Architecture 

Contact	-
Date and Time	-	4th Monday, 2:00 pm
Meeting Place	-	Pottery Room

Activities

During the last three months we have and undertaken some enjoyable outings. We visited Brighton and Hove in May for a guided tour of Brighton's architecture, from the famous terraces of Georgian houses to an impressive stock of fine Victorian churches. The highlight in June was a visit to Bexhill and then Rye, arranged by Helen and Lesley. A guided tour of the De La Warr Pavilion provided an insight into the origins of this 1935 modernist masterpiece by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff. An unexpected and welcome 'extra' awaited us, the first ever sculpture exhibition on the Pavilion's roof. One of Antony Gormley's best-known works, Critical Mass is a group of sixty cast-iron figures taken from the artist's own body and forming a lexicon of twelve basic positions from foetal to upright. Rye retains it's past with medieval remains of the town walls, the 14th century Land Gate and narrow cobbled streets with their old buildings. In July, local historian Julian Hunt guided us on a third tour of Bucks churches. We visited seven in a variety of styles ranging from Anglo-Saxon to Gothic Revival. Of particular note, St Lawrence, Broughton, has a marvellous series of wall paintings, which cover large parts of the north and south walls. The paintings include a Doom; a Pieta; St Helena and St Eligius and a dramatic portrayal of St George slaying the Dragon. We have continued our meetings in the Pottery Room. In May, Charlotte made an excellent presentation on Châteaux and Cathedrals, contrasting a selection of very fine buildings. We have moved forward with our look at the Later Modernists, which brings us to 1945. Shortly, we will make a start on Postmodern Architecture. I regret that we are unable to take on new members.

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