Smith Square is a square in the Westminster district of London, just south of the Palace of Westminster. The centre of the square is occupied by St John's, Smith Square, a Baroque church now used as a concert hall. Most of the square is now taken up by offices and the location means that they are mostly occupied by organisations associated with government, or that need to be near it for lobbying purposes. In the mid 20th century the square hosted the headquarters of both the main parties of British politics, and it is now home to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Local Government Association and the London base of the European Parliament and European Commission.
Famous quotes containing the words smith and/or square:
“As Nature is always careless and indifferent
Who sees, who steps, means nothing and this is pretty.”
—Stevie Smith (1902–1971)
“After the planet becomes theirs, many millions of years will have to pass before a beetle particularly loved by God, at the end of its calculations will find written on a sheet of paper in letters of fire that energy is equal to the mass multiplied by the square of the velocity of light. The new kings of the world will live tranquilly for a long time, confining themselves to devouring each other and being parasites among each other on a cottage industry scale.”
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)