upper lawn or solar pavilion, architects' own weekend house,
1959-1962.
architects: peter and alison smithson (1923-2003 & 1928-1993).
restoration: sergison bates, stephan bates and jonathan sergison.
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if possible, please name photographer "SEIER+SEIER". if not,
don't.
from satellite.
Cairlinn, desescribir, mas K, and 24 other people added this photo to their favorites.
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seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
martin, I know the book :)
I think it played an important part in making the upper lawn pavilion cult among european architects. check out the current price for a second hand copy, you'll be surprised.
p2an 29 months ago | reply
wow! £426 for Complex Ordinariness on abebooks!!!
i have it too, i had no idea it had such value now.
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
you are a wealthy man - for an architect, that is :)
hoy:mp 29 months ago | reply
oh my, I have a copy.
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
oh my, I don't :(
:)
Aiert 29 months ago | reply
incredible pictures! thanks!! Some time ago I scaned those pictures and some plans from the book "Alison and Peter Smithson-From the house of the Future to a house of today" edited by Dirt van Heuvel and Max Risselada. Has to be nice experience to visit it!
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
thanks for the links, aiert :)
there will be more!
stefan/h 29 months ago | reply
one of my favorites too!
to every great building there is a story; the pavillion sits on the remains/ruins of an former building and it is suggested the smithsons built on the 'as found' ruins.
but: there is a photograph of the former house taken 1959!
and: the smithsons made a survey of the old building and its surroundings the same year.
they simply shaped the site to their needs: to build a great house and tell a good story.
(its in 'the book') :-)
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
yes, as found does not mean untouched. they tore down a derelict house and used parts of it, rearranging them as they went along.
but the implications of as found are substantial. as representatives of the postwar generation of architects who had to make sense of the new world order - and who had to find a way of making sense of the modernist heritage too - they decided that projects should deal with the world as found rather than stand as fragments of some utopia. the great narratives had been lost with the world war (and not with the much later advent of postmodernism) and instead they placed the careful observation of people, buildings and everyday life.
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
...scarpa also tore down large chunks of the castelvecchio...
february legs 29 months ago | reply
I love this structure, after seeing the image I Googled it to find out more detail and found one of the most impassioned screeds decrying its “brutalist style. I am constantly amazed how visceral people’s reactions can be to modern architecture. I often have noticed that many of the negative reactions seem to drag politics in to make their case. Perhaps we should only be allowed to build standard “tried and true” designs.
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
absolutely, the british press and poiticians are very hateful when it comes to modernist architecture and some of the english writings about the smithsons simply say the exact opposite of what is written about them everywhere else in the world...
february legs 29 months ago | reply
That kind of reflexive hatred really ticks me off, I find myself wanting to modify my work to garner maximum annoyance. Well for now I’ll just queue up Billy Bragg’s The Internationale and have a nice warm beer.
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
:)
lavardera 29 months ago | reply
There is an interesting view of this side on Google street view, if you keep moving past the house on the lane, out to the tip of the little triangular grass area, there is a point where you can see through the big windows out through the other side of the house.
All of the Smithson's images you've shown me, for some reason has me thinking of Herman Hertzberger.
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
yes, hertzberger was fully aware of the smithsons through team X which he grew out of. do you know his fine book of lectures, lessons for students in architecture ?
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
and the google street view is great. it is what convinced me that we could find and see this house and one of the reasons we went to england :)
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
for anyone interested: google street view
maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=da&geo...
Aiert 29 months ago | reply
Incredible! I thought they had only city views.... I like this view with the sky...
Vis stort kort
seier+seier 29 months ago | reply
:)
it also gives you a pretty good idea of the landscape