Would Luder ever have lived in anything he designed? I very much doubt it. From online:Cheers for bumping this thread – I'm a fan of Owen Luder's work and while I managed to see the Trinity Centre in Gateshead (which is the Tricorn Centre's cousin) I never made it down to Portsmouth. I agree it was beautiful in a Modernist, brutalist way, and at least one of Luder's buildings should have been preserved. As it is, several have been demolished in the 21st century rush to destroy Modernism which is just as short sighted as the 1960's rush to destroy Victorian buildings. Anyhow, well done to WOTS for capturing it.
Can't speak for Luder, but I know that Erno Goldfinger stayed in one of the London tower blocks he designed (Trellick Tower, possibly), which somewhat defuses criticism of Modernist architects who designed places "they wouldn't be prepared to live in themselves."Would Luder ever have lived in anything he designed? I very much doubt it. From online:
It was during his first stint as head of the institute that Luder had a much-publicised meeting at Downing Street with Margaret Thatcher in 1982, heading up the cross construction industry organisation representing contractors, architects and unions known as the Group of Eight.
However the ‘bow-tied bête noire of Brutalism’ will be most remembered for his numerous, unfortunate appearances on the roster of theRubble Club – ‘a support group’ created by the late Isi Metzstein for architects whose buildings have been demolished during their lifetime.
The first to go was the Tricorn Centre, a former shopping, car park and nightclub in Portsmouth, which was flattened in 2004. The building was once voted the third ugliest in the UK and Prince Charles described it as ‘a mildewed lump of elephant droppings’.
But the highly sculptural landmark was defended by writer and critic Jonathan Meades, who said: ‘You don't go knocking down Stonehenge or Lincoln Cathedral. I think buildings like the Tricorn were as good as that. They were great monuments of an age.’
In 2012, Derwent Tower, an unpopular 29-storey block of flats in Gateshead known as the Dunston Rocket, was also pulled down. The building, which suffered from damp and leaks, was designed by the Owen Luder Partnership and completed in 1973.
Hayman I'm sure you know a lot more than me about brutalist architecture, but it certainly seems to polarise opinions. I read the Wiki entry about the Tricorn (never saw it in the flesh) and it had some major design and construction faults, apparently. It was dark, damp and leaked - stalactites were growing - and people didn't like the spiral staircases.Would Luder ever have lived in anything he designed? I very much doubt it. From online:
It was during his first stint as head of the institute that Luder had a much-publicised meeting at Downing Street with Margaret Thatcher in 1982, heading up the cross construction industry organisation representing contractors, architects and unions known as the Group of Eight.
However the ‘bow-tied bête noire of Brutalism’ will be most remembered for his numerous, unfortunate appearances on the roster of theRubble Club – ‘a support group’ created by the late Isi Metzstein for architects whose buildings have been demolished during their lifetime.
The first to go was the Tricorn Centre, a former shopping, car park and nightclub in Portsmouth, which was flattened in 2004. The building was once voted the third ugliest in the UK and Prince Charles described it as ‘a mildewed lump of elephant droppings’.
But the highly sculptural landmark was defended by writer and critic Jonathan Meades, who said: ‘You don't go knocking down Stonehenge or Lincoln Cathedral. I think buildings like the Tricorn were as good as that. They were great monuments of an age.’
In 2012, Derwent Tower, an unpopular 29-storey block of flats in Gateshead known as the Dunston Rocket, was also pulled down. The building, which suffered from damp and leaks, was designed by the Owen Luder Partnership and completed in 1973.
For most of the 1980s I worked for a London based central heating company, delivering materials to council housing undergoing refurbishment. Most of the properties were postwar blocks of flats, all to my mind unattractive and plain, if nor brutal. Slab-sided, vast flat areas of plain concrete, and basically rectangular - I saw nothing to ease the eye.Hayman I'm sure you know a lot more than me about brutalist architecture, but it certainly seems to polarise opinions. I read the Wiki entry about the Tricorn (never saw it in the flesh) and it had some major design and construction faults, apparently. It was dark, damp and leaked - stalactites were growing - and people didn't like the spiral staircases.
Not sure I agree with Jonathan Meades in this instance, though he always has an interesting angle. I believe he lives in a big block of flats in Marseille, designed by le Corbusier.
Enter your email address to join: