CONTINUITY IN ARCHITECTURE ARCHIVE

Chapel of the Resurrection

Posted on April 8, 2007 by Sally Stone

Posted in CiA, Dominic Roberts, Sigurd Lewerentz, Sweden | 1 Comment

The house with no windows

Posted on April 6, 2007 by Crompton

Not a Photoshop job.

This house on the escarpment at Tyldesley, Lancashire answers Louis Kahn’s old question – ‘What does a brick want to be?’ by turning its back on a busy road. It reminds me of the line in the Bob Dylan Song, “Maggie’s Farm”:

“His bedroom window
It is made out of bricks.”

Posted in CiA, Crompton | Comments Off

Lutyens in Liverpool

Posted on April 4, 2007 by Sally Stone

The exhibition of the great model of Lutyens’ project for Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral ends on 22 April (Walker Art Gallery website). The building is stupendous: buildings, pylons and aedicules piled up and punctuated by saints mounted on columns and balancing on ledges. The form is then covered in an order of stark, black punctured openings, raised geometrical panels and baroque niches all unified by a layering of contrasting masonry. The sculpted figures, empty niches and distant forms combine to give the impression of a building occupied by more than the congregation.

In my opinion, the presentation of the model is poor. The different scales of architectural form and detail are bleached by the light blasting from all directions. The style of display is perhaps prompted by the priorities of the Museum: the finished model is presented as a technical achievement in restoration and conservation rather than a representation of a building of great formal and emotional power.

History of the RC Cathedrals

Model photoset

Posted in Churches, CiA, Dominic Roberts, Edwin Lutyens, Liverpool, Travel | 2 Comments

Card No.21

Posted on April 3, 2007 by Crompton

Posted in Architecture Hacks, CiA, Crompton | Comments Off

Francis Xavier Velarde

Posted on March 31, 2007 by Sally Stone

St Matthew, Clubmoor, Liverpool by Francis Xavier Velarde (1897-1960). “..built through the generosity of the late Captain Matthew Honan FRIBA…killed in action on November the 14th 1916”. Completed in 1930. The interior is reminiscent of German railway station architecture of the ‘twenties. Severe, brown brickwork with Velarde’s characteristic low arches delineating passage-like aisles and the shallow vault over the nave. The brickwork was intended to contrast with the brilliance of the gold baldacchino sheltering the altar – the later addition of paler mosaics has significantly lessened the effect. The pews were originally painted dark green and light green. More pictures: Photoset.

Posted in Churches, CiA, Dominic Roberts, Francis Xavier Velarde, Travel | 7 Comments

Distance & Detail: Basilica Palladiana

Posted on March 30, 2007 by Aventinus

The building exerts its presence at the urban scale – in the view from Monte Berico, at the local scale – in its relationship with its attendant piazza, and in the geometrical precision of its detail. For more images see: Guttae.

Posted in Andrea Palladio, Aventinus, CiA, Italy, Travel | Comments Off

Basilica Palladiana

Posted on March 27, 2007 by Sally Stone

CiA have had a weekend away in N.E. Italy…

This is a detail of the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza. Basilica photoset. Constructed 1549-1614, the familiar facade by Andrea Palladio is essentially a reclothing of the gothic Palazzo della Ragione.

Posted in Andrea Palladio, CiA, Dominic Roberts, Italy, Travel | Comments Off

Card No.22

Posted on March 24, 2007 by Crompton

Posted in Architecture Hacks, CiA, Crompton | Comments Off

Whither Manchester?

Posted on March 23, 2007 by Aventinus

Spotted from a Manchester taxi crawling along Deansgate tonight, Jonathan Meades the substantial architectural critic. A noted critic of the architectural pretensions of totalitarian regimes of both left and right, could he be about to launch one of his withering and coruscating broadsides against the booming metropolis of the north? Continuity in Architecture feels faint in anticipation – a sensation which will only be dissipated by a good meal.

Posted in Aventinus, CiA, Manchester | Comments Off

Veronetta

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Sally Stone

A student drawing from the past. Faye Whiteoak: Library, Veronetta, Verona (1998). Collage, pencil, pencil crayon.

Posted in CiA, Dominic Roberts, Friends & Acquaintances, Italy, Student Projects | Comments Off

Modern Architecture Through Case Studies 1945-1990

Posted on March 18, 2007 by Sally Stone

Eamonn Canniffe of CiA has collaborated with Peter Blundell Jones to produce ‘Modern Architecture Through Case Studies 1945-1990’:

“Once again, new interpretations are presented of some of the most famous architecture of the period. Work by lesser-known architects, whose influence and role have been overlooked by conventional histories of the subject, is discussed. The case study structure allows each example to be discussed and used as a springboard to explore different theoretical approaches. Filled with beautiful photographs, plans and architect’s drawings, this is a clear and accessible discussion on a period of architecture that engages many questions still under debate in architecture today.”

Among the architects under discussion are the Smithsons, Stirling and Gowan, De Carlo, Piano and Rogers, Kroll, Rossi, Eisenman, Venturi and Scott Brown.