‘ETERNAL PROBLEMS’, RIBA JOURNAL EXHIBITION REVIEW BY NIALL MCLAUGHLIN
JUNE 2014
Niall McLaughlin has written a piece for the RIBA Journal on the symbolic use of architecture within early Renaissance Art. The essay describes observations based on a visit to the ‘Building the Picture’ exhibition, currently on show at the National Gallery in London. The exhibition gathers together architectonic works by the Italian masters of the 14th-16th centuries that explore real and imagined architectural space.
The article observes how the Renaissance artists’ enthusiasms for displaying their newly discovered skills of perspective and knowledge of the classical forms are conflated with a religious symbolism. The tropes of classical architecture are used as visual metaphors for the divine and eternal. The article explores the effect of these spaces on the viewer and the reasons why the idealised architecture tends to alienate rather than engage.
RIBA STIRLING PRIZE SHORTLIST NOMINATION
JULY 2013
Niall McLaughlin Architects are delighted that the Bishop Edward King Chapel has been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building, considered to be the most prestigious award for architectural excellence. The RIBA describe the shortlisted buildings as revealing, “the pinnacle of current architectural talent.”
The Chapel is one of the six on the shortlist which includes projects by Alison Brooks Architects, Hawkins\Brown, Witherford Watson Mann Architects, Heneghan Peng and Grafton Architects. The announcement has received widespread media coverage in shortlist that has been reported as “refreshing for its wave of new names.”
This year’s judging panel are Sheila O’Donnell (O’Donnell and Tuomey Architects), Paul Williams (Stanton Williams), Stephen Hodder (RIBA President Elect), Dame Vivien Duffield (philanthropist) and Tom Dykchoff (journalist). A short video of Niall McLaughlin talking with the judges about the Chapel building is featured below.
Link to Bishop Edward King Chapel Video