As a tribute to the late Richard MacCormac I thought I would
post a few photos of his buildings in Oxford.
Jowett Walk, Balliol College.
This is an example of his penchant for articulating a
building as a series of towers.
The Garden Quadrangle, St John’s College.
This deeply historicist building was voted by the Oxford
public as the best new building to be completed in Oxford in the last 75 years.
Kendrew Quadrangle, St John’s College.
An impeccably modernist building which reinterprets the
quadrangle typology. It is a beautifully detailed building, mixing timber,
steel and glass. It incorporates decoration distinctly influenced by Frank
Lloyd Wright.
I have to admit I am puzzled by Richard MacCormac’s
nomination of Burrell’s Fields at Trinity College, Cambridge as his best
project, a project I admittedly haven’t seen in the flesh. If I had to nominate
my favourite MacCormac project I would probably choose the Bowra building in Wadham College. This
building introduced me to the idea that there was more to MaCormac in Oxford
than the Sainsbury building at Worcester College.
The student rooms are distinctly articulated, either by
L-shaped plans or bay windows into two zones. This meets
the dual purpose needs of these rooms:
studies and bedrooms. They are expressed as a series of towers. Expressing such
small rooms as individual towers conveys an impression like that of a
metropolis. However, perhaps the most inspired space in this building,
intriguingly lies at the heart of the structure.
What is this space? Is it an external corridor or an
internal street? It is remarkable, the way in which something as simple as
stairs can express the edge condition of
a building so forcefully.
This is an example of the building as city in miniature; a concept many architects have aspired to but
rarely achieved as successfully as here. It is indicative of the level of
intelligence at which MacCormac practiced architecture. I suppose many
gardeners have produced remarkable things but only a master can produce a
bonsai.
It is always a little sad that when someone as rich as Lord
Sainsbury wishes to gift a building to a university, he chooses somewhere
already financially as well endowed as Oxford University. Wouldn’t be good if
poorer universities were occasionally gifted outstanding buildings? Still, must
focus on the bright side. Great architect and great guy.
