The Role of Craft and Decoration in C.H. Townsend's Whitechapel Art Gallery - Essay Example

? Role of craft and decoration in C.H. Townsend’s Whitechapel Art Gallery (1901) The Whitechapel Art Gallery was founded in 1901 in the East End of London. The building was designed by Charles Harrison Townsend to serve the purpose of elevating the hearts and minds of the people of the poor East End of London. It was one of the first publicly funded galleries that specialized in temporary exhibitions. Over the decades, the gallery has provided the locals a means for their social development as well as an opportunity for recreation. Charles Harrison Townsend was an influential Victorian/Edwardian architect and designer. He was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire and started his architectural career as a draftsman in London. He later branched off to his own in 1877 and built connections with RIBA and the Art Workers Guild. He became the Master of the Art Workers Guild in 1903. It has been argued that he might have been the only English Architect to have worked in Art Nouveau. However, Townsend considered himself an exponent of the freestyle movement of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Some of his buildings that stand out in style and originality include the Bishops Gate Institute, the Horniman Museum and the Whitechapel Art Gallery. The Whitechapel Art Gallery was a clear attempt by Townsend to showcase the spirit and ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement. On the exterior, the building has a two tower feature that is a signature feature of Townsend’s architectural designs. It has a relatively wide frontage and it fits organically into the environment around it. Perhaps this imposing nature of the design was intended to portray the building as an important and authoritative structure in the East London area. By blending organically with the surroundings, the structure ably served its purpose of providing recreation for the locals without seeming pervasive. The main doors of the Whitechapel gallery go in at the street level. The placement of the doors is done in an asymmetrical way on one side. The large semi-circular light above them naturally takes the eye upwards leading to the impressive keyed arch on top. From the onset, the art gallery was designed for the people. Hence, by putting the doors to go in straight at the street level, Townsend projected the building as easily accessible. A person walking on the streets could instantly connect with the building and easily enter if interested. Also, the light on top of the door was a natural way of allowing a person’s eyes to wander and explore the other compelling feature of the building: the rounded, arched keyway. This decorative and artistic piece purposively ushered a person into the art gallery in a subtle way. Suffice to say, the keyed arch is neatly tucked into the building and not protruding into the streets in an intrusive manner. This design made the building to feel like a natural fit into the surrounding area without seeming intrusive. The elaborate frontage design of the building was perhaps meant to make it standout in contrast with the railway stations that were already running in the place. The railway stations were uninviting and dull. Also, the underground trains were running through darkness in the tunnels. In contrast, the Whitechapel Art Gallery frontage was bright and welcoming. It opened quickly into a space where the mind could engage in a captivating journey. The frontage of the building was meant to act as an inducement for people to come into the gallery and explore the art pieces on exhibition. The design had the role of attracting passer-bys and engages their curiosity on the things that they could find inside the gallery. In fact, the gallery attracted over two hundred thousand people during its first exhibition. The towers of the building are square in design but taper as they rise. At the top, the towers divide into four turrets with a larger turret in between. Previously, Townsend had a much more bold design that he showcased 1890s. The design of the towers projected the relationship between the earth and the universe. The Arts and Crafts Movement was renowned for its extensive use of symbolism in design. As Townsend was a member of the Art and Crafts Movement, his architectural designs followed the principle of symbolism. The towers were aesthetically appealing: two wide bands at the bottom, magnificently rising in a square design and topped with curved moldings. Although Townsend never got to use the original domes that he had wanted, the top design of the towers was striking. One of the befitting descriptions of the frontage of the gallery was “an imaginatively detailed and massed facade”. The bold design was intended to draw the local people of East London to new experiences that went beyond their daily experiences and enrich their lives. It also enabled them to achieve pleasure and spurred their innate human curiosity. The upper story of the building had a dominating void in between the two towers. Originally, the void was intended to be filled with an elaborate mosaic designed by the legendary designer Walter Crane. Unfortunately, these plans never materialized and thus, the center of the facade was left vacant. Townsend’s original drawings had envisioned a magnificent and striking decorative frieze to be positioned in this void. Such a mosaic would have brought to the fore an abstract impression of the building in a unique manner. In fact, the beauty of mosaics is that they evoke varied emotions and meanings depending on the viewers’ perspective. Therefore, the mosaic would have had a social impact of capturing the imagination of the visitors who came to art gallery and engage their curiosity in attempting to unravel its meanings. Although Townsend’s work was ultimately based on historical precedence, he managed to cultivate an image of a being highly creative. The design of the Whitechapel was bold and original in its presentation. Townsend transcended the mere stylistic changes that were common during those times and opted for a completely unique style. Due to this inclination, he was often referred to as a rogue Victorian architect during his time. In fact the building turned out to be more unique than he had originally intended since some of the features he had proposed never saw the light of the day. Even for a casual observer, the design of the building contrasted greatly with the usual buildings like its neighbor, the Passmore Edwards Library. It is logical to conclude that every aspect of Townsend’s design was meant to make his work the most original and striking in the country. This had a social significance in that people were bound to identify it as a unique landmark. Above the keyed arch there is a narrow band of windows. These eight windows are squared and they are set between string courses. Typical of Arts and Crafts Movement’s designs, the windows featured relief foliage of half trees with slender trunks and entangled roots. Townsend was fond of the use of the tree motif due to its symbolic function. The