When Le Corbusier arrived in Manhattan, he remarked that the buildings were too small. This was not to say that they were not tall enough but that they were not wide enough; referencing his plans of Ville Contemporaine, in which buildings had a large footprint that allowed expansive public spaces in-between.

Photography by Wilfred Tomescu

Central London’s own tendency is much more diverse as new buildings respond to emerging needs whilst keeping a cohesive relationship with the old buildings. The iconic Portland stone construction reflected in the modern glass façades has become an imposed, characteristic image of London.

However, South of Thames, the amalgam appears ameliorated. Southwark is dominated by sought-for regeneration projects – most notably the City Hall and Bankside – and London’s most famous food market, the Borough Market. Here, the response to London’s growth and modernisation is led by the conflict between the public transportation and the pedestrian culture; the old is left underneath as the new stacks on top. Thus, the riverbank, the underground, the street level and the overpass create new levels in the structure of the borough. A viaduct roofs the Borough Market, old streets remain underneath brick arches and the churches are shaded by modern constructions built on the raised banks.

Photography by Wilfred Tomescu.

From the middle of this Southwark, London Bridge Tower seems to be pushed upwards by the very same tectonic plates that form the layering. It is well connected to this understanding of organisation as it has an underground entrance, one at street level and another that connects with the public transportation. Its exterior aesthetics suggest that it is still in the process of formation but that illusion is given away once inside, where it is noticeable that the composing ‘shards’ are linked by thin and irregular strips of glazing, mounted on a poor composition of visible structural elements.

 It is from this landscape perspective that the building is most often portrayed, whether in the media, with its characteristic use of the term ‘controversial’ or the now coined moniker ‘The Shard’; or from high-altitude representations, which show it as a sculpture, a landmark or a monument. In those versions, mostly inaccessible in reality, the relationship between the cluster of towers in The City and London Bridge Tower is a double-sided blade. Sometimes it seems that the tower is the first move in a chess game – the very first chess piece that breaks the line of pawns on a chessboard whilst other times it seems that it was left behind on the wrong side of the river whilst the other towers encourage it to jump over.

Photography by Wilfred Tomescu.

In terms of architecture and urbanism, the ground level gives yet another perspective. The approach is very rewarding as the building hides and shows itself behind foreground buildings, creating dynamic and exciting vistas in tune with the aesthetic ideals of the Picturesque. The tower can be seen from almost anywhere in Central London and, from most places, it seems to belong. Weather reminiscent of Golding’s Spire, blending in the background of faraway churches or a suggestion of a modern equivalent of Tolkien’s all-seeing Eye of Mordor, the building is infallibly English.

Photography by Wilfred Tomescu.

However, at ground level, the architecture ceases to dominate. On foot, the surrounding approach is tedious and constricted; unwelcoming, tight streets seem to be leading past the building rather than towards it. The structure of the tower meets the ground elegantly as the cladding stops a few floors above and the ground floor plan is set back to create a sheltering overhang. This is compromised by poorly detailed, redundant canopies that break the line of cladding.

Photography by Wilfred Tomescu.

The London Bridge Quarter site is cluttered and leaves the appearance of an interchange rather than a modern urban intervention that is looking towards the future. Bollards dominate the pavement, surround buildings and, sometimes, even double the structure. The adjacent buildings on site suggest that the neck breaking, violently converging lines of the tower gave up floor space in favour of height. This is where the building is too small and the thin roman bricks are the first to suggest that in the context of Southwark, the project is contrived. Instead of a site-specific restoration, a plaza or a park, the borough is left with yet another transportation node. A transitory population is unlikely to congregate and socialise is such a place.

Outside the British context, the concept is anything but new. This way of representing the future has been attempted numerous times since the age of Enlightenment from Expressionism – most notable, in this case, is the German Expressionist Bruno Taut’s ‘Stadtkrone’ – through Futurism and Russian Constructivism and realised in the construction of New York. Furthermore, a hotel, a restaurant, housing and offices are not sufficient for a city. Following the current tendency, London is more likely to keep adding streets on top of the old ones that become too cluttered, overpopulated and filled with constrictions and dead ends. Maybe the future of Southwark will see a number of skyscrapers with streets leaving each floor platform and each level representing another generation with its specific breakthroughs and mistakes, lifestyles and technology – a true vertical city.

