Hasta La Ideas

Literal highlights from the Pavilion of Art & Design during London’s Art Week

Now in its fifth year, the Pavilion of Art & Design gathers the most exclusive European galleries under one large, pink tent in Berkeley Square to show their beautiful objets d’art and design as part of the ever-growing London art week—with PAD serving as a more boutique-like alternative to the nearby behemoth Frieze Art Fair.

This year, we went on a quest to pick out the most striking contemporary works from the 20th-century art and furniture collections. Five very different works grabbed our attention, united by their minimal white expression.

Sandra Davolio‘s beautifully-delicate white porcelain vessels were the standout at the Modernity Gallery. Created by an Italian ceramicist living in Denmark, the pieces combine typically-Scandinavian aesthetic restraint with the floral Italian character of spiraling petals.

Another Italian adopting new cultural roots is Paola Petrobelli, a former molecular biologist who now works as a glass artist in London. Her 2011 Centrotavola collection of small white Murano glass vessels with brightly-colored rims was created for the Perimeter’s “What’s on The Table” project. Paula explains that for these minimal creations she wanted to “strip both the idea of centerpiece, and that of Murano glass of their connotation of frills, but retain at the same time their playfulness.”

Also distinctly playful is Beth Katleman‘s dramatic “Folly” (2010) at Todd Merrill Studio. Fifty suspended white porcelain sculptures throwing shadows across a turquoise backdrop come together as a kind of 3D wallpaper installation, which Katleman describes as a contemporary interpretation of traditional 18th-century Toile de Jouy fabrics.

At once refined in appearance and kitsch in subject, this work plays with notions of valuable antiques and knock-off trinkets. Katleman says, “Porcelain suggests luxury refinement and royal provenance. While one flea market treasure seems a little sad, a florid profusion of them is cause for celebration.” Folly will be on show this Fall at the Museum of Art and Design in New York.

Rolf Sachs’ pleasantly clinical “Light Chemistry” (2011), on show at Dutch gallery Priveekollektie, serves as a direct contrast to Katleman’s Folly. Sachs’ work stood out for being both practical and beautiful, using ready-made objects in an intriguingly-sculptural way. The designer’s use of typical laboratory equipment in a surprising skeletal contraption—a retort stand becomes the spinal cord, flasks are used as organs and electrical wires as veins—gives the appearance of an illuminated 3D biological drawing.

Finally, we were treated to Random International’s annual showing of their new work at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery. “A Study of Time #1” is as beguiling as any of this cutting-edge studio’s previous works. At first, the wall installation appears to be a digital dancing-light sculpture, until you become aware of the shadows cast by the LED lights, arranged on a grid of protruding rods. The shadows are created by an autonomous algorithm that illuminates the LEDs in sequence, so that numbers telling the time are briefly thrown across the white Corian base, before being absorbed back into a recurring light show. This ephemeral take on the clock as light and shadow was inspired by rAndom International’s recent scenography for the contemporary dance piece, “Far,” by Wayne McGregor at Random Dance.

Architects Stanton Williams have completed a new campus for art and design college Central Saint Martins in and around a Victorian granary and two former transit sheds in London.

Two new four-storey buildings provide studio blocks between the two 180 metre-long sheds, one of which now houses workshops.

Cycle stores are located in historic horse stables below this eastern shed, while shops and bars now occupy the ground floor of the western shed.

Four-storey-high concrete walls frame the main entrance to the college, which leads into an internal street with overhead bridges and an arched, clear plastic roof.

A performing arts centre located at the end of this street contains a 350-seat theatre for student performances.

The refurbished former granary now houses a library and faces a public square currently under construction.

Past projects by students at the University of the Arts college include functionless objects for unpredicted needs and rockers made from found chairs – see all our stories about Central Saint Martins here.

Stanton Williams also recently completed another UK university building – see our earlier story here about a research laboratory at Cambridge.

Photography is by Hufton + Crow, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s a more detailed description from Stanton Williams:

New University of the Arts London Campus Central Saint Martins at King’s Cross

To the north of King’s Cross and St Pancras International railway stations, 67-acres of derelict land are being transformed in what is one of Europe’s largest urban regeneration projects.

The result will be a vibrant mixed-use quarter, at the physical and creative heart of which will be the new University of the Arts London campus, home of Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design.

Stanton Williams’ design for the £200m new campus unites the college’s activities under one roof for the first time. It provides Central Saint Martins with a substantial new building, connected at its southern end to the Granary Building, a rugged survivor of the area’s industrial past.

