What's your favourite style of architecture/era?
Discussion
When I think back to the kinds of great architecture and eras of house in this country I'm hard pushed to chose what my favourite style of house is.
I think my favourite style is probably 1920s-1930s houses, with big stone bay windows, the bigger rounded and "multi faceted" the bays the better. Arriel box room windows are great- and double fronted houses are obviously prefered.
I like turn of the century Victorian stuff as well as Edwardian.
The Victorian high ceiling houses although sometimes somewhat austere to me, always seem quite imposing. Huge sized rooms usually.
What's your favourite style/era of house?
Any Bovis/AC Lloyd modern era house afficionados? :p
I think my favourite style is probably 1920s-1930s houses, with big stone bay windows, the bigger rounded and "multi faceted" the bays the better. Arriel box room windows are great- and double fronted houses are obviously prefered.
I like turn of the century Victorian stuff as well as Edwardian.
The Victorian high ceiling houses although sometimes somewhat austere to me, always seem quite imposing. Huge sized rooms usually.
What's your favourite style/era of house?
Any Bovis/AC Lloyd modern era house afficionados? :p
I'll go for Art Deco, because it combined classical influences with modern ones in a stylish way, which few have succeeded in doing since. The current trend for glass and steel hulks peddled by Foster, Rogers et al seems unimaginative, soulless and cold..
Completely unrelated, but Gaudi was undeniably a magician....
Completely unrelated, but Gaudi was undeniably a magician....
Another vote for Art Deco - but the American, rather than European, interpretation. American art deco was bold and well-proportioned without resorting to the clinical nature of Bauhaus, or the rather effette French take. Frank Lloyd-Wright, Auburn 851 Speedsters, I rest my case.
I think, by and large, British 20th Century architecture was dreadful - it either lived in the past, or half-heartedly, heavy-handedly stumbled towards the future, hence neo-everything and brutalism. Thank God for the likes of Norman Foster. We got our act back together in the '80s with things like Lloyds, and British architecture has been looking up ever since.
Having said that, I do have a sneaking fondness for '60s/'70s European modernism, especially the West German, French, Spanish and Italian schools. Concrete didn't work in Britain because it rained and we used dirty great slabs of the stuff, but on the continent, sharp, glassy, tinted shapes, and interiors with gorgeously oddball shapes and bold acidic shades of primary hues have loads of appeal for me. It speaks of suave, silent European playboys with houses featuring black and silver leather chairs and TVs in white revolving globes. And outside, the perfect counterpart - Lancia Stratos, Lamborghini Countach LP400, Lotus Esprit S1 - that sort of thing.
It struck me recently as I was watching A Clockwork Orange the other night. I love the interior of the writer's house and the Moloko Milk Bar - so stark, startling and otherworldly, yet resolutely 'modern'. There's nothing 'retro' about modernism, and depressingly, now, we seem to be more intent on badly replicating rather conservative, 'cuddly' stuff (new Beetles and Minis, neo-Georgian housing developments etc) than truly moving on.
We got modernism all wrong though - horrible apartment blocks and Austin Princesses. Perhaps it's best we skipped it.
I think, by and large, British 20th Century architecture was dreadful - it either lived in the past, or half-heartedly, heavy-handedly stumbled towards the future, hence neo-everything and brutalism. Thank God for the likes of Norman Foster. We got our act back together in the '80s with things like Lloyds, and British architecture has been looking up ever since.
Having said that, I do have a sneaking fondness for '60s/'70s European modernism, especially the West German, French, Spanish and Italian schools. Concrete didn't work in Britain because it rained and we used dirty great slabs of the stuff, but on the continent, sharp, glassy, tinted shapes, and interiors with gorgeously oddball shapes and bold acidic shades of primary hues have loads of appeal for me. It speaks of suave, silent European playboys with houses featuring black and silver leather chairs and TVs in white revolving globes. And outside, the perfect counterpart - Lancia Stratos, Lamborghini Countach LP400, Lotus Esprit S1 - that sort of thing.
It struck me recently as I was watching A Clockwork Orange the other night. I love the interior of the writer's house and the Moloko Milk Bar - so stark, startling and otherworldly, yet resolutely 'modern'. There's nothing 'retro' about modernism, and depressingly, now, we seem to be more intent on badly replicating rather conservative, 'cuddly' stuff (new Beetles and Minis, neo-Georgian housing developments etc) than truly moving on.
We got modernism all wrong though - horrible apartment blocks and Austin Princesses. Perhaps it's best we skipped it.
Twincam16 said:
Another vote for Art Deco - but the American, rather than European, interpretation. American art deco was bold and well-proportioned without resorting to the clinical nature of Bauhaus, or the rather effette French take. Frank Lloyd-Wright, Auburn 851 Speedsters, I rest my case.
I think, by and large, British 20th Century architecture was dreadful - it either lived in the past, or half-heartedly, heavy-handedly stumbled towards the future, hence neo-everything and brutalism. Thank God for the likes of Norman Foster. We got our act back together in the '80s with things like Lloyds, and British architecture has been looking up ever since.
