The Barbican – London
Construction: 1965 – 1976
Architect: Chamberlain, Powell and Bon
The Barbican – London
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Tag Archives: Architecture
Hayward Gallery – London
Hayward Gallery – London
Construction: 1968
Architect: Dennis Crompton, Warren Chalk and Ron Herron
The National Theatre – London
The National Theatre – London
Construction: 1976-1977
Architect: Denys Lasdun
Somewhat disappointingly for me, my visit to the National Theatre coincided with some building work. Most of the bottom of the structure was fenced off or occluded by boarding. Because of this I didn’t get to appreciate the edifice in its entirety and most of the photos are pretty abstract elements from the top. But it gives me an excuse to make another visit in the near future I guess. Despite this, the building was something of a treat. The large horizontal platforms contrasted with vertical fly towers is classic Lasdun, and the diagrid patterning on the underside of the platforms is particularly striking. The raw grey concrete is left unpolished, and the imprints of the wooden planks which formed the moulds are clearly visible. The National Theatre was grade II* listed in 1994.
Alexander Fleming House (Metro Central Heights) – London
Alexander Fleming House – London
Construction: 1967
Architect: Erno Goldfinger
Originally home to the Ministry of Health and named Alexander Fleming House, these buildings were converted to apartments and renamed Metro Central Heights in 1997. The development consists of several blocks connected by elegant multi level glazed walkways. The exterior surfaces are broken up by projecting sections, distributed seemingly at random. Formerly an understated beige concrete finish, during the conversion to apartments the building got a makeover and was painted white and given bright blue panels below the windows. While purists like myself might think this is tantamount to vandalism, it is certainly preferable to demolition, which was a very real threat for a time. So don’t let the colour scheme fool you, this is first class brutalism from one of the style’s finest exponents.
Metro Central Heights was grade II listed in 2013
1-3 Willow Road – London
1-3 Willow Road – London
Construction: 1939
Architect: Erno Goldfinger
Goldfinger designed this small row of houses in 1939 and lived with his family at number two until his death in 1987. The house is now owned by the National Trust, who offer tours in the morning and an open house in the afternoon for a cost of £6 to non trust members. I certainly don’t begrudge paying that to maintain the place and keep it open to the public. It’s fascinating to have a wander around Goldfinger’s office and living room, look at his bookshelf and collection of art. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, answering all of our questions and giving us interesting tit-bits of information. One interesting thing I noticed is that while the rest of the house is quite spacious, the kitchen is incredibly small. I guess he wasn’t much into cooking.
The exterior of the building is quite conservative, the brick facing allowing it to blend seamlessly into suburban Hampstead. However, modernist elements such as the flat roof, the large ribbon window and the concrete columns mark it out from the other buildings in the area, giving us a taste of his future work.
Here’s the link to the National Trust page for the building:
The Royal Free Hospital – London
The Royal Free Hospital – London
Construction: 1968 – 1974
Architect: Llewllyn-Davies, Weeks, Forestier-Walker and Bar
I was on my way to see Erno Goldfinger’s house in Hampstead on a scorching June afternoon when I stumbled upon this concrete behemoth. It was the first thing that I saw as I got off the bus and I immediately unsheathed my trusty camera.
A 16 floor cruciform block rises up in the centre of lower rise surrounding buildings. The windows and black external walls of the block seem to hang within an exoskeleton of classic grey concrete. Translucent external stairwells serve to break up the facade. The facility was state of the art when it opened in 1974 (although it wasn’t officially opened by the Queen until 1978, presumably she has a pretty busy schedule) and was one of the first designed using CAD1.
I only had chance to get a couple of shots from the Pond Street side, but the building certainly looks worthy of a more in depth study, and hopefully I’ll get chance to do that sometime soon.
1 http://www.emporis.com/building/royalfreehospital-london-unitedkingdom accessed 9/6/14
Geography and Planning Building – Sheffield
Geography and Planning Building – Sheffield
Architect – William Whitfield & Partners
Construction – 1970-71
I couldn’t find any information on this building when I originally posted this. But I was contacted by an academic from the Geography department who gave me the dates of construction and the architect. He also sent me some of the original plans and drawings for the building, along with some great photos taken shortly after completion. Apparently it is a “challenging” building to work in, but it can’t be denied that it has character.
The building itself is a cluster of hexagonal structures of various heights attached to a rectangular block. The concrete structure frames sections of brick in a style similar to the Park Hill estate flats. In addition to the use of hexagons, the building has some interesting little features that mark it out, such as the vertical windows which sandwich the concrete piers on the upper floors and the diagrid detailing on the portico ceiling. A small green separates this building from the Arts Tower and, as you can see from the first photo, when the sun is out young scholars recline and take in the views of the surrounding first class modernist architecture.
Arts Tower – Sheffield
Arts Tower – Sheffield
Construction: 1961-1966
Architects: Gollins, Melvin, Ward & Partners
While the raw concrete aesthetic of brutalism was the accepted style for British public sector building in the 60s and 70s, the steel and glass style inspired by the work of German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was popular in the private sector. Somewhat unusually for an educational building of the time, Sheffield Arts Tower clearly displays a Miesean influence, bearing more than a passing resemblance to van der Rohe’s 1958 Seagram Building in New York. The brutalist influence is there however, as the grey blue steel and glass structure sits atop 16 raw concrete piers and a raised concrete walkway links the mezzanine level to the Western Bank library next door.
The building also contains one of the last remaining paternoster lifts in the UK, which is great fun.
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Buildings – Lisbon
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Buildings – Lisbon
Construction: 1969
Architects: Ruy Athouguia, Pedro Cid & Alberto Pessoa
Brutalism is often considered harsh, cold and unfriendly. Indeed when it needs to be, it can be. Sheffield Magistrates Court for example stands like a menacing concrete fortress, complete with its own drawbridge. With the Gulbenkian however, we see Brutalism’s softer side. The structures are situated around the small lake at the centre of Gulbenkian Park and are surrounded by lush greenery. Plantings on the buildings themselves help them blend into the surroundings. Large concrete slabs form paths which wind through tranquil woodland to connect the buildings. The resulting effect is almost picturesque, with the concrete structures resembling blocky rock formations rising from forest floor.
Calçada do Combro Car Park – Lisbon
calçada do combro Car Park – Lisbon
I looked for this car park on Calcado do Combro on a Twitter recommendation. I eventually stumbled upon it at twilight on my last day in Lisbon. The poor light and the fact that half of the building is covered by a large advertising hoarding meant that I was unable to get as many good shots as I would have liked, but the beauty of the building still managed to shine through. The concrete construction is tempered somewhat by the soft blue tiles which cover the vertical projections on the facade, allowing it to blend in seamlessly with the older surrounding architecture. Hidden on the top floor of the car park is a delightful little roof terrace and small bar populated by some of Lisbon’s numerous hip young folk, where you can sip a cold beer and take in the fantastic view of the historic centre.
Brutalist Constructions 