the restaurant. Split over two floors, diners can either sit at tables or take the more casual option of the kitchen counter seating. Either way, expect a wait.

 

Dover Street Market Market at 180 Strand || Adrian Joffe & Rei Kawakubo (11-14 May 2017)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUKO1JmBtMJ/?taken-at=234456717&hl=en

Owned by Comme des Garçons and known for its progressive edit, creative visual merchandising and bi-annual “tachiagari” whereby the interior of the store is completely reborn, Dover Street Market is a multi-brand retail experience that offers some of the world’s most avant-garde fashion. Earlier this month, at Dover Street Market Market, customers and fans were offered a carefully edited selection from the DSM archives of all Comme des Garçons brands as well as many DSM favourites from the last decade at 180 Strand. With stock continually replenished and discounts of up to 80%, the event gathered extraordinary queues, with wait times of up to five hours.

 

Supreme, Soho || James Jebbia (Open Now)

At the Supreme London store the understated black shop front gives way to a two-storey site featuring a photo collage by photographer Ari Marcopoulos and an installation by skateboarder and artist Mark Gonzales. The surrounding Soho neighbourhood is packed with Supreme fans every Thursday keenly awaiting the weekly drop. The skateboard brand, which never fails to sell-out, is a continuous hype machine, drawing regular crowds which led to disgruntled neighbours complaining about the snaking queues, and even a threat of closure by the local council last year.

 

Feature image: Rain Room by Random International, at the Curve Gallery, Barbican (via Barbican Art Gallery | Photo: Wayne McGregor)

Any you think we’ve missed? Get in touch with us at hello@somethingcurated.com.

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