At the end of last month Chris Halligan of Stephen George and Partners shared his thoughts about what winning an RIBA President’s Award for Research meant to him.  Today we’re very pleased to bring you a few comments from Prof Alan Short, of Short and Associates and the University of Cambridge about winning an Award in 2007.

Atrium of UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. Image: Peter Cook

We were delighted to win the President’s award for practice-based research for our project ‘Design for the warming environment’ which focused on two buildings we had recently completed: UCL’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies and Judson College in Illinois.  We are firm believers in the potential for practice to achieve research outcomes at the highest international level, particularly so in such an applied subject.

The award has helped build credibility in subsequent work, both in practice and academia: encouraging other organisations to participate and journals to publish the outcomes.  We have also continued to develop the ideas from ‘Design for the warming environment’ in projects such as the multi-disciplinary and cross-university Design and Delivery of Robust Hospital Environments in a Changing Climate, (De2RHECC) which was funded through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s (EPSRC) Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change funding call.  The project investigated economical and practice strategies for the adaptation of the NHS’s estate to increase its resilience to climate change whilst meeting onerous emissions targets. Detailed refurbishment strategies were devised and potential barriers to their implementation were investigated.

 

The RIBA’s annual research awards exist to promote the innovation and insight that emerge from excellent research. The awards acknowledge and encourage fresh and strategic thinking in architectural research for the benefit of the profession as a whole.

Projects are judged by a distinguished panel of experts in four categories:

• Master’s degree thesis
• PhD thesis
• University-led research
• Practice-led research

The deadline for receipt of entries is 5pm on 20 May 2013. For full terms and conditions and to enter please see www.architecture.com/awards

A record of over one and a half centuries of architectural history, the RIBA’s Periodicals Collection reveals news from 150 years ago this month about new buildings from across the the British Isles…

Herne Hill railway station, London
Architect: John Taylor
Source: Building News, 1 May 1863, vol.10, p.337
© RIBA Library Books and Periodicals Collection

150 years ago in May 1863 there was news of the competition to design Liverpool’s New Exchange Buildings which had attracted 44 entries and were on public display in the city’s Old Session House (1). Church building was actively taking place, resulting in the opening of new or rebuilt churches such as the Gothic-style Daylesford Church in Worcestershire (2). Generating far more columns inches than these and leaving a legacy we are still using, readapting and investing in today were the railways.

Daylesford Church, Worcestershire.
Architect: J. L. Pearson
Source: Building News, 15 May 1863, vol.10, p.375
© RIBA Library Books and Periodicals Collection

“It seems as if the nation had become seized with a mania for railway locomotion, otherwise the excursion train could not have so speedily become a recognized institution in this country.” (Building News, 8 May 1863, vol.10, p.349).

Architectural details, Herne Hill railway station, London,
Architect: John Taylor
Source: Building News, 1 May 1863, vol.10, p.337
© RIBA Library Books and Periodicals Collection

In 1862 Herne Hill was a new station on the expanding network of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, and was featured in Building News on 1 May 1863. The architecture of the station is Gothic, a style praised in the same article as a sign of the “improving state of public taste” (3) and its application on all types of buildings given as evidence of the vibrancy of the style.

Herne Hill railway station in May 2013. It was Grade II listed in 1998
(Photograph by Wilson Yau)

There was also news of the laying of the foundation stone of Blackfriars Bridge (4). When the crossing was completed, the line from Herne Hill station was able to cross the Thames and connect to the eastern terminus of the world’s first underground railway, the Metropolitan line, which had only opened in January that same year.

The use of steam locomotives in the confines of a tunnel proved to be too much for some though. By May the Builder (5) was complaining of the dire state of ventilation in the Metropolitan Underground Railway: “the sulphurous fumes which escape from the tunnel are both unpleasant and unwholesome”. The journal recommended additional air shafts to improve the situation. There were complaints about the impact of the new railways on cities. In the article “Railway vandalism in Ludgate-hill” it was claimed that the new Ludgate Hill Viaduct would block a view of St Paul’s Cathedral and through demolition further ruin London, “proverbially an ugly city” (6). The viaduct was opened a few years later, but removed in the late 20th century.

It’s clear that London has always been a contested space and it has never been easy to build there.

