Design Bureau article on BD`s LSBU public realm

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DESIGN BUREAU
Dialogue
September 2013
September 2013
4
FROM INSPIRATION TO INSTALLATION:
THE PROCESS BEHIND THE LSBU STUDENT CENTER PLAZA
By combining in-ground lights
with the larger paving planks,
B:D’s design both pays homage to
Bomberg and brightens the space
during dark nights, which start as
early as mid-afternoon in the winter.
Q&A
AN ARTFUL
STREETSCAPE
David Bomberg’s abstract
artwork influenced the
design of public spaces at a
London college
BY KATHRYN FREEMAN RATHBONE
P
arts of London are literally
a concrete jungle, and London South Bank University
is no exception. To spiff up
its school spirit, the campus recently opened a new
student center that’s more
urban cool than industrial bleak. The center pairs sleek architecture by Hawkins\
Brown with contemporary landscape and
hardscape by B:D Landscape Architects.
Inspired by the work of legendary artist and
former LSBU teacher David Bomberg, B:D
created a signature plaza and streetscape
that have boosted the school’s aesthetic
and artistic character. Here, Rob Beswick,
founder of B:D Landscape Architects, talks
about the transformation.
KFR: What was the existing space like?
Rob Beswick: The site before development was a back of house, underused,
and unloved piece of the LSBU campus. It
was bounded by tall security fencing and
was inaccessible to the public. The new
student center creatively reused and recycled a tired 1960s concrete building and
underground parking lot.
We created a new public piazza to the
front and a ‘shared surface’ streetscape
to the rear. These areas act as new entrances into the campus, and they draw
Images courtesy of B:D Landscape Architect, bdlandarch.com
DESIGN BUREAU
Dialogue
1
B:D’s team looked to artist
and former LSBU instructor David Bomberg’s work
for inspiration, particularly his drawing Racehorses, which depicts
horses and jockeys poised
for action just before a
race begins. Created during Bomberg’s Vorticist
period, the work reduces
the forms of the jockeys
and horses into tubular,
geometric shapes.
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pedestrians into the building with directional lighting and a graphic ground plane.
KFR: Why did you look to David Bomberg
for inspiration?
RB: David Bomberg is considered one of
the most significant British artists of the
20th century. He taught at LSBU during the
1940s and ’50s. His work reduces imagery
to geometric shapes and transforms organic life into machine-like forms; it was a
really strong match with our design ideas.
We extended the building’s concrete
structure into the public realm and then
shattered its rigid geometry with a striking
mix of lighting and paving.
KFR: What materials did you use?
The forms of the drawing
influenced the design
team’s process. “We
abstracted the cubism [of Racehorses]
using plasticine and
cardboard, which
led to the concept
design,” Beswick says.
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Light granite “planks” emulate
Bomberg’s tubular forms. After
the planks were installed, the
team filled in the spaces with
small, dark granite “cubes” and
linear in-ground lighting.
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DESIGN BUREAU
Dialogue
September 2013
September 2013
Dialogue
DESIGN BUREAU
(CONTINUED)
Q&A
ART DECO INSPIRATION
A furniture designer finds a muse in a Hollywood legend
E
“So much of London is paved in a bland sea of
poor quality paving, so we consciously strived
to create something unusual.” – ROB BESWICK
b:d landscape architects are a design
based consultancy with outstanding
expertise in the field of public realm
design and a growing reputation for
contemporary landscape architecture,
urban design and space-making.
b:d landscape architects
Sun Street
Tewkesbury
Gloucestershire
GL20 5NX
England
t: +44 (0)1684 298 582
e: info@bdlandarch.com
w: www.bdlandarch.com
@bd_landscape
RB: So much of London is paved in a
bland sea of poor quality paving, so we
consciously strived to create something
unusual. A combination of light granite
‘planks,’ dark granite ‘cubes,’ and linear in-ground lighting is used to create a contemporary, directional ground
plane. We placed dark granite extruded
benches [developed with Hardscape]
underneath London plane trees for conversation. We also incorporated seams
of Irish blue limestone into the paving to
define shared spaces.
Inspired by our time spent working in Chicago, the soft landscape combines low
maintenance and drought-tolerant prairie plantings with bands of very English
Photo © Tim Crawford
clipped box hedging. Red maple and
Ginkgo trees also add strong seasonal
variety, and their semi-mature size adds
instant stature to the project.
KFR: What do you think Bomberg would
most appreciate about your design?
RB: LSBU’s Student Center, in the words
of our client [director of development,
estates, and facilities for LSBU] Roger
Tuke, ‘has created something out of
nothing.’ Bomberg himself was something of an art-world trailblazer with his
cubist and futurist styles, so I hope he
would appreciate that we have strived to
create something unusual and innovative in London’s ubiquitous sea of the
public realm. a
veryone wants to be someone
when they grow up. For interior and furniture designer
Lisa Jarvis, it was Hollywood
icon Claudette Colbert. It
was not only the legendary
actress’ star power that attracted Jarvis, but also the lavish art deco
sets of her movies. Now an established
L.A.-based designer with more than 30
years of furniture design experience, Jarvis still looks to her childhood hero for inspiration when designing her collections.
DB: When did you know
that you wanted to design
furniture and interiors?
Lisa Jarvis: My interior
design training started
with my mother. We were
‘Old Hollywood’ movie
fanatics and watched them every day. I
wanted to be Claudette Colbert—to live in a
Manhattan high-rise with art deco furnishings and fabulous clothes and to drink martinis while lounging on a white satin chaise.
I stared at the gorgeous Hollywood sets for
years and it formed my taste.
Above: “The Bagua
table was inspired
by my wedding ring,”
Jarvis says. “I was
drinking coffee in bed
and musing on how
the light hit my ring
when I thought, ‘That’d
make a beautiful little
table.’ Coincidentally,
I later discovered
the shape is from the
map used in feng shui
called the bagua.”
DB: How has your style developed since then?
LJ: As time went on, adding to my adoration of the elegant strength of ‘Deco’ and
‘Moderne’ design, was the influence of
the resurrection of ‘Mid-Century’ in the
early ’80s that continues today. And, as a
through line, the timeless peacefulness of
Japanese design.
DB: How do you develop your pieces?
LJ: My design process has changed very
little. I get an idea, I doodle, I choose the
best doodle, and then I refine it. I decide
the specifications and either send it directly to the host of manufacturers I work
Product photos courtesy of Lisa Jarvis Atelier, lisajarvisatelier.com; portrait by Lev Gorn
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