KLEANTHIS KYRIAKOU

CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS COLLEGE OF ARTS AND DESIGNESSAY IN CONTEXTUAL STUDIESUNIT 3

AN ARCHITECT’S POOL

2013

The aim of this paper is to explore the design and social ideals, ethos and agendas of one of the greatest architects and visionaries of the early 20th century-Berthold Lubetkin. The paper then will analyse what political, economical, social and cultural events of the time played a critical and essential role in constructing his approach in architecture and design aesthetics. This analytical examination will help form a deeper understanding of Lubetkin’s work and in particular his iconic Penguin Pool, in relation to the Modern utopia .

Berthold Lubetkin was born in Georgia in 1901. Even though education was thought to be an extraordinary qualification and by many even thought to be a luxury for that time Berthold received an outstanding higher education studying in various institutions across Europe. Through his studies he became familiar with the ideals of the Modern Movement adopting them in his future work.

His ‘journey’ as an art student begun in Moscow and then Petrograd, where he witnessed the October revolution of 1917.The experience, living and studying in Russia gave him the opportunity to observe the birth of a new Art movement the so called Constructivism.

Constructivism –that had emerged from the Russian futurism- spread quickly through the fields of architecture and design. This had the result of reshaping their foundations by introducing a technological cubist vision and a communist social purpose, which grew stronger receiving greater recognition at the beginning of the revolution.As a result it can be argued that the year of 1917 had a tremendous impact on him and his ideology. The end of the revolution concluded with the lower working class hoping to rebuild their cities according to the new socialist values. Lubetkin acknowledged this prominent wish of the working class for social change. He was positive that art and architecture were fundamental instruments in creating a more humanised socialistic future. As demonstrated by his work, he embodied this belief during his extensive career.

By the time Berthold Lubetkin arrived in Berlin in 1922, the Industrial revolution was blooming around the country, establishing Berlin a prominent epicentre of Modernism, technological innovation and progress. The industrial revolution led to the formation of new building techniques, materials and methods, which Lubetkin got familiar with. Particularly he had the opportunity to study the applications in construction of a new building material, the reinforced concrete. Lubetkin experimented with the use of reinforced concrete in depth creating astonishing modern structures, including the Penguin pool. With the deep technical knowledge acquired from his stay in Berlin, Berthold in 1925 moved to Paris to continue his studies in Architecture.

One of the most significant education that lubetkin got, was his studies in the Ecole Superieur de Beton Armee and Ecole des Beaux Arts respectively. Both were leading institutions in their field, focusing on concrete building methods creating constructional innovation for that time. During the years of his studies he acquaintance himself with leading and well established architects of the time such as Auguste Perret and Le Corbusier, both pioneers of the evolution of the Modern movement in Architecture. Additionally socializing with elite intellectuals and artists such as the novelist-filmmaker Jean Cocteau and Fernand Leger resulted in influencing his later inspiration for his work. Berthold was slowly becoming a regular member of the exclusive social circles of Paris, where all the bright minds like the above mentioned where debating endlessly about Art, Architecture, Politics and Social matters.

After a period of time, Lubetkin got tired and frustrated of the restricted social circles of Paris and the on-going conservatism. Motivated by a meeting with an English student Godfrey Samuel, Lubetkin decides to move to London in 1930. Marking his arrival to England Lubetkin created the architectural firm ‘Tecton’ which membered some of the most innovative brains from the Architectural Association. By that time he was one of the driving members of the continental Modernist Movement and soon introduced the ideals of Modernism in England, through the structures he designed with his firm ‘Tecton’. Some of his greater modernist accomplishments include the Highpoint housing complex, the Penguin pool and Gorilla house in London Zoo and the Finsbury health centre. ‘Lubetkin came to Engand full of revolutionary zeal but found a county that was, he said,fifty years behind the rest of Europe in architectural terms.

