|
Whoever said that modern buildings are "monstrous carbuncles"? (Oh. Sorry, HRH.) The fact is that many of them are spectacular and extraordinary and Britain has "a huge amount both in number and diversity", says historian Elain Harwood of English Heritage. Here are just a few...
By Lola Borg
With a special thanks to The Twentieth Century Society which exists to protect architecture and design in the UK.
SELFRIDGES—Birmingham, 2003, (architects Future Systems)
The Bull Ring in Birmingham was once a depressingly grim and utilitarian inner-city precinct. But one building changed all that. It was a bold move for Selfridges to ask Future Systems (which also designed the media centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground) for a new department store. The massive undulating building (it’s known as “blobitecture”) looks like a remnant from an episode of Doctor Who. Or maybe Teletubbies. In fact, the design was based on a Paco Rabanne Sixties chainmail dress and covered in 1,500 shiny aluminium discs that shimmer in the dark. The interior is as bold, with snaky white escalators leading down to the food hall. Some dismiss it as “silly”, but as English Heritage’s Elain Harwood says, “It’s a building that always makes you smile.” What could possibly be wrong with that?
BALTIC CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART—Gateshead, 2002, (Ellis Williams Architects).
In the 1970s the UK saw an economic downturn, the start of the conservation movement and the stirrings of appreciation of our architectural heritage. This passion for “found spaces” meant that instead of ripping buildings down, we began to think of refurbishing them. Step forward the Baltic. Originally the Rank Hovis Flour Mill, it was a vast concrete hulk that had fallen into decline and was earmarked to be converted into flats until Gateshead Council stepped in. The extraordinary shell was retained and the interior (a huge wheat silo) turned into four floors of an arts centre that has a feeling of airiness. The location can’t be faulted—it overlooks the “Blinking Eye” (the elegant Wilkinson Bridge over the River Tyne)—and by hosting last year’s Turner Prize award ceremony (usually held in London), the building generated more heat than even Geordie Shore.
THE HOMEWOOD—Esher, Surrey, 1938, (architect Patrick Gwynne).
Very few architects get to design and live in their vision of the perfect house, but Patrick Gwynne achieved just that, at only 24. And what a house. The Homewood, built in Esher in 1938, is an elegant glass-and-concrete modernist box, raised up and seemingly floating over its surrounding garden. Waft up the elegant white concrete staircase into the glass-walled living room and feel like you’ve turned into Mad Men’s Don or Betty Draper. Gwynne didn’t stint on detail or money (financed by the bank of Mum and Dad, it cost £10,000—a fortune at the time). He lived here all his life, constantly refining the house (it has a Seventies kitchen). It was left to the National Trust after his death on the condition that it’s lived in by a family—and it is. But you can still visit (contact the National Trust to make the arrangements).
WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE (CANOLFAN MILENIWM CYMRU)—Cardiff, 2004, (architects Percy Thomas Partnership)
“Architecture is the will of the age expressed in spatial terms,” said influential German architect Mies van der Rohe. And this is a perfect example. Conceived in the heady days of New Labour and during the first noises about regional government, this huge sweeping arts complex had one brief—to be “unmistakably Welsh”—and there’s really no arguing with that. The architect was Welsh, the materials—slate, steel, glass—are Welsh. Hell, even the inscriptions along the frontage, dramatically lit from inside at night, are mostly in Welsh. (“Creu gwir fel gwydr o ffwrnais awen” or “Creating truth like glass from inspiration’s furnace” by Welsh poet Gywneth Lewis.) In fact, the only thing that’s not 100 per cent local is the nickname, “the Armadillo”, which refers to the curving copper-coloured dome (using steel designed to be resistant to the salt-laden air). Impressively large, the complex houses one enormous theatre, two smaller ones and eights arts organisations including the Welsh National Opera.
EAST BEACH CAFE—Littlehampton, Sussex, 2007, (architect Thomas Heatherwick).
Architecture doesn’t have to be grim—and here’s the proof. This cafe is a long, thin, steel-shelled building with uncluttered views over the Channel—and inside it feels exactly like being in a shell. Often, bold projects rely on government funds, a great wodge of City money or Lottery grants, but not this. The result of a chance encounter at a party between the new owners of a rundown fish-and-chip kiosk and an innovative product designer (yes, really), what resulted was made on a tight budget and has won umpteen awards. Locals were thrilled by the massive crustacean on the seafront (there wasn’t a single planning objection). It was intended to generate a buzz—the so-called “Guggenheim effect”—in a drab and rundown seaside area and, remarkably, it’s worked.
