Archinect - Features

10 Controversial Buildings That Became Iconic Landmarks

2024-10-07T06:48:00-04:00

Architectural landmarks often become beloved symbols of their cities, but many were not always welcomed with open arms. Throughout history, some of our most acclaimed structures have in fact provoked heated debates, divided public opinion, sparked fierce controversy, and in one case, caused the late great architect Richard Rogers to be attacked by an elderly Parisian with an umbrella.

To mark World Architecture Day 2024, we take a look back through the history of some of the architectural structures most beloved by the public today, and demonstrate how their status as landmarks was hard-won.

To see how a building initially deemed a monstrosity, an eyesore, or an insult to tradition can evolve into the defining element of a city’s character is an interesting exercise in itself. Beyond the novelty, however, these stories raise apt questions for architects today. To what extent do, or should, we design in response to present tastes? Do we too quickly abandon ideas today in response t...

The Architect's Power in Tomorrow's Energy Infrastructure

2021-10-04T14:35:00-04:00

The architecture of energy systems is undergoing a renaissance. As our ability to generate, consume, and store energy in a clean, sustainable way continues to accelerate, spurred by a heightened awareness of climate change, architects are steadily sculpting a new architecture to celebrate, showcase, and interweave these new technologies into the built environment.

To explore this new architecture of energy infrastructure, we spoke with two prominent architecture firms, AL_A and C.F. Møller Architects, both of whom have recently overseen the design of energy schemes that prioritize transparency, interaction, and a contemporary architectural flare. In addition to exploring the design process of energy infrastructure, we reflect on future possibilities for the energy typology and the role that architecture studios large and small can play in shaping it.

Studio Visits: Bennetts Associates

2020-01-24T13:25:00-05:00

Bennetts Associates are well known for their work within the cultural sector, having restored and renewed, to name a few; The Old Vic, Shaftesbury Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Their architectural interventions on the projects mentioned, can at times be upstaged by the consequent buzz of the thriving community, old and new, that flock to these spaces. Because of their work, these perhaps forgotten places have once again become cultural hubs, with improved accessibility, additional seating and spacious foyers that spill out onto the streets creating all-day destinations.

Their skill for creating architecture that supports and stimulates its inhabitants is manifest in their own studio; a curious adoption of neighboring buildings including an 18th-century barn, an old Italian restaurant, and an early 20th-century print-works. The flexible, adaptive space allows for team members to communicate easily and walls filled with current projects encourage transparency and shared idea...

Studio Visits: Mizzi Studio

2020-01-19T15:12:00-05:00

I met Jonathan Mizzi and the Mizzi Studio team in their West London studio back in the summer. The team were all busy working away on various exciting projects as I was shown around and there was a feeling of excitement in the air. Having just moved their studio (only upstairs mind), there was an abundance of interesting models, sketches and samples for me to explore.

Jonathan, born in Malta, started the practice in 2011 after an interesting and fruitful alignment of events. An extremely passionate individual, he talks with great enthusiasm about all their projects past and present but one in particular - the Malta Bus Reborn. These characterful, emblematic, buses were retired for failing to meet EU standards for carbon emissions in 2011 but have been brought back to life by Mizzi Studio. Initially started as a passion project it is now fully supported by the Maltese Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects and is very quickly gaining speed. I found out more abo...

A Conversation With the Architect Who Is Bringing the World's Iconic Buildings to the Chessboard

2019-11-26T07:42:00-05:00

Trained architects turning their hand to product design is not a new phenomenon. In the 21st century Sam Jacob Studio is producing t-shirts and Zaha Hadid Architects are producing everything from vases to shoes, at the turn of the previous century architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh was designing clocks. It is common for architects diversify into other careers, as polymathic architecture education fosters a wide variety of skills.

Studio Visits: Gruff Architects

2019-08-03T12:28:00-04:00

For the first time on this studio visit I not only visited the studio but got to go on-site. Gruff Architects are based in Brockley south London as are many of their projects including founder Rhys Cannon’s own house, currently under construction. Exploring the house in it’s early stages of construction the team talked me through all the details often referencing early developments originating from previous projects. Now being their own client all these exciting, bold and fun ideas melting away in the boiling pot over the years are being fully explored without limitations.

A team of seven, they are also working on several other house refurbishments, a tennis pavilion as well as some outdoor public installations in Lincolnshire. Rhys along with director Emily showed me around the studio and their workshop across the road telling me all about studio life at Gruff Architects along the way.

Studio Visits: dMFK

2019-07-31T13:39:00-04:00

The short walk to dMFK from the tube is a uncommonly green one. Upon arrival Julian, the founding director, showed me the secret communal gardens the studio shares with their residential neighbours which includes several tennis courts, a BBQ and the recent addition of a pizza oven. It is easy to understand why they have called this studio home for so long.

