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#1 2021-09-12 08:03:22
- A Fine Sadness
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Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
Slightly off-topic. JS said somewhere sometime 'modernism is my obsession' (maybe not his exact words but...). Toffeeman (Gibson Gardens) and I twitted one another over this years ago: he thought that I was a reactionary. Now, I own a bit of Aalto and some nice Finnish glass but can't swallow Le Corbusier, the Bauhaus or most modern architecture, much preferring the Anglo-Classical period (think Hugh May). Any musings?
#2 2021-09-12 17:37:33
- Tworussellstreet
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Re: Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
Life events have taken the edge off some of my once brittle opinions but I still recall my visit to Le Corb's Unite d'Habitation in Marseilles with a sense of wonder. Great modernism can inspire as much awe as the Campidoglio or an afternoon in front of the window of 2 Russell Street in 1986.
#3 2021-09-13 02:35:40
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Re: Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
I sort of understand it without much liking it, if that makes any kind of sense. A.N. Wilson described some London Victorian architecture as 'camp' but the Victorians often did some not unpleasing detailing (and I do like wrought-iron, sometimes even cast). I'd have loved to have seen the Euston arch. Form following function? I don't mind a pumping station looking like a Gothic folly.
Anyway, the last time I heard jazz at Chiltern Street (many moons ago) it was something I recognized from my old man's collection: definitely pre-bebop. I tried to like 'A Love Supreme' - couldn't - liked Miles' 'Sketches Of Spain' better than almost anything else.
I think we all like clean lines.
#4 2021-09-13 17:57:23
- Tworussellstreet
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Re: Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
I still find that Betjeman stuff a bit tedious. Modernism remains a minority interest in the UK, but then the British are largely visually illiterate.
#5 2021-09-14 02:23:07
- A Fine Sadness
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Re: Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
Betj became, yes, rather tedious, although he noticed and valued things Pevsner didn't. Agree, the British are as you say they are. There are 'Italianate' buildings all over the country, but does anyone notice, do they recognise or acknowledge the borrowing? Doubtful. And I don't just mean Georgian/Palladian but Victorian banks etc. I tried pointing out a nice example to my daughter's chap but he's too far into his Silicon Valley shtick to notice anything. Daughter, however, is busily discovering obscure 19th century painters in the Tate and elsewhere. Wise girl doesn't much like Picasso.
#6 2021-09-14 04:37:44
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Re: Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
Ian Nairn had an appreciation of modern architecture, indeed of poured concrete structures in places like Bolton. His books on London and Paris have become 'classics' (i.e. expensive on Amazon) and the films he did for the BBC (prior to drinking himself to death at an early age) can be viewed on Youtube.
My first job after leaving school was cutting angle iron and painting it with red lead oxide then fitting heating ducting at Derby Assembly Rooms (Casson and Conder), now regarded as a fine example of brutalism and in danger of demolition. I think it's horrible and I don't think Nairn liked it either.
For the discerning Londoner who is not in too much of a hurry the books of Geoffrey Fletcher remain highly entertaining and informative, in the same way that Richard Cobb's is on Paris. 'The London Nobody Knows' is still a good starting point although obviously much will have changed, even around the East End.
#7 2021-09-14 05:57:03
- RobbieB
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Re: Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
I studied Architecture as a mature student back in the 80s and Ian Nairn was on the reading list. I've still got his book on London. What impressed me at the time was that he wrote about the parish church that I attended as a child. From an early age I felt that the church had architectural merit and he kind of confirmed it.
'I am a closet optimist' Leonard Cohen.
#8 2021-09-14 06:02:14
- A Fine Sadness
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Re: Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
He was quite violent - no, passionate - sometimes in his approach. He hated to see wanton destruction, whether it was of a Victorian church or a pre-1914 shopping arcade (Northampton). Streets get bulldozed for no good reason and turn into car-parks or wasteland. Then, look at what happened to Covent Garden. Nary a trace of a pippin or Inigo Jones.
#9 2021-09-14 17:39:52
- Tworussellstreet
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Re: Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
Have you read Ian Nairn on Liverpool? He adored the place - the pubs, the people, the architecture. Saw it as authentic and unpretentious. All of which is true, which is probably why, as an inauthentic and pretentious contrarian, I jumped ship at the age of 21 to define myself in the liberating anonymity of London.
#10 2021-09-15 01:15:07
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Re: Modernism: How Far Will You Go?
I haven't but I probably will. I don't think Nairn got absolutely everything right (which of us does - or can?), and I haven't visited Liverpool since 1983 or thereabouts. Found it quite fascinating, much as I have mixed feelings about it. Besides, my late father-in-law was from West Derby, his father a mostly unemployed docker. My younger daughter has friends there, loves it and had stayed for up to a month at a time (yet has probably never strolled down Rodney Street). Hate all this John Lennon Airport bollocks, though (an unmixed feeling).