Posts

Royal Mail celebrates contemporary architecture in the UK with special stamps

Royal Mail have launched a Special Stamp set to celebrate 10 buildings that represent the renaissance of contemporary architecture in the UK of recent years.

The Landmark Buildings issue uses photography to capture the distinctive lines and shapes of these remarkable structures. The structures that feature in the set are: London Aquatics Centre; Library of Birmingham; SEC Armadillo, Glasgow; Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh; Giants’ Causeway Visitor Centre, Northern Ireland; National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff; Eden Project, St Austell; Everyman Theatre, Liverpool; IWM North, Manchester and the Blavatnik Building – formerly Switch House, Tate Modern, London.

All the buildings in the set have become famous landmarks for the local communities, regions and cities.

The new stamps are available at www.royalmail.com/landmarkbuildings and 7,000 Post Offices across the UK.

Stamp-by-stamp

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT, EDINBURGH
The Scottish Parliament, which opened in 2004, is a building extraordinarily rich in ideas, materials and complex shapes. It was created in the aftermath of the 1997 referendum, in which the people of Scotland voted for their country’s first parliament in over 300 years. It was designed by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT), who wanted to find a way of expressing national identity. Their design is based on the striking surrounding landscape and also draws inspiration from such things as the shapes of leaves, boats upturned on a seashore and the flower paintings of the great Glaswegian architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. EMBT’s wish was for a building “growing out of the land” that should “arise from the sloping base of Arthur’s Seat and arrive into the city almost surging out of the rock”.

Constructed using Scottish stones and timbers, the Scottish Parliament won many admirers for its daring and exuberance. At the official opening on 9 October 2004, Her Majesty The Queen described it as a “landmark for 21st-century democracy”. Sadly, Miralles died in 2000 aged 45, never to see his vision realised.

EVERYMAN THEATRE, LIVERPOOL
The design of theatres is a complex and subtle task for architects. Apart from meeting the technical challenges of acoustics and sightlines, they have to make spaces where a theatrical atmosphere can flourish to enable a rapport between performers and audience. They have to have character and a sense of occasion, but the architecture should not dominate the acting. The architects Haworth Tompkins are specialists in designing theatres that achieve these qualities. At the Everyman, a much-loved Liverpool institution rehoused in a new building in 2014, they used a rich and tactile palette of rough and smooth materials, including concrete, reused bricks, timber, cork, red leather, copper and plywood. The large stage, which projects into an auditorium of close-packed seating and was inspired by the Everyman’s former space, creates an intense relationship between actors and viewers. On the street façade, 105 life-size portraits of Liverpool residents by local photographer Dan Kenyon were etched onto moveable aluminium sunshades.

Winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize for Building of the Year (2014).

IWM NORTH, MANCHESTER
The Polish–American architect Daniel Libeskind made his name with the Jewish Museum in Berlin, a building that sought to represent the complexity and anguish of its subject through its jagged angles and complicated interlocking forms. Located on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal and opened in 2002, the IWM North – a museum dedicated to telling the story of how war has changed lives from the First World War to the present day – was Libeskind’s first building in the UK. Its form was conceived as a series of fragments of a shattered globe that have been reassembled, with three interlocking shards signifying conflict on land, water and in the air. Achieved on a budget of £28.5 million and covering an area of 69,965ft² (6,500m²), its construction materials include steel frames and aluminium cladding. With its irregular angles and clashing shapes, IWM North has a deliberately unsettling feel, while also offering moments of peace within.
Winner of the British Construction Industry’s Building of the Year Award (2004).

GIANT’S CAUSEWAY VISITOR CENTRE
Rare, beautiful and wild places present a special challenge for architects, because their very attractiveness and popularity can threaten to overwhelm their rarity, beauty and wildness. Giant’s Causeway in North Antrim, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its geometric geology of interlocking hexagonal pillars, is no exception. Its visitor centre had to meet the public’s requirements for coach and car parking, a café, information and toilets, while also ensuring minimum impact upon the sight people had come to see. The building was thus located 0.62 miles (1km) from the site itself and its architects Heneghan Peng designed a sloping grass-roofed building that is cut into the ground to minimise disruption to the line of the adjoining ridge. Within this discreet outline they then created a large structure, with substantial angled pillars that are human-built echoes of the nearby landscape. Constructed using dark basalt quarried from the same ancient lava flow that produced the Causeway and completed in 2012, the centre provides a unique and complementary gateway to the main attraction. Both are owned and managed by the National Trust.