 

References:

1. Builder, 30 May 1863, vol.21, p.381
2. Building News, 15 May 1863, vol.10, p.374
3. Building News, on 1 May 1863, vol.10, p.327
4. Builder, 9th May 1863, vol.21, p. 336
5. Builder, 9 May 1863 vol.21, p.335
6. Building News, 15 May 1863 vol.10, p.381

 

 

In 2010, Robert Elwall looked at Fritz Höger’s brick masterpiece on the Elbe…

Chilehaus, Hamburg, 1929
Architect: Fritz Höger
Photographer: Francis Rowland Yerbury (© RIBA Library Photographs Collection)

A masterpiece of Expressionist architecture, Hamburg’s Chilehaus was built as part of a programme by the city council to clean up insalubrious areas. With its upper storeys recessed to circumvent height restrictions, the brick office building provided accommodation for 4,500 workers and gained international recognition for its architect, Fritz Höger (1877-1949). Brick was well suited to Hamburg’s damp climate but was also held to symbolize traditional German values such as honesty and sincerity. It was thus regarded by Höger and others as a colourful, indigenous riposte to the monochrome International Style. Höger’s work was much admired in England where it influenced buildings such as the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon (1932).

From an article by Robert Elwall, Assistant Director, British Architectural Library, and originally published in January 2010.

More images are available to view on RIBApix.

 

The Royal Institute of British Architects has published the results of the March 2013 Future Trends Survey.

Kurt Helfrich on the work of architect Rudolph M. Schindler…

Design for a beach house, California, for Rupert R. Ryan, 1937
Designer: Rudolph M. Schindler
© RIBA Library Drawing and Archives Collections

This coloured presentation sketch by Rudolph M. Schindler (1887-1953) features an unrealised hillside home overlooking San Francisco Bay. Born in Vienna Schindler trained under Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos before moving to Chicago in 1914. There Schindler joined Frank Lloyd Wright’s office and was sent to Los Angeles in 1920. Schindler’s work was primarily residential and included concrete tilt-slab construction experiments as well as futuristic hillside homes, reflecting his advocacy of ‘Space Architecture’. Schindler’s designs were rediscovered with a traveling exhibition organised by U.C. Santa Barbara and hosted by institutions in the US and Europe. This drawing was included in the 1972 inaugural exhibit of the Heinz Gallery at Portman Place and is one of three drawings presented to the RIBA by Schindler’s family.

Dr Kurt G F Helfrich, CA
Chief Archivist and Collections Manager, British Architectural Library, RIBA

More images are available to view on RIBApix.

Architectural inspiration is different for everyone – from being captivated by an intriguing patterned ceiling, to finding satisfaction in the rhythmic placement of windows or wonderment at the sheer size and scale of buildings. The ‘Who rocked your world?’ drawing workshop at the RIBA’s Spring Last Tuesday event invited members of the public to plot inspirational architecture from around the world on a huge floor map. As the evening unfolded, participants watched the map grow and architectural identity over-shadow arbitrary national borders.

Participants drawing

Participants adding their drawings to the map

On the map, participants planted their drawing of their chosen building – some famous, others obscure – alongside images from the RIBA’s own collections of architectural drawings and photographs. Examples from the collections included the patterned houses of the Ndebele of South Africa, Piranesi’s drawing of the ruins of the Colosseum in Rome and Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House. Drawings produced during the workshop showcased a wide range of exciting, and often widely unknown, architecture from abroad, including the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the commercial edifice of Norman Foster’s Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation headquarters and the less well-known Mount Buzludzha, the now disused space-age headquarters of the Communist Party in Bulgaria.

So, who rocked your world?

The map with images from the collections and participants’ drawings

India and South-East Asia

Middle East

The workshop was led by Ros Croker, Library Education Curator, RIBA. See more images from the collections on RIBApix and check for more events in What’s On.

Homes for sale, compact, no views but good transport links! ...

The profession that it cannot rely on great design alone, but also needs to be business and client focused to be a successful business and thriving profession.

The fund will provide a number of annual scholarships each year, to a total value of £25,000, to support talented students during the final year of their RIBA Part 2 ...

Research by Ipsos MORI for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has revealed strong public support for the introduction of minimum space standards for new build homes across England.

Shorlisted announced for the RIBA Vauxhall London Missing Link Competition ...

The RIBA President’s Awards for Research is now accepting entries so we thought it would be interesting to check back with some past winners to see what their Award meant to them.

