Almost a decade ago I was in Chicago, en route to San Francisco and Ravenhill, perched high above the Russian River in California.
The first two destinations are still there, but the chatelaine of Ravenhill ruefully told me that while she adores Götterdämmerung she never thought she would live the final scene. It was consumed by fire this summer.
In Chicago I went on two architectural tours, one on foot and one afloat, that made me look and think about architecture and how steel girders and so on changed the face of cities. It was immensely interesting but of course all the architecture was relatively recent – nothing pre 19th century I think. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to look at London with an architect able to contextualise the evolution of an area? Now I have and you can too.
This morning I met Ross Logie outside Barbican tube station and he took five of us on an architectural tour of Clerkenwell. He pretentiously calls it Clerkenwell; Inspired Interventions but don’t be put off, he knows his stuff and explains how much of the late 20th and 21st architecture has been informed by Clerkenwell’s history.
Janet Street-Porter commissioned two houses we saw. Both of interest: the first (above) unliveable in, at least by her, the second a tad more user friendly, although J S-P loathed the latter. The relationship between client and architect is so important and she fell out with David Adjaye. Of course the roof leaked as so often seems to happen with contemporary architectural projects. I mean, a few drips through the thatch of a medieval hovel could be caught in a wassailing basin, no questions asked, but buildings shouldn’t leak these days. Perhaps I’m being unfair, as even Ross couldn’t get us ingress to either building but he did have pictures on his iPad that enhanced our walk.
It’s impossible to distill a two hour walk into a 300 word post so I’m just picking out a few plums. However, Ross reveals the history of Clerkenwell showing how many different architectural genres are represented. I have concentrated on modern buildings because you know The Charterhouse, Smithfield Market, Bart’s Hospital … although he shed light on them all. We finished his tour with this building.
A bit weird? He is referencing the ancient origins of London and you will either love it or hate it. Islington planners hated it. The tour was over but there was this unscheduled Luis Buñuel moment in Clerkenwell this morning.
Fascinating stuff. Architects who impose their design will on clients (who, to be fair, likely knew what they were signing up for) had better at least get the basics right (e.g., no leaks).
Mention of Clerkenwell always reminds me of the St. John buildings there: the atmospheric 12thC. crypt and the Tudor gatehouse that is associated with the Knights Hospitaller and later Order, but also with *The Gentleman’s Magazine* and Samuel Johnson, as well as Hogarth. There are layers upon layers of history and architecture in ancient cities like London that are especially interesting to Americans like me, as in most parts of America, our oldest extant buildings typically date from the 17th or 18th C’s.
Today’s architecture creates the historical character of the future.
Unlike Clerkenwell, Hammersmith threatens to be blighted by insipid, bland towers, which sadly distract from, and miss the opportunity to enhance, our quality of life.
Thank you for joining the tour, Christopher. I look forward to seeing you on other ones.
Scheduling the donkey and sheep to arrive on cue was quite a challenge for me (only kidding!)