At the RIAI Annual Conference on the 4th of October Niall McLaughlin will give a talk titled ‘ Town and Country’ and will be looking at four recent projects: Two urban housing projects in London and a chapel and hut in idyllic rural locations. The chosen theme for the conference is Strength, Utility and Grace, reminding delegates of the three qualities that Vitruvius demanded of his work, and qualities that posses an enduring relevance for today.
Architecture critic Rowan Moore has written a review of the Bishop Edward King Chapel with the title “The Answers to their Prayers” that was published in the Observer Magazine. The article touches on the broader themes of the interpretation and appropriation of religious symbolism in architecture, and in this context praises the paradoxical nature of the chapel; “It is…heavy and light, a bastion and a boat, a wall and a drape. It has presence, but doesn’t dominate.” Describing the form and materiality of the building Moore writes, “The building is crafted and considered: it makes ideas physical: it has intentions and carries them out in its space and matter.”