Exploring boundaries : the architecture of Wilkinson Eyre

173 Pages·2007·18.278 MB·English

by  Forster, Kurt Walter, Davey, Peter

Exploring Boundaries

Design and production Jannuzzi Smith, London
(Michele Jannuzzi, Flavio Milam, Benoit SantJard,
Richard Smith)
Reprographics DawkinsCo]oUI, London
Pnntinc FreiburgerGraphische Betneoe,Freiburgim Breisgau
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7 Hulls Held Aloft and Bridges that Blink
byKurt W Forster
25 The Magic Carpet
byPeterDavey
36 Gateshead MillenniumBridge Gateshead, UK,2001
48 Magna Rotherham, UK,2001
58 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew London, UK,2002
68 Crystal Palace London, UK,unrealised
76 National WaterfrontMuseum Swansea, UK,2005
90 King's WaterfrontLiverpool, UK,2007
102 "Bridgeof Aspiration" London, UK,2003
112 Tensegrity Bridge Washington DC, USA, unrealised
118 Schools forthe Future various locations, 2003-
126 King'sCross GasHolders London, UK,concept stage
132 MaryRose Museum Portsmouth, UK,concept stage
140 Nesciobrug Amsterdam,The Netherlands, 2006
146 Brighton MarinaBrighton, UK,due for completion 2012
152 Gatwick Airbridge London, UK,2005
160 Guangzhou West Tower Guangzhou, China, 2009
project textsbyPeterDavey
173 Illustration credits
174 List ofstaff
176 Acknowledgements
Hulls Held Aloft and Bridgesthat Blink
Thoughts on the Architecture ofWilkinson Eyre
byKurt W Forster
PierLuigi Nervi,"Problem; ChrisWilkinson and Jim Eyre are architectswhose practice
dell'architetto."in Casabella, defies the customarydivision betweenhowa buildingis
vi([933), 5,p 34;reprinted actually constructedandhow it looks to theeye.Theyshare
inStoii«modemaaeu'etteIn withan earlier exponentoftheir approach, Italianarchitect
Italla, JI! Dalnovcentoal Pier Luigi Nervi, the convictionthat"forthe very idea of
dibeuit!sulla Iiqut« esui architecture, an understandingofthespirit ofthetimes"will
monumentate. 197.5-1945, proveindispensable, a grasp of"what is dynamic, decisive,
ed.by PaolaBarocchi Turin and daringin its intellectualmanifestations."!They might
r':maucli,1990, p 302 Giulio argue with Nervi that this is because "the works we build
CarloArgan,inhisearly notonly bearthe traits ofour age, they also mirror our spirit
biographicalsketch ofthe and our capacitywhose enduring reflection and identity
engineer, PierLuigiNervi willbe judgedby future qenerations."Tobe sure,Wilkinson
[Milan II Balcone. 1955, p10L Eyre have alreadybeenexaminedby their contemporaries
argues that "Nerviconsiders. andfound to possess exceptional capacityto work in
the method ofhisresearch difficultsituations andfordiffident clients, such as railroad
tobeintrinsicallyaesthetic" and municipal administrations. Moreover, theirlatest
Nervi, in Casabella,vi(1933), projects venture beyondthe classic domains ofstructural
5,p 34 "Ouello che e' engineering-industrialbuildings, terminals, and bridges
Iondarnentale,per la -andinfrastructure, proposinginsteadmuseums, schools,
concezionearchitettonica,e' officetowers, and greenhouses.
lacomprensionedellospirito Withthelatter,we returnto someoftheearliestexplorations
delnostrotempo,diquelnon in metal-and-glass construction, which proved to be a
sodidinarnico.dideciso, powerfulenginein the transformationofarchitectureduring
diaudace che nepervade Ie the lasttwo centuries. On the vacant site ofthe nearly
manifestazioni intellettuaJi; e vanishedCrystalPalace, the emptyknollin Sydenhamwhere
10sfruttamontodellecapacita' onlythe retaining walls ofits basehave beenleft in place,
tccntchc e industriali, WilkinsonEyre have proposeda new permanent structure.
