David Assael and his 10 X 10 sketch

Please find below the drawing given to 10x10 for their auction by a new Freeman to the Company, John Assael.

"Each year, 100 participants come together in the summer to create 100 pieces of work, giving 100 perspectives of London, which are then exhibited and auctioned in November. Previous participants have included Lord Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid and Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud. The project is a unique concept, with the designers and artists producing wonderful pieces of artwork inspired by the environment they help to create and shape, as well as providing a commentary and critique on the constantly changing landscape of central London.

Every year 10×10 captures a different area of the city. This year the project will focus on East London, an area encompassing striking and innovative examples of architecture, both traditional and modern. In the shadow of the ‘Gherkin’, this area encompasses modern developments, many associated with the ‘Silicon roundabout’, to historic landmarks such as Brick Lane and the Boundary estate – one of the city’s earliest social housing schemes. East London is a truly diverse area, both culturally and creatively, where our 10×10 artists will have no problem seeking influence for their work.

During mid November, a public exhibition of the work will be held, followed by an auction of the artwork by Sotheby’s. This auction will be an exclusive event taking place during the week of the 18th of November at a central London location. All proceeds of the sale go to Article 25, the charity that builds solutions to global problems.

This year’s 10×10 will raise money for Article 25’s Street Children Centers, starting with projects in Ghana and Kenya. Over the next year, we will be helping to provide the necessary infrastructure for enabling children who live on the streets to get back to their families or foster families, schools and communities."

Mark Street - Mark Square London EC2A

www.10x10london.com

www.article-25.org

 http://www.10x10london.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/10x10-Auction-Invitation.pdf

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The Aldgate Installation

Alderman Peter Hewitt of Aldgate Ward and Michael Wilkey, the Master of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects, cut the ribbon to inaugurate the new Aldgate installation sponsored by the Company on July 27th 2012. An exhibition of archaeological finds from the area, organised by Museum of London Archaeology was on display and suitably Chaucerian tots of mead were served. 

The installation marks the location of the historic Aldgate – where Chaucer lived from 1374-1386 - and the start of High Street 2012, the route to the Olympics. It forms part of the London Festival of Architecture and and will remain in place throughout the Olympics and Paralympics.

Created by the young, award-winning architects, Studio Weave, the construction is supported by the City Property Advisory Team (CPAT) and eight other Worshipful livery Companies and will be built from sustainable British Larch supplied by BSW Timber. It is sponsored by 4C Hotels Ltd, funding which was facilitated by Dexter Moren, a member of the Company, and architect to 4C for the nearby Aldgate bus station site.

A gate stood at Aldgate from the Roman Period until 1761. From 1374 to 1386 Chaucer (1343-1400) lived in the rooms above the Aldgate. Studio Weave’s design is inspired by the two dream poems written by Chaucer while resident in the rooms above the gate from 1374 to 1386. ‘The House of Fame’ and ‘The Parliament of Fowls’; both include images of fantastic dream-like temples of impossible materials and scale, elevated on precarious, precious structures above vast, bizarre landscapes conceivable as analogies for the City.

Paleys upon Pilers is an abstraction of the uppermost room of the old gate and an invocation of Chaucer’s luxurious dreamed temples. The structure consists of a kind of timber embroidery and will sit in the air above the busy Aldgate High Street, supported on pillars decorated with images from Chaucer’s illuminated manuscripts.

Studio Weave is an emerging architecture practice profiled as one of “Britain’s Brightest Young Architects”. The studio’s work encompasses a diverse range of projects from furniture and art projects, to buildings, landscapes and urban design. Since setting up in 2006 we have delivered a number of award-winning projects including ‘The Longest Bench’, a £475k seafront regeneration scheme in Littlehampton, West Sussex that recently won the 201 Civic Trust Award for Community Impact and Engagement; ‘Freya and Robin’, two allegorical pavilions peering over the water as part of the Kielder Art and Architecture Programme, Northumberland; the ‘Floating Cinema’, a project for the Olympic Delivery Authority to transform a canal boat into a travelling host for film screenings, and St Pancras Church Garden, a new public space in the City of London on the Scheduled Ancient Monument site of a Romanesque church lost to the Great Fire of 1666.

The installation is built from British Larch supplied by BSW Timber, the largest sawmilling business in Great Britain with six sawmills in the UK and production capacity of over 1,000,000 cubic metre of sawn timber per year.

