ARCH256108
1967
Project
BMI/HQ
AP144.S2.D74
Description:
File documents the unexecuted design for the headquarters of the Birmingham and Midland Institute (BMI), in Birmingham, England. This project is related to the Shantasea Development (AP144.S2.D72) from which Cedric Price resigned as architect to take on the role of architect for BMI, one of the proposed tenants for the Shantasea project. Cedric Price proposed a municipal and regional "nerve centre" to house seminar and study rooms, workshops, galleries, film, television and music studios, a library, a planetarium, and a theatre. A flexible life-cycle plan (expansion, static, contraction) for the building and the activities would allow BMI to expand in the short and medium term, and to shrink in the long term, when it was assumed that many of its roles would be replaced by the UK's Open University plan (Works II, 42). Work on the project came to a stop in 1970 under a new city council (Architectural Design, June 1971, 368). Existing conditions material consists of maps and a survey of Birmingham. Conceptual sketches and drawings include: annotated diagrammatic plans and sections used to develop the building's massing and the horizontal/vertical relationships between functional areas; axonometric views showing the building's general form/functions; plans used for calculating square footage; diagrams showing visual and physical movement through the building; information and movement charts; and flow charts showing the building's organization. Design development drawings consist of graphs showing how functional areas might be used over time. Design development and working drawings include: diagrammatic plans and sections; exploded axonometric views of the functional relationships between areas; exterior axonometric views; sectional perspectives; space allocation plans; circulation drawings; diagrams showing activities throughout the day; furniture equipment schedules; theatre seating and stair studies; and elevations for exterior cladding. Charts show links between activities/actions; activity distribution; activity/capacity; progress of pre-contract work; and the telephone network. File also includes drawings by engineering consultants Felix Samuely and Partners and Zisman, Bowyer and Partners. Presentation material includes: newspaper clippings and text concerning the project; diagrammatic plans, sections, and charts; and a photo collage of the site; and a text by Cedric Price entitled "The Present Position". Some materials in this file were published in "Cedric Price Supplement No. 3", 'Architectural Design', vol. 41, (June 1971), 364-368, and 'Cedric Price-Works II' (London: Architectural Press, 1984), 36, 42. Material in this file was produced between 1967 and 1971. Zisman Bowyer and Partners appear as the mechanical and electrical consulting engineers; Silk and Frazier as the quantity surveyors; and Versa-Serve Ltd as the catering consultants on this project. File contains cartographic materials, conceptual drawings, design development drawings, panels, photographic materials, presentation drawings, presentation panels, publication drawings, technical drawings, and textual records.
1967-1971
BMI/HQ
Actions:
AP144.S2.D74
Description:
File documents the unexecuted design for the headquarters of the Birmingham and Midland Institute (BMI), in Birmingham, England. This project is related to the Shantasea Development (AP144.S2.D72) from which Cedric Price resigned as architect to take on the role of architect for BMI, one of the proposed tenants for the Shantasea project. Cedric Price proposed a municipal and regional "nerve centre" to house seminar and study rooms, workshops, galleries, film, television and music studios, a library, a planetarium, and a theatre. A flexible life-cycle plan (expansion, static, contraction) for the building and the activities would allow BMI to expand in the short and medium term, and to shrink in the long term, when it was assumed that many of its roles would be replaced by the UK's Open University plan (Works II, 42). Work on the project came to a stop in 1970 under a new city council (Architectural Design, June 1971, 368). Existing conditions material consists of maps and a survey of Birmingham. Conceptual sketches and drawings include: annotated diagrammatic plans and sections used to develop the building's massing and the horizontal/vertical relationships between functional areas; axonometric views showing the building's general form/functions; plans used for calculating square footage; diagrams showing visual and physical movement through the building; information and movement charts; and flow charts showing the building's organization. Design development drawings consist of graphs showing how functional areas might be used over time. Design development and working drawings include: diagrammatic plans and sections; exploded axonometric views of the functional relationships between areas; exterior axonometric views; sectional perspectives; space allocation plans; circulation drawings; diagrams showing activities throughout the day; furniture equipment schedules; theatre seating and stair studies; and elevations for exterior cladding. Charts show links between activities/actions; activity distribution; activity/capacity; progress of pre-contract work; and the telephone network. File also includes drawings by engineering consultants Felix Samuely and Partners and Zisman, Bowyer and Partners. Presentation material includes: newspaper clippings and text concerning the project; diagrammatic plans, sections, and charts; and a photo collage of the site; and a text by Cedric Price entitled "The Present Position". Some materials in this file were published in "Cedric Price Supplement No. 3", 'Architectural Design', vol. 41, (June 1971), 364-368, and 'Cedric Price-Works II' (London: Architectural Press, 1984), 36, 42. Material in this file was produced between 1967 and 1971. Zisman Bowyer and Partners appear as the mechanical and electrical consulting engineers; Silk and Frazier as the quantity surveyors; and Versa-Serve Ltd as the catering consultants on this project. File contains cartographic materials, conceptual drawings, design development drawings, panels, photographic materials, presentation drawings, presentation panels, publication drawings, technical drawings, and textual records.