trees symbolize life and continuity. Thus, the building was ostensibly not just an architectural structure but a living embodiment representing art. The design of the half trees and roots served both aesthetic and symbolic functions. Aesthetically, they made the building to stand out and appeal to the locals. On the symbolic front, the tree motif served to entice the audience to engage with the building and its art as living things rather than the usual consideration as just inanimate objects in the surrounding. The Arts and Crafts Movement was oriented towards breaking with tradition in architecture. The hallmark of any structure designed by a follower of this movement was its uniqueness and disregard of convention. Being a follower of this movement, Townsend followed this concept of uniqueness to a certain extent. It is evident that indeed, the design of the Whitechapel was not like the existing designs. He endeavored to make the building and the other structures he built to be unique in as much they retained some English flair. The efforts that he made were meant to set precedence and encourage upcoming artists to explore the ideas advocated by the Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was to later be admired by various architects globally and some of his ideas were copied. Thus, the architects’ community managed to embrace the Arts and Crafts Movement as a serious embodiment of architectural concepts. Just as the exterior was imposing, the interior of the Whitechapel was also designed to meet high standards. Being an art gallery, there was need for large open space for exhibitions and to allow ease of movement around. Also, plenty of natural lighting was necessary otherwise the building would not meet its purpose at all. Originally, the ground floor contained huge space that was the main exhibition center. The hall was huge so that it would accommodate many people without the possibility the idea behind the large exhibition arena was to create an easy and comfortable atmosphere in which people would freely sample works of art. Since the Whitechapel Art Gallery was publicly funded, admission was to be free. This meant that there would be many people attending the exhibitions and therefore the need for ample space was compulsory. By having a large exhibition area, the gallery would be able to appeal both to the exhibitors and the visitors. A building is assessed based on both its exterior and interior characteristics. The upper gallery of the building has raised lantern and arched brace trusses with slender reinforcing rods. The raised lantern serves the purpose of providing illumination to the building. There is great need for adequate natural lighting in a gallery so as to enable the people to appreciate art in its most natural form. The design of the lantern was implemented in a manner that it could serve a functional need as well as aesthetic needs. Forming an impressive dome with captivating motifs, the raised lantern adequately provided light as well as beauty. The raised lantern also served the purpose of bringing the room to life; giving an illusion of more open space within the building. Thus, the raised lantern literally embodied liveliness of both the building and the art inside. The arched brace trusses served the structural function of support. However, the craftsmanship of arching the trusses added a decorative aspect. The arching of the trusses gives some sort of sophistication to the otherwise plain functionality of support that they are meant to perform. Also, the inclusion of reinforcing rods offers additional support to the structure. The choice of slender reinforcing rods was meant to give them a decorative effect. The design of the rooms was also made in a manner that allowed easy movement. This was meant to ensure that visitors and users of the gallery were able to move from one point to the other in the building without too much hustle. It is evident that most users of a gallery are visitors therefore the may not have the full grasp of the layout of the building. Hence, the openings to the rooms were placed in positions where they were easily utilized to allow access rather than restricted to mere functional form Would Townsend have approved of Rachel Whiteread’s recent embellishment of this building? For over a century, the Whitechapel Art Gallery has hosted several high profile artists for exhibitions. Throughout its history, the gallery has fully served its function of providing respectable recreation to not only the locals but also visitors from all over the globe. However, as previously pointed out, the gallery was never fully completed and it also suffered from a bomb explosion during World War. Therefore, there has been need for its refurbishment and restricting in order to ensure that it serves its function effectively. One of the most significant improvements to the Whitechapel Art Gallery was the filling of the void that was supposed to contain a mosaic by Walter Crane. The void had been left out due to tight budgetary constraints and it remained vacant over the years. In order to reinforce the aesthetic appeal of the building and complete the vision of its architect, the artist Rachel Whiteread was commissioned to complete the building’s historic facade. Rachel Whiteread is one of the leading contemporary sculptors in Britain. She is an internationally acclaimed artist came into the limelight for the first time in 1993 when she made a life sized cast of the condemned terrace house in East London. Whiteread has also won numerous awards for her outstanding sculpting work Having lived in East London for over twenty five years, Whiteread felt she had a complete understanding of the culture and diversity of the area. Thus she was equal to the task of adding sculpture for the galleries facade. She had the right connection with the area which enabled her to a make a contribution to the historic Whitechapel Gallery’s design. For this work, Whiteread embraces the gallery’s famed terracotta architecture. She utilizes the tree motif that symbolizes the continuity of art in Arts and Crafts Movement. She put a tree of life on each of the towers and cast their leaves in bronze creating a glittering design across the frieze. Inspired by the local plant buddleja, Whiteread covered the leaves branches in gold leaf making them part of London’s rooftop. Four reliefs stand out as evidence of architectural interventions. Indeed, Townsend would have approved Whiteread’s embellishment of the building. Originally, Townsend had envisioned a mosaic to be positioned on the facade. He would have wanted an abstract artistry that would appeal to the audience and have deeper symbolic meaning. Being fond of the tree motif, he would have definitely approved Whiteread’s use of the motif. The inspiration by the natural surroundings that made Whiteread to cover the leaves in gold is also in conformity with Townsend’s aspirations of a structure that was in harmony with its environment. Bibliography Escritt, 2009. Charles Harrison Townsend: The Whitechapel Gallery and the enigma of English Art Nouveau Art Gallery. 11 (1). 16-33. Read More