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12 Southbank: Late Modernism

Royal festival hall, 1948-1951 by Robert Matthews and Leslie Martin is a concert hall that was built for the Festival of Britain. The non-axial planning space questions the beaux art opera typology, allowing public without tickets to use the space as well. The hall has multiple entrances, making the building as porous as possible, blurring the boundaries of a public and private space. The celebration of public spaces is a physical manifestation of the wartime collective effort. Furthermore, because the building is also a public space, the view of the Thames is democratized.

Royal Festival Hall - Democratizing the view of the Thames 

The concept of a porous building reminded me of Anywhen, an installation by Philippe Pareno at Tate Britain. The installation aimed to make Turbine Hall as transparent as possible to the exterior. It stimulates and amplifies the soundscape, light and weather outside the Tate. There is even a microphone placed at the bottom of the Thames. The installation consist of moving walls, light and sound that are controlled by activated yeast in the lab.

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/hyundai-commission/philippe-parreno-anywhen

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11 Wartime Appropriation

During the Blitz, infrastructure was appropriated. For example, the underground was used as a shelter for people of various social classes during air raids. Other examples of wartime appropriation include The Anderson Shelter and Morrison Shelter were unintended spaces of architecture that were improvised. The Anderson shelters made of corrugated iron sheets and were half buried in the ground with earth on top. The Morrison Shelter, a model that could be set up in the living room, doubles as a bed and a dining table. Wartime desperation resulted in the inhabitation of public infrastructure and the appropriation of everyday objects.

The Anderson Shelter

Morrison Shelter

Though appropriation of infrastructure was a wartime effort, perhaps the numerous disused tube stations in London ( http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/ ) could be inhabited/ appropriated. 

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/attractions/under-london-the-secret-world-beneath-the-city-s-streets-a3132406.html#gallery

Disused station in 19th arrondissement, Paris turned into a restaurant/ bar

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10 Modernism: the evolution of living and social spaces

The first notion of the public emerged in piazzas/ squares typology where the social is included into design considerations. This notion of social is brought into living spaces in modernism. For example, in Sassoon House, 1932-34 by Maxwell Fry and Elizabeth Denby, the balcony is made as a shared balcony, resulting in the balcony being used as a social space. In Kensol House 1932-37 by the same architects as Sassoon, amenities for education and a nursery is integrated into the ground floor of the housing project. Pullman Court, 1936 by Frederick Gibbert, formerly houses a pool before it was covered and made into parking spaces. Isokon Flats 1934 by Well Coates houses a communal kitchen and shared balconies.

Inigo Jones’ piazza as first public space 

Isokon Flats: communal kitchen and shared balconies as social space

Besides that, modernism has also introduced new types of social spaces such as Peckham Health Center, 1933-35 by Sir Owen Williams where a dance floor and a pool is introduced to encourage healthier lifestyles. This preventative method is a feature of modernism, where the strategy of prevention rather than cure is championed.

Peckham Health Center experiment: gym and swimming pool

Peckham Health Center experiment: dancefloor

Through modernism, the line between public and private space is blurred, as social spaces are brought closer/ into living/ domestic spaces.

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09 Lutyens’ Delhi: Urban Planning as a political tool

New Delhi, or also known as Lutyen’s Delhi was modeled after Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City. Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City is an urban planning strategy where a constellation of self-sustained city is surrounded by greenbelts and connected through an urban network with one another. It was a modular approach to urbanization, where the nucleus system creates suburbanization. This urban planning strategy is manifested in the creation of New Delhi where the city is segregated into little pocket spaces. This results in New Delhi being an un-walkable city, making it easier control and surveil.

Plan of New Delhi 

Garden City, Ebenezer Howard, 1898

This relates to the concept of urban planning being used as a political tool – to control and to surveil. Besides New Delhi, urban planning as a political tool can also be seen in cities like Detroit, where the Detroit Eight Mile Wall acts as a physical barrier and a racial segregator between the white and blacks population in the city. The wall was built to separate homes planned for middle-class whites from blacks who had already built small houses or owned land with plans to built from it.

Detroit’s Eight Mile Wall

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08 Industrialization and Victorian London

As industrialization manifest itself in London, the city’s population more than doubled. This called the need for more infrastructural developments in the city. Architecture like St Pancras Trainshed, 1868-74 by William Henry Barlow and Crystal Palace, 1851 by Joseph Paxton is only enabled by industrialization.

St Pancras Trainshed mimics the gothic pointed arch with steel and glass.

On the other hand, Crystal Palace is not only enabled by industrialization in a physical material sense, but also through colonization (that was made possible through industrialization). Crystal Palace as a green house typology not only has implication of dominating nature, but is also a demonstration of colonialism, where plants from all over the world are collected and kept in a recreated climate. This can be seen in the Palm House structure in Kew Gardens today, where the Victorian iron and steel structure houses a range of tropical climate plants.