First Chris Halligan of Stephen George and Partners, whose Guide to Building Materials and the Environment won the in the 2011 Practice-led category, has kindly agreed to share his thoughts with us.

Receiving the 2011 President’s Award for Outstanding Practice-Located Research was possibly the greatest personal achievement of my career to date. Not only due to the recognition it brought myself, Joanne Denison (my co-author) and Stephen George and Partners – but also because it was totally unexpected.

When we wrote the Guide to Building Materials and the Environment, we never considered it to be true “research”. To us, “research” meant either laboratories full of people in white coats testing theories against empirical evidence or strange looking jet aircraft gleaming as they nudged hypersonic speeds at the edge of the atmosphere. Our own aim was just to provide a practical resource for use within our own company which would help us avoid the frustration we had encountered when seeking information for a project. The suggestion from Nick Austin, our practice manager that perhaps we should consider entering our work for the President’s Research Awards just wasn’t taken seriously by Joanne and I. (After all, we didn’t wear lab coats or own a wind tunnel…) However, Nick was insistent that we should enter and moreover, he felt the Guide stood a chance of being a contender. Credit must go to Nick for convincing us to make a submission in the end – and when we received the news that we had in fact won, the shouts of shocked elation were audible across the street!

Winning the Award presented us with several subsequent opportunities to appear at various prestigious events. One of the most memorable for myself was to be asked to lecture at the Thirteenth World Triennial of Architecture in Sofia, Bulgaria run by the International Academy of Architecture. This resulted in being presented with a very touching gift of architectural literature from the Dean of Architecture at Tbilisi University in appreciation of the high standard of our contribution to the event. The next evening, I was asked by the British Ambassador to Bulgaria to be interviewed with him on Bulgarian television to promote the sustainable credentials of the London 2012 Olympics. It’s quite something to hear yourself being dubbed into a foreign language!

Since we won the Award, it has been difficult to find the time to update the Guide as often as I would like. Probably in common with many other practices, the economic downturn means we are all working twice as hard just to stay in one place! However, we continue to acquire and collate information on materials and the third edition of the Stephen George & Partners Guide to Building Materials and the Environment should be available before the end of the year.

The RIBA’s annual research awards exist to promote the innovation and insight that emerge from excellent research. The awards acknowledge and encourage fresh and strategic thinking in architectural research for the benefit of the profession as a whole.

Projects are judged by a distinguished panel of experts in four categories:

• Master’s degree thesis
• PhD thesis
• University-led research
• Practice-led research

 

The deadline for receipt of entries is 5pm on 20 May 2013. For full terms and conditions and to enter please see www.architecture.com/awards

 

A record of over one and a half centuries of architectural history, the RIBA’s Periodicals Collection holds news from 150 years ago this month about the winner of the competition to build the Albert Memorial…

‘Architecture’ mosaic, Albert Memorial, 2010: One of the four external mosaics representing the four arts. (Photograph by Wilson Yau)

‘There can, indeed, be no doubt that the public expect a monument of great and conspicuous magnificence.’
(George Gilbert Scott in the Builder, 18 April 1863, p.276)

Mismanagement had damaged the project for a grand memorial to Prince Albert in Hyde Park, in the opinion of the Building News of 24 April 1863. It said anything built subsequently that could be said to resemble art would exceed everyone’s low expectations. What was ultimately erected, through its rich decoration and sculptures, symbolically brought together the arts, sciences and industries that Albert promoted during his life.

Competition design for the Albert Memorial, Kensington Gardens, London, 1863. Architect: Charles Barry Junior.
© RIBA Library Drawings and Archives Collection

Two days earlier Scott won the competition to design the Albert Memorial, beating the entries of six other invited architects including Charles Barry Junior, E.M. Barry and Philip Charles Hardwick. This expensive example of Victorian architecture, a symbol of a monarch’s grief and paid for by public subscription, is the most grandiose memorial to Prince Albert. Many smaller memorials were built across the British Empire, something that the Building News considered had diverted energy and funds away from the creation a greater imperial monument in Hyde Park.

