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Feb 27, 2015 - Competition University, Vienna 4, 1974 Traffic system

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Europan 10 - Warsaw: Competition Winning Entry

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Jun 23, 2019 - The winning entry to the Europan 10: Warsaw Competition produced in collaboration with MMASA Arquitectos.

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Aug 17, 2017 - Qualche tempo fa ho scritto del parco di via Montello a Milano: un fantastico esempio di come insieme si possano cambiare certi spazi urbani non sfruttati a dovere... bene... uscendo dai confini milanesi e italiani e facendo un viaggio indietro nel tempo vorrei brevemente raccontarvi di AAA e del loro "eco-intersitizio…

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2022. 4. 18 - 2017. 6. 11 - mahsa nooraninejad님이 찾은 핀입니다. Pinterest에서 회원님만의 핀을 찾아 저장하세요.

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Uses tree sections as seating, people’s actions
Transgression
Tracking habits

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Sir Basil Urwin Spence, OM OBE RA (13 August 1907 - 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/ Brutalist style.

Spence was born in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India,[1] the son of Urwin Archibald Spence, an assayer with the Royal Mint. He was educated at the John Connon School, operated by the Bombay Scottish Education Society, and was then sent back to Scotland to attend George Watson's College in Edinburgh[2] from 1919-1925. He enrolled at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) in 1925, studying architecture,[3] where he secured a maintenance scholarship on the strength of the "unusual brilliance" of his work. He won several prizes at the college, and meanwhile carried out paid work drawing architectural perspectives for practising architects including Leslie Grahame-Thomson, Reginald Fairlie and Frank Mears.

In 1929-1930, he spent a year as an assistant, along with William Kininmonth, in the London office of Sir Edwin Lutyens, whose work was to have a profound influence on Spence's style,[2] where he worked on designs for the Viceroy's House in New Delhi, India. While in London he attended evening classes at the Bartlett School of Architecture under A. E. Richardson. Returning to ECA in 1930 for his final year of studies, he was appointed a junior lecturer, despite the fact that he was still a student. He continued to teach at ECA until 1939.[3]

After graduating in 1931, Kininmonth and Spence set up in practice together, based in a room within the office of Rowand Anderson & Paul (at that time having Arthur Forman Balfour Paul as sole partner), in Rutland Square, Edinburgh. The practice was founded on two residential commissions which Kininmonth had obtained that year. Spence also received commissions to illustrate other architects' work, including the Southside Garage, on Causewayside, Edinburgh, in an Art Deco style (although credited to Spence his name appears nowhere on the official warrant drawings and only appears as a signature on the artist's perspective).[4]

In 1934 Spence married, and the Kininmonth & Spence practice merged with Rowand Anderson & Paul. Balfour Paul died in 1938, leaving Kininmonth and Spence in charge of the renamed Rowand Anderson & Paul & Partners. Spence's work was now concentrated on exhibition design, including three pavilions for the 1938 Empire Exhibition in Glasgow, and country houses.

The first two of these, Broughton Place at Broughton near Biggar, and Quothquan in Lanarkshire, were executed in traditional Scottish styles at the client's request. The third was entirely modern. Gribloch was designed for John Colville, grandson of the founder of Colville's Iron Works, and his American wife. It was designed in a modernist Regency style, with assistance from Perry Duncan, an American architect hired by the Colvilles when Spence was too busy with exhibition work to progress the project.

In 1939, Spence was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Camouflage Training and Development Centre of the British Army.[5] He was initially based at Farnham in Surrey, and took part in the D-Day landings in 1944. He was demobilised in September 1945, having reached the rank of major and been mentioned in despatches twice.[6]

Spence returned to Rowand Anderson & Paul & Partners briefly, before setting up his own practice, Basil Spence & Partners, with Bruce Robertson. He was awarded an OBE in 1948 for his work in exhibition design, work which he continued with the Sea and Ships Pavilion for the 1951 Festival of Britain.[7] That year he opened a London office, moving there permanently from 1953. A second office was opened in 1956 at Canonbury, which became the creative hub of the practice. Spence was External Professor of Architecture at the University of Leeds from 1955 to 1957 and from 1958 to 1960 he was the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Coventry Cathedral Edit

On 14 November 1940, Coventry's Anglican Cathedral was extensively damaged by German bombing, a year into World War II.