Crystal Palace Greenhouse World Expo 1851

Palm House, Kew Gardens 

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07 Romanticism in Landscape

William Kent, being the first English landscape architect championed the concept of picturesque or pittoresco in architecture. As Pittoresco means done in the manner of the painter, landscape architects like Kent echo landscape painters like Claude Lorraine. In Lorraine’s Landscape with Apollo, the Muses and a River God, 1652, the architecture is placed in the background. This is in contrast to paintings like Christ giving the keys to St Peter, 1481-82 by Pietro Perugino where the perspective of the painting draws the main focus towards the architecture.

Landscape with Apollo, the Muses and a River God, 1652 by Claude Lorraine

Christ giving the keys to St Peter, 1481-82 by Pietro Perugino

Besides that, Kent was also interested in empiricism, the theory that all knowledge is based on experience. With that thinking, Kent marries nature with architecture, creating theatrical and dramatic landscapes. This can be seen through hermitages, grottos, and cascades in his projects.

Rousham House, William Kent, 1738-41

In London, this concept of picturesque can also be seen in Nash’s Regent Park, where an urban enclave is created. The buildings/objects/ monuments and the landscape in the park have a symbiotic relationship, where neither takes precedence but they compliment one another.

Regents Park 

The English garden picturesque concept can also be found in the estate of Trianon in Versailles. Marie-Antoinette attained the gardens in 1774 and remodeled the gardens to be of an English Garden typology. Grottos, monuments, and man-made cascades were installed. This was interesting in context as the English garden typology was in contrast with the French garden found in the same estate.

English Garden, the Estate of Trianon, Versailles, Paris

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06 Travel Notes

1) Stephansplatz, Vienna: where destruction is necessary for road improvements to be carried out, yet it is a huge obstruction and annoyance in a high traffic zone, where tourists gather to photograph St Stephan’s Cathedral. (to the left of the photo)

2) Szimpla Kert, Budapest: Reappropriation - Ruin Pubs (Romkocsma). These ruin pubs are becoming increasingly common in the old Jewish quarter in Budapest. Abandoned and decayed buildings are gentrified and repurposed into pubs by merely adding a bar, outdoor seatings and colourful lights. The ‘ruins’ and the decays are celebrated and are not painted over. Can the reappropriation of Romkocsma be seen as a way to preserve these old Jewish quarters? 

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05 Metropolitan Improvements: Trafalgar Square and Regent’s St

Trafalgar Square and Regent St was built (or overseen) by John Nash for Prince Regent, or later known as King George IV. The formation of Trafalgar Square was used to both provide a grand entryway from the Thames into the palace area and was used as a tool to separate social classes. The outer periphery of the square was first laid out with the building of National Gallery, Union Club, and Canada House. After, the Nelson Column and the two fountains follow. John Nash conceived of the space as a monumental declaration of the monarchical power. The placement of the fountains further emphasizes the control the monarchy has over the public, as its placements prevent a larger amount of people from congregating in the square. Besides that, the square also creates class boundaries by facing the square towards the South/ Southwest (Westminster), but against the North/ Northeast of London, as North and East side of London are occupied by the working class. This was a result of a study carried out by Nash in his report of 1812.

Besides that, Regent Street was also built for the Prince Regent, connecting Regent’s Park (hunting ground) and the Calton’s House (at the Mall). It was also used as a class separator between the nobles and aristocrats in Westminster & Mayfair and the working class in Soho. As Regent Street is interrupted by private wealthy property (on the way to Regent’s Park), John Nash has to choreograph some awkward junctions in the street. He masks these disruptions by utilizing circular colonnades/facade at Piccadilly Circus and placing All Souls Langham Place (church with circular portico) at the end of the junction. 

Nash’s picturesque dealt with architecture alike a landscape, where he creates an artificial landscape and places props and follies in it. In comparison with Christopher Wren who champions the multiplicity of views/ vista, John Nash puts forward a highly curated singular view of the city. Nash’s close relationship with the Regent enabled him to carry out many projects in the city, whose architecture are a form of manifestation of the Regent’s vision as well. In summary, Trafalgar Square and Regent Street are ‘Metropolitan improvements’ that divides social classes physically and socially. 

Drawing of Regent Road connecting Calton House Terrace to Regent’s Park

(Image taken from: http://scenariojournal.com/article/skeleton-forms-the-architecture-of-infrastructure/)

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Photo of the Royal Pavilion next to town houses in Brighton

Having visited Brighton over the weekend, it is hard to believe that the same John Nash was the architect for the Royal Pavilion as well. The Royal Pavilion strikes me as an exoticism of the Indian and Chinese culture, as well as a cultural appropriation of both cultures. The Royal Pavilion is also a reflection of the British colonial rule that’s happening in parallel to the construction. The Royal Pavilion and its surrounding gardens can be seen as another form of Nash’s Picturesque, in the form of a colonial exoticism and the manifestation of monarchical power. 