The result is a state-of-the-art facility that not only functions as a practical solution to the college’s needs but also aims to stimulate creativity, dialogue and student collaboration.

A stage for transformation, a framework of flexible spaces that can be orchestrated and transformed over time by staff and students where new interactions and interventions, chance and experimentation can create that slip-steam between disciplines, enhancing the student experience. The coming together of all the schools of Central Saint Martins will open up that potential.

The design aims to maximise the connections between departments within the building, with student and material movement being considered 3-dimensionally, as a flow diagram North to South, East to West, and up and down – similar in many ways to how the grain was distributed around the site using wagons and turntables.

King’s Cross offered a unique opportunity: a large site within what promises to be a creative and cultural hub, connected (via King’s Cross Station and the restored St Pancras International) not only to the rest of Britain but also to mainland Europe, plus the chance to develop a robust contemporary architectural response to the boldness of the existing buildings on the site.

The Granary Building itself has been restored as the main ‘front’ of the college, facing a new public square that steps down to the Regent’s Canal. The building was designed in 1851 to receive grain from the wheat fields of Lincolnshire, unloaded here from railway wagons onto canal boats for onward transport to the capital’s bakeries.

It comprises a solid, six-storey cubic mass, with an unadorned, 50-metre wide brick elevation, extended to 100-metres by office additions flanking the building. To the north, located one to each side of the Granary Building, are two parallel 180 metres long Transit Sheds.

The design strategy retains the Granary Building, adapted to include functions such as the college’s library, while the Eastern Transit Shed behind is converted to create spectacular workshops for the college. Within the street-level openings of the Western Transit Shed, new shops and bars will add further life to the area. The historic horse stables below the Eastern Transit Sheds have been transformed to new cycle stores for students and staff.

The bulk of the college’s accommodation, however, is located in a major addition to the site, two substantial new studio buildings that occupy the space between the two transit sheds and which, at the North end of the site present a contemporary elevation to the surrounding area. The scale of the new addition responds closely to that of the Granary Building, essentially continuing its massing along the length of the site. It rises above the level of the transit sheds, using contemporary materials so that it will stand, beacon-like, as a symbol of the college’s presence within this rapidly-evolving part of London.

The two new four storey studio buildings are arranged at either side of a covered central ‘street’, some 110m long, 12m wide and 20m high, covered by a translucent ETFE roof and punctuated by a regular rhythm of service cores that accommodate lifts, stairs and toilets. At the northern end, a new centre for the Performing Arts will house a fully equipped theatre complete with fly-tower as well as rehearsal and teaching spaces.

The internal ‘street’ has been conceived as a dynamic area, an arena for student life, akin to the much-loved stair at the centre of the college’s previous main building. Bridges linking the various cores and workspaces cross it, offering break-out areas for meeting, relaxing and people-watching and exchanging ideas.

The street will be used for exhibitions, fashion shows and performances, the spaces being large enough to build temporary pavilions for example. Viewing points allow students to watch others working or performing, and the work of other disciplines can be seen and exhibited.

At the southern end of the new block and running parallel with the north end of the Granary Building is a second covered ‘street’, offering public access through this part of the building interior. Lifts rising through this space recall the vertical movement of grain, which gave the complex its original purpose.

Flooring details either retain existing turntables or hint at their historic location, while within the Granary Building itself, the hoists have been retained, crowning a newly inserted lightwell. Simple glazing maintain the integrity of the unbroken openings, rhythmically punctuating the Granary Building’s main façade.

The new University of the Arts London campus is one of the first parts of the King’s Cross development to be completed. As such, it not only provides Central Saint Martins with the flexible and dynamic spaces that it needs to educate and develop the artists and designers of the future, but also makes a firm statement of the role of the Arts in the quarter, to which it will give critical mass and energy.

Project Details:

The £200m campus brings together 4,000 Central Saint Martins students and 1,000 staff under one roof. It is made up of:
• 10 acres of floor space
• Over 1.3 million timber blocks
• Enough concrete to fill eight Olympic swimming pools
The three-storey building is based around an internal street, naturally lit through a translucent roof.
It contains four levels of multi-purpose workshops and specialist studios, including:
• Performance design and practice labs
• Casting, wood fabrication and metal fabrication workshops
• Post-production workshops
• Film, effects and sound studios
• Architecture and spatial studios
• Fashion and textiles studios
• Photography studios and darkrooms
• Product and industrial design studios
• Graphic and communication design studios • Jewellery workshops
• Art studios

The campus is also home to a 350 seat public theatre with its own entrance.

