Emin fights Foster tower in Shoreditch

Artists including Tracey Emin will today take on architect Lord Foster over plans to build a £1 billion tower in the heart of the East End.

Shoreditch's artistic community, led by Emin, Rachel Whiteread, TV architect Dan Cruickshank and Madness frontman Suggs, has called on Mayor Boris Johnson to help them fight the proposals.

Hackney planners will tonight consider a recommendation by their officers to allow The Light, a historic venue and landmark, to be demolished in favour of Foster's 51-storey tower.

Ms Emin said: "This scheme will destroy the heart of east London."

The Light was built in 1893 as an electricity power station for the railway. In 1996 it was leased from Railtrack for 35 years, and its £1million refurbishment was hailed by English Heritage as "exemplary". The Foster scheme by developers Hammerson has been widely criticised for failing to provide open spaces and enough affordable housing.

English Heritage, the Government's Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, the Victorian Society, the Hackney Society and the Ancient Monuments Society all oppose the loss of The Light.