Albert Memorial 
Architect: Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878)
Artist: John Drayton Wyatt
(Source: Builder, vol. 21, 1863 May 23, p. 371)
© RIBA Library Books and Periodicals Collection

‘The structure is to have a shrine-like appearance, and be enriched to the utmost extent all the arts can go.’
(Building News, 3 April 1863, p.307)

Despite reservations about the rejection of the Classical style that Albert was reported to have favoured, Building News’s description of Scott’s Gothic design is remarkably similar to what was built – lavishly decorated and with a seated statue of Prince Albert underneath a canopy, but with one exception. What today is still a major landmark in the area of London dubbed ‘Albertopolis’ could have disregarded all practicalities and been nearly twice the size and height, reaching 300 ft high, according to Building News. This idea, intended to make Scott’s design even more striking by simply increasing its size, was soon dropped.

 

References:

• Builder, 18 April 1863 ‘Proposed Memorial of the late Prince Consort’ , vol.21, pp.276-7
• Building News, 3 April 1863. ‘The Memorial to the Prince Consort’, vol.10, pp.249-50
• Building News, 24 April 1863. vol.10, pp.307-8

 

Images:
Discover more images of the Albert Memorial on RIBApix.

 

The deadline for submissions is Monday 20th May 2013 at 5pm ...

Fantastical Cities family workshop: Models, drawings and collages

Frank Gehry’s buildings received new exterior colour schemes and Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 was re-imagined during the free public workshop last weekend at the RIBA’s headquarters – 66 Portland Place. Families gathered ideas and inspiration by looking at images from the architectural collections of the RIBA and worked together to design their own new cityscape. Following the example of 19th-century publisher John Tallis, whose original guides featuring topographical street views of London are one of the highlights of the RIBA’s Early Imprints Collection, families conjured up new representations of the city.

Drawings and collages lining the streets of the new city

Fantastical Cities family workshop

Fantastical Cities family workshop: Some of our amazing participants and their work

Talent was in plentiful supply!

Fantastical Cities family workshop: A view of the new, growing city

Participants drew the roads and created buildings to line the streets, responding to their neighbours and the rest of the new, growing city. Sorry, Le Corbusier, no grid was created, and apologies to Ebenezer Howard, radiating forms were absent, but more optimistically for the environment, cycle lanes and railways were added without prompting from adults! Hypothetically made out of anything from the typical bricks and stone, to the more imaginative materials like pizza (hmmm), nuts and bones, the buildings were represented in drawings, origami, collages and 3D models.

Workshop banner

Images used in the workshop, from the collections of the RIBA (see more on RIBApix)

Workshop leader Ros Croker

We’d like to thank all our participants for sharing their many talents and ideas with the RIBA team, led by Library Education Curator Ros Croker, this Easter holiday.

Participants’ feedback

If you enjoyed looking at the achievements of our youngsters, and would like to take part, check What’s On for more information about the education events taking place over the summer at the RIBA.

 

All images © Wilson Yau / RIBA, British Architectural Library

What connects King Abdullah’s Economic City in Saudi Arabia to Stevenage in Hertfordshire? Or the city of Songjiang in China to Tema in Ghana? Each are new towns – planned places, quite different in their own way, but each sharing a DNA inspired by an agenda and set of ideals of what makes a place.

Controversy exists around the idea of new towns and place making from scratch. Contrived and created for a specific purpose, programme or more recently, a developer’s whim, a common criticism is that they too often lack the character of a place that is organic and sprung from a history of people and layers of tradition.  

In history the Garden City Movement and the British Welfare state were both motivated by socio-economic and architectural drivers to create bold, new developments that took pride in tackling the complexities of city making and offering better living environments.  Can these factors once again be a source of collective pride?

Launched last week, The Banality of Good, a new exhibition at 66 Portland Place, explores six international cities built between World War II and the present day. Curated by Dutch collective, the Crimson Architectural Historians and first shown at the Venice Biennale, it incorporates into large allegoric triptychs both the dreams and the realities of the towns to explore whether they can become the ‘Banality of Good.’ 

 As part of the Spring Last Tuesday, Crimson Architectural Historians Dr Michelle Provoost led an introduction to the exhibition and with a packed Florence Hall a musical performance of ‘Brasilia’ by the singer, guitarist and author Mark Ritsema.

 Showing until 10 May, 10am–5pm.