In 1944, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott submitted a design proposal to rebuild the cathedral but this was rejected by the Royal Fine Arts Commission. In 1950, a competition was launched to find the most suitable design from a Commonwealth of Nations architect. Over 200 entries were received, and Spence's radical design was chosen. Work began in 1956 and the structure was completed in 1962.[8] Spence was knighted in 1960 for his work at Coventry,[9] while the cathedral was still being built.

On 23 February 2012 the Royal Mail released a stamp featuring Coventry Cathedral as part of its "Britons of Distinction" series.[10]

Later work Edit

In 1959, Spence secured two important commissions, for the British Embassy in Rome (completed 1971), and for the Hyde Park Cavalry Barracks in London (completed 1970). He was also responsible for designing the high-rise Hutchesontown C housing in Glasgow. These were intended to replace the notorious slum tenements in the Gorbals area of the city. A combination of social deprivation and exclusion in the relevant areas, coupled to poor execution of his designs meant that the developments created as many problems as they solved, and led to their demolition in 1993.[2]

Spence was also responsible for modernist buildings on The Canongate in Edinburgh, opposite the new Scottish Parliament and in view of Holyrood Palace. This area is named Brown's Close and was listed in 2008. Other work in the 1960s included the concept design for the executive wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings in Wellington, nicknamed "The Beehive", Edinburgh University Library, and Abbotsinch Airport (now Glasgow Airport).

In 1960, Spence designed Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh's Braid Hills area (based on the same angled fin concept as found at Coventry Cathedral). He also designed Trawsfynydd nuclear power station, which was unveiled in Snowdonia, north Wales, in 1968.[11]

Also in 1964, with support from the Nuffield Foundation, the University of Southampton built a theatre on its campus. Spence worked closely with Sir Richard Southern as consultant for the interior design and layout of the theatre.

The Spence practice was rearranged in 1964, with the Canonbury office being renamed Sir Basil Spence OM RA, and the second London office Spence Bonnington & Collins. The Edinburgh office was also renamed for its partners, Spence Glover & Ferguson. From 1961 to 1968, Spence was Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy.

Through the 1970s, Spence continued to work on public and private commissions, universities and offices including Aston University Library and Management Centre. His last work was for an unexecuted cultural centre for Bahrain, which he worked on during illness in 1976. Some of his final commissions were built after his death; for example, his design for the new Glasgow Royal Infirmary was completed in 1981.[12]

Spence died in November 1976 at his home at Yaxley, Suffolk and was buried at nearby Thornham Parva.[13]

His practice, Spence, Ferguson and Glover, continued until 1992 before being disbanded.

In 2006, he was the subject of a BBC Scotland documentary, Rebuilding Basil Spence,[14] which revised his place in 20th-century British architecture and asked why he had been for so long overlooked. In 1993 Spence's Hutchesontown C complex was listed by the international conservation organisation DoCoMoMo as one of Scotland's sixty key monuments of the post-war years, in the same year as it was demolished.

In August 2010, English Heritage recommended that the Spence-designed Sydenham School be given Grade II listed status: the building was due to be demolished to make way for a new building. However the government's decision was that the school was not of sufficient merit to warrant listing.[15]

Broughton Place (country house in the style of a 17th-century Scottish tower house in Broughton, Peeblesshire with decorative reliefs by architectural sculptor Hew Lorimer) (1938)

Dinnington High School, Sheffield. House Bases and Block Complex (c.1954)

Gribloch (country house near Kippen, Stirling) (1938-39)

Kilsyth Academy, Kilsyth (opened 1954, designed 1930)

St Ninian and St Martin Church, Whithorn, Wigtownshire. (unrealised) [1]

Sea and Ships Pavilions for Festival of Britain (1951)

Duncanrig Secondary School, East Kilbride, Greater Glasgow (1953)

Basildon Town Centre is a planned town centre developed during the creation of the town of Basildon, Essex.

