hidden beauty

john ousby — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:03:03 +0000

Thanks to Mike Todd for the shots of this beautiful and rarely seen stone carving from Eric Gill, uncovered during the renovation work on the old BBC Broadcasting House in early 2005. Gill sculpted Prospero and Ariel in 1932 and it sits proudly on the front of BH above the main entrance. He left this carving on a panel behind the main sculpture as a surprise for future generations. Gill was a contemporary of Modigliani, and both were influenced by Rodin.

Gill was multi faceted, giving us several typefaces, including Gill Sans (the BBC font), and many beautiful carvings, sculptures and engravings. Ariel is also the name of the BBC staff magazine. Much has also been said about his unorthodox and plainly weird behaviour. A part of the Prospero and Ariel statue had to be reduced in size rather promptly after the official unveiling – I don’t think you’ll have to guess too hard which bit it was after reading the wikipedia article…

Prospero and Ariel

BBC Broadcasting House, London

images of the stone carving with kind permission from Mike Todd (copyright Mike Todd). All other images are my own.

Radio France

john ousby — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:25:40 +0000

This is the view from inside Radio France, looking out over the inner circle. Henri Bernard was the architect behind this iconic 60′s building near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It’s now under a massive renovation program from the centre out.

The architect allegedly got the inspiration from sitting by a pond and throwing a pebble in. The building represents the ripples radiating out from the tower in the middle which used to hold the archive. Not that necessary to have such a large space now of course.

The consequential trapezoid shapes of the segments between the walls and the centre are supposed to be the best shape for the large recording studios housed there.

The building is similar to the centrepiece of BBC television centre, but on a much grander scale. Since the break up of ORTF in 1974, radio and tv in the public sector in france have hardly any connection, there’s practically no movement of staff between the two, which must be a lost opportunity as radio becomes more visual.

The incorporation of studio space into design reminds me of the Radio Scotland building up in Glasgow Pacific Quay. The ceilings of the studios form the layers in the aztec style steps to the top of the building. Starting with radio drama and moving up finally to a huge TV studio.

Fatcontroller » architecture

hidden beauty

Radio France