consideratecomemeravigliosi An elegant glass-clad capsule,the lengthofthe original
strumsntl perpiu'rneravigliose transverse aisleofthe Palace, perches highabove thesite,
sintonie." offering visitors a spectacularview ofthe city.As a hovering
"craft," the proposed capsule is imagined at the scale of
the grandestdirigibles, carryingwithit a memory ofa
now-distant time and ataste ofour own space-age fixation
on"capsulesforsurvival."As alandmarkvisible fromafarand
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Leonidov.Pyramid and Zeppelin
m Project ofaPalaceofCulture
offeringfar-reaching views forvisitors, this new crystal craft
forMoscow, 1930(left) Crystal
suggests aplatform fromwhich the imaginationmight take
Palace, London (nght) Internal
flightwhilstkeepingan eye onthecityabouttobeleftbehind.
court, Kmg'sCrossGasflolders.
The projectbalances contradictoryimpulses: a mock-up of
London (opposite top) Water
thefuture which willinstantlyreduce the world to purely
pavilion, Magna, Rotherham
specularexperience, and a reminiscence ofthe mid-19th
(oPPositebottom)
centuryeuphoriaformechanicalinvention. Hoveringabove
the treetops and skirtedbythe ruined retaining walls ofthe
Palace,WilkinsonEyre's structurewould add toLondon what
the Millennium Dome could neverachieve. The image ofan
"abandoned"platform belowand an inexplicably suspended
objectin the sky has the powerto recall one ofthe key
images ofthe last century:Leonidov's dirigible tethered to a
pyramid. Maximumstabilityandits opposite, levitation,form
a pair ofparadoxicalantagonists. One is tempted to think
ofWilkinson Eyre's work as a kind ofmeditation on these
paradoxicalstates, a balancingact performednot just inthe
realm ofthe imagination, but among the forces ofreality
that are in play rather than at rest. BecauseWilkinson Eyre
really reflect on the paradoxand imagine a structurethat
negotiatesits own conflict,any echoesofArchigramand their
capsules lumberingon pneumatic stilts across the territory
ofthe city are faint, indeed. Not to speakof"elegance," on
which we shall hear morefrom Gustave-AlexandreEiffel,
nor oflandscape.Wilkinson Eyre are not taking up where
the CrystalPalaceleft off, theirs is not a giant greenhouse,
but an otherworldlyhull that descends into nature rather
than enshriningit.
The idea ofa self-contained capsulemadeits appearance
earlyintheirwork and is never completelyout ofview.Ittook
shapeinthe Magnaproject, not just as aformalfeature, butas
a concept capableofassumingfourfundamentally different
states. Inkeeping with the project'spurpose ofillustrating
the"history" ofsteel at a now idle site ofsteel-making, each
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"pavilion," as the architects callthem, houses one ofthe
fourancientelements-earth, air,fire, and water. Below and
above ground, the elements assume a different "historical"
reality,their manifestation remaining palpable evenifit
issues from a cosmographynow farremovedfrom our own
experience.Water takes the form ofa steel-shapedwave,
and airthe hollow ofits own displacementin the guise of
a giant shell. The container, in one form oranother, seems
to come closest toWilkinson Eyre's concept ofspace, a
container,moreover, shaped byits ownstructuralproperties
ratherthanexternalexigencies.Their space-capsules seem
destined to capture and shelter what cannot float free or
suffer exposure.As we are biologically limited beingsin
just suchterms, the ideaofthe pod assumes vital relevance
and anchors our imaginationin our owngenesis as human
beings rather than in any ofthe abstractions so dearto
the early years ofmodernarchitecture Itis not Cartesian
abstraction ormechanicalregularity that prevailin
Wilkinson Eyre's work; insteadthey are always proposing
containers-in-the-void. One does not needto enumerate
the instances where this ideahas gUided their approach.
Itis enoughto suggestthat an enormous void-moreover,
one installedwithin a historic structure, such as the 1887
Pension BuildinginWashington, D.C.-invites the project
ofa gossamerTensegrityBridge, orthat the empty Gas
Holders at King's Cross in London, where our architects
propose apartment buildings within the cylindricalholds,
converge on a"void within a void" forcirculation and
vegetation.