The 2013 Royal Gold Medal Student Crit took place in the Wren Room in the main RIBA offices on the 6 February. With the prospect of this year’s RIBA Royal Gold Medallist, distinguished guest Peter Zumthor joining the Crit panel, the event was very well-attended with the audience anticipating an intellectually stimulating event. RIBA President and chair of the event, Angela Brady welcomed the 2013 Crit panel which, in addition to Zumthor, consisted of: Alexandra Stara (Reader in the History and Theory of Architecture at Kingston University and Chair of the President’s Medals Dissertation Judging Panel) and Sunand Prasad (from Penoyre & Prasad as well as being a past RIBA President).

2013 RGM Student Crit Panel (c) RIBA

Mathew Leung from the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), winner of the 2012 Dissertation Medal, kicked off proceedings, presenting his work ‘Oriental Orientalism in Japan – The Case of Yokohoma Chinatown’. Mathew’s dissertation considered the temptation to view Chinatown in Yokohoma as an island of ‘Chinese-ness’ in a sea of ‘Japan-ness’, but goes on to explore Chinatown as a complex case of cultural identity and representation, suggesting that whilst its exuberant modern-day manifestation is estimated to have as many visitors as Tokyo Disneyland, its success represents a narrow and context-specific acceptance of the Chinese people within contemporary Japanese society. Intrinsic to this analysis is the idea that architecture is intimately connected with its wider context, both in a physical and socio-political sense. Thus, a detailed exploration of the physical fabric of Yokohama Chinatown was undertaken, not only to make known a fascinating example of urban cultural construction, but also in order to understand, in more general terms, how different groups of people come to occupy different parts of our cities.

Peter Zumthor praised Mathew for his beautiful presentation that he considered very interesting to listen to. He compared and contrasted the case of Yokohoma to his own experience of life in Switzerland and Germany, where every attempt had been made to integrate other cultures into a cohesive community. He highlighted how this was a very different concept and asked when the Yokohoma community integrated. Mathew responded that the gates found in Yokohoma shown in his presentation could be used as an example to illustrate this as they were designed by a Japanese citizen who had taken a Chinese name. While historically Chinese identity had stayed strong throughout the reformation, these issues were now much more complex. Although immigration occurred to a much lesser extent than in other countries, Japan is obviously not a homogenous country and these conversations were now starting to take place.

Alexandra Stara found the socio-political and historical contexts fascinating and from being on the judging panel knew that the dissertation itself had delved deeper into the architecture. As such, she asked the extent to which it is seen as Chinese and/or Japanese and how the evident cultural exchanges between Oriental architecture come across in the city. Mathew discussed the idea of a third influence from Western culture impacting on the architecture in Japan. Many of the buildings were destroyed during World War Two and so much of the demotic architecture of Tokyo tends to be modern construction which has been influenced by the West.

Angela Brady commented that Chinatown seems to stand out by being ‘more Oriental’ as opposed to it being Chinese versus Japanese. Mathew responded by talking how the two styles went through a number of stages, starting off as architectural symbols before ending up as a particular image of Chinatown, and that it was this process of being moulded and flattened which created the image.

Sunand Prasad noted the amazing phenomenon and said he felt jealous of Mathew for having discovered it. To describe Yokohama Chinatown, he used the analogy of having two sets of mirrors opposite each other creating continuous reflections until they fade into each other. He posited that the hyper-Chinese features that gave the area its character meant that it was constantly someone-else’s interpretation which would perpetuate until the next generation wouldn’t be able to recognise what was authentic. He wondered whether Peter’s point regarding the lack of integration by the community could be considered selfish. He asked whether Mathew had considered the commercial facts, in particular the everyday trade between China and Japan as opposed to the tourist. Mathew explained that the commercial reality to some extent dictated the social appearance. Historically, the shops were mixed and included both Japanese and Korean retail spaces, but after a ‘top down’ move these were removed from within the square mile. It is important to remember that 90% of visitors are from outside Yokohama and so the tourist trade is vital. Mathew found, from his own experience when visiting, that people found it problematic to talk about issues of authenticity, or about race and identity. However, although these issues are present, he was keen to stress that it should not only be viewed in a negative light, as people are now accepting that these issues are much more complex.

