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News Release January 3, 2007 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania… An exploration of emerging architectural thinking and practice in London will be on view at the Heinz Architectural Center of Carnegie Museum of Art from January 20 through June 3, 2007. Gritty Brits: New London Architecture examines the works of six young, London-based architectural firms: Adjaye/Associates, Caruso St John Architects, FAT (Fashion Architecture Taste), Níall McLaughlin Architects, muf, and Sergison Bates architects. These practices operate in and about the city’s post-industrial East End and their work responds to the vibrant diversity of contemporary culture and urban life. Approximately 150 objects, including 18 models, six of which have been commissioned for the exhibition, will be on view. Also included will be photographs, film, working drawings, and material samples. Visitors to the exhibition will get their first glimpse of London, absent the familiar monuments and tourist destinations, in a room-size panorama of images that presents the everyday urban environment in which these architects build. “In the work of each architectural practice, the attitude to site is informed by contemporary urban reality—by London’s grittiness, yet also by a potential for joy,” says Raymund Ryan, Carnegie Museum of Art curator of architecture and organizer of the exhibition. Their “new London” architecture manifests itself in areas that were previously neglected by developers and planners. Clients range from the well-to-do to the less privileged. Some projects are homes for celebrities and art collectors, others provide housing for low-income residents and recent immigrants. “The collective result of the architects’ creations is that as new social groups and situations emerge, new juxtapositions and cultural layers manifest themselves within the city,” says Ryan. “These new architects allow the city and its architecture to inform one another, and their projects analyze and reinforce the urban experience through use of color, light, texture, and ornament.” The awnings of market stalls inspired the vivid colors and striations of Adjaye/Associates’ Idea Store Whitechapel, where patrons from many racial and economic backgrounds participate in library activities and classes, use the Internet, and dine in the upper- level cafe. The library is among those projects depicted on films made by Stephanie Hardt and T. Perrin Sledge. Rethinking our concept of landscape, FAT proposes Custom Car Rococo, a contemporary park-and-ride in Regent’s Park, a vast urban park first constructed in 1810. Alongside some architecturally undistinguished high-rise towers in Tilbury, the architectural firm muf collaborated with teenage girls to organize a barren site near public housing for horseback riding and other community activities. Elsewhere FAT’s Sitooterie and muf’s design for Barking Town Square reinterpret the English folly tradition. London’s canals now host a growing number of floating homes. Níall McLaughlin’s Houseboat uses environmental technologies for warmth and cooling and, unlike a traditional barge, is made of glass and reveals the lives of its inhabitants. The iridescent and striped facades of McLaughlin’s housing at Silvertownreinterpret aspects of that postindustrial terrain. Many of the projects in the exhibition are found in Bethnal Green and Hoxton Square, neighborhoods closely associated with the Young British Artists (YBAs). Architect David Adjaye has collaborated frequently with artist Chris Ofili on such works as The Upper Room (acquired by the Tate Museum), the British Pavilion at the 2003 Venice Biennale, and the Stephen Lawrence Centre, under construction in Deptford, south London. Caruso St John Architects worked with the artist Thomas Demand and are now preparing designs with Damien Hirst for a private museum in Lambeth. The firm recently completed Brick House, a residence designed for a complex site in Bayswater, and remodeled the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, adding an entrance porch inlaid with multicolored stones. Sergison Bates architects are developing strategies for housing, ranging from small scale, individual units to large scale, apartment complexes across London. In Bethnal Green, Studio House is located next to the factory that houses the practice of Caruso St John Architects. Flanking a yard stocked with car tires, the narrow, three-story house is folded into its surroundings and, like many projects included in Gritty Brits, may not immediately be noticed by passers-by. Catalogue Programs Gritty Brits internationally renowned architect David Adjaye began his career by revitalizing post-industrial sites in London’s East End. His use of color, materials, and light is represented through models and film in Gritty Brits: New London Architecture. Adjaye comes to Pittsburgh as a keynote speaker in this year’s Carnegie Mellon WATS:on Festival. Lunch and Learn: Gritty Brits: New London Architecture Raymund Ryan, curator of Gritty Brits: New London Architecture, explores history and emerging themes in London’s architecture and urban development as documented in the exhibition. Support Photos are available on Carnegie Museum of Art’s media photo website. Contact the communications office at 412.688.8690 for the access code. Carnegie Museum of Art Located at 4400 Forbes Avenue in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh and founded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1895, Carnegie Museum of Art, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is nationally and internationally recognized for its distinguished collection of American and European works of art from the 16th century to the present. The Heinz Architectural Center, part of Carnegie Museum of Art, is dedicated to the collection, study, and exhibition of architectural drawings and models. For more information about Carnegie Museum of Art, call 412.622.3131. Contact: |
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