St Paul's Church, Wordsworth Avenue, Sheffield

Sydenham School, Sydenham, London (1956)

Agricultural Science Building, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington campus (1956-58)

The churches of St Oswald, Tile Hill - St Chad, Wood End - St John the Divine, Willenhall. Built simultaneously in Coventry (1957)

Thurso High School Thurso, Scotland (1957)

The Chadwick Physics Laboratory (1957-9), University of Liverpool

St. Hugh's Church, Eyres Monsell Estate, Leicester (1955-58)

Campus development plan at the University of Nottingham (1957-60) including Chemistry Building, Physics and Mathematics Building, Mining and Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Pope Building, Coates Building

St Catherine of Siena, Richmond in Sheffield (1959)

Thorn EMI House, 5 Upper St. Martin's Lane, London (1959) (Spence's original exterior was demolished in the 1990s; reborn as Orion House with a full-height floor plate addition and re-skinned elevations. A 60-foot-tall (18 m) metal sculpture by Geoffrey Clarke for the original façade (incorporating allusions to electric lamp filaments) has been remounted onto the added lift and service riser.)

Great Michael Rise and Laverockbank Crescent, social housing developments in Newhaven, Edinburgh

Erasmus Building, Friars Court, Queens' College, Cambridge (1959-1960)

Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre (originally 'Swimming Baths'), London (1962-4) (demolished in 1999)[17]

Spence House, near Beaulieu, Hampshire (designed 1961, for Spence's own use and listed Grade II)

Coventry Cathedral, completed 1962

The initial campus design at the University of Sussex (1960s)[19] including Falmer House (1962, now a Grade I listed building)[19]

Hutchesontown C flats, Gorbals, Glasgow (1962 - demolished in 1993)

Physics Building, Streatham Campus, University of Exeter.

Nuffield Theatre, Highfield Campus, University of Southampton (1964)

St Aidan's College, University of Durham (1964)

The "Beehive", the executive wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings Wellington, New Zealand (1964)

Glasgow Airport (1966) (Spence's original façade was covered over in 1989 when an extension was built to house new check-in desks. The original structure can now only be seen from the check-in hall, departure gates and runway.)

Newcastle Central Library (1968)[24] - demolished in 2007

65 - 103 Canongate, social housing developments in The Canongate, Edinburgh

Sturmer Way, London (1970)

Glasgow Royal Infirmary redevelopment - Phases 1 & 2 (1971-82) - now known as the Queen Elizabeth Building and University Block

Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall (1972-6), including chambers, offices, and public areas[28][29]

50 Queen Anne's Gate (the former Home Office building), London (1976)

The Sydney Jones Library (1976) at the University of Liverpool[31]

2 artworks by or after Basil Spence at the Art UK site

Stringer, Michael (6 August 2010). "Heritage listing threatens Sydenham School rebuild". South London Press. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.

"Site record for Greater London, Southwark, Camberwell And Dulwich, Dartmouth Road, Sydenham School". CANMORE.

Article published by WalesHome about Trawsfynydd, October 2009

Last-ditch attempt to save Sir Basil's Trawsfynydd from demolition

"Sir Basil Spence Archive Project". RCAHMS. Homepage for the archive of nearly 40,000 items held by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS).

"Basil Urwin Spence". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Archived from the original on 20 February 2007. Architect biography.

"Basil's Bairns". Royal Scottish Academy. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Exhibition held from 1 January 2008 at the Royal Scottish Academy, looking at careers of the architects who worked in the studio of Sir Basil Spence.

Rudden, Liam (8 September 2006). "Rebuilding Sir Basil Spence's battered reputation". The Scotsman. UK.

"Basil Spence archive exclusive". Wallpaper*. 27 September 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Extract from the Sir Basil Spence archive, featuring 57 images of his work.

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Sir Basil Urwin Spence, OM OBE RA (13 August 1907 - 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/ Brutalist style.

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Basil Spence

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The building was commissioned to replace the old town halls of Kensington and Chelsea following the amalgamation of the two boroughs to form the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in 1965. After both the old town halls had been rejected as inadequate for the council's needs, civic leaders decided to procure a new facility; the site selected for new building in Hornton Street had previously been occupied by two large residential properties: Niddry Lodge and the Red House.

The construction work, which was undertaken by Taylor Woodrow Construction at a cost of £11.6 million, started in 1972. The architect, Sir Basil Spence, who had been commissioned to design the building in the Brutalist style, died just 10 days before the building was completed on 29 November 1976. The building was officially opened by Princess Anne on 31 May 1977.