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04 St Paul’s Cathedral: How St Paul reflects and affects the urban fabric of London

St Paul’s Cathedral has evolved formally, ideologically and politically over time (604 AD – present). It has not only been a reflection of the shifting society and politics, but, conversely, it has also affected the urban fabric that surrounds St Paul. It is also important to note that St Paul has been the monument or the center of London since it was built.

 St Paul has undergone a shift in forms during each of its rebuilds; it went from being a wooden cathedral to a stone cathedral, then from a gothic cathedral to a baroque cathedral. When it was built in a gothic rendition, the height of the spires was very significant, as it aspires to be the tallest Christian church in the world. However, when Christopher Wren designed St Paul, the height and the size of the cathedral itself didn’t matter as much, as it was the formal dynamism of the building that was emphasized upon.

From Wren’s Baroque/ Baroque, the concepts of formal dynamism (diversity in spatial experience of the building) and vista or viewing corridor are introduced.

The Baroque architecture emphasizes on a change in experience, or a heightened drama when experiencing a sequence of space. This can be seen through the change of height in the section of St Paul, where the public is brought into a shorter space before entering the grand space under the dome.

(Taken from: https://goo.gl/526kIH) 

Due to the monumentality and the role of St Paul’s Cathedral, the location of the cathedral in relation to the city affected London’s urban planning scheme, creating London’s view management framework. From 1930 onwards, no buildings are allowed to be erected around St Paul’s Cathedral. Furthermore, viewing corridors towards St Paul are protected all around London.

 (Taken from: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/dec/11/city-of-london-skyline-of-tomorrow-interactive)

A monument is only a monument when it can be viewed from many different viewpoints.

The study of St Paul’s monumentality prompts me to question the function and the importance of monuments in a city. A monument not only provides cultural identity and heritage to a city, but it also acts as a symbol/ icon of a city.

(Taken from: https://goo.gl/Ijb06O) 

The framing of St Paul from One New Change by Jean Nouvel is an example of the protected corridors that is enforced in London. At the same time, the framing of St Paul and the reflectiveness of One New Change commodifies and iconizes the image of St Paul even more. 

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03 Walking of the Great Fire

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02 Times of turmoil: Reformation, Dissolution of Monasteries and Private Property

The renunciation of the Catholic Church by King Henry VIII not only allows him to divorce Katherine of Aragon, but also to carry out the dissolution of monasteries. This enables the king to own and redistribute land previously owned by monasteries to aristocrats and nobles.

Above: St Paul church in Covent Garden; the image shows the transformation from pastured land to a piazza. 

Covent Garden was the first square in London, whose creation resulted from the Reformation. It was originally a vegetable garden in a convent, which its name originates from. The Earl of Bedford who was gifted Covent Garden commissioned Inigo Jones to design a piazza, housing and the very first protestant church. As Inigo Jones had previously traveled to Italy via France, many of his design influences stem from the said countries. Jones introduces (Palladian) classical architecture as the visual identity of the very first protestant church in Covent Garden. The austere/ lack of opulence quality of the classical architecture allows Jones to differentiate the new church from its predecessor.

The creation of the square in Covent Garden not only introduces architectural uniformity in terms of a housing, but also the creation of public spaces in the city. However, today, only St Paul’s Church remains from the original square by Jones.

Above: The creation of Covent Garden creates a large piazza for public space and allows for architectural uniformity in the housing typology. 

The dissolution of monasteries marks the start of private property lines, as the space in Covent Garden evolved from a vegetable garden to a piazza surrounded by housings.

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01 Types of Destruction

Destruction can be categorized as man-made (intentional) destruction and natural (unintentional) destruction. The reading Britain’s Lost Cities by Gavin Stamp, points out many ‘positive’ aspects of destruction, such as making way for progress and other great opportunities. Such positive examples include Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire, the destruction of Pruitt Igoe to prevent social ills and the demolition of Ronan Point due to decay.  

Furthermore, destruction is a topic that should be relevant in the architecture discourse because construction in a city always follows a destruction of some kind to make space. Besides a physical permanent demolition of a building, the destruction may also entail a destruction of a culture/ style/ heritage that is associated with the building.

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Pruitt-Igoe: the destruction of Pruitt-Igoe goes beyond the actual site and event, as the televised recording marks the “death of modernism” and the “start of post-modernism”. It exhibits the failure of modernism because the infrastructure of the post-war social housing was not maintained, and had generated social ills through the vacantness of the architecture. The brutalist concrete is also associated with social ills and decay. On the other hand, the televised recording of the destruction allows the act of witnessing to transcend time and place (introducing the postmodern hyperspace). Hence, the act of destruction here can also be seen as a form of cultural production, making it a productive destruction. 

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This prompts me to think when it is acceptable to destruct a building, as all buildings have a history/ cultural association with it. I think it is acceptable to demolish a building when it poses physical threat to the society, such as structural instability. However, I believe that buildings like the Robin Hood Garden in London by the Smithsons (which has planned demolitions ahead of it) should not be demolished as its structural integrity still remains. It would be ideal to repurpose/ reappropriate the building rather than demolishing it and constructing a new building from scratch.