The Brits who Built the Modern World
Reading 15 comes in the form of a BBC 4 documentary video about how modern architecture was formed and perceived, as well as how it progressed. It places a lot of intent on the people who brought it to life and the different ways that it was approached by them. In particular, it focuses a lot on Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Terry Farrell who were just a few names fighting in a competitive progression of architecture.
I took a lot from this reading, with there being lots of inspirational approaches to works being shown. I was captured by the buildings being shown, but also by the differences between them. The documentary explored several movements, particularly though it looked at Post Modern and Hi-Tech architecture. Both of these styles existed in the time frame, but approached architecture in radically different ways.
These two styles are examples that I have not been especially knowledgable in the past. Neither of them were especially well known to me. In the recent past though I have started developing opinions on them both, and in watching this video I have further solidified these opinions. Immediately after seeing the examples of Post Modern architecture I was put off by them. They are quirky in nature and of this I approve. However they feel very dated. They were appreciative of context which I am very pleased to see but I could not help the feeling of the buildings being more art than architecture. Further than this the buildings seemed trapped in their time frame. It is not a style which I could confidently design in for the modern day, nor do I feel there is much to influence myself.
Hi-Tech on the other hand is the exact opposite of Post Modernism. From the moment it was born it was shunned by many. However the architects who stuck with it have created masterpieces. Hi-Tech is now a renowned style that the world simply wasn't ready for to begin with. It was a look into the future, a future which has now arrived. I cannot say in honesty that I like all of the Hi-Tech architecture, at least not all aspects and examples of it. However there is a lot to be taken from it.
In my own work, my current design studio project for example, I am now already beginning to consider options directly influenced by the H-Tech works I saw in this video. I like very much the honesty of the buildings, and more importantly the way that they put the users of the building at the heart of it. Everything was arranged to ensure that the spaces would not be interrupted, to try and create the best place to be in as possible. The inside out approach is a remarkably bold one, and may be something I play with in my own designs very heavily, particularly in showing honesty in the architecture.
I took a lot from this reading, with there being lots of inspirational approaches to works being shown. I was captured by the buildings being shown, but also by the differences between them. The documentary explored several movements, particularly though it looked at Post Modern and Hi-Tech architecture. Both of these styles existed in the time frame, but approached architecture in radically different ways.
These two styles are examples that I have not been especially knowledgable in the past. Neither of them were especially well known to me. In the recent past though I have started developing opinions on them both, and in watching this video I have further solidified these opinions. Immediately after seeing the examples of Post Modern architecture I was put off by them. They are quirky in nature and of this I approve. However they feel very dated. They were appreciative of context which I am very pleased to see but I could not help the feeling of the buildings being more art than architecture. Further than this the buildings seemed trapped in their time frame. It is not a style which I could confidently design in for the modern day, nor do I feel there is much to influence myself.
Hi-Tech on the other hand is the exact opposite of Post Modernism. From the moment it was born it was shunned by many. However the architects who stuck with it have created masterpieces. Hi-Tech is now a renowned style that the world simply wasn't ready for to begin with. It was a look into the future, a future which has now arrived. I cannot say in honesty that I like all of the Hi-Tech architecture, at least not all aspects and examples of it. However there is a lot to be taken from it.
In my own work, my current design studio project for example, I am now already beginning to consider options directly influenced by the H-Tech works I saw in this video. I like very much the honesty of the buildings, and more importantly the way that they put the users of the building at the heart of it. Everything was arranged to ensure that the spaces would not be interrupted, to try and create the best place to be in as possible. The inside out approach is a remarkably bold one, and may be something I play with in my own designs very heavily, particularly in showing honesty in the architecture.
The Brits who Built the Modern World, [television programme, online], Prod. credit n.k., Prod. company n.k., Prod. country n.k., 02:35 21/2/2014, BBC FOUR, 60mins. http://bobnational.net/record/201388, (Accessed 28/04/2015).