File 74
1967-1971
ARCH256458
1967
photographs
ARCH269370
Description:
Contains photographic materials on projects by Abalos & Herreros: - III Bienal Arquitectura Española, AP164.S1.1995.D2 (82 slides, 13 colour reversal films: sketches, model, interior views, plans, etc.); - Universitat Pompeu Fabra, edificio departamental y aulario, AP164.S1.1996.D1 (25 slides: model and plans).
1994-1995
Ring binder with photographic materials related to two projects by Abalos & Herrero
Actions:
ARCH269370
Description:
Contains photographic materials on projects by Abalos & Herreros: - III Bienal Arquitectura Española, AP164.S1.1995.D2 (82 slides, 13 colour reversal films: sketches, model, interior views, plans, etc.); - Universitat Pompeu Fabra, edificio departamental y aulario, AP164.S1.1996.D1 (25 slides: model and plans).
photographs
1994-1995
archives
Level of archival description:
Fonds
Jean-Louis Cohen fonds
AP210
Synopsis:
The Jean-Louis Cohen fonds, 1968 – 2023, documents the projects and activities of historian, curator, professor, and architect Jean-Louis Cohen (1949 – 2023). Cohen’s research focus was largely modern architecture and transnational architectural exchange, particularly between and among the United States, Europe, and the former Soviet Union in the 20th century. Through physical and digital records, this fonds documents his academic, publishing, and curatorial work along with his professional activities within architectural research and heritage organizations, as well as his architectural practice.
1968 - 2023
Jean-Louis Cohen fonds
Actions:
AP210
Synopsis:
The Jean-Louis Cohen fonds, 1968 – 2023, documents the projects and activities of historian, curator, professor, and architect Jean-Louis Cohen (1949 – 2023). Cohen’s research focus was largely modern architecture and transnational architectural exchange, particularly between and among the United States, Europe, and the former Soviet Union in the 20th century. Through physical and digital records, this fonds documents his academic, publishing, and curatorial work along with his professional activities within architectural research and heritage organizations, as well as his architectural practice.
archives
Level of archival description:
Fonds
1968 - 2023
ARCH255851
1967
Paul Nelson (1895–1979), American architect, film set designer, painter, critic, and educator, taught and practised architecture in the United States and France for over fifty years. Nelson was a central figure in the development of functionalism in the 1930s and 1940s, which rejected the Beaux-Arts language in favour of technological and functional expression. The Filter(...)
Main galleries
27 March 1991 to 26 May 1991
The Filter of Reason: The Work of Paul Nelson
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Description:
Paul Nelson (1895–1979), American architect, film set designer, painter, critic, and educator, taught and practised architecture in the United States and France for over fifty years. Nelson was a central figure in the development of functionalism in the 1930s and 1940s, which rejected the Beaux-Arts language in favour of technological and functional expression. The Filter(...)
Main galleries
Visiting Scholar Seminar: Aglaya Glebova
Revolution on a Human Scale: Photography and Vkhutemas
Visiting Scholar Aglaya Glebova presents her research: Vkhutemas, or Higher Art and Technical Studios, was a state-funded institute that sought to prepare a new generation of revolutionary artists and architects for the construction of a properly Soviet modernity. Dissolved under political pressure in 1930, the school never had a dedicated department of photography, but(...)
Shaughnessy House
29 June 2017, 6pm
Visiting Scholar Seminar: Aglaya Glebova
Actions:
Description:
Visiting Scholar Aglaya Glebova presents her research: Vkhutemas, or Higher Art and Technical Studios, was a state-funded institute that sought to prepare a new generation of revolutionary artists and architects for the construction of a properly Soviet modernity. Dissolved under political pressure in 1930, the school never had a dedicated department of photography, but(...)
Shaughnessy House
Environmental Histories
To kick off “Architecture and/for the Environment” —the CCA’s third Multidisciplinary Research Project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation—Daniel Abramson and Imre Szeman will present two key concepts that reconceive the environment in the history of architecture. Daniel Abramson, an architectural historian, will discuss how the idea of architectural “obsolescence”(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
15 December 2016, 6pm
Environmental Histories
Actions:
Description:
To kick off “Architecture and/for the Environment” —the CCA’s third Multidisciplinary Research Project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation—Daniel Abramson and Imre Szeman will present two key concepts that reconceive the environment in the history of architecture. Daniel Abramson, an architectural historian, will discuss how the idea of architectural “obsolescence”(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre