‘What Nelson Sees’, a collaborative installation by Paul Cocksedge and Google Arts & Culture, opens in Trafalgar Square for London Design Festival 2025

Image ©Mark Cocksedge

Taking over Trafalgar Square, What Nelson Sees by Paul Cocksedge in collaboration with Google Arts and Culture, offers visitors an unprecedented opportunity to experience London from Nelson's vantage point atop his column, revealing perspectives of the city never before accessible to the public.

Born from the designer's lifelong curiosity about what Admiral Nelson witnesses from his elevated perch, this ambitious public installation represents Cocksedge's attempt to answer a question that has captivated him as a Londoner: teleporting viewers fifty metres skyward to discover a view that has been hidden for nearly two centuries.

Brought to life with Flow, Google’s AI filmmaking tool powered by Veo, these moving vignettes aim to capture the essence of London as a perpetual melting pot and a city of relentless energy, creativity, and reinvention that has continuously transformed itself while maintaining its distinctive character and historic significance.

'What Nelson Sees' uses one of London’s most enduring monuments, a column that has stood for almost 200 years, as the anchor for a conversation about the next 200 years. It connects the sweep of London’s history to the possibilities and uncertainties of its future. At its heart it is about perspective, about looking out from where Nelson stands and seeing London: past, present, and future.

LOCATION: Trafalgar Sq, London WC2N 5DS, United Kingdom
DATES: 11 September - 16, 18 September 2025

Click here to book your free ticket