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The Holy Austin Rock Houses at Kinver Edge, England.
Occupied until the 1950s and thought by many to be the inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien’s hobbit holes, the quarters of Holy Austin Rock are carved directly into the sandstone cliff, with the oldest chambers dating back to the arrival of Christianity in England around 700 AD.
Photographs by Andrew Whitman.
Somewhat, if not well, off the intent of this website, but this was just too cool to pass up.
Victoria Hall Extension, Hanley, U. K. (1998)
"The Victoria Hall extension is considered by many to be a nationally important example of how to extend an historic building without resorting to pastiche, and is certainly the most important architectural work in Stoke-on-Trent for many years; unashamedly modern, yet traditional too in the way materials common to the area are utilised, though with a contemporary twist. The principle behind this approach to extending a building is not new, and the Victoria Hall extension follows a trend that was started by the Georgian extension of the timber-framed Ford Green Hall many years ago."
Providence — Phillips Memorial Library, Providence College (1967-69)
Sasaki Dawson DeMay – Kenneth DeMay, architects
Pinwheel-plan brick and concrete Brutalist building exhibiting Corbusian influence.
Library, Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island, 1967-69
(Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay Associates)
Warwick, R. I. — Knight Campus, Rhode Island Junior College, now Community College of Rhode Island (1968-72 with additions 1999)
Perkins and Will Partnership — Howard Juster, design to construction; Robert Reilly, project director; Harkness and Geddes; Robinson Green Beretta; original architects. Robinson Green Beretta — Christopher McMahan, lead design architect, 1999.
In 1968, the state began work on the Knight Campus of Rhode Island Junior College [now Community College of Rhode Island], having chosen to build, instead of the traditional campus with separate buildings, a megastructure which encompassed all of the institution’s functions within one building. Offices, classrooms, and workshops are gathered around a large, multi-story interior courtyard, and lecture halls and a library are included in a semi-detached cylindrical section separated from the main block by a road passing through the mass of the building. The structure thus accommodates all academic, social, and recreational functions under one roof. Its design, by Perkins and Will Partnership of White Plains, New York, in conjunction with the Providence firms of Harkness and Geddes and Robinson Green Beretta, is strongly influenced by the work of the famous modern architect Le Corbusier. The choice of what was at the time an innovative architectural form shows a progressive attitude on the part of state government, and as a result the city of Warwick obtained what is probably [perhaps] the most significant contemporary structure in Rhode Island. Dramatically situated on a hilltop, this striking building is admirably scaled to the highways it overlooks and from which its monumental appearance can be appreciated. The college megastructure, completed in 1972, has earned international recognition in the ensuing years, and is featured in Reyner Banham’s book Megastructures: Urban Futures of the Recent Past [as well as the Wikipedia article on Brutalist architecture]. It is a building of which the city and the state can be proud. __ Robert Owen Jones in Warwick, Rhode Island — Statewide Historic Preservation Report K-W-1 (1981), re-edited 2013.
As with most Recent Past structures, especially those in the Brutalist style, this building has been underappreciated and disrespected. In 1999 a postmodernist main entrance block was added to the principal (north) facade (hidden by the tree at the right in the lower photo) which is totally out of character with the original structure.
A 2011 exhibition and program at CCRI Knight, “We Talk About Architecture, Architecture Talks Back,” provided a 39th anniversary retrospective of the megastructure and the opinions and feelings, positive and negative, it evokes. Artists were invited to create and display art inspired by the building, including visionary plans for additions or alterations to the building designed either to enhance or diminish its Brutalist character. Hopefully the beginning of a new appreciation for the structure.
Top photo, Knight Campus about the time of its opening in 1972. Middle photo, ground-level view by ROJ ca 1976/80. Lower photo, 2012 view in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons; original author KB1KOI; image modified by Ubcule and ROJ.
Rhode Island Junior College, Knight Campus, Warwick, Rhode Island, 1969-72
(Perkins & Will)
See my blog entry above or below.
Providence — Heritage Building (1967, 1985)
Typical example of a Brutalist building in brick. . . .
Brick and brutalism? Together? We’re playing with fire here, but I’m liking it!
