Humanizing Futurist Architecture Will Rowland 12.11.13
The Lloyd’s of London Building is a project born of necessity, driven by technology, and built with a sense of public sensitivity. As a modern piece of construction built within the medieval financial district of London, it very elegantly manages to address a complex series of architectural ideas through a cohesive, conscientious, and comprehensive approach. Originally founded in 1688, the modern version of Lloyd’s was created by the Lloyd’s Act of 1871, which governs the insurance agency as a corporate body. The company is located within the medieval financial district of London, and has been headquartered there since 1925, when the original Lime Street headquarters was built. The current building, designed by British architect Richard Rogers, stands on the same site as the 1925 headquarters, and marks a distinct change in the architectural vocabulary of the company’s headquarters. The previous two headquarters had both been incredibly Classicist in their design, but due to rapid growth within the company and the need for additional space, Lloyd’s decided to leave their architecturally conservative tendencies behind and adopt a more radical approach.
The 1928 Lloyd’s headquarters
The main issue that architects submitting proposals to Lloyd’s faced was making sure that the space that they designed would be able to accommodate the rapid growth of Lloyd’s as a company. The underwriter’s room, the marketplace within which insurance transactions take place, was the main space to consider. This room requires an open plan and acts as a true marketplace, where personal contact is a must, and is also where the majority of the growth was occurring. In order to accommodate this growth, Rogers designed the underwriter’s room so that it may spill out into the surrounding floor office space once it outgrows the space it currently occupies under the very Paxton-esque twelve story atrium.
Ground floor plan of Lloyd’s of London
This atrium is surrounded by six service towers, which contain elevators, stairs, restrooms, and duct work. This composition makes the building seem slightly “inside out” as the service spaces reside within the interior of the building and the service towers acting as focal elements on the exterior. As the site sits within the medieval financial district of London, it has a highly irregular shape defined by the winding streets around it. Rogers responded to the unusual shape of the site by using a rectilinear plan that would take advantage of the off
edges surrounding the building by creating public space that would be occupiable and encourage public interaction with the building. This was an especially powerful move due to the adjacency of Leadenhall market, which has been in use as a public marketplace since the fourteenth century.
Site Plan of the Lloyd’s building
The Lloyd’s building is a testament of modern construction. As a homage to Lloyd’s desire to build a space that would stand the test of time as well as the expansion of the company, the building is constructed using concrete, steel, and glass. Rogers would also describe the Lloyd’s building as a “flexible kit of parts, continually moving and changing, with the mechanical equipment in particular designed to sit loosely within the framework of the towers, easily accessible for maintenance, and replaceable in the case of obsolescence.”1 According to Rogers, “the key to this changing juxtaposition of parts is the legibility of the role
of each technological component, which is functionally stressed to the full. Thus one may recognize in each part, its process of manufacture, erection, maintenance, and finally demolition: the how, why and what of the building. Each single element isolated and used to give order. Nothing is hidden, everything is expressed. The legibility of the parts gives the building scale, grain, and shadow.” 2
View of Lloyd’s building from an adjacent rooftop
This enthusiasm for the expression of the technological content of the building is tempered, however, by Roger’s attempts to address the city surrounding the Lloyd’s building. The service towers which dominate the perimeter of the building are directly inspired by Lloyd’s setting, explained by Rogers as such: “Our intention in the design of the Lloyd’s building has been to create a more articulated, layered, building by the manipulation of plan, section, and elevation, in a way that would link and weave together both the over-simplified twentieth century blocks that surround it, and the richer, more varied architecture of the past.”3
In some of the earliest sketches of the conceptual form of the building, the church spires of London were seen as a direct inspiration to the form of the Lloyd’s building, showcasing Rogers’ careful approach to the architecture surrounding Lloyd’s and his understanding of the importance of the architecture of the past and its influence.
