The Lloyds Building of London - Essay Example

The Lloyd’s Building of London The Lloyd’s building was started in 1979 but was not completed until 1984. As a result, the finished design evidences a complex combination of Modern and Postmodern ideals. The building is essentially a tall structured office complex that unusually features its service elements on the exterior of the building rather than hidden in the walls. These features are made to represent and replace decorative elements for the outer façade. The focus on the mechanical elements is a distinguishing feature of the Modernist movement while its recognition that everything is in a constant state of change, requiring the ability to quickly change out parts, is a characteristic of the Postmodern. Located in the center of London’s financial district and originally intended to serve as headquarters for a large insurance firm, the context of the structure again emphasizes Modern ideals with its focus on monetary, capitalistic values. Yet its design functions to make the building highly flexible, quickly and easily converted into any number of different uses and ready for the addition of any newly developed technology, such as fiber optic internet which wasn’t developed until well after completion, placing it again within the realm of the Postmodern. It is only through a very close examination of the building that one can determine the structure is actually more Modern than Postmodern even though it reflects the major attitudes and emphasis of each era. Modern ideals suggest that everything important to human life can be categorically classified into specific categories and definitions. “Modernity is a project, and not only a period, and it is, or was, a project of control, the rational mastery over nature, the planning, designing and plotting which led to planomania and technocracy” (Beilharz, 2001: 6). The basic ideas of Modernism were to analyze the various processes that comprised human existence in the mechanized and standardized world to discover the universal truths that could then be applied to all cultures. Clean lines and clear boundaries were expected to be found that would then be canonized and applied throughout the world as a means of developing a more perfect global civilization. The tripod upon which the theory rested was economic, political and scientific rationalization (Mourad, 1997). Economic rationalizations grouped all the forces of nature under the understanding and control of intellectual processes while political rationalization was expected to subject and control the governing bodies and social value systems by which the ‘correct’ society would be judged. Scientific rationalization held that an objective truth for all was available through the careful application of appropriate scientific methods (Mourad, 1997). These combined concepts brought attention to the various ways in which structural form communicates internal content and how this content was interpreted differently by various audiences. This discrepancy in interpretation, found to be different from one individual to the next, eventually led into the Postmodern movement. Analyzing the term Postmodernism indicates immediately that it was a movement that immediately followed the Modern movement and built upon the ideas discovered through the Modern era. Postmodernism is primarily characterized by the increased awareness of the constant and differing interaction that occurs between the art, the artist and the audience which was the result of Modern investigation. Although this three-part relationship had been recognized before to some degree, it wasn’t until the Postmodern period that the ideas became a central element of artistic interpretation. Postmodernism is characterized by a constant investigation of what is real versus what is unreal as it is discovered by the artist while he creates, as it is expressed in the artwork in its completed form (including processes of erosion or decay) and as it is understood by the audience. The audience brings in nearly as much interpretation as the artist during creation considering that the audience will come into contact with the finished product to varying degrees of intimacy and will relate it to their own concepts, viewpoints, experiences and personal knowledge base to various depths depending on the individual, the context in which they encounter the piece and the time period in which they do so. As opposed to Modernism, Postmodern conclusions have typically revealed that there are few distinctions to be definitively made between reality and unreality. This is because elements used as points of connection can be simultaneously singled out as points of departure. The role of the artist and designer, according to Rogers, is to explore this paradox of meaning and present a satisfactory solution in whatever form seemed to fit. The Lloyd’s building expresses both of these artistic approaches in its overall design approach as well as in its finished form. As can be seen in Figure 1, the finished form places considerable emphasis on the modern machinery and materials that emerged with the 20th century in keeping with Modern ideals. It demonstrates a mastery of these construction materials, including a great deal of glass and steel in obvious profusion as the structure’s underlying building materials. However, the purpose of this appearance, the sublime element to the