Mathew Leung presenting at the 2013 RGM Student Crit (c) RIBA

The next student presenting was Vidhya Pushpanathan from the Architectural Association on her project ‘The Depository of Forgotten Monuments’. Addressing Moscow’s paradox of deconstruction and reconstruction, the project puts forward a flexible architectural framework that takes into account conflicted urban processes, structures and programmes. As both a curatorial strategy and an urban prototype, it defines a hybrid between cultural and commercial art sites and allows for the co-existence of past and future as part of the transient collection of architectural replicas, quotations, and mediations. The Depository expands the logic of a three-dimensional grid as an organizational scaffold that can support cyclical and incomplete processes of construction, collision, deconstruction, exchange, reconstruction, and so forth. The scaffolding system nurtures new symbiotic relationships between fragmented structures, spaces and programmes, supporting provisional orders within a seemingly chaotic accumulation.

Peter Zumthor stated how impressed he was and joked that Vidhya should get the Piranesi Award. He applauded her marvellous vision and said she was obviously an excellent thinker. Peter was particularly interested in the beginning of the project looking at the cycle of preservation, deconstruction and reconstruction, complimenting the approach used. He noted that as the project progressed it became an increasingly abstract and sensual narrative, but hoped that Vidhya would be able to bring her evident skills and expertise into tangible architecture in the future.

Sunand Prasad commented on how there was a lot going on, and picked up specifically on a value judgement, ‘ludicrous political ideologies’ which Vidhya had used on one of her slides regarding the deconstruction of historical monuments in Moscow. He thought that there were two levels to the project, firstly that it was polemic and potentially a critique, and the other that it was a proposition. He also queried when the grid became a cast. As a cast it is a passive record of what’s there, but as a grid it builds on what is there. He wondered whether Vidhya was homogenising or enhancing what was already there. Summing up, Sunand Prasad said it was a fantastic and enjoyable project to hear about. Responding to the use of ‘ludicrous political ideologies’, Vidhya illustrated her meaning with the tale of how Moscow had knocked down one of its hotels in order to rebuild a larger hotel, simply because it had been surpassed in size somewhere else in the world. It has been a construction site since 2003. She claimed that this was one of many examples (including the Moscow Pool) where architecture had been deconstructed despite it working for the city. The phrase had been used more of a criticism at that point to illustrate the perspective of an outsider to the city. Vidhya argued however, that her project was a proposal of how something can be created from what is already there. Regarding the question on grids, Vidhya explained that there were four different types of scaffolding which would shift around forms.

Alexandra Stara wondered whether anything about the systems were from a real context and asked if it could be applied to any other place in the world. She also speculated about how it was possible to identify and test processes to see if they are appropriate from a standpoint outside of the system. Vidhya countered that this had been the reason for picking scaffolding, because it was universally understood and not specific to Moscow.

Vidhya Pushpanathan presenting at the 2013 RGM Student Crit (c) RIBA

The last presentation came from Anna Nenasheva and David Rieser from the HelioMet Team at London Metropolitan University. Their design project, ‘SunBloc’ detailed the development of a highly insulated, lightweight, prototypical house. It relies on a composite construction system, comprised of EPS foam blocks in compression and steel cables in tension. The system lends itself to sites where access and transport is limited, such as rooftops. SunBloc was initially tailored for the Solar Decathlon Competition but evolved to become adaptable to multiple scenarios, such as its current location in China.

Angela Brady celebrated the project as ‘magnificent’ declaring that students learn so much from live projects, and how exciting it was that this project was linking with a University in China as a very practical way to share knowledge. She went on to ask if the group had found it difficult working together and how they had managed the teamwork that was so integrally important to the project. David replied that although teamwork could have its drawbacks, the positives meant that they achieved so much.

Peter Zumthor expressed great pleasure in seeing the project go from an idea to reality. He deliberated on how there was a tendency within architectural education to dwell on the abstract and theoretical creating an inability among some students to translate these ideas into practical skills. He joked that although they may have encountered some problems already, they would find that those were probably only 4 to 5% of what was to come. He noted that there was strong form and style to the building, but observed how it was interesting how this had been adjusted in order to make it into a real building.

Alexandra Stara enquired as to the criteria for the project and what the key aims were. Anna responded that it had been to show an alternative way of meeting an environmental aim. Other environmental submissions had been very similar in design and the HelioMet Team had wanted to develop a system while also demonstrating that a solar house could be different from current perceptions. David added that the roof top idea had been important to them as a driving force, and that the principle of it could be used in other buildings.

