Lamp is of ‘Obedience’ suggesting buildings should conform to existing English values, with no
originality for its own sake. In modern British society many of these ideas would be controversial and their relevance questioned.
THE TATE MODERN
Modern architecture, perhaps not at its greatest, but at its most functional, comes from the Tate
Modern. The dominant features within the building portray the history of this site, for it was not
always the modern art gallery it is today. Built in two phases between 1947 and 1963, Bankside Power Station was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who was also the architect of Battersea
Power Station situated upstream of our focus. Bankside lay unoccupied after an increase in oil
prices in 1981 until 1994, when the Tate collection at Millbank sought a larger home. An international architectural competition handed over the building to the Swiss practice, Jacques
Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. Although an internationally recognised cultural landmark, the modern design is born out of an obsolete functionality, an efficient use of architecture which may not be as well regarded by Ruskin’s principles.
Oliver Baldock |The Essay
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