The construction, adaption and demolition of lived spaces is an essential and familiar part of any urban environment. The mundane backdrop, functionality and form of everyday city life became the canvas for American artist Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978). Working in the ‘70s, a period which heralded the emergence of modernist architecture, he was inspired to challenge…
Arts
Russia Season at the Sainsbury Centre
There is a strange red sculptural tower that has been erected outside the Sainsbury Centre. It is a new, unavoidable addition to the UEA grounds. This red monument is a symbol of the revolution, a monument to the future, a meeting of the creative and utilitarian. It is Tatlin’s Tower and was intended to be…
Features
Denys Lasdun: creator of our concrete metropolis
Some may have pondered the identity of the benign figure surveying the concrete stairwell of level 3 of the library: this is a portrait of Sir Denys Lasdun. Not only has he witnessed countless breathless students mount the library summit, he is also the architectural sadist behind the sheer drop of the Ziggurat’s infamous stairs….