Tate Modern, London

Tate Modern 

(London, UK) 1995

#FUNCTION 

Before & after image the Tate Modern 

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#FUNCTION

Tate Modern 

(Bankside, London, UK) 1995

The site where the Tate Modern Gallery is situated, housed Bankside Power Station. Originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Herzog & de Meuron, who are the current architects, decided to renovate the current building instead of demolishing it.  ‘A much-loved but redundant monument’ (Tate modern, 2016) of London’s Architecture had its function changed to an art gallery, which still resembles a 20th Century factory. By changing the function of a structure you can bring new life to an old building. Inside the taupe walls, steel and concrete floors, mirror the exterior, showing the industrial character. The concept of the build was contrasting old with new. Maintaining the historical element of the original building, the design ensured nearly total conservation of the structure. 

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Bibliography:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern (Accessed: 12 April 2016).

Brooker, G. (2013) Key interiors since 1900. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Beisteguis Apartment, Champs-Élysées, Paris, France

Beisteguis Apartment

(Champs-Élysées, Paris, France) 1929- 1931

#INTERIORITY    

       

The garden room                                                     The periscope    

     

The terraced gardens, with glass panels in      The garden room with view                                                                       the floor letting light into the lower-level

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#INTERIORITY 

Beisteguis Apartment

(Champs-Élysées, Paris, France) 1929- 1931

The Beistegui apartment was commissioned by Carlos (Charles) de Beistegui and designed by Le Corbusier. It was an uninhabited space where Beistegui hosted many of his infamous party for Paris’ Elite. ‘A surrealist conception of interior decoration. How otherwise should we explain the fact that an eighteenth-century portrait in oils, that one would normally expect to find hanging in the principal room of a flat, is exhibited on the concrete wall of the roof garden’ (Watt 1936). ‘Le Corbusier configured the interiors to be playful and at the flick of a switch the space would transform and open up to the city. Electronically activated walls and doors altered the shape of the rooms as they moved across the floor. The Chandelier could be retracted into the celling, allowing films to be projected on to the walls.’ (Brooker, 2013)

By precisely orchestrating furniture and using sensual interactions like the periscope and retracting chandelier, gave the space a inner character.

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Bibliography:

Brooker, G. (2013) Key interiors since 1900. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Watt, A. (1936) ‘Fantasy on the Roofs of Paris’, Architectural review. p. 156

The Charity Tree, Budapest

The Charity Tree

(Budapest, Hungary) 2014

#Installation

The exterior of the Charity Tree, Budapest

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#Installation

The Charity Tree

(Budapest, Hungary) 2014

‘Inside the tree there is a chapel-like sacred inner space, where everybody can find some silence to contemplate in the middle of a buzzing city’, Said the designers (Hello wood builds Christmas tree from 5000 pieces of firewood, 2014)

Designed by Hello Wood, the 11 meter tall Christmas tree in a square in Budapest, Hungary, was commissioned for the community and to raise awareness about the Hungarian families who struggle for heating. As a figure of unity, the Christmas tree is a object that we congregate around at Christmas. The entire 15,000 kg of wood was donated to the local families of Budapest as firewood.

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Bibliography:

Hello wood builds Christmas tree from 5000 pieces of firewood (2014) Available at: http://www.dezeen.com/2014/12/21/hello-wood-charity-christmas-tree-firewood-budapest/ (Accessed: 18 February 2016).

Images:Alicia Mae Waknell (14^th December 2015)

Farnsworth House,Plano, USA

Farnsworth House

(Plano, USA) 1945-51

#Private  

Farnsworth house at dusk

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#Private

Farnsworth House

(Plano, USA) 1945-51

Built in a ‘secluded wood’ (Gossel and Zimmerman, 2015), designed by Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, for Dr Edith Farnsworth, who wanted to ‘spend more time in a relaxed and solitary atmosphere’ (Farnsworth house - architecture of the world, 1950). The house was used as her weekend get-away, so that she could practice her violin and write poetry in her one-bedroom retreat. Even though the house is mostly built from windows, the location of the property is what makes the house private, Surrounded by trees, this is the boundary of the house not the glass walls. The location gives a sense of isolation.

‘His idea for shading and privacy was through the many trees that were located on the private site.’ (Perez, 2010).

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Bibliography:

Gossel, P. and Zimmerman, C. (2015) Mies van der Rohe. Germany: Taschen GmbH.

Perez, A. (2010) AD classics: The Farnsworth house / Mies van der Rohe. Available at

http://www.archdaily.com/59719/ad-classics-the-farnsworth-house-mies-van-der-rohe (Accessed: 29 February 2016).

Farnsworth house - architecture of the world (1950) Available at: https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/Farnsworth_House (Accessed: 29 February 2016).

Images : Whitney French, Farnsworth House