National Theatre Refurb

The National Theatre is my favourite building to photograph and visit in London. Architects Haworth Tompkins have been refurbishing the theatre over the last few years, initially adding a new theatre space The Shed which opened in Spring 2013. They have recently finished opening up the interior space with new restaurants and bars being added, and the final part to be completed is the eduction centre and remodelling of the Cottesloe theatre.

I was a little bit apprehensive of the new work as I was so fond of the original building and layout but the architects have done an amazing job to keep the feel of the original grandeur and brut of the building but bring it up to date and work in this day and age. With my photography I wanted to capture the exterior and details of the building with it's new areas that have been opened up and the new signage which is based on the original typography used.

Below are a few photographs from the shoot and the rest of the project can be seen on my website.

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Brutalism in Photos Feature

Oracle Time Magazine featured a lovely positive article about brutalist architecture in London in their June issue of the magazine and online. Along with photographs from my ongoing personal project Beautiful Brutalism they also featured the work of photographers Simon Phipps and Hayley Goodwin. The online article can be read here .

New Work - Brutalist Playgounds

I have wanted to visit and add some brutalist playgrounds to my Beautiful Brutalism project for a long time. I remember playing on a concrete tube we called 'the saddle' at my old primary school and loved it. So have fond memories of these concrete playgrounds. Unfortunately not many have survived but last November I researched and visited a playground that was still standing down in South Clapham beneath Belgravia House tower block. This was a fantastic playground with a spiral slide and tunnels to run through the hill that housed the slide. It was great to see the playground was well maintained and looked like it was still used. I couldn't resist and have to say the slide was fantastic! The whole project can be seen here. Then earlier this year I visited the Aintree Estate playground in Fulham. The two tower blocks, Hartopp Point and Lannoy Point are due to be demolished this year so wanted to visit before access was difficult and the area the playground is sit

Prada meets Brutalism

I had a fantastic end to last year when I heard that one of my images of The National Theatre from my Beautiful Brutalism project had been sold through the RIBA Photolibrary and was used by New York based designers 2x4 to produce a wallpaper for the Prada epicenter store in NY and Dover Street Market. The wallpaper is called Brutalista and is a photo collage of fragments from notable mid-20th century buildings composed in such a way as to contradict the real geometries and perspectives of the space. The omnipresent concrete creates a uniform backdrop against which the collection stand out in vivid points of intense color. It's amazing to know that my image is on the wall of a Prada store in New York and brutalist architecture is gaining a few more fans. Now I just have to see if I can find a way of visiting NY and seeing it for myself! Part of my image can be seen on the right of the above photo and the rest of the Brutalista project can be seen here .

JO UNDERHILL / STRUCTURALEYE

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