LIBRARY OF BIRMINGHAM
Francine Houben, of the Dutch architectural practice Mecanoo, believes that libraries are “the cathedrals of nowadays” and “the most important public buildings”. She and her practice designed the Library of Birmingham to be a “people’s palace” – a grand structure that celebrates the importance of learning but which also “promotes the informal” and “seduces people into coming in”.
The exterior of the ten-storey building is wrapped in broad bands of gold and silver cladding, overlaid with a filigree pattern of interlocking circles in thin sections of aluminium. Inside, a large cylindrical void rises through the centre, criss-crossed by blue-lit escalators and giving access to many different uses, including adult and children’s libraries, a musical collection, a studio theatre, an exhibition gallery and the Shakespeare Memorial Room, whose ornate timber interior was originally created in 1882 and reinstalled at the top of the new building.

LONDON AQUATICS CENTRE
Dame Zaha Hadid, who died in 2016, was one of the most charismatic and influential British architects of all time. Her use of irregular angles or curves, and of gravity-defying structures, changed the course of architecture around the world. The London Aquatics Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, built for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and then modified for permanent use, is her most significant work in Britain and perhaps the most memorable building created for the Games. Inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion, it is dominated by a flowing steel roof clad with wood, undulating and curvaceous like a marine creature, which touches the ground at three points. This creates a huge, dramatic interior with glass walls filling its flanks. Other elements, such as the shapely diving boards, add to the sense of dynamism.

Winner of the British Construction Industry’s Major Building Project Award (2014)

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES, CARDIFF
The Senedd is the home of Wales’s parliament, the National Assembly for Wales. It represents a significant stage in the story of the nation’s devolution and, since its official opening in 2006, has become one of Wales’s most iconic buildings. Following the launch of an international design competition, it was the Richard Rogers Partnership (now Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners) that developed the winning architectural design for the new parliament in Cardiff Bay. At the heart of the concept was the need to generate a sense of open government and public accessibility. The extensive use of glass throughout the Senedd signifies clarity, openness and transparency, while members of the public have access to spaces outside and throughout the upper and centre levels of the interior. The building has also been designed to make a significant contribution to sustainable development: the funnel in the Siambr (Debating Chamber) acts as a giant air vent and forms part of a significant strategy for cooling and ventilating the Senedd using largely natural means.

THE BLAVATNIK BUILDING – FORMERLY SWITCH HOUSE, TATE MODERN, LONDON
When Tate Modern opened in 2000, in the converted shell of the former Bankside Power Station, the new architecture was self-effacing: the idea was to let the imposing industrial building speak for itself. The Switch House, its ten-storey extension that increased its area by 60 per cent and opened in 2016, is highly expressive, comprising a twisted brick pyramid on the outside with a magnificent interior staircase that changes form and direction from level to level. It responds to the huge numbers that pass through the world’s most visited modern and contemporary art gallery each year and to the ways in which individuals now visit museums. The stair, which was described as a “vertical boulevard” by Tate Modern’s Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, serves and celebrates the movement and interaction of the crowds.

In June 2017, Switch House was renamed the Blavatnik Building.

SEC ARMADILLO, GLASGOW
Formerly known as the Clyde Auditorium, the SEC Armadillo was designed by architects Foster + Partners. An international conference centre with seating for up to 3,000 delegates, the structure comprises striking interlocking shapes that echo the shipbuilding traditions of the River Clyde and the industrial heritage of its site on Queen’s Dock. A series of overlapping, aluminium-clad, framed ‘hulls’ wraps closely around the auditorium to minimise the building’s volume, while creating a distinctive profile on the Glasgow skyline. Floodlit by night and reflecting sunlight by day, the building provides a symbolic form that has come to represent Scotland’s largest city. Completed in 1997, and intended as a landmark for the regeneration of this once industrial site and for Glasgow as a whole, the SEC Armadillo helped to launch a new wave of more expressive, freeform designs.

