‘Eternal Problems’, RIBA Journal Exhibition Review by Niall McLaughlin

‘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.

PLANNING CONSENT GRANTED FOR PRIVATE HOUSE IN HAMPSHIRE

NOVEMBER 2012

The practice has received planning consent from Winchester City Council for the construction of a new private house in a sensitive area in the Hampshire countryside.

The site sits next to the river Arle, an area designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by English Nature and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EC Habitats Directive. Permission was granted following extensive consultations and a positive response from the Winchester and Eastleigh Design Review Panel, as well as the support of Natural England and the Wildlife Trust.

The house will have high sustainability credentials including high levels of thermal insulation and airtightness, passive solar heating, ground source heating technology, PV panels and substantial enhancement of the ecology of the site through extensive landscaping works.