A proudly collaborative studio, (currently they are working with other London based practices Hawkins\Brown and ACME), they are particularly skilled within the heritage and residential sector. I met with the three directors, Julian de Metz, Paul Forbes and Ben Knight to find out more about their approach, current projects, and how they socialise as a team.

Studio Visits: Feix & Merlin Architects

2019-07-20T05:38:00-04:00

Julia Feix and Tarek Merlin met while working for Will Alsop at aLL Design in the early 2000s. Encouraged and inspired by Alsop they first collaborated together after winning a competition to design a beach house for the 21st on the Lincolnshire coast. Finding a synergy in their approach they have been working together ever since growing their own practice. Now, past the ten-year mark, they are working on larger and more complex projects than ever before including several hotels, one in Hamburg; one in Krakow and another in Warsaw, multiple housing projects and the refurbishment of Walworth Town Hall in Elephant & Castle.

I met Julia, Tarek, and the team earlier in the summer to find out more.

Studio Visits: SODA Studio

2019-04-05T13:32:00-04:00

SODA's now recognizable branding designed in-house acts as a vehicle for them to explore their ambitions, often updated or recolored, it visualizes the constantly evolving, growing ethos of the studio. Working across sectors and disciplines the team approach each project in the same way: as an opportunity to think anew and break the mold.

Recently nominated for the BD Young Architect of the Year the team is currently working on a theatre in Soho, several co-working spaces as well as a nightclub. I met with Directors Laura Sanjuan and Russell Potter to find out more about the Clerkenwell based practice.

Studio Visits: Stanton Williams

2019-03-01T08:26:00-05:00

I visited Stanton Williams architects early in the new year on a cold bright afternoon. The studio, close to Angel, is sunken into Regents canal with wide open windows framing the lapping water and visiting ducks. During my visit, the sun promenaded in exposing corners of curiosities housing copious materials, drawings, and models. The outside welcomed in, as elemental to the office as the desks and chairs.

This habitat embodies Stanton Williams’ ambitions with their own architecture; sensitive and responsive to its environment - architecture as an experience for the senses and a wonder to be in.

Utilizing their extensive experience within the arts and culture sector, they are currently working on the new Museum of London in Smithfields with Asif Khan as well as a project at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, a part of The Louvre in Paris, in addition to many other projects. I met with Patrick Richard one of the Principal Directors to find out more.

Studio Visits: Tate Harmer

2019-01-31T11:46:00-05:00

Tate Harmer's office is nestled away in a quiet courtyard in Dalston, East London. If you were visiting the very charming nearby Brunswick East cafe, an office favorite, you would never guess that just across the way a team of curious architects were designing some truly inspiring projects. For example, their hotel for the Eden Project in Cornwall will have a timber frame and when completed, will be the most sustainable and accessible hotel in the UK.

The team recently celebrated their ten-year anniversary with a party at Brunel Museum, their ongoing project located in Brunel's Thames Tunnel Engine House that is an embodiment of both their skill for unlocking the potential of overlooked spaces and their professional and personal investments in their projects and the communities they work with.

Studio Visits: Gibson Thornley

2018-12-04T12:10:00-05:00

Ben Gibson and Matt Thornley met at AHMM over ten years ago. Collectively, during their time there they worked on a multitude of award winning buildings, including the Stirling Prize winning Burntwood School. In 2013 they joined forces and established Gibson Thornley.

Now hitting their stride, the team are working on a number of diverse projects across the city. At the time that I visited the team they were working on the final touches to the Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up exhibition at the V&A, a very eagerly anticipated show and we now know, very successful show, which was opened for an additional two weeks to meet the high demand.

A design-led team with lot of energy and enthusiasm for their projects and in addition, it must be said, an extremely welcoming and friendly team. Find out more about Gibson Thornley in our latest studio visit.

Studio Visits: SPPARC

2018-11-30T09:00:00-05:00

SPPARC was founded by Trevor Morriss just over ten years ago. The practice has a diverse and exciting portfolio of high-quality architecture and masterplanning projects across the city, many of which are situated in historic conservation areas.

What became immediately clear from my discussion with Trevor, the Studio Manager Serena Woodhouse and one of the architects at the practice Bryan Ratzlass was the team's innate curiosity for people and place. Each project is thoroughly researched, not out of duty but because they are passionate about the history and context of the site they are working on. 145 Kensington Church Street, for example, has an ingenious façade that cites the unique candle-making heritage of the area, a source of inspiration from the past and means to create a legacy for the future.

I popped into their very unique studio, which they designed themselves, to find out more about what it’s like to work at SPPARC.

