Signals and Sightlines
BT Tower
London National Park City Ranger Project exploring how strategic communications networks and infrastructural development shape our cities and public spaces, by artist-researcher Jordan Rowe and cultural historian David Anderson.
Sixty Years Of Signals, Sightlines, And The Invisible Forces That Shaped London's Skyline
When the BT Tower opened in 1965, it was heralded as a symbol of ‘the technical and architectural skills of this modern age’. Offering the possibility of instantaneous telephonic and televisual communication, it was an icon of publicly owned national infrastructure.
For decades, the tower relied on clear, uninterrupted microwave paths routed through a network of repeater stations in outer London and the home counties. Any tall building constructed within these corridors risked causing signal loss or distortion. The BT Tower therefore acted as a brake on development in this part of the West End, shaping both the skyline and the formation of public squares and parks.
Sixty years on, in the context of the tower’s planned re-development into a hotel and leisure facility, this research project is inviting Londoners to think about ‘signals and sightlines’ in new ways, reflecting on what we can’t see as well as what we can.
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
Project by David Anderson and Jordan Rowe, joint Banister Fletcher Global Fellows in Urban Studies at the University of London Institute in Paris. They operate the Cultural Topographics Research Unit, a collaborative research and public engagement studio.Â
Open House Festival
60 Years of the BT Tower: Signals and Sightlines
Fri 18 Sep
Join us at the London National Park City Visitors Centre for refreshments and the launch of the project’s audio guide and associated publication.
Taking place as part of Open House Festival 2026Â
80 Mortimer St, London W1W 7FE, UK