One of Rogers’ sketches showing the relationship between church spires and Lloyd’s service towers
In order to understand Rogers as an architect, we must look to the past, specifically to the Futurists. The Futurist movement, founded in Italy by Fillipo Tomaso Marinetti through his writing of the Foundation Manifesto, was defined by an obsession with technology, speed, and movement, and brought about by the rapid technological advancements in northern Italy, specifically Milan. Described by Rayner Banham in Theories and Design in the First Machine Age, “It was this radical change-over to a technological society which animated the whole of Futurist thought, and it was the sense of a sudden change which, in all probability, enabled them to exploit more quickly than other European intellectuals the experiences which they had
in common with the poets and painters of Paris, London, New York, Brussels, and Berlin. For as the Prologue to the Manifesto (by Marinetti) continues: We drew near to the snorting
beasts and laid our hands on their burning breasts. Then I flung myself like a corpse on a bier across the seat of my machine, but sat up at once under the steering wheel, poised like a guillotine blade against my stomach.”4 This type of poetic description of machines and technology was typical of the Futurists, and was reinforced later in the Futurist Manifesto, as Marinetti made eleven propositions by which the Futurist movement would be defined, the most important of which were: i.
“4. We declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty – the beauty of speed. A racing car with its bonnet draped with exhaust pipes like fire breathing serpents – a roaring race car, rattling along like a machine gun, is more beautiful that the winged victory of Samothrace.”
ii.
“5. We will hymn the man at the steering wheel, whose ideal axis passes through the center of the earth, whirling round on its orbit.”
iii.
“10. We will destroy all museums and libraries, and academies of all sorts; we will battle against moralism, feminism, and all vile opportunism and utilitarianism.”5
“Dynamism of a car” by Luigi Russolo
This radicalism in regards to the modern technologies available to Marinetti and his contemporaries was not specifically applied to architecture in any sort of built form, although it was conceived. Much of the Futurists movement actually was in regards to painting and structure, and the Futurists frequented many of the same social circles as Cubist painters such as Picasso; however, according to Banham, “Futurism, oriented toward the world of machinery and technology, and Cubism, regarded by Apollinaire as pure geometrical construct of the mind, were drawing very close together, and by the beginning of 1914 it was time to realize the mechanistic inspiration of Futurism in terms of the pure geometrical forms toward which Parisian art was tending. The achievement was Sant’Elia’s, and the product was Futurist architecture.”6
Power Station by Sant’Elia
Antonio Sant’Elia was a Milanese architect who became involved in the Futurist movement in 1912. A builder by training, he became fascinated with the idea of a city of the future based upon the technological advancements that the rapid industrialization of the west could offer. Sant’Elia was able to combine the ideas of the Futurist movement into an architecture that, while unrealized, would come to influence many architects that followed him, specifically Le Corbusier.
House with External Elevators by Sant’Elia
While his role in the writing of the Futurist Manifesto on Architecture has been disputed, Sant’Elia did write a document called the Messagio, within which he declares that “real architecture is not, for all that, an arid combination of practicality and utility, but remains art, that is, synthesis, and expression” and that “just as the ancients drew their inspiration in art from the elements of the natural world, so we – materially and spiritually artificial – must find our inspiration in the new mechanical world we have created, of which architecture must be the finest expression, the fullest synthesis, the most effective architectural integration.”7
Sant’Elia’s designs from La Citta Nuova show a city dominated by monolithic, terraced towers that bridge across to one another and provide an energetic and dynamic urban landscape that celebrates, above all else, the technological capabilities of man. The starkness of material and the sleek, elegant lines of the buildings are very pronounced in these designs, but a key component is left out: people.
An unnamed drawing by Sant’Elia
The razor sharp focus on the potentials of technology and what that meant for the modern city also meant that Sant’Elia saw the issue of technology in the city of tomorrow as one that was more pressing than the impact that the city of tomorrow would have on those inhabiting it. This does not mean that Sant’Elia’s designs were any less impressive or influential, or that he had not considered how people may come to inhabit these spaces, but rather that, in his mind, technology had surpassed human beings as the most critical component that we must design around. Sant’Elia’s desire to incorporate and be inspired by the technological
advancements of the modern world would inspire him to design buildings that accepted the modern world as it evolved and provided precedent for those that would follow in his wake. Richard Rogers, as an architect, is known for participating in the British High Tech movement and for his radical, utilitarian, technologically grounded designs. The Pompidou Center, as well as the Lloyd’s building, can be recognized for their technological innovation, but are often neglected for their cultural and contextual sensitivity. Both of these buildings are built within historic European capitals, both buildings can be viewed as monuments to the capabilities of technology, and both of them can also be applauded for their delicate approach to the places they inhabit. The glorification of the mechanical and technological achievements of mankind marks Rogers as a Futurist; however, it is his respect for the past and for the people that occupy these spaces that marks Rogers as an architect that has humanized these Futurist ideals and created something much more. Rogers’ Futurist tendencies come out immediately when looking at the Lloyd’s of London building. His decision to ‘turn the building inside out’ for the sake of the programmatic elements residing within the building did not mean that he necessarily had to expose all the elements of the systems of the building, but Rogers saw it as an opportunity to celebrate the technological aspects of the building. His focus on the technological was also readily apparent in helping to scheme the interior spaces of the building, in which Rogers proposed that there be personal computer stations for each employee.
