By Rebecca Heaton
Architecture is amazing. It involves the process
of imagining a good idea for a building, but also to determine if it can
actually be built. Imagining huge structures with lots of weird tentacles
sticking out of the top and wacky ideas for the interior would be impossible to
build. That's why we have architects, to build incredibly unique buildings that
can actually be built. Nowadays, there are lots of good examples of great
buildings. Great modern buildings with glass fronts and quirky features can be
found all over the world now and many new builds tend to shy away from the
stone and brick buildings and skyscrapers we're so used to seeing. When
designing a building, most architects will now design a modern, contemporary
building, taking inspiration from other modern, contemporary buildings. Some
architects look elsewhere at popular culture, art movements and anything else
unrelated to refine and adjust their ideas or use them completely to design
weird and wonderful buildings like Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi.
This essay hopes to show how architecture has moved into the modern,
contemporary world and where it's being taken.
A documentary I was watching called Idris Elba's How Clubbing Changed the World,
brought up how seating/chill out areas in clubs helped contemporary furniture
as club furniture such as seats, tables, lights and even bars began to feature
in offices, shops and apartments making them look “cool and designed” [Jacques Peretti, 2012].
It is a shame it only lasted about 2 minutes of the documentary, as looking at
examples it does look like a lot of offices and apartments furniture was actually
inspired by quirky seats and odd lights from clubs. George Georgiou, an
interior designer mentions Foxtons in the documentary who feature quirky seats
and bars in each of their estate agents making them unique and intriguing
people to come in. Foxton's call them “cafe-style offices” and say they “have
revolutionised the traditional estate agent
presence on the high street”. [Foxton’s, 2012]
Foxton’s Estate Agents
This fitting room is a great example of how
fitting rooms have changed from a single cupboard with an old chair outside, to
luxurious big rooms like this with a modern, quirky corner sofa and decorative
features such as the circle wall and vintage clothing on the wall. Anyone
waiting is sure to feel relaxed in this bright, modern room.
Topshop
fitting room
Red Bull have some odd and interesting
headquarters including their London HQ above which features lots of white and
grey colours and uses a range of a furniture. As you would expect from Red
Bull, they wanted to add a little fun into the workplace by adding a slide down
to the ground floor!
Red Bull
London HQ
Salford Quays is home to many modern and wonderful
buildings, including apartments, offices, hotels, the Lowry Theatre, the
Imperial War Museum but also unusual buildings like the Morrisons supermarket,
the doctors surgery and a high school which are all very new buildings trying
to fit in with Salford Quays modern approach to living. Architects saw the
potential of building apartments right by the water as it means your walk to
the bus stop or the shops is so much more pleasurable and seeing the water from
your apartment is so relaxing. Two blocks of apartments took this idea even
further by making their buildings actually look like sail boats. Anyone who has
ever been to Salford Quays has noticed that there are 3 apartment buildings
that look exactly the same, standing next to each other right by the water.
These are called the NV buildings. Each building is curved to represent a sail,
and the three of them in a line makes it look a little like three boats docked
at a port.
NV
Buildings
The other boat-themed apartment block is Abito
designed by Les Lang. Situated further away from the main area of Salford Quays
it sits on dock 6, a quieter area, which actually has a houseboat as a
neighbour. Abito have gone further with the boat idea making the inside lobby
of the building a huge open space with a large sail covering the exposed roof.
While inside the building, the wind whips through the internal court. The décor
is very minimalistic with large concrete walls and white walls adding to the
boat-like look. Each apartment is set out quite like a small boat as well. “The
put-me-up studios have a vaguely nautical cabin-like feel.” [Griffin, 2010] They
are not like normal apartments, they are very designed to compact and use dead
space. They are long apartments and the only walls in them surround the main
hub in the middle which is quite like a ship cabin in the middle of a boat. The
only thing missing is portholes in the walls.
Abito
Abito
Internal Court
Abito Interior
Chips is a very modern apartment block that
unexpectedly looks like three chips stacked on top of each other. Although it
doesn't confirm they are supposed to look like chips in print, it clearly looks
like three french fries and there's even a photo on the Urban Splash website of
two men celebrating the build, one of them holding a bottle of Heinz Ketchup.
Each chip has a different colour; maroon, dark brown and a sandy/chip colour.
They each have 3 floors, totalling 9 floors altogether. It feels like it was
slightly inspired by the Memphis Group as inside and out it looks very quirky
and uses some bright colours. It doesn't have many balconies, but each balcony
is a different bright colour and the kitchen and separating screen are also
different colours. The building also has quirky windows, the usual square and
rectangle shapes but they are positioned and scaled differently all over the
building making the building look quirky and fun. It also has the names of the
region’s rivers printed onto the outside of the building.
Chips
A similar building to Chips which was actually
built first is the Manchester Civil Justice Centre. Completed in 2007, it was
designed by architect Denton Corker Marshall. It also has chip-like floors
which the architect dubbed “fingers”. It was most likely inspiration for Chips
but stands a lot taller at 260 feet. The fingers are made entirely of different
shades of glass. For privacy, as courts need, large metal grids cover the sides
of the building. The Civil Justice Centre is a beautiful addition to the
Manchester skyline and stands out amongst the more dull buildings, not
including Beetham Tower of course.
Civil
Justice Centre
Close-up
The channel 4 programme Grand Designs features the
construction of many modern builds and is very inspiring to watch. They have
featured some fantastic buildings over the time it has been running. One of
them that were built on the Isle of Skye is a very contemporary house, but on
the outside it doesn’t plain and white like most modern builds. The two artists
didn’t want it to stick out like a sore thumb against the cottages in Skye, but
they didn’t want to build a cottage either. Instead they have tried to blend
their house into the hills by having a hill-shaped roof that is covered in
grass. The exterior walls are covered in wood panels which looked crisp and new
when first fitted, which the artists hated, but they have now weathered into a
dull grey colour, like the side of a cliff.
