On the Nature of Things | Forum

9 May 2012

Architects: Grimshaw
Location: London, England
Client: The Cutty Sark Trust
Partner: Chris Nash
Associate Director: Diane Metcalfe
Project Architects: Jorrin Ten-Have, Den Farnworth
Architect: Joe Laslett
Principal: Steve Brown
Photographs: Jim Stephenson

Cutty Sark epitomises the great age of sail; she is the last surviving tea clipper. Her remarkable story is tangible evidence of the centuries long importance of sea-trade to this country and to the growth of London as the world’s pre-eminent port and trading centre. Built as a tea clipper, where speed to market was critical, it is the combination of sail and hull form which gave Cutty Sarkher edge. The hull shape is defined by the revolutionary 19th century composite iron and timber ship building technique.

A comprehensive programme of conservation began on Cutty Sark in 2004, which saw the biggest overhaul of the Grade I listed landmark for 50 years with the ship’s reopening planned to take place in 2009. The project was brought to a dramatic halt when a fire in 2007 swept through the wooden structure, causing extensive damage to the centre of the ship. The disaster caught the public’s interest and initiated a major fund raising campaign, enabling the project not only to be resumed at the end of 2009 but to an enhanced design brief.

The new design proposed raising the 963 tonnes Cutty Sark three metres within the dry berth. The dry berth was created in the 1950s, and purpose built in mass concrete on a former bomb site to house Cutty Sark when she was brought to Greenwich from Shadwell Basin. The ship was floated down the Thames, and manoeuvred into the berth before the end was sealed and the water drained to allow her to rest on the berth’s floor. In order to deliver this new conservation solution, within the constraints of the dryberth, it demanded that the new interventions had to respect, repair and adapt to the original fabric of the ship.

Cutty Sark epitomises the great age of sail and is the last surviving Tea Clipper. Her remarkable history is tangible evidence of the long-term importance of the sea trade to England, and to London’s growth as the world’s pre-eminent port and trading centre. Cutty Sark’s iconic hull shape is defined by the revolutionary 19th century composite iron and timber shipbuilding technique. Specialist conservation work addresses the critical physical condition of the ship through a combination of electrolysis, mechanical cleaning and preventative coatings.

The fully accessible interior will be presented in its original, cargo carrying form, allowing visitors to explore the restored decks and crew accommodation. Grimshaw’s innovative design proposes the raising of Cutty Sark within the dry berth - providing a new and captivating area for visitors under her revolutionary hull. A new supporting structure cradles the lifted ship’s hull. In addition to this, an enveloping glass canopy, attached along the ship's waterline, will give year-round protection to visitors in the dry berth. The resulting air-conditioned, accessible space will become a place for catered events and will be used to articulate the Cutty Sark’s unique story. All works will be complete for HM’s Jubilee 2012 as a gift from the Duke of Edinburgh.

The Cutty Sark Trust's director Richard Doughty has spoken out against claims by The Victorian Society that the ship's eye catching makeover did not have the historic clipper's best interests at its heart.

The six year, £50 million restoration project which raised the vessel almost three metres into the air and encased the lower portion in glass, was awarded Building Design Online's Carbuncle Cup for "tragically defiling the thing it set out to save," coinciding with a damning reaction from The Victorian Society's director Chris Costelloe.

Mr Costelloe stated that the Cutty Sark trust had made the lucrative hospitality market a priority.

He said: "It's a pity that commercial motives were placed above heritage interests.

"The new design has obscured the Cutty Sark's distinctive shape at the quay side. Even the part of the ship we can still see includes an obtrusive lift tower looming over the deck."

Defending the unique architectural design, Mr Doughty said it was the only way to save the ship.

"Without raising her we would have lost the most significant thing about the Cutty Sark, what made it a legend and what allowed it to set work records and capture the publics imagination - the unique hull. We've been able to achieve our vision, raise the ship and give her a future."

He said the Victorian Society had been consulted during the design process and proved supportive, further rubbishing the director's argument.

"The Victorian Society's director is new and I doubt he has even been to see it," said Mr Doughty. "It has got a wow factor and all our exit surveys with visitors show the vast majority of the public has been mesmerised and would recommend it to friends and family."

Typhoon wrote:Like.

From my perspective, modernism often works very well on a small scale: houses

However, it seems to be more at risk of missing the mark when it comes to large public buildings.

Broad Sustainable Building (BSB), a subsidiary of the Broad Group based in Changsha in Hunan province, China, insists that it will deliver its 220-storey Sky City within the targeted 90 days, rather than in 210 days as rumoured by the media

The first U.S. multi-family condo built of used shipping containers is slated to break ground in Detroit early next year.

Strong, durable and portable, shipping containers stack easily and link together like Legos. About 25 million of these 20-by-40 feet multicolored boxes move through U.S. container ports a year, hauling children's toys, flat-screen TVs, computers, car parts, sneakers and sweaters.

But so much travel takes its toll, and eventually the containers wear out and are retired. That's when architects and designers, especially those with a "green" bent, step in to turn these cast-off boxes into student housing in Amsterdam, artists' studios, emergency shelters, health clinics, office buildings.

Heracleum Persicum wrote:.


Zaha Hadid has become one of the most admired architects in the world and her work is particularly prized in China


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Azrael wrote:.

Heracleum Persicum wrote:.


Zaha Hadid has become one of the most admired architects in the world and her work is particularly prized in China


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Her work also seems to be the most pirated in China. They must really like her, since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

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While Hadid's design features three towers, the copycat version reportedly has two, also constructed in an asymmetrical and futuristic style.

The developer of the Chongqing project, Meiquan 22nd Century, has denied accusations of plagiarism.

Hoosiernorm wrote:http://gizmodo.com/5857475/without-truc ... in-of-poop

Nonc Hilaire wrote:Cool Japanese demolition. Sort of like using chopsticks.
8_4G_8gEjng

Typhoon wrote:The Fountainhead: Everything That’s Wrong with Architecture

Hoosiernorm wrote:

Typhoon wrote:The Fountainhead: Everything That’s Wrong with Architecture

What a bunch of F*heads

Faraco reply to ricky seabra

Give me a break. I'm Brazilian. You are a theoretical nonsense. Brasilia is a land designed not to have people. It is designed for the rest of the country watch it from TV. It is impossible to walk there. It is impossible even to carry a demonstration there. It is truly a fascist city. Before saying bullshit, try visiting Brasilia's neighbourhoods by bus: Taquatinga and Candangolandia. So we can start talking about that.