1976 design for computer stations
This was a very bold proposition in 1976, as most computers at that point still required an entire room to house them and because most employees had never used a computer, but, at Rogers’ insistence, the stations were installed. Within a decade, these stations would be in full use throughout the headquarters. This sort of foresight and understanding of the direction that technology was steering the modern workplace displays another layer of Rogers’ devotion to technology and the opportunities that it offers architecturally. Where Marinetti would have all past monuments burnt to the ground, all traces of past architecture eliminated from the modern world, and discriminated against those who did not share his frame of mind, Rogers embraces the past and it’s incredible influence on the cityscape, and the role of the people who inhabit these spaces, and uses these factors to create an architecture that is transcendent of a specific time period and instead celebrates functional space. As can be seen in both Pompidou Center and the Lloyd’s of London building, the treatment of public space around the building draws great influence from the cities which they inhabit. At Pompidou Center, a massive plaza space fronting on the building
provides inhabitable space within the cityscape, a typology which can be found throughout Paris. This space provides plenty of room for many different groups of people to gather and observe goings on at Pompidou Center, or simply use the public square for a picnic with the Center as a backdrop.
Plaza outside Pompidou Center
At the Lloyd’s of London building, the sunken plaza space surrounding the building provides a public space much different from that seen at Pompidou Center, but is no less inviting. This space encourages passerby’s to come down into the plaza and explore some of the small shops that line the perimeter and also acts as a transition from the car dominated streetscape of London to the pedestrian dominated urban landscape of Leadenhall Market. This space works equally well as an extension of Leadenhall Market, as patrons of the venues within the market will often spill out of the market into the plaza surrounding the Lloyds building.
Public space surrounding the Lloyd’s of London building
The treatment of the towers surrounding the building is also a testament to Roger’s appreciation of the past. The service towers, placed on the perimeter of the building and given prominence to celebrate the church spires that litter the London skyline, show Rogers’ sensitivity towards the context in which the Lloyd’s building is placed. The placement also serves a very functional purpose. By organizing the towers on the perimeter of the building, the replacement of obsolete parts becomes relatively painless and allowed for the use of prefabricated units, such as the restrooms that hang from the tower structure. This sensible and calculated approach to the aging of the building especially marks Rogers as someone who has humanized the Futurist ideas of Sant’Elia and Marinetti and embraced the belief of Sant’Elia that architecture must be ‘the most effective artistic integration’ in the mechanical world that we have created.
End Notes 1. Deyan Sudjic, New Directions in British Architecture: Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, James Stirling (New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1987), 180 2. Deyan Sudjic, New Directions in British Architecture: Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, James Stirling (New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1987), 180 3. Deyan Sudjic, New Directions in British Architecture: Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, James Stirling (New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1987), 180 4. Reyner Banham, Theories and Design in the First Machine Age (New York, 1970), 101. 5. Reyner Banham, Theories and Design in the First Machine Age (New York, 1970), 103. 6. Reyner Banham, Theories and Design in the First Machine Age (New York, 1970), 126. 7. Reyner Banham, Theories and Design in the First Machine Age (New York, 1970), 130.
General Sources 1. Reyner Banham, Theories and Design in the First Machine Age (New York, 1970). 2. Reyner Banham, A Concrete Atlantis (Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1986) 3. Reyner Banham, New Brutalism (Stuttgart: H. Fink KG Stuttgart, 1966) 4. Kenneth Powell, Architecture in Detail: Lloyd’s Building (London: Phaidon Press Ltd., 1994) 5. Deyan Sudjic, New Directions in British Architecture: Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, James Stirling (New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1987) 6. “Leadenhall Market History,” last modified in 2013, http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visiting-the-city/food-drink-andshopping/leadenhall-market/Pages/Leadenhall-Market-history.aspx. 7. “2012 Annual Report,” last modified in 2013, http://www.lloyds.com/lloyds/investorrelations/financial-performance/financial-results/2012-annual-report.