At Portsmouth,WilkinsonEyre have plannedthe Mary
Rose Museum, which will serve at once as a dry dock and
tomb chamberforthehull ofthe unfortunate ship Henry VIII
witnessedfoundering in battle at sea. The buildingand the
glass hull complementingthefragmentary ship that was
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.---~~~
~ -=---
~
. ..-....... _.
~ .
Citedm RIchardDeacon, raised from the seabed willbe turned into a time capsule.
ScuJptures1987-1993 The strikinglytimeless characterofthe capsule cradles and
Hanover Kunstverein. 1993, protectsfragmentary relics ofthe past,not unlike the droplets
p 126 ofresin that trapped insects, pollen, and leaves and over
time hardenedinto amber Asuspicion also hardens in our
mind about the peculiarnature ofindustrialmaterials that
promiseto endureforvery long spans oftime, such as glass
and stainless steel Because they withstand time and its
universallycorrosive effects betterthan othermaterials,their
culturallot is to stem the force ofhistoricaltime, its decay
and degradation Although these artificial materials are
relative newcomers to architecture, when held to the scale
ofits evolution, theyimposea chronologyoftheirown. They
tend toward norm and constancy, but when they change,
they do so as a result oftheir production processes, rather
than accordingto arbitraryformaldecisions. Similarly,visitors
to the Mary Rose Museum willbe able to move across a kind
ofgangplankrunningthrough history as theypass between
the conserved hull ofthe ship and the capsuleholdingits
artifactualfragments
The idea ofa capsule-gargantuan by comparisonto its
cargo, ormere cocoon, as the case may be-makes its
appearance as a hollow,a translucent shell, ora bridge-like
structure vaulting a motorway, as the New Botanic Gardens
in Newcastle are intendedto do. Inquiringinto the nature of
these capsules, one may ask, as the English sculptorRichard
Deacon asked himself in 1978-79,"whatan enclosureis,and
what an openingis.An enclosure," Deacon asserted, "is a
clarification, actually; an openingis a possibility," justas
"singing andlisteningare reciprocalactivities."3Withregard
to his drawings Deacon concluded that they"seemed to
showthat what was enclosed had a relationship to the
contour This functioned likea skin over the interior,and the
interiorremaineda hollow resonantspace."Itispreciselythe
10
MaryRoseMuseum, Portsmouth
(opposlte) NewBotamc
mutually defining rapport ofhollow and contourthatalso
Gardens. Newcastle (left)
imparts a specific"resonance"toWilkinson Eyre's shells.
RichardDeacon. It's Orpheus
Deacon detected that only in such a resonant hollow do
WhEmThere's Singmg#7
"appearance, community, building, speaking, listening,
19'18-9(nght)
production and manufacture allseemto be involved," as
indeed they need to be in our architects' capsules.The
intentto hold and conserveis ofapiecewith the notionof
the capsule,whichvariouslyopens up to its site orbeyond.
Itcantake the shape ofa half-buried, tent-like structure,as
it does fortheAlpine House at Kew Gardens, or ofhuge
clam-shapedhalls,as on the King'sWaterfrontin Liverpool.
The Albert Dock forms massive piles ofunfaced brick
whichwillfindtheircounterpartintwo silvery shells whose
flowing lines and slightly asymmetricalhalves willappear
to breatheinthelightand shade betweenthe RiverMersey
and the usually luminous sky.Much hangs in the balance
fora projectthat willprovide a wide range offacilities,
beginningwithpublictransportationand parking, centering
on arena, conference and exhibitionfacilities along the
riverfront, and endingwith amenities ofsite and residence,
allexpectedto give new"resonance"to the town.
King's Waterfront willhave to exert allthe powers
architecture canmusterin order to breathelifeinto the site
and bring energyto the city beyondthefanfare ofits
inaugurationon the occasionofLiverpool's turn amongthe
European Capitals ofCulturein 2008.The project gives
every promise ofsuccess. Similarinitiativestoo often hang
on the hopes we hold outfortechnological solutionsto
problemsthat have defeated other efforts.Weare inclined
to defer to theimperativesraised by conditions ofour own
making rather than rethinkthem, and we gladly defer
changing them when technological magic promises to
turn things around.WhatWilkinson Eyre are doingforthe
Merseyriverfront finds an impressivepreludein the nearby
11