ofgeon1t:.:tric purity and English hi ... rory that ddine thi~ ",mall building, Ins tead. the narrmi\'c potential of pho(()graph~' is dt:.:ploycd to tell <I srory <tho U[ Occllp;1( ion, about care fret:.: child ren dancing in sunlit interiors (actually (;o\\'an\ o\\'n children, playing Lip for their fathe r behind tht.: \'iewfinder). and aboLlt the engaging picrori:.ll P()(t:.:nti;ll\; of;} genl1lt.:trically dni\ed architcc[Ure (with Eldred Evans. in Hi t.:hard Einzig's phorograph, looking li ke a recumbent \I icsian st<ltut:.:), These e;Hl~' photograph'), almost all taken b~' the architects. appear to rad i<'Hc t he aspircuio ns of their gT<lndiosc yet uns ulTc')sful r:hurchi lJ College competition emry of 1958. T IH':y arc \\ ish images par tXt'('/lellCf. In contrast. site \"isi ts convey a group ()f ~imultaneous n:::iH,lings impos,ible to deploy in the sen'icc of a ~ingk compelling na rrati\'c. The strengths of many of the project ... on ,ite lie in the si mll lullei ty of secmi ngly cuntmd ictory fI.:ad i ngs operati ng at ono..: ...lnd in thL: pJrticlIlardaboration of unexpected construction derai ls. Such subtleties of detail. construction method. o\erall fOrmi.ll d isposition <lnd 1l10,t of all. scale. etude ptu)[ographic rcprcscntJtion:' T he phorogmphs ~rc generally t.:ngagcd in te lling;1 different kind of srory. (lnt.: whose final goal is \'isual pcrslIJ\ion, T ht::' distJllcC hct\\'cen image <lnd object emerges with panicuiar clarity throughoU[ Srirling'~ work :lnd Clreer, pro\'id ing tantalising glimpse~ of analysis (0 cumt.:.
Stirling\; bui lding\ high light the gap bt.:n\'cen architecture and its mt:dia thank~ to their \'c ry panieuhl rity - their str<ln~L: juxt:l positions, gamcs of \cale and combinati\ e format logics arc \\ hat make (hem interesti ng in the lirst place. '路 And it is thc~c S,lITle juxuposirions and combinations th~H r~' pic~dly rc,ist reproduct ion. or are tmnsforrned into something completely diffe rent in the process of hcing trJn~p()rted from building to dra\\" i ng~ or build ing ro photograph. ' ,~\ t thei r bcst, the parti cularities of the buildings arc utterly unexpected. a~ much in their proport ion and scak <1\ in the di"position of their parts .lnl! their imp lied temporal uynami<"Ill, \\' hat is onc to make of rhe.: F lo re~' H lIildin,~ ( 1l)66--il) at Oxfo rd. for example? An impossibly skinny wall sr:1ggering lJ<lcb\'<lfd~ as it break') inw \'Crt ic,tl segments (hen bend ... into ~In <lmp hirhe<1tral shape propped lip on ang led legs? T he projeu has a n;'lrrati\'c dimcnsion: it i... ,I quasi-litt.:r~I r:.路 exercise, the con!':ltfuction of a fable d or fiet iol1<ll arc hitccrure \\'ith the vakncc of a psyc hedelic drt:.:am, T he building re,embles, ilnd is likdy ;1 riff on :\Iison and Peler Smithson \ unbuilr terrace hous ing project published in Tllf . ~ rrhi/('("/lIr(l1 RrC;fv.!.: in 19.17 (for Stirling. it i" ~1 one~()ff: for the Smirhsons. a system). rCGI~ r in hyper holic ITHlde. with ty pically Sr irlingesque humour. ' \\'hat is rhis ratht:.:r impro \'iscd crC;l(Urc but a ,'cr:.' per')oll<ll elaboration on rhe tht:arn.: of architecture. on spectacle. on communal sociJI life. on Oxbri d ge culture (sce Stirling" rendering: p u nt poles in thL: fo reground. punt poks ' "p porting the architccture) and o n gla'i'i arc hirecrure? \\'h at bu t a 'red brick' l rFO plantcd \\ ithin the most well fortified aC<ldemic precinct on earth? \\'hat bur ,\ Trojan J-I ()r~e within the gates? The Florey Building in per ... on holds many sllrprise~ fo r rllO ... e \\'ho h:nc come upon it fi rse in phowgrap hs and dra\\"in,gs, Bur jn moving hackwards in time (() the equally contro\'(;r~ial (and murc infa molls) C Jmbrid~e H istory Facu l t~, (1964- 66), \\'~ mo\'e from rh e 'pherc...: ofStirling\ LTearin.: intention., and the controlled nH..:dia representation of hi, \\'ork. to <I di\cu ... ",jon of thl: huildin.g... a ... Ilegotiated with dic[l{\. <i'i built and a:-, li\ed in me.:r timc. ,\nd \0
\ .\Irrr~y)