#ArchinectMeets @manvisual

2018-11-30T08:30:00-05:00

#ArchinectMeets is a series of interviews with members of the architecture community that use Instagram as a creative medium. With the series, we ask some of Instagram’s architectural photographers, producers and curators about their relationship to the social media platform and how it has affected their practice.

Social media has undeniably affected the way we perceive, interpret and share opinions about architecture today. While we use our own account, @Archinect, as a site for image curation and news content, we wanted to ask fellow Instagram users how they navigated the platform.

We spoke to Jonathan Wilson, the photographer behind @manvisual. Wilson zooms into the architectural details and juxtapositions of London to reveal light and material sensations far too easily missed by first glance.

Studio Visits: Nissen Richards Studio

2018-08-30T09:00:00-04:00

Nissen Richards, comprised of Pippa Nissen and Jim Richards, have managed to successfully nurture a practice built from their inherent love of architecture, strengthened by their additional love of graphics, and theatre and exhibition design. A multi-interdisciplinary practice, with an extremely versatile workforce, the team have worked on projects at the V&A, British Museum and Printworks to name a few.

For this Studio Visit, I went to visit them along the canal near Haggerston in East London and spoke to the two founders, Pippa Nissen and Jim Richards as well as Associate Tetsuro Nagata, to find out more about their current projects and how they utilise their specialist skills set.

Studio Visits: Piercy & Co

2018-03-08T09:00:00-05:00

Recently, Piercy & Co have received a lot of attention for their impressive use of materials and textures done in collaboration with craftspeople and fabricators, most notably on their project, 25 Savile Road in London's West End. Their sensibility and attention to detail is evident in all their work and is now manifest in their newly built studio, which they designed and built (as much as possible) themselves.

Find out more about how they went about designing their space and what the team's current projects are, in my latest Studio Visit.

Studio Visits: PH+

2018-02-27T13:43:00-05:00

PH+'s London office is tucked away in Aldgate, East London. Visiting their studio, I was keen to learn more about their work, having regularly walked past their lushly green residential building with a living ivy façade on Orsman Road along Regents Canal. Working closely with the Borough of Hackney, the team worked hard to create a building that enhanced the surrounding ‘Green Corridor’ and maximized the biodiversity along the river. The project embodies the studio's ethos and fascination with the people and places they work with, as well as, their ambition to continuously add value to the built environment.

For this Studio Visit, I spoke to Luke Neve, who manages the studio’s internal and external communications and Andy Puncher, one of the two Founders of pH+.

How 6 Successful Women in Architecture, Planning, and Engineering Joined Forces to Win "The Cambridge to Oxford Connection: Ideas Competition"

2018-02-19T15:48:00-05:00

The VeloCity team met through PedElle, a charity cycling endurance event open to female riders working in the property industry. Each successful in their own right, they decided they wanted to work together combining their expertise in architecture, design, engineering and town planning - a place-making competition developing the corridor that spans Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Northampton and Oxford, seemed the perfect opportunity.

I recently met with the team to find out more about how they work together collaboratively and what made their entry stand out. Since we met they have gone on to win the 'The Cambridge to Oxford Connection: Ideas Competition', cementing their exciting future working together.

Studio Visits: ACME

2018-01-05T05:00:00-05:00

I walk past Acme's London office regularly and there is almost always a passerby staring into their window with a rather bemused, albeit intrigued, look on their face, not quite sure what to make of this golden cave of wonders. This is no accident, Friedrich Ludewig who founded the practice in 2007, told me on our latest Studio Visit. Having heard of a Japanese architect who shared his studio with his florist wife, Friedrich was inspired to create a similarly curious studio space with a speculative function to tantalize clients and the local community alike.

This playful and idiosyncratic approach is synonymous with Acme and can be seen in all of their projects, most recently the award winning Victoria Gate shopping mall in Leeds with its striking diagrid facade.

Having just celebrated their ten year anniversary we found out more about their journey so far and what the future holds for this exciting studio.

deDraft, a Practice of Three Tucked Away in London Fields, Discuss the Benefits of a Smaller Practice and Taking a More Personal Approach

2017-12-25T09:00:00-05:00

Grant Straghan founded deDraft in 2010 after studying at Hull School of Architecture and working for practices across the UK including MAP Architects in Belfast, GHM Group in Leeds and DMFK Architects in London. Now a solid team of three, and seven years in, they work closely together to create 'imaginative yet functional' design, mostly residential for now but with their sights set on much bigger things.

For this Small Studio Snapshot feature, we spoke to the team about the benefits of staying small and how their studio set up supports their creativity.

Studio Visits: Tonkin Liu

2017-12-19T05:30:00-05:00

Tucked away on a charming residential street just around the corner from Exmouth Market, you will find the award winning architecture practice Tonkin Liu. During the day the founding partners Anna Liu and Mike Tonkin, who started the practice in 2002, share their beautiful Grade II listed Georgian home with their team, utilising the first three floors as studio space.