Having said that, I do have a sneaking fondness for '60s/'70s European modernism, especially the West German, French, Spanish and Italian schools. Concrete didn't work in Britain because it rained and we used dirty great slabs of the stuff, but on the continent, sharp, glassy, tinted shapes, and interiors with gorgeously oddball shapes and bold acidic shades of primary hues have loads of appeal for me. It speaks of suave, silent European playboys with houses featuring black and silver leather chairs and TVs in white revolving globes. And outside, the perfect counterpart - Lancia Stratos, Lamborghini Countach LP400, Lotus Esprit S1 - that sort of thing.
It struck me recently as I was watching A Clockwork Orange the other night. I love the interior of the writer's house and the Moloko Milk Bar - so stark, startling and otherworldly, yet resolutely 'modern'. There's nothing 'retro' about modernism, and depressingly, now, we seem to be more intent on badly replicating rather conservative, 'cuddly' stuff (new Beetles and Minis, neo-Georgian housing developments etc) than truly moving on.
We got modernism all wrong though - horrible apartment blocks and Austin Princesses. Perhaps it's best we skipped it.
I don't know if you've visited Trellick tower, but I think it's great. Goldfinger was spot on with his buildings, the problem is that we copied them on the cheap.
When I finally move into my own house, I'll start with a 'clean slate' approach to each room, mixing Modernism with the latter inspirations of art deco, with 'gothicised' touches (for example, using grey marble effects instead of red-veined, using complimentary, rather than primary colours and so on), toning it down so it runs into the modernism more easily.
There are certain modernist colour mixtures that I love too - such as white with burnt orange, lime green with tan, wood veneer and polished aluminium, green- and blue-tinted glass, brown with aquatic blue and so on. The technique is to tone down the garish, emphasised primary colour with a softer, gradiated complimentary shade. It makes objects and design features look distinctive, but not shocking.
Unfortunately, there's nothing I dislike more about interiors than the British curses of floral patterns, huge swags of cloth, over-rich colours, cluttered, over-homely decor and the rest of it. I prefer to get up to a clean, neat finish that intrigues me, rather than be weighed down by my own life's mess.
Having said that, I do like traditional Tuscan villas...
There are certain modernist colour mixtures that I love too - such as white with burnt orange, lime green with tan, wood veneer and polished aluminium, green- and blue-tinted glass, brown with aquatic blue and so on. The technique is to tone down the garish, emphasised primary colour with a softer, gradiated complimentary shade. It makes objects and design features look distinctive, but not shocking.
Unfortunately, there's nothing I dislike more about interiors than the British curses of floral patterns, huge swags of cloth, over-rich colours, cluttered, over-homely decor and the rest of it. I prefer to get up to a clean, neat finish that intrigues me, rather than be weighed down by my own life's mess.
Having said that, I do like traditional Tuscan villas...
dilbert said:
If it's industrial buildings though, the Victorians take the cake for me.
Hmmm. Not so sure. The Victorians are an unfortunate pet hate of mine. It's like they designed their industrial buildings to be bleak and foreboding and depressing. All I can think of when I see, say, a Victorian mill is small children getting limbs ripped off, and men drowning in their own sideburns and gout as they unveil their latest invention, "Messr's Thicktwistle & Barnett's Contraption for the Intensified and Concentrated Removal of Unsightly Protrusions and Eminations", aka, a pair of tweezers. There's something so heavy-going and boringly oppressive about the whole 19th Century. A decade made for sepia and glazed expressions.
Classically-speaking, I do like older, more Regency styles. Their cleanliness of line almost paves the way for Bauhaus. However, I still notice the creeping British floral obssession. IMO, floral patterns should be on flowers. If you want some in your house, bring in a plant pot or two.
dilbert said:
I don't know if you've visited Trellick tower, but I think it's great. Goldfinger was spot on with his buildings, the problem is that we copied them on the cheap.
Definately. The interiors of that place speak of the space age to me, and that separate 'service tower' is a brilliant piece of a time when we didn't rationalize things quite so much.
However, it was when modernist/brutalist architecture got caught up in socialist utopianism that it came a cropper. When they were individually-commissioned, stand-alone examples of fresh design, on the continent, they were beautiful. When they were converted by sociologists into their blinkered visions of idealised communities, and imposed on people used to completely different kinds of living, it failed.
A lot of my university (York) is Modernist. OK, so it's brutalist in parts (the infamous Goodricke College, for example), yet I love Central Hall. People say it looks like a big ugly flying saucer. That's not the point - it looks like a flying saucer. Who'd have the balls to do something like that today?
Twincam16 said:
If it's industrial buildings though, the Victorians take the cake for me.
