James Gibbs

For the benefit of a couple of readers, I thought I'd post something of one of my favourite pre-modernist architects. While I don't believe the renaissance and neo-classical styles (etc) have any place in modern architecture - it doesn't mean I can't appreciate them.

I don't want to say much, but I love the work of James Gibbs. He carried on much of the traditions of Christopher Wren, but returning to many of the Italianate trends of Inigo Jones. I visited the Radcliffe Camera (above) this summer. It is a magnificent monument which shows the English Baroque at its height. While I think it delivers an overall pleasing form - I found it a little squat and dumpy when visited. I felt it should have a more slender form - but then this is not a church but a library.

Two of my favourite London churches are St Mary-le-Strand and St Martin-in-the-Fields, both by Gibbs. I just think they display a quiet confidence and sense of proportion which Hawksmoor (his contemporary) could never quite achieve. Gibbs' architecture is usually fairly simple in form and mass, but he creates beautiful and intricate buildings with his use of detailing and careful use of the classical orders.

In 1728, Gibbs published "A Book of Architecture" which went on to influence much of ecclesiastical architecture in Britain and especially in the colonies.

This book no doubt influenced the architecture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The early temple at Nauvoo definitely borrows much from the English Baroque. The Nauvoo Temple in turn became a template for much of Mormon temple architecture and ironically the Preston England Temple (1998, above) appears as a twentieth century interpretation of the work of James Gibbs.

Torre Valesca // Brutalism

I don't know why I'm posting this now, but I was recently thinking about how, since architecture school, I have come to appreciate brutalism. The architecture building at the University of Manchester is an ugly, squat, bomb shelter of a building from the outside but is simple and well organised on the inside, with some very nice touches - such as the double height cafe and the courtyard garden.

I know brutalist buildings never fit in with their surroundings, imposing on their neighbours and destroying perfectly good views - but I think there is an endearing quality and honesty to a lot of these buildings.

One such building, which I saw on a trip to Milan this year is the Torre Valesca. It is a monumentally ugly building without any regard for location in terms of scale, materiality or form. It did, however, win me over.

I was impressed with the upturned flying buttresses - the way this top-heavy building is supported. I also noticed the seemingly random placement of windows on the upper facade - which has become fashionable now.

Later in the day I visited the castle in Milan, which is a little underwhelming, but what I did notice were the turrets. The Torre Valesca seems to directly reference the medieval architecture in its vicinity - made manifest in its simple form. This kind of reference to the past was a little odd to me, as most brutalism and for that matter pure modernism, appears to be entirely unaware of its surroundings.

Brutalism is never going to win over the public, and I'm not sure it wants to - but I for one am a fan.

Newcastle // Gateshead

While on a family trip to the north east, I asked if we could take a small detour into Newcastle/Gateshead - basically so I could see the Sage and Millenium Bridge. We walked down past the castle and over a bridge which runs parallel to the Tyne Bridge. This bridge is huge and imposing, but adds a certain monumentality to the city which is definitely missing from Manchester.
I was particularly impressed by the new Millenium Bridge which seems to echo if not completely reflect the Tyne Bridge. Besides its practical engineering and innovative mechanics, it also manages to be a beautiful piece of lightweight architecture which only adds to the city.

I was looking forward to seeing the Sage, I'd heard good things and its always cool to see buildings in real life that you have read about and seen in the periodicals. I was however a little underwhelmed. While I don't mind the overall form and I think it sits well on its hillside, it does seem to resemble a grub crawling along the riverbank. It would have been good to see inside where you can get a real feel for concert halls and theatres. From the outside, especially at either of the entrances - at the two ends of the building - it resembles a great big glass and metal shed. Everything is on a vast scale and rather clinical. It seems to be lacking in some of the quality and intimate feel of some other concert halls I have visited.