Above: Photography is by John Sturrock

It occupies the Grade II listed Granary Building, built in 1851, which managed the storage and distribution of grain at the height of the Victorian industrial boom.

Click above for larger image

It faces onto Granary Square which, when completed in June 2012, will be one of London’s largest public squares.

Click above for larger image

The campus has been designed by architects Stanton Williams and forms part of King’s Cross, a 67 acre development in central London – a new piece of the city with a brand new postcode, London N1C. King’s Cross is being developed by the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership, which brings together Argent Group, London & Continental Railways and DHL Supply Chain.

Click above for larger image

Key Values:

Project Value: £200M (based on cost of land, building, fit-out and expansion incl. third floor)

Click above for larger image

Key dates:

Construction Start date: January 2008
Completion Date: April 2011
Date of Occupation: August 2011
Construction phase: January 2008 – August 2011 (Incl. fit-out) Student arrival: 3rd October 2011
Building Details
Postal Address: Granary Building, 1 Granary Square, London, N1C 4AA Gross Internal Area: approx. 40,000m2

Click above for larger image

Design team:

Site Developer: Argent
Tenant: University of the Arts London
Architect: Stanton Williams
Structure: Scott Wilson
Environmental / M&E engineering: Atelier 10
Architectural lighting: Spiers and Major
Quantity Surveyor / Employer’s Agent: Davis Langdon
Landscape Architect: Townsend Landscape Architects.

Click above for larger image

Facade consultant: Arup Facades Engineering
CDM coordinator: Scott Wilson.
Contractor team – base build
Main contractor: Bam Construction Limited
Contractor’s Architect: Bam Design (new buildings) / Weedon Partnership (Granary)
Conservation Architect: Richard Griffiths Architects

Click above for larger image

Structure: Bam Design (new buildings) AKS Lister Beare (existing structure)
M&E engineering: Bam Design
Fire consultant: Aecom
Acoustic consultant: Sandy Brown Associates
Access consultant: All Clear Design
Contractor team – fit-out
Contractor: Overbury
Interior fit-out Architect: Pringle Brandon

See also:

.

Sainsbury Laboratory by Stanton Williams	School of Management by Adjaye Associates	Marne College by Wind Architecten Adviseurs

London architects Carmody Groarke arranged temporary timber pavilions around the trees in Regent’s Park for this year’s Frieze Art Fair.

The three pavilions surrounded a series of courtyards, through which the trees emerged.

Translucent plastic wrapped the exterior walls and roofs of the structures, creating windows across voids in the timber.

The pavilions housed VIP rooms in addition to public seating and dining areas for the event, whilst artworks were on show in neighbouring tents.

Carmody Groarke have designed a few pavilions that have been featured on Dezeen – see our earlier stories about a temporary rooftop restaurant and a pavilion supported by thin metal rods. See all our stories about the architects here.

Above: construction photograph by Richard Davies

Photography is by Christian Richters, apart from where otherwise stated.

Above: construction photograph by Richard Davies

Here’s some text the architects wrote before the festival:

Carmody Groarke’s design for 2011 Frieze Art Fair

Each Autumn Frieze Art Fair shows works by more than 1000 artists which are represented by contemporary galleries from all over the world.

Above: photograph by Richard Davies

The fair is hosted within a 20000m2 temporary venue built from tent structures within the beautiful context of Regents Park, London.

Above: photograph by Richard Davies

There is a focus on living artists and a curated programme of talks, artists’ commissions and film projects, many of which are interactive or performative, and encourage visitors to engage with art and artist directly over its four day lifespan.

Above: photograph by Richard Davies

Working closely with Frieze, Carmody Groarke have evolved a concept that has created more premium gallery spaces within the tents than in previous years, and a new experience for the fair by placing a series of interlinked, translucent pavilions surrounding the perimeter of the large exhibition tents.

Above: photograph by Richard Davies

These will contain all of the public hospitality and VIP functions, located away from the exhibition spaces, and will be characterised by timber-lined ‘rooms’ that are arranged around the existing trees within the park.

The project also includes a series of architectural installations within the main exhibition tents, based upon public squares and coloured, felt-lined rooms which provide spaces for resting and refreshment within the overall epic scale of the fair.

