Some weeks ago our office went to Copenhagen on an Architecture excursion and I’ve been sitting on a few posts about my time there because of lots of other things were taking priority, but I have a little time now so first post up is about a wonderful exhibition about the most influential man in modern architecture who you don’t know!
Frontiers of Architecture 1 - Cecil Balmond (flckr set)
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This is the first in an ambitious, even extravagant series of exhibitions to be put on about Architecture in Denmarks Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The First one about Cecil Balmond ran from 22nd June to 4th November 2007 and showcased the work of Cecil Balmond of Arups, the engineer behind many of the most innovative and provocative works of Architecture in the world right now.
The Exhibition is split into three main sections following the layout of Louisiana
FLUX covering fractals, RAINBOW, explaining in themes geometry in relation to Architecture and Structure and NETWORK, covering the building projects on which Cecil Balmond has been involved with.
RAINBOW
Rainbow gives the background of the concepts of geometry both the simple forms such as the cube which is built on with the more complex forms and fractal geometry generators that Balmond uses. These concepts illustrate the philosophy which informs Balmonds work. The boards are arranged in a curve mixing graphics, audio, video and models to great effect. You can’t be helped but be drawn into Balmond’s world.
FLUX
Shows models and films of fractals the generators of many of the forms that Balmond harnesses in his work. This room mostly without explanation shows the pure geometrical form generally without their application to building projects.
NETWORK
We see in Network the geometries shown in Rainbow utilised in projects for Toyo Ito, Rem Koolhaus, Daniel Liebeskind, Anish Kapoor to name just a few. This is a fantastic room covering a who’s who of starchitects and installation artists. Truely Balmond is behind many of the most daring and innovative strutures in the world today. The models especially are fantastic and a perfect link between the structural concepts and forms that underpin them and the built projects, whether finished or not.
Also I must mention quicky H_edge an installation from Arups Advanced Geometry Unit which Balmond formed. Based on a cubic fractal tiling of space known as the Menger Sponge. Constructed of aluminium panels and stainless steel chain a suspended network of reciprocal load paths go up to make a rigid object infinetly configurable from just these two systems. In other words with a collection of small aluminium disks a set of stainless steel chains have been made to form a rigid structural system, its a beautiful thing to see.
What we get out of the exhibition is a refound excitement in the architectural project, and in geometry for its own sake, and that the leading proactitioners of Architecture are being assisted, provoked and inspired by this great engineer, which in turn gives you more faith in some of the projects on show here that can often appear whimsical and iconic in the worst sense. At least the engineering is filled with a sense of daring and wonder which will stand the test of time. A great quote from Toyo Ito sums up what geometry and form means to Balmond.
He has completely transformed the meaning of Geometry in Architecture. To Cecil, geometry is simply the path taken by a moving point. Squares and circles are nothing more than very special solutions to the movement of a point. But we are under the illusion that those special solutions are geometry. - Toyo Ito in A+U Nov2006.
The 2002 Serpentine Pavillion by Balmond and Toyo Ito is a perfect example of Cecils approach generating for the roof a set of rules which produces real randomness and pushes engineering into an artform. This is a breathtaking exhibition in its depth and breadth showing a creative engineer with a portfolio and commitment that few if any current Architect can match. Reading the wired article about him, after visiting the exhibition I also came to see the exhibition in another light. Perhaps that Balmond is a little frustrated that he is constantly hidden from the limelight or the major credit and that this exhibition is a chance for him to pt thi right in a small way. The problem of sharing credit in the design process I think will only get harder with time, but this exhibition goes some way to putting Cecil Balmond in the light he deserves.
Also see; bd review.
8 Comments
Hi LewisM
Balmond’s name crops up in a book I’m reading, The Edifice Complex, by Deyan Sudjic. It’s an excellent read by the way. Balmond comes up in connection with Koolhas’s CTC Tower in Beijing, recognition of the phenomenal feats of engineering that are currently expanding possibilities for architects. No doubt architects like Zaha Hadid would acknowledge similar debts to engineers - with her fondness for curving and seemingly unsupported concrete structures.
I’m not sure that the engineering and technological advances aren’t perhaps driving architects a little too far in a particular direction though. Isn’t there a danger that, rather than designing a building for the ‘traditional’ reasons (form, context, purpose etc - and please bear with me because I’m a layman using these terms), architects are designing buildings to indulge themselves and clients with the gains of the new engineering techniques?
@ Bifta,
Point taken, although I think that neither are mutually exclusive. Historically some of the greatest buildings ever have also pushed the structural boundaries eg. the Pantheon or Hagia Sophia, even the pyramids.
What I found compelling about Balmonds contribution to these iconic projects some of which will stand the test of time and some of which undoubtedly won’t is that he adds structural rigour and therefore intellectually speaking, architectural weight to each project.
In other words a basic desire of the architect for a ‘floating corner’ or ‘random pattern’ can be transformed into something of value structurally and programatically. It doesn’t of course make great architecture by itself.
@Lewis
Point taken! They aren’t mutually exclusive, and the best that arhictecture has to offer often depends on, or embraces, the best that engineering has to offer. And vice-versa - the two are equally capable of driving each other I suppose.
In passing, my company did some work with Arup recently, looking at the skills and numbers of those involved in developing sustainable communities in England. They have a very broad range.
Keep posting!
in the current o32c magazine there is a big big feature on balmond, its in stockmann at the moment…
http://magculture.com/blog/?p=1470
Thanks for the tip Darren, have you bought it and is it any good?
yeah i got it a few days ago - there is a lot in there. hoping to get through it over the weekend.
i was at the balmond exhibition too in louisiana - i loved it but found it almost a bit too much to take in - a dvd of the exhibition would helped so much - given more time to digest everything going on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dw/tags/cecilbalmond/
I’ll definetly check it out when I’m next in town then. The Balmond show was brilliant, it was maybe a little overpowering as well. I find that often Architecture exhibitions are underwhelming under the surface, this one wasn’t.
very helpful