EDEN PROJECT, ST AUSTELL
Geodesic domes are structures of great lightness and strength that were originally developed in the mid-20th century by visionary US architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, with a view to providing shelter for humans. Led by Andrew Whalley, British architecture practice Grimshaw found a remarkable and creative use for such structures when bringing to life the Eden Project in Cornwall. Constructed on the site of an old china clay quarry, and inspired by the concept of soap bubbles being able to land on and adapt to all manner of different surfaces, the eight domes of varying sizes were designed to accommodate the quarry’s irregular cliffs and slopes. Energy-efficient and future-proof, they were made from responsibly sourced materials. The team added an especially notable innovation, roofing the domes with ethylenetetrafluoroethylene, a translucent material weighing less than one per cent of the equivalent area of glass. The entire structure comprises two ‘Biomes’ – the Mediterranean Biome and the Rainforest Biome – in which it has been possible to recreate climates from across the world and grow 5,000 different species of plants. Open to the public since March 2001, the Eden Project is an educational and environmental charity that connects people with each other and the living world.

/0 Comments/by

RIBA reveal what UK architects really think about Brexit

Results from the most comprehensive post-referendum survey of architects have been published by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The RIBA Members Brexit Survey results give an insight into the major concerns and opportunities from architects across the industry.

  • 60% of architects have seen projects delayed, cancelled or scaled back
  • 40% of UK-based non-British EU nationals are now considering leaving the country
  • Architects think Brexit offers chance of wholescale reform of the UK’s inefficient public procurement system
  • Strong support amongst architects to maintain high product and environmental standards and ensure that UK architects’ qualifications continue to be recognised in the EU and are in future recognised in other key markets too.

Over 65% of architects are concerned about the impact of Brexit on their business and any uncertainty is unsettling. However, as agile and business-savvy professionals, architects have been quick to see the potential industry benefits from the UK exiting the European Union. From trade agreements with new markets, reform of the UK’s public procurement system and increased public sector and private sector investment, our members have made it clear that with the right decisions the short-term impacts of Brexit can be mitigated, and the UK can position itself as a global facing nation.

In response to the concerns and opportunities raised by its chartered members, RIBA has today published a set of five priority recommendations for Government: Global by Design: How the government can open up new opportunities for UK architects. In order to maintain and strengthen the UK as a global hub for architecture, the Government must ensure the UK:

  • Has access to the best talent and skills
  • Signs trade agreements that open access to foreign markets
  • Provides support for education, research and innovation
  • Takes action to address the UK’s competitiveness crisis including infrastructure investment
  • Maintains common standards and low compliance costs.

RIBA President Jane Duncan said “Architects recognise that the UK must shape a new role for itself after we exit the EU – and we are already responding to that challenge. But we need leadership and support from the Government if the UK is going to maintain and strengthen its role as a global centre for architecture, responsible for innovative and inspiring buildings in the UK and across the world.

“To do that we need the Government to secure the agreements that ensure that our qualifications continue to be recognised in the EU and increasing access to new markets outside of the EU, maintain high common product and environmental standards consistent with brand UK abroad and address the structural challenges that threaten the UK’s attractiveness as a place to live, work and invest.”

“I’m pleased that the Government’s Brexit White Paper highlights a number of the key issues that we’ve been raising with ministers, but there is still a long way to go – particularly on the issue of who can work here. We can’t shut our doors to talent and expect the world to open its markets to us. The UK needs an immigration system that recognises the benefits and importance of the UK being an attractive place to work for ambitious architects from around the world. It’s vitally important that the Government acts to confirm that those already working and studying in the UK will be able to remain.”

The RIBA Members Brexit Survey report and the RIBA’s Brexit recommendations, Global by design: How the government can open up new opportunities for UK architects, can be viewed at www.architecture.com/brexit.
/0 Comments/by

2016 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist announced for the UK’s ‘Best New Building’

The shortlist for the prestigious 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building has been announced today (Thursday 14 July). The six shortlisted buildings will now go head-to-head for architecture’s highest accolade, to be awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) on Thursday 6 October 2016. Now in its 21st year, the 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize is sponsored by Almacantar.