See also:

.

Regent’s Place Pavilion by Carmody Groarke	NLA Sky Walk by Carmody Groarke	Studio East by Carmody Groarke

This year’s London School of Economics students can take time out from studies in a custom-built lounge, where boxy white stools slots into walls and a central table.

Faceted walls and angled mirrors surround the Student Salon, which was completed by London architects Feix & Merlin just in time for the start of term.

Students with work to do can plug their laptops into plug sockets and data points located within framed recesses in the walls.

These recesses also house alarm panels, shelves, and signage.

Other recent interiors featuring mirrors include an apartment with wrinkly mirrored walls and a clothes store with a photography studio concealed at its centre.

Photography is by Andy Matthews.

Here’s a little more from the architects:

*Student Salon*

Earlier this year Feix & Merlin Architects were invited by the LSE to re-imagine their Student Salon, a ground floor shop front type space in one of the campus buildings where students spend their free between lectures or come to just meet and hang out. The project was on a tight budget and timeline but is now complete, just in time for Fresher’s Week.

The design incorporates new faceted timber wall lining with ornately framed or coloured recesses for custom made benches and desks as well as shelving, power+data points, alarm panels and signage.

Angled mirrored panels on the walls and ceiling create a slightly surreal perspective as you walk in. A central desk has been custom made with pullout seating for all that hot-desking students do nowadays and a bench at the rear is the perfect place for a little bit of inter-disciplinary fraternisation.

Location: St. Clements Lane, LSE Campus in Holborn, London
Status: Completed
Client: The LSE, London School of Economics

See also:

.

3013 Installation at the Architectural Association	Chu Hai College Campus by OMA	University Student Centre by Chyutin Architects

Zaha Hadid Architects have completed a showroom in London for Spanish bathroom brand Roca.

Undulating white walls surround a reception and lounge area that snakes through the interior of the Roca London Gallery, which is located on the ground floor of a mixed-use building near Chelsea Harbour.

Shiny plastic benches and desks furnish the space, while bulbous light fittings of the same material are suspended overhead.

Arched openings lead from the reception into concrete caves, where products are displayed on integrated shelves and lights sit within recessed grooves.

These rooms are formed from a jigsaw of glass-reinforced concrete elements that slot against one another with visible seams.

Around one corner is a glazed meeting room, whilst elsewhere are a series of interactive touchscreens.

Roca intend to use the showroom as a venue for exhibitions, seminars, meetings and other events.

Some other buildings with cave-like interiors were recently highlighted on Dezeen in a special feature – see these projects here.

Other London projects by Zaha Hadid include the aquatics centre for the London 2012 Olympics and the Stirling Prize winning Evelyn Grace Academy – see these projects and more by Zaha Hadid here.

Photography is by Luke Hayes.

Here’s some more text from Zaha Hadid Architects:

Zaha Hadid, two times winner of the Stirling Prize, celebrates the launch of her third London project, the Roca London Gallery

The Roca London Gallery consists of a single floor measuring 1,100m2, where, as the Zaha Hadid studio intended, it appears that water has sculptured and defined each and every detail of the space.

Roca‟s commitment to design and innovation is clearly visible in the exterior of the building with its distinctive and unique façade which gives the Roca London Gallery its identity. Three almost organic portals which appear to have been shaped by water erosion open up this space to the city.

Click above for larger image

The movement of water is the overriding theme in the Roca London Gallery – flowing and merging exterior and interior spaces. The interior is sculptured white concrete and its state of the art lighting connects each of the different areas whilst serving as a central axis around which the Roca London Gallery revolves.

The interior is fabulous, functional and flexible, featuring cutting-edge, modern, audiovisual, sound and lighting equipment. This technology provides interaction with the brand and the opportunity to discover the company‟s history, its landmark achievements and the values on which all of Roca‟s work is based: the commitment to sustainability and particularly to innovation, design, wellness and saving water.

Click above for larger image

The Roca London Gallery is intended to be much more than just a display space. Available to an extensive audience that will include everyone from design-savvy architects to design-hungry students, it will become a London hub hosting a wide range of activities such as exhibitions produced in-house or externally, meetings, presentations, seminars and debates, the criteria being a celebration of design in keeping with the Roca brand and company values.

See also:

.

Une Architecture at the Mobile Art Pavilion by Zaha Hadid	Guangzhou Opera House by Zaha Hadid Architects	MAXXI by Zaha Hadid