Supporting Companies:

Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects 

Worshipful Company of Chartered Surveyors

Worshipful Company of Clothmakers

Worshipful Company of Carpenters

Worshipful Company of Lightmongers

Worshipful Company of Builders Merchants

Worshipful Company of Paviors

Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers

Worshipful Company of Fruiterers

Worshipful Company of Pipe Makers and Tobacco Blenders

Professional team: 

Architects: Studio Weave

Structural Engineers: Structure Workshop

Development Managers: M3 Consulting

Planning Consultants: DP9

Funded by: 4C Hotel Group

British Timber supplied by BSW Timber Group

Timber grown by Forestry Commission Wales

Streetworks by: Conways

Concrete donated by: Laing O’Rourke

Fabrication and Installation by: AB3 Workshops

Pattern Design and Print by: Linda Florence

Ground Scanning and Services: Reach Active

Barriers donated by: John F Hunt

Legal advice by: Ashurst LLP

Archaeological monitoring and input by: Museum of London Archaeology

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The Master's reception at the church of St. Stephen Walbrook

The reception was held on Tuesday 10 November in the Lord Mayor’s parish church of St. Stephen Walbrook : the finest Wren neo-classical church in the City of London, it is considered by some to be his finest and a forerunner for the design of St. Paul's.

Those attending were welcomed by the Master and given a very interesting talk on the church and the theological reasons for its original and current existence by the venerable Peter Delaney MBE – the priest in charge.

The church was constructed from 1672 to 1680, built of stone and rubble, at a cost of £9,412 12 shillings and 8 pence. Wren received the sum of 20 guineas for his design (at something less than 0.25% he was probably lucky that the RIBA had not yet been formed and that he had other sources of income). The circular plaster dome sits on 12 columns (with Corinthian capitals) that are set in a square. The transition from square to dome has been cleverly done.

The Henry Moore Travertine Altar donated by Lord Palumbo, weighing 8 tons was delivered into the church in 1978 through a window during a refurbishment of the interior. Though it proved to be very controversial, its existence survived appeals to several ecclesiastical courts and continues to be both used and a subject of strong opinions to this day. The candlesticks are by Hans Coper and the altar kneelers by Patrick Heron. The Victorian pews were removed in 1888. The church has a seventeenth century triple-decker pulpit.

Chad Varah (1911-2007), then Rector of St. Stephen Walbrook formed the Samaritans from this church in 1953 and the telephone that was used for the “999 service for suicides” is displayed in the church today. Tel.No.MAN(sion House) 9000.

Among those who are buried in the church are Sir John Vanburgh, Robert De Courcey Laffan who with Baron Pierre de Courbetin formed the modern Olympic movement, and John Durham, a musician of the 15th century. The members of the Company and their guests enjoyed a glass of wine and canapés after the talk and Peter Delaney joined in the discussions about the style, furniture, art and architecture of the church.

St. Stephen Walbrook is the London Internet Church .
thanks to Michael Wilkey for this post

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Grand Designs for London Bridge

LONDON BRIDGE 800: DESIGN AN INHABITED BRIDGE

An Ideas Competition run by the Company in conjunction with the RIBA Competitions Office - the report of the assessors is as follows:

In May this year a competition was launched to mark the 800th anniversary of the opening of the first London Bridge in 1209AD. Old London Bridge was an inhabited bridge and the competition set the challenge of asking today’s designers to imagine a new version of the inhabited bridge. The competition was organised by the RIBA Competitions Office on behalf of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects (WCCA) – A Livery Company of the City of London.

The competition received an exceptional response with a total of 73 entries received from architects and students of architecture from all over the world. Submissions came from the UK, Europe and as far afield as the USA, Argentina, China, Hong Kong and South Africa. Designs would be based on the present structure, which for the purpose of the competition is deemed to be strong enough to carry buildings on its deck. The Jury Panel met on Monday 6th July to assess the entries and make their selection. The submissions were anonymous, with entry allocated with a code by the RIBA.

The Jury Panel was as follows : Richard Saxon CBE, Past Master, WCCA - competition chair Peter Murray, Architectural Journalist Colette O’Shea, Head of development management, Land Securities, Ian Head, Master, WCCA

Observers : Linda Roberts, RIBA Competitions Office, and David Cole-Adams, Clerk, WCCA

The judging panel studied each submission, in turn against the following criteria which had been identified in the competition brief :

- architectural quality
- inspiration and creativity
- functionality
- response to and understanding of brief

The judges looked at the submissions, as a group, in a number of rounds. As the judges became more familiar with the submissions they were able to compare and contrast between the entries and the different approaches competitors had taken. The judges agreed that the standard of entries was high, they were pleased also to see such variety amongst the schemes. Clear presentation was greatly appreciated and helped them gain a quick understanding of the ideas proposed.