A partly-subterranean house on a sloping plot in the Forest of Dean (Outhouse); the conversion of an entire street of listed industrial buildings into a free public gallery for artist Damien Hirst’s private collection (Newport Street Gallery); a radical new landmark university building in Oxford (Blavatnik School of Government); a flagship high density housing development on a regenerated site in south London (Trafalgar Place), a new college campus that reinstates the value placed on civic education in post-industrial Glasgow (City of Glasgow College) and the restoration and significant reinvigoration of a Grade II listed building that is home to one of the world’s greatest research libraries (Weston Library). This is the 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist:

 

Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford by Herzog & de Meuron

Blavatnik School of Government_PressImage_Iwan_Baan_1

 

 

City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus by Michael Laird Architects & Reiach and Hall Architects

 

Newport Street Gallery, Vauxhall, London by Caruso St John Architects

Newport Street Gallery_PressImage_Hélène_Binet_2

 

Outhouse Gloucestershire by Loyn & Co Architects

OutHouse_PressImage_CHARLES_HOSEA_3

 

Trafalgar Place, Elephant and Castle, London by dRMM Architects

Trafalgar Place - Elephant and Castle_PressImage_Alex_de Rijke_4

 

Weston Library, University of Oxford by WilkinsonEyre

Weston Library_PressImage_John_Cairns_4

 

Half the shortlist are education buildings, with one client, the University of Oxford, responsible for an unprecedented two of the six projects. The Blavatnik School of Government, a contemporary new building in a conservation area takes the traditional Oxford quad and tears up the rule book; Herzog & de Meuron have created a succession of wide twisting staircases, offset balconies and communal spaces that encourage greater debate and interaction for aspiring civil servants and politicians. Elsewhere in Oxford, WilkinsonEyre have opened up the Bodleian’s Weston Library to the world. This Giles Gilbert Scott Grade II listed gem was once rather insular but has been transformed by a bold new glazed mezzanine to reveal to the public the treasures contained inside. In Glasgow, the city benefits from a bold statement about the importance of civic education with the addition of City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus; the architects Michael Laird Architects & Reiach and Hall Architects have created a new icon on the Glasgow skyline with a campus anchored by two generous civic spaces, a cloistered garden and grand hall.

Newport Street Gallery in Vauxhall is the new home of artist Damien Hirst’s private collection. Three Victorian workshops that were once used to create sets for West End productions have been bookended by Caruso St John’s new buildings; the five buildings now joined together seamlessly to create superb gallery spaces and a beautifully curated new street.

Trafalgar Place, the first results of the wholescale redevelopment of Elephant and Castle’s 1970s Heygate Estate, are on the shortlist. Here dRMM Architects have designed a flagship development of 235 high density, high-quality homes set amongst retained mature trees and extensive landscaping; bringing a sense of tranquillity to a very urban location. Clever use of brickwork gives the new buildings an identity of their own; eight types of brick have been used, each one chosen to reference neighbouring buildings.

Outhouse by Loyn & Co is the first private house to feature on the RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist for 15 years (The Lawns by Smerin Architects was shortlisted in 2001). An exemplary concrete house on the Welsh borders, designed for a couple of retired artists, it delights with unexpected spaces, some underground, with a field as the roof. The architect’s use of light, air and vistas make the absolute most of its sloping site and wide views.

The shortlist features projects by previous RIBA Stirling Prize winners, Herzog & de Meuron (Laban Dance Centre, 2003) and Wilkinson Eyre (Magna Centre, Rotherham, 2001; Gateshead Millennium Bridge, 2002). Reiach and Hall, Caruso St John and dRMM have all been nominated once before. Michael Laird Architects and Loyn & Co Architects are shortlisted for the first time.

Speaking about the shortlist RIBA President Jane Duncan said “The RIBA Stirling Prize is awarded to the building that has made the biggest contribution to the evolution of architecture in a given year.

“Every one of the six buildings shortlisted today illustrates the huge benefit that well-designed buildings can bring to people’s lives. As seen at Trafalgar Place and Newport Street Gallery, they can breathe life and kick-start regeneration in neglected urban pockets to create new, desirable destinations and communities; as with Blavatnik School of Government, Weston Library and City of Glasgow College, they can give cities and institutions a new landmark to delight and draw in visitors, improve education potential, and increase civic pride. Meanwhile Outhouse provides a fantastic model for a private house – one that delights its owners and responds exceptionally sensitively to its treasured rural position.

“With the dominance of university and further education buildings on the shortlist, it is clear that quality architecture’s main patrons this year are from the education sector. I commend these enlightened clients and supporters who have bestowed such remarkable education buildings. Sponsors, such as the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, and Damien Hirst are continuing in the proud history of private patronage of architecture, and their continued support contrasts the slump in publicly-funded architecture.