I have some trouble with that concept myself. But I guess it depends upon one's definition of "Brutalism." If you think the term derives from "beton brut" (as many do), then by definition a Brutalist building must be of concrete construction. I'm open to a broader view. I think Brutalism suffers from the "Shingle Style syndrome." When confronted with a 19th-century building of indeterminate style, covered with wooden shingles, many architectural historians opt for classifying the building as "Shingle Style." After considerable study I have noticed that, at least in the northeastern United States, many "Shingle Style" buildings have formal roots in New England Colonial architecture, even more so in medieval architecture, particularly the vernacular of Normandy, or in these two sources combined. If there is a Shingle Style (and I think there is), the term rightfully applies to a much smaller constellation of buildings totally devoid of historical stylistic references. Similarly, when confronted by a hulking, perhaps forbidding mid-20th-century building of raw concrete, many choose to call it "Brutalist." I think Brutalism, in addition to or other than material, also refers to a vocabulary of forms, and possibly to a connotative or emotive aesthetic. In terms of the latter first, some Brutalist buildings can be seen as actually "brutal": unforgiving, overbearing, intimidating. This tends to be the common observation, which is why there is generally a public dislike of Brutalist buildings, which is a genuine obstacle to their future preservation. In many Brutalist buildings, I see a vocabulary of forms often Corbusian in derivation. If Brutalism is at least partly about form, it allows for variations in materials. So I think it is possible to have such a thing as a brick Brutalist building. Anyway, konfliktni-tym, glad you liked the post.
Providence — Heritage Building (1967, 1985)
Fenton G. Keyes Associates, architects view of west (service) facade
Typical example of a Brutalist building in brick. Compare the newer part of the State University of New York Home Economics Building at Cornell, particularly the use of brick, the prominent piers, and the canted window embrasures.
Located in an urban renewal area, this new structure was, at the time of its erection, considered a vast improvement over the rundown structures it replaced, and a valued reinvestment in Providence's future as a commercial center, a role then very much threatened. Sited at the western edge of College Hill, it is out of scale with and disparate in form from the historic architecture of the neighborhood, and today is generally considered an intrusion within the historic district. 1967 building updated in 1985 with rooftop addition.
New Wing, State University of New York College of Home Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1960s
(Ulrich Franzen)
Southeast Massachusetts Technical Institute, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, 1963-72
(Paul Rudolph)
Southeast Massachusetts Technical Institute, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, 1963-72
(Paul Rudolph)
Library, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, 1960s
(Warner, Burns, Toan, Lunde)
Library, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, 1960s
(Warner, Burns, Toan, Lunde)
Samuel Glaser and Ladislaw Rado, Interiors October 1944
Providence — United States Post Office - Main Headquarters - 02904 (1960)
Castellucci, Galli and Planka – H. Michael Planka, architects? Charles A. Maguire and Associates, architects/engineers?
The first fully automated post office in America. Different sources credit different architects, the reason for the ?s above.
This building was designed to maximize the area for unrestricted placement of the machinery inside, hence the choice of the thin-shell reinforced concrete vaulting structure, which relies on only two interior columns for support. The design appears to owe much to the influence of Eero Saarinen's Kresge Auditorium at MIT (1953-55) and especially Minoru Yamasaki's Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Terminal 1 (1956). The building has had many additions over the years in a variety of forms and styles, none of which relate to the original design.
Kresge Auditorium, MIT (1953-55), Eero Saarinen
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Terminal 1 (1956), Minoru Yamasaki
Turf a-frame in Ansen, Netherlands.
Cambridge, Mass. — Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University (1963)
Le Corbusier, architect
The only building by the celebrated Swiss-born master in America.
Comparisons to both the List Art Center @ Brown and Knight Campus CCRI suggest that Carpenter was a major source for both buildings. Note the roof terrace "pergolas" at Carpenter and "door handle" window "shades" at List; the through-building ramp at Carpenter and the ramp and through-drive at Knight; the pilotis at Carpenter and colonnade at List; and the poured concrete patterns at Carpenter and List.
top: overall exterior from westerly direction top center: the ramp; photo by toml1959 via flickr under Creative Commons License bottom center: the rear (easterly side) of Carpenter showing pilotis bottom: detail of formwork concrete pattern