They also recently renovated the back yard creating Sun Rain Room a manifestation of their design style and principles, recently nominated for the annual 'Don't Move Improve Awards'.

On our latest Studio Visit we had a look around this rather unique studio, had tea and biscuits with the team and found out more about their current projects.

Studio Visits: AECOM London

2017-11-22T10:00:00-05:00

Our latest Studio Visit was to Aecom's London office in Aldgate Tower which they designed and built themselves and moved into last year. Taking the opportunity to look closely at their own culture and working practices they aimed to create a much more collaborative work environment that is built around and enables innovation and creativity.

We got the opportunity to explore their new office, speak to Jennifer Dixon Architecture Leader of AECOM EMIA, and find out what it is really like working as part of a global giant with over 80,000 staff members globally.

Studio Visits: Duggan Morris Architects

2017-11-08T05:00:00-05:00

For this Studio Visit, I traveled to Duggan Morris Architects in a charming old warehouse building in the back streets of East London. Their office, beautifully lit with autumnal sun on the morning I visited, was jammed packed with models—many recognisable including the recently completed workspace R7 in Kings Cross and the award winning project The Loom.

We spoke to Joe Morris who told us more about the studio, the teams favoured local coffee shop Westland Wine and Coffee and what projects they are currently working on.

Cluster, create, devolve

2017-11-01T07:00:00-04:00

In 2010 Boris Johnson, when he was Mayor of London, famously stated that he would not accept “Kosovo-style social cleansing of London” as a result of the then Government’s proposals to cut housing benefit payments. Johnson’s comments highlighted the pressures of retaining the social mix of central city areas in the face of increasing inequality of income and rising land and property prices. It was, and is, an issue that not only affects social housing at the lower end of the scale but also the intermediate market where young professionals and entrepreneurs — the drivers of the city’s future economy — can no longer afford to live in the capital.

Studio Visits: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

2017-10-13T09:00:00-04:00

Established in 1989 AHMM have offices in London, Bristol and Oklahoma City. They are well known for their renovation projects particularly in London including The Barbican, The Tea Building and Scotland Yard. In 2015 they won the prestigious Stirling Prize for their transformation of Burntwood School, a 1950s modernist school in Wandsworth. We went to have a look around their London office in Clerkenwell.

NEUBAU, a Small Studio in Cambridge, Tell Us About Their Aspirations

2017-10-09T09:02:00-04:00

This week we take a Small Studio Snapshot of NEUBAU, a young practice and think tank operating between London and Cambridge, founded by Brigitta Lenz and Alexander Giarlis. Both with extensive previous experience working for big name practices, the duo talks about how they draw on this background to create ambitious and thought-provoking work focused on sustainability.

One, Two Three Swing & #ILikeEverything; Installations from the Tate Turbine Hall and the Hestercombe Estate

2017-10-03T11:40:00-04:00

The first Tate Turbine Hall installation seventeen years ago featured the work of the surrealist Louise Bourgeois, since then, there have been many popular, bodily engaged installations such as Olafur Eliasson’s, Weather Project, and Carsten Holler’s polished stainless steel slides. With this year’s installation commissioned from the Danish art collective, Superflex, entitled ‘One, Two Three Swing’, the fun is back with an experiential attraction, a stimulation for body and mind. Superflex have a track record of provocative and collaborative work, from urban graphics to film and sound work, from their ‘flooded MacDonalds’ film to the remarkable ‘international’ playpark in Copenhagen, ‘Superkilin’.

Iconic Buildings: I work at the Serpentine Galleries, London

2017-09-27T04:14:00-04:00

For our series Iconic Buildings, we speak to people who live or work in buildings of architectural significance. Is the exposure to an architectural wonder on a daily basis a source of inspiration or simply part of the backdrop?

In the spring, before this year's Serpentine Pavilion designed by Francis Kéré was installed, we went to visit Mike Gaughan who is Gallery Manager at the Serpentine Galleries in Kensington Gardens.

Studio Visits: Avanti Architects

2017-09-25T05:00:00-04:00

For this Studio Visit, we went to see Avanti Architects based in Islington. An AJ 100 practice, the studio is well known for it's work in the health, conservation and education sectors. Avanti Architects are currently working on plans to restore the Grade A/I listed St Peter’s Seminary in Cardross.

In Focus: Jo Underhill

2017-09-21T04:00:00-04:00

In Focus is Archinect's recurring series dedicated to profiling the photographers who help make the work of architects look that much better. What has attracted them to architecture? How do they work? What type of equipment do they use? What do they think about seeing their work in blogs?

For this instalment, we interviewed Jo Underhill based in London.