“The shortlisted projects are each fantastic new additions to their individual locations – on an urban street, a city riverside, an estate regeneration, an historic city centre and a hidden part of the countryside – but their stand-out common quality is the inspiration they will bring to those who study, live, visit and pass by them, for generations to come. To me, this shortlist reflects everything that is great about UK architecture – a blend of experimental, artistic vision and a commitment to changing people’s lives for the better.”

The winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize will be announced on Thursday 6 October 2016.

The Architects’ Journal is the professional media partner for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

Use #StirlingPrize in your social media posts about the shortlist.

/0 Comments/by

Architects and developers unveil a new kind of home for the 21st century

Urban Splash and shedkm announce the first phase of their new and innovative ‘hoUSe’ project.

Offering customers bespoke, architect-designed homes along the canal in New Islington, Manchester, the development gives buyers the power to choose the layout of their home.

The first 43 hoUSes adopt a traditional terraced approach but internally layouts can be configured to tailor one, two, three, four and five bedroom homes with an open-plan or more traditional feel. The hoUSe project represents an alternative to the established mass house-building schemes across the UK in terms of design and delivery.

These homes in New Islington are made of volumetric timber pods that are delivered to site with minimal disruption to neighbours. The benefits of building homes in this manner is that all standards and tolerances can be monitored in a factory-controlled environment, meaning the houses are warm and incredibly energy efficient, as well as flexible to plan and adapt. With a striking modern design, featuring familiar pitch roof motifs, the hoUSe has proved incredibly popular with the first 43 homes selling out prior to launch. It’s not just the method of construction that is revolutionary but also the manner in which hoUSe was conceived.

Architects shedkm and developers Urban Splash came together to generate the concept in the first instance and this evolved into a delivery system and a search for the right sites; it can easily be adapted for a range of different locations across the UK.

The hoUSes on the New Islington plot are long and slender and range from two to three storeys. The grey exteriors are broken up by thick-banded black window bays that offer occupants with views out over Manchester, while also allowing an abundance of sunlight to enter the rooms. Internal configuring means that owners can select between ‘loft’ or ‘garden’ living, which means that you can opt for the communal areas to be located at the base or top of the house. This approach to upside down living was pioneered by shedkm and Urban Splash at Chimney Pot Park, where gardens were located at first-floor level to create parking spaces below and best use the space available of a tight urban site. This development is now regarded as an exemplar housing scheme in the area.

Director at shedkm, Ian Killick said “We’re delighted to see the first phase of the hoUSe project completed at New Islington. This concept has been a long time in the making and we believe that it is a game-changer to tackle the current housing shortage this country is facing. They also happen to be homes that people are proud to live in.”

Urban Splash Chairman Tom Bloxham MBE added “hoUSe is born from our desire to create something for customers who want to live in well-designed homes and stay in the city centre. We noticed that within UK cities there is a real lack of diversity in terms of new residential stock and our traditional customers – those who had bought and enjoyed Urban Splash flats – would ultimately get older, richer and end up moving to Victorian and Georgian terraces in the suburbs.”

“hoUSe is our way of offering them something in the city. It’s a really exciting prospect and I am as excited by this as I was by our first lofts over 20 years ago. At prices less per square foot than city centre flats, lower maintenance costs than old Victorian houses or blocks of flats, big floorplates, high ceilings and huge windows they have already been well received and I’m certain will be a big part of Urban Splash’s future.”

/by

VISION – The future of the built environment

Launched in 2015, Vision is the event for architects, specifiers, clients and suppliers. Held annually, it is the place where these communities come together to discuss, debate and showcase the latest innovations and developments in architecture, design and the built environment.

The event focuses on new and innovative building products and materials and provides ideas and solutions for new and inventive ways to achieve better building design solutions and comply with changing legislation.

Through a series of seminars and case studies delivered by leading international speakers, alongside a carefully curated exhibition of cutting edge products and solutions, Vision is the meeting place for professionals connected to the built environment and a unique opportunity for suppliers to showcase their products.

With over 190 exhibitors, 160 speakers and 5000 visitors, Vision is the must-attend event of 2016 for the architecture, design and construction industries. Entry and access to all seminars is free of charge when you register in advance.

For more information please visit: www.visionlondon.com.
Email: info@visionlondon.com
Tel: +44 (0) 203 3633 2237

/by

91-year-old tenant helps architecture students design homes for the future

Housing experts from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) are teaming up with a 91-year-old tenant and a leading housing organisation to help architecture students design homes of the future.

