Modern British Architecture

Figure 1. Front View of the Laban Centre from the front lawn performance space.

It is difficult to discuss the Laban Centre for Contemporary Dance without some notice of its neighborhood context. Located on the eastern edge of Deptford in the borough of Lewisham, south of the Thames opposite Canary Wharf, and off the edge of most London maps, every article published in the London Times surrounding the Centre’s opening in 2003 made some reference to the area’s “inner city decay (Binney),” the “dark, deserted and creepy” streets surrounding the site, and the “landscape of bleak neglect (Craine)” that serves as a background to this beautiful building. Architectural discussions of the Centre in the years following its opening however speak of a change in the overall atmosphere, with the Laban Centre serving as “the catalyst of regeneration in the area” (Powers). As a piece of modern architecture, the Laban Centre has succeeded in creating a space that is new, exciting, and altogether quite striking in an otherwise downtrodden area, while not forcefully asserting itself as a symbol of the future of artistic architecture.

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It is difficult to discuss the Laban Centre for Contemporary Dance without some notice of its neighborhood context. Located on the eastern edge of Deptford in the borough of Lewisham, south of the Thames opposite Canary Wharf, and off the edge of most London maps, every article published in the London Times surrounding the Centre’s opening in 2003 made some reference to the area’s “inner city decay,� the “dark, deserted and creepy� streets surrounding the site, and the “landscape of bleak neglect� that serves as a background to this beautiful building. However, for now I’ll leave it with just those initial impressions of the Deptford area and talk about the Centre itself.

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Alexander “Greek� Thomson’s St. Vincent Street Free Church is quite detail heavy in a way that seems almost randomized in its use of varied styles and structures. Greek, Egyptian and Asian structural elements are jarringly juxtaposed on the exterior, and similar influences are brought into the church sanctuary, including into the large wooden altar backdrop actually designed by one of Thomson’s students.

I found this wooden structure particularly interesting in its incorporation of the church’s organ pipes into the overall design. In the Greek temple portion of the exterior, Thomson used Ionic columns, the main supporting columns on the interior appear Corinthian, and in this central section, the vertical pipes call to mind simple Doric columns. While it is not uncommon for organ pipes to be incorporated into other decorative architectural elements, the set up here seems unique in part because it is not designed in such a way as to emphasize the sizes or numbers of pipes. Instead the pipes are arranged so that they cannot all immediately be seen, and also so that they appear almost standardized in size, working to create the impression of a Greek temple similar to that on the exterior of the church. In using the pipes this way, their purpose seems to become almost structural and a great synthesis between the instrument and the overall look of the church is achieved—an effect all the more tragic considering the organ console, the mechanism of actually using the pipes, has long been removed.

To me, this feeling of waste was felt quite strongly throughout this immense and beautiful space, long holding a congregation much smaller than it was intended to, and because of the needs of its resident denomination, losing the structural idea that music was meant to have a solid place in the space.

BACKGROUND

Great Scotsman. “Charles Rennie Mackintosh.” [Online image] 15 Jul. 2007. http://www.firstfoot.com/Great%20Scot/crm.htm Read more

The Watson Theatre of Salina (now the Watson-Stiefel) first opened in February 1931, one of a large number of movie theatres designed in Kansas and across the Midwest by the Boller Brothers of Kansas City. The red brick exterior visually connected the building to the simple storefronts lining nearby streets, and yet the light stone Art Deco inspired detailing and in particular, the towering roof detail hinted at a lavish interior of red plush carpeting, chandeliers and gold leaf.

The theatre’s popularity and condition gradually began to deteriorate until a fire in 1987 resulted in the highest roof portions being removed and the building remaining closed until a restoration project allowed the theatre to reopen in 2003. This building serves (I think) as a nice example of how trends in Art Deco spread into even relatively rural areas in the late 1920s and early 30s (only 20,000 people lived in Salina when this theatre was completed), and of the importance of movies in a small town’s cultural experience. Today, at a very important crossroads in downtown Salina, the Watson-Stiefel retains its position as one of the most important and recognizable parts of the “city skyline.