Isle Of
Skye building, before the wood weathered
The Memphis Design Movement was a group of Italian
designers, architects and writers. The Memphis movement produced bright and
colourful products and furniture. It was founded by the late Ettore Sottsass in
1980 and included graduates straight from university and well-known designers.
They were tired of the “slick, black, humourless design of the 1970’s, with its
minimalist design” “devoid of personality and individualism”. Inspired by Art
Deco, Pop Art and 1950’s Kitsch, the group produced bright and quirky furniture
and smaller products. Not everyone was a fan of Memphis’ unique style, one
person saying it’s like “a shotgun wedding between Bauhaus and Fisher-Price”.
Memphis
Living Room
Memphis
Carlton Bookcase
Art Nouveau was most popular during 1890-1910. The
name “Art Nouveau” is French for “new art”. Lots of artists, designers and
architects experimented with this style making paintings and posters,
furniture, buildings and structures. It features “curvy lines and the more
austere, linear look of artists such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh” [BBC, 2012]
Antoni Gaudi was a popular architect who created many beautiful buildings in
the Art Nouveau style. His most famous, Sagrada Familia is still being built.
It started in 1882 and as it is such an ambitious project, it is still
continuing and is estimated to be completed in 2026-2028. Casa Batllo features
curved balconies with unique pillars and 3D jewel like objects on the side of
the building. It is also decorated with colourful tiles making the building
look beautiful and pretty to look at. A similar tiled building is Majolikahaus
in Austria. It was designed by Otto Wagner. It is covered in painted square
tiles that are shaped like a pink flowery bowl. It also features quirky gold
balconies. Majolikahaus is actually an apartment building which is has its
charm unfortunately dampened by the row of shops on the ground floor.
Casa
Batlló
Majolikahaus
Art Deco combines traditional craft motifs with
Machine Age imagery and materials. It was inspired by Bauhaus and Ancient Egypt
after the discovery of King Tutankhamen. Symbols, bright colours and patterns
became incredibly fashionable, even on buildings. Art Deco uses thick lines and
symmetry with zigzag designs. At the time, they were the buildings of the
future. Theatres, diners, shops and gas stations were redesigned to keep with
the times. Art Deco also changed skyscrapers slightly. They weren't bright and
colourful like the smaller buildings but they “often took on a distinctive Art
Deco shape: The ziggurat.” [Craven, n.d.] A Ziggurat is a terraced pyramid with
the floors getting smaller and smaller as you get to the top. They usually have
a spire at the top like the Chrysler building in New York, designed by
architect William Van Alen. The building was intended to be the tallest
building/structure in the world and was quickly built as it was rivalled by 40
Wall Street, a similar building in the Art Deco style that was also aiming to
be the tallest building in the world. The buildings were at the same height
throughout most of the construction and finished at around the same time in May
1930. Walter Chrysler however had a trick up his sleeve. He secretly built a
186 foot tall spire on the construction site in the frame of the building. This
was then lifted on to the top of the building causing outrage with the rival
building.
Art Deco
Buildings in Miami
Chrysler
Building
After looking at some weird and wonderful buildings and art styles, it is
clear that the best, most unique and innovative buildings are the ones that
take inspiration from popular culture and other areas. With different aims and
ideas, like making the tallest building or trying to camouflage your building,
these architects have created unique and wonderful buildings. By taking
inspiration, not from other buildings but from anything you can think of, new
art styles can develop. Architects and designers need to look away from other
buildings and think of unique ideas so the world will continue to look more and
more interesting and beautiful, making people look up.
References
Idris Elba's How Clubbing Changed The World
Documentary (2012). Courtesy of Channel 4.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/idris-elbas-how-clubbing-changed-the-world
Sagrada Familia photo retrieved from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/4121846970/in/photostream/
Foxton's photo retrieved from
http://www.foxtons.co.uk/
Topshop Fitting Room photo
retrieved from
http://www.thewomensroomblog.com/2012/07/25/the-womens-room-fantasy-shop- interior/
Red Bull Headquarters photos retrieved from
http://www.crookedbrains.net/2008/06/interesting_5535.html
NV Buildings photo retrieved from
http://www.toms-travels.net/?p=1189/
Griffin, P. (2010). Phil Griffin Loves Abito.
Retrieved from
http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Culture/Architecture/Phil-Griffin-loves-Abito/
Abito Exterior photo retrieved from
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Abito Internal Court photo retrieved from
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Abito Interior image retrieved from Abito website:
http://www.abito.co.uk/explore/
Moore, R. (2009). Chips, New Islington, Manchester
by Alsop Architects. Retrieved from
http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/buildings/residential/chips-new-islington-manchester- by-alsop-architects/5202419.article/
Chips image retrieved from Urban Splash website:
http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/gallery/chips/
Civil Justice Centre (2006). Retrieved from
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Isle of Skye Grand Designs image retrieved from
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Feroleto, P. (2010). Italian Design – Focus on the
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http://italychronicles.com/italian-design-focus-on-the-memphis-design-movement/
Memphis Living Room photo retrieved from
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Art Nouveaum. (n.d.). Retrieved from
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Tremlett, G. (2011). Sagrada Familia gets final
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/22/sagrada-familia-final-completion-date/
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Sveiven, M. (2011). AD Classics: Majolikahaus /
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8.JPG/
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Craven, J. (n.d.). Art Deco Architecture.
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Top 25 NY Buildings. (n.d.). Retrieved from
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