Leicester School of Architecture and DMU’s Centre for Comparative Housing Research (CCHR) are working alongside social housing and care provider emh group and extra care scheme tenant Mona Walkden, 91, to comment on the proposals of Architecture students for an international competition.

The European Federation of Assisted Living is challenging Architecture students to design new homes for the elderly.

By 2060, more than half of Europe’s population will be past retirement age – a fact which presents huge challenges to the housing sector to ensure homes are fit for purpose, accessible and affordable.

To help students understand the issues, April Knapp, regional development manager of emh group, and 91-year-old tenant Mona Walkden came to DMU to talk to students about design and needs of tenants for a special session.

Mona, who lives in Leicestershire, said “I found it very interesting. I think atmosphere is so important and my feeling as that I would like them very much to look at fitments and see how difficult it is for elderly people in wheelchairs to use sinks and open cupboards as often there are problems.”

“I’m very fit for my age but I live with people who are disabled and it gives you an insight into the problems they face. I feel that my job is to try to get the best living accommodation that you can possibly get for tenants.”

Chan Kataria, emh group Chief Executive, said “With an ageing population, the need for more suitable housing for the older generations has never been more acute.”

“We have started to address the situation with Oak Court, our extra care scheme in Blaby, Leicestershire, which is pioneering health and housing integration, but thousands more homes are needed across the country in order to meet the future needs of a rapidly changing society.”

Dr Jamileh Manoochehri, from the Leicester School of Architecture welcomed the invitation from Prof Richardson to take on the task of designing for an aging population.

Dr Manoochehri said “The Architecture students are considering what constitutes dwelling and they are taking up the challenge of designing accessible dwellings that continue to feel like home. “

“Each student is working on a different approach, some are concerned with overcoming the physical limitations that come with aging and others are investigating means of countering the isolation of the aging population by making use of the typology of the courtyard, or by designing homes that accommodate pets; and by establishing natural links between the interior and the natural world outside.”

Professor Jo Richardson, director of DMU’s CCHR, approached emh group to help set up the event. The CCHR has carried out research on the future of housing and in particular highlighted the increasing need for affordable rental accommodation.

Prof Richardson said “The changing population demographic is a huge challenge not only for the housing sector but health, business and the economy.”

“This will be an opportunity for our students to learn from Mona and April’s experience and expertise.”

“We are pleased to be able to use our close links with leaders in the field such as emh group to benefit students in their studies.”

Judges will be looking for high-quality ideas which address issues but also fit into people’s lifestyles and allow independent living as far as possible.

Judges will consider entries from across Europe. The winner, who will receive 10,000 Euros in prizes, is due to be announced in March.

See more here.

/by

Could Battersea chimneys be turned into giant Tesla coils?

Danish architect, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has revealed an interesting concept to transform the four chimneys at the Battersea Power Station project in London into the largest Tesla coils on Earth.

The purpose of the coils would be as a form of public art, partially powered by the high volume of foot traffic that passes by underneath the giant chimneys. The pavement below could generate a kilowatt of energy from the pressure on plates created by footsteps – known as the piezoelectric effect. This energy would then create a spectacular burst of electricity between the chimneys – a physical testament to the true power of the collective.

Bjarke Ingels unveiled the unusual idea at a lecture at the Royal Academy, saying “We’re working with experts in Tesla coils, looking into how to incorporate them into the chimneys so essentially we might celebrate the transformation from carbon footprint to human footprint.”

“We imagine it like Big Ben; when the clock strikes the hour, we can have this celebration of human energy and human life.”

“It could be interesting to create a public artwork that ties into the heritage of the power plant.”

“We don’t have coal any more but we do have 50,000 people passing by every day.”

A Tesla coil (created by Nikola Tesla around 1891) consists of two parts: a primary coil and secondary coil, each with its own capacitor. (Capacitors store electrical energy just like batteries.) The two coils and capacitors are connected by a spark gap — a gap of air between two electrodes that generates the spark of electricity.

Electrical engineer Greg Leyh and his colleagues in San Fransisco are currently fundraising to construct two 37m Tesla coils in a bid to understand more about lightning. These are on track to be the largest in the world – however, Bjarke Ingels are proposing an astounding 91.5m set of coils.

Whilst unlikely to be approved, the concept illustrates that there are still bright sparks within the world of architecture; pushing boundaries and helping take the artform into the brave unknown.

The Battersea project is due to be completed in 2019.

/by