The design for the new facility, which made extensive use of red brick, involved a large square building to the north, which would accommodate council officers and their departments on an open plan basis as well as a civic suite at the southern end, and two octagonal buildings to the south, the western building being a public hall and the eastern building (raised up on concrete columns) being the council chamber. The main square building contained an inner courtyard which preserved several trees including a giant redwood tree planted by Baroness Churchill in memory of her husband, Sir Winston Churchill, in 1967. The design for the main frontage on Hornton Street featured glass doors on the left of that elevation, which gave access to the civic suite, on the ground floor; there were tall oriel windows on the first floor which was cantilevered over the pavement.

An ornamental pool which had been created beneath the council chamber was converted into a small garden planted in memory of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and was opened by the Duke of Gloucester on 4 May 1983.

Works of art in the mayor's parlour include a portrait of the collector Sir Hans Sloane, by Thomas Murray.

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Kensington Town Hall, London - Wikipedia

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The building was commissioned to replace the old town halls of Kensington and Chelsea following the amalgamation of the two boroughs to form the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in 1965.

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Hard lines, no curves, very angular, top heavy
Compare to block opposite it

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Glass to let sunlight in as the house is below the stairs, but the glass is dirty
Is any light even going through?
There is a wall there so the glass doesn’t do anything

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e.g. everywhere has three columns, circular windows on the roof, white chimneys, but some have 7 small terracotta chimneys whilst some have 8
Consider railings, why are they there/ shape/ material?
Period and style of that time …
Noticing difference

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Columns- no structural function, they are there to look pretty or to symbolise wealth/ power/ occupation, embedded symbols and motifs into society that we are unaware of

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Columns

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Textures of environment

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Town Hall 26.06.22

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Documentation of place
Kensington W8
10am-3pm

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Patterns of light

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Documentation of the textures of the environment

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Red brick period terraced buildings
Repetition, each house is the same.
Arches, columns, period details and features,
Circular windows on the top floor
Attractive, beautiful? Characterful, unique, old, traditional.
Tree lined,

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Is this the back or the front? It is unclear how to enter the building, perhaps it’s supposed to be accessed by multiple entrances? But it’s confusing?

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This part of the building is inaccessible for wheel chair users or disabled people. Having a stack of thin steps to the right has no purpose and seems strange as you walk along the street.

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The floors of the building are stacked and top heavy. Perhaps to maximise space on the ground?

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compare surrounding columns

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Large glass windows reflecting the architecture around. The building becomes uninviting and unwelcoming. Meant to be public space

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Jubilee square - the naming of the space, for the jubilee . Commemoration of queen jubilee. Attaching memory to architecture and public space 

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Jubilee square - the naming of the space, for the jubilee . Commemoration of queen jubilee. Attaching memory to architecture and public space 

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RBKC - “the royal borough”

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Town hall building has similar colours to the surrounding buildings 

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Town hall building has similar colours to the surrounding buildings 

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K. Dovey in ‘Becoming places, Urbanism/Architecture/Identity/Power’ asserts that “a street is not a thing nor a collection of discrete things. The buildings, trees, cars, sidewalks, goods, people and signs all come together to become the street, but it is the connections between them that make it an assem- blage or place. It is the relations, buildings, sidewalks and roadways; the flows of traffic, people and goods; the interconnections of private and public space.” Spatial propositions that produce and morph new networks between these flows, materials and spatial connections co exist with representational narratives, intensities and design codes whilst maximising ex- change, choice and encounter.

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Golden rooftop sculpture - figure of something?

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Red brick period building, long tall window containing public access library, red brick supposed to look seamless, but doesn’t
Date built?
Traditional features, long bricks. Windows framed at top. Wooden window frames?
Symmetry
Columns on roof perimeter

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patterns of light

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patterns of light. Soft vs. hard materials

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Yellow fills the grid lines mimicking that of the street lines. The natural and the man made coming together

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Works by architect Peter Zumthor. Compilation by Thomas Bjorkan.

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Why are these glass panels inserted into these steps?
….

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‘I am convinced that a good building must be capable of absorbing traces of human life and taking on a specific richness…. I think of the patina of age on materials, of innumerable small scratches on surfaces, of varnish that has grown dull and brittle, and edges polished by use.’

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‘I am convinced that a good building must be capable of absorbing traces of human life and taking on a specific richness…. I think of the patina of age on materials, of innumerable small scratches on surfaces, of varnish that has grown dull and brittle, and edges polished by use.’