outer form, tends to serve Postmodern ends because these steel and glass parts are designed to be easily interchanged as needed. Figure 1 - The Lloyd's Building exterior “Whereas the frame of the building has a long life expectancy, the servant areas, filled with mechanical equipment, have a relatively short life, especially in this energy-critical period. The servant equipment, mechanical services, lifts, toilets, kitchens, fire stairs, and lobbies, sit loosely in the tower framework, easily accessible for maintenance, and replaceable in the case of obsolescence” (Campbell & Rogers, 1985: 130-131). A full examination of this building reveals more of its modern/postmodern confusion. Another Postmodern element of the structure is the fact that its design and construction were based on a relatively temporary status. The commission made the unusual request for a structure that would last no more than 50 years. The purpose behind this request was to ensure that the space on which the structure was built would be quickly and easily adaptable to the high demands of the Postmodern age, including its rapidly shifting technologies and the recognized changes to social and business life these changes might bring. In response to this request, Rogers designed the core of the building as a rectangular box that could be quickly and easily adapted to a number of uses. This core is then surrounded by six utility towers of various heights designed purposely to reflect the existing structures already built around the site. These utility towers are the locations for the more transient elements of the building’s mechanisms such as the elevators, emergency fire stairs, kitchens, mechanical systems, restrooms and lobbies. All of these elements are designed to fit only loosely within the main frame of the building core. This design facilitates easier accessibility for repair or maintenance work while also making it possible, when necessary, to completely remove these elements in order to replace them with newer designs as they are developed and made popular (Forester, 2006: 5). This focus upon the adaptability of the building in order to meet with unknown future needs is perhaps the architect’s fullest expression of Postmodern concepts as it is understood that a building can be utilized in numerous ways with varying technologies that don’t always fit within a universal form. The aerial image found in Figure 2 illustrates the juxtaposition of these towers to the main structure. Figure 2 - Lloyd's Building aerial photo The external towers function to mimic the surrounding area at the same time that they are intended to facilitate future expansion. Similar to designs of the Modern skyscrapers constructed in the United States, the Lloyd’s building structures make use of reinforced concrete walls to carry the weight. “In order to support the load along these elongated expanses between each utility tower, a gridded pillar system is incorporated into the main spaces. Though this may cause some visual noise and blockade certain viewpoint, on a whole, since the system is in such a linear pattern and uses the minimum cross section, it creates an aesthetically pleasing design and tends to give the space an even more open feel because the supports show how a wall that may have been necessary before is now replaced by a single pillar” (Forester, 2006: 8). This approach as seen in Figure 3 reflects the Modern approach because it focuses upon the materials used and underlying structure of the building at the same time that it attempts to reduce the structure to its most basic and essential parts. Figure 3 - Lloyd's building close-up The benefit of this design is in its ability to deliver a strong building with adequate support systems as well as in the building’s readiness to receive future additions as technology and design changes. The Lloyd’s building is a masterpiece of architecture that combines Modernist and Postmodernist ideas into one cohesive, highly adaptable structure. Although the building seems to be equally inspired from both schools of thought, analysis of the structure reveals that the form of the Lloyd’s building operates more on the Modern ideals than the Postmodern. This is due to the fact that the focus of the building remains directed primarily upon the mechanics involved in the space and on the materials used. The innovation of the building, including its ability to quickly and easily adapt to changing social needs, representing the design’s content, takes on a more Postmodern approach. In the end, the Lloyd’s building might most accurately be termed a late or High Modern design with Postmodern influences. References Beilharz, Peter. (2001). The Bauman Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Burgin, Victor. (1982). Thinking Philosophically. New Jersey: Humanities Press Intl. Campbell, Barbie & Ruth Elias Rogers. (1985). Richard Rogers and Architects. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Forester, Larisa. (2006). The Lloyds Building: Richard Rogers. Ohio: University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. “Lloyds Building.” (2008). Great Buildings Online. Available January 12, 2009 from Mourad, R.P. (1997). “At the Forefront: Postmodern Interdisciplinarity.” The Review of Higher Education. Vol 29, N. 2, pp. 115-140. Rose, Steve. (July 21, 2007). “But Does it Work?” The Guardian. Available January 12, 2009 from Read More