THE HEPWORTH WAKEFIELD—Wakefield, Yorkshire, 2011, (David Chipperfield Architects).
An intersecting set of ten concrete gallery spaces with a fabulous location on the banks of the River Calder, The Hepworth Wakefield contains some 40 artworks by local sculptor Barbara Hepworth, donated by her family, as well as works by other artists, such as her friend and fellow sculptor Henry Moore. But in contrast to the sculptures—famously all curves and ovals—the building’s sharply angled trapezoid shapes reflect the area’s industrial heritage, even though it was designed to be “all about the art”. (It even has its own specially designed typeface, which can be seen on the building.)
COVENTRY CATHEDRAL—Coventry, 1962, (architect Sir Basil Spence).
A potent symbol of Britain’s recovery after the Second World War, the rebuilt modernist cathedral (it’s next to the ruins of the 14th-century cathedral bombed by the Luftwaffe) was controversial from the get-go. It’s unique because it’s all of a piece—everything is from the same period: the building and the art it holds (from artists such as Graham Sutherland, Elisabeth Frink and Jacob Epstein), plus the extraordinary painterly stained glass of the nave windows. Even its architect famously described it as “a casket of jewels”.
DE LA WARR PAVILION—Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, 1936, (architects Erich Mendlesohn, Serge Chermayeff)
Radical new ideas about architecture swept in from Europe in the Thirties and landed in, of all places, Bexhill, Sussex. Commissioned by an aristocratic but lefty mayor (the ninth Earl De La Warr, after whom it’s named), this is a prototype “leisure centre”. The first building in the UK with a welded steel frame, it was part of a plan to regenerate the area. The result—smooth, sleek, white and elegant—has all the defining characteristics of a “modernist” building and, with its curving sea-facing terraces, it was functional in the extreme.
ST MARY AXE—London, 2004, (architects Foster and Partners)
This glittering cigar-shaped skyscraper of diamond-patterned glass and steel could have been built for the opening credits of The Apprentice (in fact, you almost expect to see “Suralan” gliding through reception). The Gherkin, as it’s known, oozes the values of the City—money and power with more than a sprinkling of flash. St Mary Axe dominates the skyline, but sits in a tiny ancient side street named after a church on the site (demolished in 1561) and the axe on the sign of a long-gone local tavern.
HOUSE NO 2 WILLOW ROAD—Hampstead, London,1935 (architect Erno Goldfinger).
Modernist masterpiece by the influential architect whose name sounds like a Bond villain, blew in from Transylvania and also designed London’s Trellick Tower. This was his London home, paid for by the wife’s trust fund. Now owned by the National Trust.
THE MIDLAND HOTEL—Morecambe, Lancashire, 1933, (architect Oliver Hill).
Sleek, cruise-liner architecture with circular staircase and sculptures by Eric Gill (look out for the two stone Morecambe shrimps/seahorses on the front of the building). Bang on the beach looking out to sea, and it’s recently been totally refurbished. Always described as an “art deco gem”. It is.
ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE—Oxford, 1968, (architect Arne Jacobsen)
An entire complex of halls, lecture rooms and refectory designed after the war by the famous Danish architect, Jacobsen. Calm, airy and ordered, it still contains some of the furniture made specifically by Jacobsen—though the cutlery has all since been “pilfered” apparently).
DUNE HOUSE—Thorpeness, Suffolk, 2011 (architects Jarmund, Vigsnaes).
This airy, functional beach house feels like part of the Suffolk coast it’s built on—walk from the living room straight onto the sand. Available to rent (at a price) it’s part of philosopher Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture project, which makes ultra-modern properties available for holiday rents. Or try the famous Balancing Barn in Suffolk.
AN GAELARAS—Northern Ireland, 2011, (architects O’Donnell + Tuomey).
This centre for the Irish arts and culture is located in a narrow street in Derry, (the original building was the site of the first shot of Bloody Sunday from the British Army). Angular and concrete, it makes remarkable use of the limited light and space. Nominated for a Sterling Prize.
STANSTED AIRPORT—Essex, 1991 (architect Norman Foster).
Airports are usually dull affairs but this is crisp, rational, and makes something complex look deceptively simple. Very easy to loiter in and raised the bar for countless airports that followed.
BARBICAN ESTATE—London, 1975, (architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon).
Built on the sit of an extensive bomb crater (where the rag trade used to be, which is why it flared up so well) this complex has always divided opinion, and those who love it, really love it. Amazing urban design? Or impenetrable, Brutalist grey concrete horror? Has wonderful flats, green spaces and the largest performing arts centre in Europe.
 Print |
 Email |
|
|