Hmmm. Not so sure. The Victorians are an unfortunate pet hate of mine. It's like they designed their industrial buildings to be bleak and foreboding and depressing. All I can think of when I see, say, a Victorian mill is small children getting limbs ripped off, and men drowning in their own sideburns and gout as they unveil their latest invention, "Messr's Thicktwistle & Barnett's Contraption for the Intensified and Concentrated Removal of Unsightly Protrusions and Eminations", aka, a pair of tweezers. There's something so heavy-going and boringly oppressive about the whole 19th Century. A decade made for sepia and glazed expressions.
Classically-speaking, I do like older, more Regency styles. Their cleanliness of line almost paves the way for Bauhaus. However, I still notice the creeping British floral obssession. IMO, floral patterns should be on flowers. If you want some in your house, bring in a plant pot or two.
How about Ribblehead?
Christ, how could i have forgotten Bauhaus? Must be the heat. I'm a massive fan of Gropius [wait for some retard to make the inevitable hilarious joke], van der Rohe [sp?] and of course Le Corbusier. Although i'll admit that the latter's post ww2 paris masterplan is one of the most detestable architectural propositions ever, including Albert Speer's plans for Berlin, or more accurately, 'Germania'
dilbert said:
dilbert said:
If it's industrial buildings though, the Victorians take the cake for me.
Hmmm. Not so sure. The Victorians are an unfortunate pet hate of mine. It's like they designed their industrial buildings to be bleak and foreboding and depressing. All I can think of when I see, say, a Victorian mill is small children getting limbs ripped off, and men drowning in their own sideburns and gout as they unveil their latest invention, "Messr's Thicktwistle & Barnett's Contraption for the Intensified and Concentrated Removal of Unsightly Protrusions and Eminations", aka, a pair of tweezers. There's something so heavy-going and boringly oppressive about the whole 19th Century. A decade made for sepia and glazed expressions.
Classically-speaking, I do like older, more Regency styles. Their cleanliness of line almost paves the way for Bauhaus. However, I still notice the creeping British floral obssession. IMO, floral patterns should be on flowers. If you want some in your house, bring in a plant pot or two.
How about Ribblehead?
Not an industrial building really though is it. And let's face it, there's only so much you can do with a viaduct.
RickApple said:
Christ, how could i have forgotten Bauhaus? Must be the heat. I'm a massive fan of Gropius [wait for some retard to make the inevitable hilarious joke], van der Rohe [sp?] and of course Le Corbusier. Although i'll admit that the latter's post ww2 paris masterplan is one of the most detestable architectural propositions ever, including Albert Speer's plans for Berlin, or more accurately, 'Germania'
Funny you mention Speer and 'Germania' - I always think the British obssession with all things 'traditional' is actually quite similar to Hitler's ideals about a traditional Germany on a massive scale.
I like the fact that we're finally embracing an advanced form of modernism (I refuse to call it postmodernism) in buildings like the 'Gherkin' and Daniel Kleinemann's Northern Imperial War Museum and the adjacent Lowry Centre. And we can build good-looking apartment blocks too.
We still can't let go of neo-Georgian though. There's a rather depressing sight near where I live back home, where there's a road full of individually commissioned, expensive houses The road's been there a long time, and the whitewashed, curve-windowed Bauhaus place designed in the '30s looks a whole lot more modern than the newer neo-Georgian monstrosities that look like an awful facsimilie of England, sandblasted in Nevada and craned in from Beverley Hills.
Twincam16 said:
Not an industrial building really though is it. And let's face it, there's only so much you can do with a viaduct.
I don't know there's quite a bit of difference in all of them. I think the thing about Ribblehead is that it was pretty amazing that they achieved it at all.
Twincam16 said:
We still can't let go of neo-Georgian though. There's a rather depressing sight near where I live back home, where there's a road full of individually commissioned, expensive houses The road's been there a long time, and the whitewashed, curve-windowed Bauhaus place designed in the '30s looks a whole lot more modern than the newer neo-Georgian monstrosities that look like an awful facsimilie of England, sandblasted in Nevada and craned in from Beverley Hills.
I have one of those near me. You're right, it aint great.
Massive fan of the Frank Lloyd Wright era of achitecture, somehow the buildings he designed still look quite modern even by todays standards even though many were designed and built in the early 1900s.
Falling water has to be my favourite by a mile:
[url]www.paconserve.org/fw-building.asp[/url]
Falling water has to be my favourite by a mile:
[url]www.paconserve.org/fw-building.asp[/url]
Arts and Crafts era. Fantasticly simple, yet complex. The best in British cabinet work and Master craftsmen.
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.
With the arrogance of youth, I determined to do no less than to transform the world with Beauty. If I have succeeded in some small way, if only in one small corner of the world, amongst the men and women I love, then I shall count myself blessed, and blessed, and blessed, and the work goes on.
William Morris
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.
With the arrogance of youth, I determined to do no less than to transform the world with Beauty. If I have succeeded in some small way, if only in one small corner of the world, amongst the men and women I love, then I shall count myself blessed, and blessed, and blessed, and the work goes on.
William Morris
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff