New Work - National Theatre Studio

It was great to start the new year with a bit of time to work on my personal project, Beautiful Brutalism and add the very elegant National Theatre Studio to the project. Designed by Lyons, Israel & Ellis in 1958 it was built to house the scenery workshops, painting studio, wardrobe and offices for The Old Vic which later became the National Theatre. It is one of the earliest and purest examples of 'New Brutalism' which emerged from corbusian aesthics of raw, expressed shuttered concrete. It is the only architect-designed theatre workshop ever built in Britain so was Grade II listed in 2006 and carefully refurbished in 2008 by Haworth Tompkins Architects.

To view the rest of the images from this project please visit - structraleye

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Photography of Ceramicist Jane Cairns

Back in April I had the pleasure of photographing ceramicist Jane Cairns in her studio situated by the Thames in London. It was great to spend the day with Jane and get shown the places she visits along the edge of the Thames which gives her inspiration for her work. It was lovely to see my images being used in her latest newsletter, which can be seen here .

Concrete Cambridge

Over the last few months I have been adding a few colleges in Cambridge to my Beautiful Brutalism project. Many new college buildings that were being built from the late 50's to 70's embraced contemporary architecture of concrete, steel and brick and many leading architects of the era were commissioned to design these new buildings. New Court, Christ's College and Fitzwilliam College by Denys Lasdun, George Thomson Building of Corpus Christi College by Philip Dowson of Arup and the History Faculty by James Stirling to name a few. I photographed the two Lasdun designed buildings late last year. New Court, Christ's College, 1970, has an amazing steeped slope of the students rooms with a terrace running through the middle. The rooms all have large windows that allow light to flood in and the use of exposed reinforced concrete is beautiful. Fitzwilliam College, 1964, has a very distinctive shell-vault like roof on the dining hall which is visible from the str...

New Article as Concrete Correspondence - Umbrella Magazine

In my second article as concrete correspondent for Umbrella Magazine I talk about photographing the little known brutalist gem of the Spiritualist Church, Brighton. An unusual designed building that really stands out, it was great to photograph and the church very kindly gave me permission to document the interior which is rarely seen. The full article and more photographs of this unique church can be seen here . The next column will be out next year!

JO UNDERHILL / STRUCTURALEYE

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