The competition had called for ‘ideas only’ and this therefore provided entrants with a real opportunity to think creatively. However the designs did need to be ground with realism, therefore a challenge to the judges was to select those schemes which seemed to strike the right balance between inspirational design and pragmatism.

Following careful deliberation the judges ultimately agreed upon three prize winning schemes, for the following reasons :

1st Prize, scheme 28 - Laurie Chetwood, Chetwoods London


A beautifully presented scheme, wildly imaginative yet very thoroughly considered, both in terms of its construction but also how it could sit within the wider context. The design refers to the surrounding buildings, using them as reference points and inspiration behind the form. It is also full of interesting ecological ideas and on all levels seems to work well. This was a unanimous first choice amongst the panel.

2nd Prize, scheme 6 - Lawrence Friesen (The Ditch Workshop), London

A well worked out scheme, the main idea being that of a second bridge built above, leaving the original bridge below for transport use. The scheme includes attractive floating gardens in the river. The judges thought this to be an interesting proposal that was very clearly presented.

3rd Prize, scheme 19 - Ryszard Rychlicki, 4th year student of Architecture & Town Planning at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan Poland

The basic concept is that of building an infrastructure into which modules can be inserted. The scheme makes good reference to the history of London Bridge by providing a cluster of buildings, and presenting a variety of facades.

The judges also identified the following schemes as interesting responses to the brief and worthy of being included in the London Bridge Festival exhibition.

Scheme 26 Jonathan Schwinge, Corinna Simon, Schwinge and Simon, London
An interesting scheme, the judges liked the idea of the raised transit.

Scheme 36 Peter Sebes, Marta Fritsch, Sheffield - This scheme was very strong in terms of its proposed uses.

Scheme 37 Abdel Saade/Keith Harbinson, WDR & RT Taggart, Belfast - Whilst the judges noted that the travellator might restrict vehicle access, this scheme had lots of merit and especially the judges liked the way it addressed the view corridor.

Scheme 42 Ruben Eduardo Gomes, Marcal Lica, Lisbon - A beautifully presented and well thought through scheme.

Scheme 51 Chris van Niekerk, The Fold Architecture, Cape Town - Whilst initially a difficult scheme to understand, the judges thought this was a really interesting scheme.

Scheme 67 Alessandro Columbano, London - The judges described this scheme as ‘extraordinary’.

Scheme 70 Rocker-Lange Architects, Hong Kong - A strong scheme which communicates very well.

The judges asked the RIBA to pass on their thanks and appreciation to all competitors and their contribution to what was an extremely interesting and enlightening assessment.

A Master of Wine abroad

A brief view of Futurism and the Museum of Modern Art in Rovereto

by Patricia Stefanowicz MW

We (members of the Academy of Wine Experts) were treated to a short morning at the MART (Museum of Modern Art) in Rovereto.

The museum and its partner museum in Trento were facilitated by legacies from Fortunato Depero, a native of Rovereto, himself an artist and Italian Futurist.

The museum, brilliant on a warm, sunny day, was restored and enlarged under the direction of renowned Italian architect Renato Rizzi and the Rovereto local Council. The building is quite impressive with a beautifully constructed steel-and-glass dome over the main courtyard and impeccably-set Carrara travertine stone on the external walls. The interior was sleek, modern Italian design: light oak, stainless steel and glass. Easy to negotiate, too, because the main staircase dominates the atrium, allowing a visitor to orientate himself.

Futurism

Futurism was an avant-garde artistic movement precipitated by Italian Filippo Tommaso Marinetti on 20^th February 1909 when he, a writer and artist, published his ‘Manifesto of Futurism’ in the Paris daily, Le Figaro. As was the case with many of his artistic generation, his group included other writers, musicians and artists: fellow Italians Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini, for example.

The Futurism idea was to celebrate the ‘machine age’ of technology and industry, whilst following on from the earlier work of Neo-Impressionists and Cubists, such as Cezanne, Braque and Picasso. The movement inspired Constructivism in Russia (Popova and Rodchenko) and the works of numerous artists in other countries, including Joseph Stella in the USA and George Grosz in Germany. Wassily Kandinsky’s paintings were influenced by the Futurists when his early pictorial works evolved to the ‘abstract’ paintings for which he is best known. Paul Klee, the German-Swiss, and Kandinsky both alluded to the importance of poetry and music in their paintings and sculptures.