hL:rt:.:. what are we to make of an indu'iuiJI gn..:enhou.,e ,1\ :1 reading room. :IS at the.: l-l is(Of\. Faeul{\'. librM"': . ,\ nu in rhe Ch<.: of th is bu ilding. how could \ \'C po ... sibly concentrate on rht.: architccr's intentions. when t he buil di ng is primMily knowll thrOll,l.!;h its conuO\'ersies and the loud hroadca\t:-- of i[", nUIl\'. failinl!.'-.? . The imp lausible f:1C[ is thut Stirl ing \\ :IS compelled. due {(J;t hrcakJo\\ n of rcal estate negot iiltions at the \Ini\'C[siry, to turn a building ninct~ deg rees on its sitc so {hat its glas~ rcading room LlCeJ the.: ri'iing rather than (he setring sun. with dubiou ... retrofitting and rcl ~l[i\(.: ly little ,1(.1 d irio na I <11 te ra ri on, The quest ion of :Hch i tt:.:c(U re"" i ntt:.: r... el't ion \\ ith its pll b l i c~ (of which the client io.; [hc \'t:.:r~ fir ... t) hccomc ... pre ... sing at rh is juncture. \\'e must then accept [he in,i ... tt:.:nt pm.~ihility of an archircC( concenrnHi ng ilHelHl~ on onL: hal f of hi ... job <lnd nor rhe other, possibly as <I direct re;.,ulr of client inrr:.lJ1 ... igcnce. Sti rl ing e\'idently cared deepl') about till: arricuLnion and de\'elopme/lt of the I-l i... tory Far.:ulty, hut \\ a ... perhap\ more phi losophical abo ut it.., many functionalitie ... 0\ er time. :lnd ir... likel~' recep tion. gi\'cn thL: climate in \\ hich the c0Il1111i"'sion h~ld been cxecuted, \\ 'hile the ghost ofa \pecific<lll~ I': nglish past (ofgla:-.s architccture from Sm'thson to \\ 'ren to Pa:-.wn Jnd he\ond) . . again play ... \\ ith the hi\[Ory of contine.:ntal llloderni\1ll in h:luntin!!, ye.:t hU lll orou:-i w~~ys in {hi ... bu ilding, the grandcur of thL: whole scht:me is drowned out hy the noi..,c of clielH opprobrium, ,\nd \\ hile the fun ction<ll p roblcm'i ha\c dearl: hecn ,ub ... [anrial. onc i ... ten1p recl to wondcr about the end effect of the building\ conflined cl ients on the architecture :lS con ... tructed. :-":e\'e r in unilateral ag reeme n t about their cho ice of archirect in rhe fir ... t place. :lnd utterly cu lpable in the ir I~lilurc to procure the prollli ... ed building ... itc. h<lvc the clients also failed ro in\' c~t in their architecture in the years since <:ons tr uuio n? A single con\cr ... ation with the current cll')tod i<ln is eno ugh {O sugge\t th,u C\'cr:.' (Jprorrunit~ ha\ been t~tkcn to am pl ify the bui ld ing\ illi.Hkqlldeie'i \\ henc\'er humanly possi ble, po ... sibly as part of a campaign aimed at its ultimate demolition (to tea r it down, you ha\'c to \\ reck ir fir ... r)." These anecdotal hi~toric<11 faC{s - our,idc the architcct\ :lpparclH control. and equally ourside the i.lCce pt<lble limits of contemp()rar~ architcC{ur;ll criticism have nc\'enhcless been critical for the life of thi\ huilding. e\'en lip to the current d::1Y. T hus rhe C:1mhrid~c Il i\[ory F;lc\llr~ narrate'" the two sid(.;s of the archirec[Urc coin: on the onc ,idc. the architcct absorbed in the largt:r conceptLl,tI task of architecture. Tnaimaining absolute control of the media repre\cnt:ltioJ) of his \\ork: Oil thc other. {he thi ng as it get'" built . in an crn ironment th ~lt run\; from client~ dri\"C n (0 elienr-plaguc..:d. Archi{ec[~ ignore thi ... hItter a"pect <It [heir peri l. for ir invaria bly concribure'i [() rhe suh ... L:qucllt hi ... rorics of their work. And here a fllndalllent~ll qllt.:stioll ~lh()lIr po ... t\ur ~lrchitcctl/rc emerges: ho\\' muc h ha\'c the internal delll:llHh of profe\ ... ional cultu re (practice and aCldel1le) di\'crged from the e\.(ernal clc/ll~tnd'i of pu blic construction? fl o\\' milny public'i no\\' exi\t for architecture and ho\\' arc they all to be ~ari\linl?
Real T hill12:S
2
T he Lcice ... tcr Enginecring Building ( 1<).1y- 6.)) illu ... tr:lto the !':lame point from rhe otht:.:r ,ielL:: 1. L:iccster professor I':d\\,ard Parkc., m<ly possibly go do\\'n :1'> the ide:Il client for modern :lrl'hireCfure in po~(\\'ar Britain, GO\\ all. a critical force ill rhi\ projecL h.h rehired a:::. much in his de~criprioll of the ~UCCL:s..,e\ (;lnd failure.; ) of the
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