Sunand Prasad believed it was a fantastic project and claimed it was the ‘Silver Medal of Silver Medals’. He returned to Peter’s discussion about style and asked how the students had made choices and how they had realised that they had made mistakes. David thought that the team had harnessed their mistakes, and outlined how digital tooling had helped them to explore mistakes so that mistakes could be turned into opportunities. Anna felt that the emphasis should be on the system over the style, and David conceded very honestly that many of the style decisions had been made with the competition in mind. Anna countered that they may actually have had more problems with other forms, and that although choices may appear style orientated, many were pragmatic.

Anna Nenasheva and David Rieser presenting at the 2013 RGM Student Crit (c) RIBA

After the last presentation, Angela opened up the discussion to the floor to ask the audience to participate. One member of the audience asked the Silver Medal team if they could develop their answer on the theme of collaboration to discuss how they managed conflict and made decisions. David explained that everyone was responsible for different aspects of the building, which meant everyone was personally invested in the project. The fact they were all there and all working on the same thing created a unified work ethic.

One other question focussed on whether the foam was biodegradable. David replied that it wasn’t but that it was recyclable. Looking to the future, there was a new type of foam that had been developed from plant waste, and so he was confident regarding the development of sustainable housing.

A third question went to Mathew Leung about the changing nature of Chinatown and how it was changing, who visited, and where the community originated from. Mathew described how Western trade had a huge impact as servants and interpreters were needed as businesses were set up in Japan by the West. He went on to explain that it was now less about trade and more about education before finally concluding that a lot of the community were starting to become Japanese residents.

Following from this, another question was addressed to Mathew, asking whether or not he had tried to present his work in its own social and political context as by necessity he is detached from it. Mathew replied in the negative and discussed the strangeness of looking at issues in an academic context. He had presented in a wider academic context, but agreed that it would probably be fruitful to explore further.

In conclusion, the 2013 Royal Gold Medal Student Crit was an inspiring and engaging event, which was full credit to very talented medallists and an extremely knowledgeable panel. Covering a broad range of themes including the historical, the theoretical and the tangible, the presentations reminded the audience how these issues are still applicable to us today in contemporary architecture.

Participants of the 2013 RGM Crit (c) Morley von Sternberg

Jonathan Makepeace looks at the impact of the ‘Beeching axe’ half a century after its publication…

Richmond Station, North Yorkshire: the train shed seen from the abandoned rail track in 1969
Architect: George Townsend Andrews
Photographer: Sam Lambert
© Architectural Press Archive / RIBA Library Photographs Collection
Click on image to enlarge

Fifty years ago on 27 March 1963 Dr Richard Beeching, Chairman of British Railways, published his infamous report Reshaping of British Railways. Better known as the ‘Beeching axe’ it was intended to stem the BR’s massive losses in the face of increasing road transport by closing over 2,000 stations and 5,000 miles of duplicate routes or unprofitable branch lines.

One such line was the short branch from Eryholme to Richmond in North Yorkshire opened in 1846 and closed in 1969 despite vigorous local objection. Designed in the Tudor style by George Townsend Andrews, Richmond station was one of many he designed for the expanding railway empire of ‘The Railway King’ George Hudson some of which survive in use today in fine condition including Filey, Hull Paragon and Scarborough. However closure was not the end of the line for Richmond as its listed status ensured survival, initially as a garden centre and currently as The Station, a thriving heritage and cultural venue.

Jonathan Makepeace
Imaging Services Manager, British Architectural Library, RIBA

More images are available to view on RIBApix.

Vicky Wilson writes about the summer house that became a mausoleum for Princess Charlotte…

Conversion of the Gothic summer house into a mausoleum.
Claremont House, Surrey.
Designer: J. B. Papworth
© RIBA Library Drawing and Archives Collections

The premature death of Princess Charlotte in 1817 after giving birth to a stillborn son plunged the country into mourning, as well as putting into motion a chain of events that would lead to the birth of Queen Victoria two years later. J. B. Papworth had already designed a Gothic summer house for the royal couple at Claremont but on the event of the princess’s death was commissioned by Prince Leopold to convert it into a memorial for his wife. This beautifully rendered design for a pedestal is typical of Papworth’s accomplished artistry; the Gothic detailing, however, is intriguing in that it demonstrates a far more convincing grasp of the style than is evident in other projects, leading to speculation that it was in fact supplied by A. C. Pugin.

Vicky Wilson
Assistant Curator, British Architectural Library, RIBA

More images are available to view on RIBApix.