The Exhibition

The current exhibition, Futurismo 100, celebrates the centenary of the publication of Manetti’s manifesto. The curator, Ester Coen, completed a magnificent project by setting Futurism in context, then showing developments that reacted to the movement.

The works selected were an excellent representation of the first proponents and their successors. There were words and works by the instigators: Marinetti and his friend Depero. Particular highlights amoung the paintings included three of Kandinsky’s Improvisations, mid-period works by Marc Chagall, Kasimir Malevich (before his ‘White-on-White’ and ‘Black-on-Black’ periods) and the rest of Russian group: Popova, Rodchenko, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, and the Russian-born Polish painter, Pawel Filonow.

Sculptures in the exhibition, too, were a revelation. There were a few examples of wood or metal, mainly filigree-like. A rather interesting example of a twisted bicycle was perhaps an inspiration for Marcel Duchamp, the Dada-Surrealist working in the 1920s and beyond.

The rest of the collections

A very quick visit around the rest of the museum demonstrated how serious MART is about Modern Art. The Post-1945 Art and Design exposition showed some of the tensions between the West (Europe and the States) and the ‘Soviet bloc.’ On view was a plethora of propaganda from both sides of the world, including Robert Rauschenberg paintings, snippets of Stanley Kubrick films and the posters of Russian Peter Ghyczy.

The permanent collection exudes Depero’s Futurist vision. There is his re-created art studio and examples of furniture, textiles and industrial art products of the exponents. An early version of Vespa’s popular scooter made me giggle.

In this brief tour of a really rather delectable museum, it’s fairly easy to remind oneself of the continuity in artistic expression and how much fine art is both inspired by, and modified by, its predecessors and the other arts: writing, music, cinema and theatre. For art aficionados, the Rovereto Museum of Modern Art is definitely worth a detour.

Subsequently at the de Chirico retrospective, Musee de l’Art Moderne in Paris, I noticed that three of the de Chirico’s on show are in MART Rovereto’s permanent collection. Linkages.

© Patricia Stefanowicz 2009

G F Watts exhibition at the Guildhall art gallery

The English Michelangelo

Believe or believe it not, this was the popular title accorded to George Frederick Watts (1817-1904) at the peak of his painting career. You can check out whether you agree with this over-the-top complement by looking at his pictures in an exhibition now on at the Guildhall Art Gallery, running until April 26th.
Watts had a long life and a prodigious output and was enormously successful financially, very much in the Damien Hirst manner, leaving some £24M, at today’s values. Determined to enhance the painter’s reputation and maintain the commercial value of her inheritance, his widow built a gallery devoted entirely to his works at Compton in Surrey.

Born in London into a family with a piano business, he showed early promise at drawing, attended the RA schools and, aged 21, set up his own studio, gaining success as a portrait painter although sadly and perversely his ambition was to be an historical painter, following his hero Benjamin Haydon. He won the highest premium in the competition for mural designs for the new House of Parliament and, with this in his pocket, set off in1843on a ‘Grand Tour’ lasting two years. On his return, backed by an aristocratic and wealthy band of patrons, Watts became the leading portrait painter of the day despite his high charges. But this was all to a purpose because it allowed him to make a mid-career change of direction driven to paint subjects rather than people, ideas rather than portraits and social allegories rather than scenes.

Is he ‘Dickens’ of the visual arts?

His most famous work in this genre in the exhibition, entitled ‘Hope’ (see above), is a melancholy painting showing a blindfolded beggar girl seated on a rock plucking a single string of a crude wooden lyre. It had extraordinary impact at the time and also since; Nelson Mandela had a reproduction of it on the wall in his cell on Robben Island; the Rev. Jeremiah Wright the former pastor to Barrack Obama based sermons on it and its themes of hope were taken up by the President in addressing Democratic Conventions; and another Watts painting ’Love and Life’ was selected by President Roosevelt to be hung in the White House.

Watts’ reputation slumped after his death and, like much Victorian art, remained in the doldrums for many many years. Perhaps the time has now come for a re-assessment.

A post sent in by WCCA Past-Master Michael Welbank, who is Common Councilman for the Billingsgate Ward. You might be interested in reading his own blog which deals with general City matters as the elections for the Court of Common Council approach in the month of March. CLICK HERE