Although Berthold was certainly positive that England was in a position to accept the ideas and ideals of the Modern movement, the country was not. ‘Lubetkin came to Engand full of revolutionary zeal but found a county that was, he said,f ifty years behind the rest of Europe in architectural terms’( Icon, February 2004 p.29). Wounded from the First World War, England found it extremely difficult to step out of the traditional restrictions and regulations of construction. However, Lubetkin wanted to break the mould and promote his ideas transforming the till then conservative environment into an ideal modern landscape.

One of the stronger reasons that England was unable to break through its conservative tradition was in a great extent the dominant position that the middle and upper classes possessed. Hence overpowering the voice of the working class. The conservative views of the two dominant classes formed a barrier to any technological innovation, expressing no appreciation regarding the modernist ideas. One of the buildings that clearly demonstrate the above views is the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, an exquisite classical Victorian style structure. The strong opposition of the middle and upper classes forced the architects to form various groups fighting for drastic changes professing cultural and social development.

After considering the political, economical and cultural events that formed Lubetkin’s architectural style and ideology, now we will examine one of his structures. The focus of the paper now will be placed on one of the most luminous example, which incorporates all of his ideas and beliefs, the Penguin Pool.

The Penguin pool is considered today a modernist monument. The structure epitomized the modern principles such as geometry and simplicity in form, purity in style and use of innovative new materials like the reinforced concrete- a material very familiar to the architect. For Lubetkin the creation of the Penguin pool was beyond an ordinary zoo building commission, was an experiment, giving him the chance to explore further the abilities of reinforced concrete in construction. The result was a structure of extraordinary beauty and style. The pool consisted of a twin set of concrete spiral ramps considered to be a true masterpiece of engineering.

The interlocking ramps were located at the centre of an elliptical concrete wall and rose above a large blue pool, creating a forceful contrast between the blue of the water and the white concrete used in the structure. The slope of the intertwined ramps was such, giving the impression of the letter ‘U’ on the two sides of the pool, creating a powerful visual landscape. The formation of the letter ‘U’ can be reasonably argued to refer to Unity, a quality essential in the ideal society imagined by Lubetkin. The slopping entrance to the pool, was even inspired by the peculiar way the penguins walk.

‘The Serpentine gallery pavilion’, that was mentioned earlier, was built on the same year as the Penguin pool. However the characteristics of the building were a clear presentation of the traditional English architecture. Preliminary built as a tea house, the Serpentine gallery pavilion consist all the main elements that define classical Victorian style: the symmetry of the structure, the highly pitched roof, the typical bay windows and a porch at the entrance of the building represent few of them. In addition the selection of materials used in the construction was traditional too, taking in account that the basic material used was the classic English red brick.

It is questionable why the Penguin Pool and the Serpentine gallery pavilion, two buildings built at the same period of time, present tremendous differences in design aesthetics, style and materiality. One reasonable explanation of this can be considered to be the fact that these buildings were constructed for a different purposes and representing different architectural styles. The Serpentine gallery pavilion was built evidently to serve the needs of the upper class. Therefore the building had to articulate the aesthetics and style of the conservative English upper class of the 30s . The final design of the building turned out to be as traditional as a ‘cup of tea’ for the English people.

On the other hand the Penguin pool designed by Lubetkin was a ground-breaking , innovative and daring piece of Modern architecture, designed to express the principles , ideals and visions of the Modern movement. Although Lubetkin’s intentions were to create a modern environment for the penguins and visitors of the pool, promoting innovative building techniques reflecting his social ethos , it can be argued that the final result was a dystopian habitat. Instead of serving the purpose of accommodating the users , in this case the penguins, he served an Ideology.

Lubetkin being constantly focused into shaping a building based on social and aesthetic innovation, progress and advanced technology he dismissed two crucial values into his design process: continuity and tradition. Adding to that, he even forgot to consider simple facts regarding the functional use of the pool. Even though he designed his beautiful double helix ramps after observing the penguins’ particular moves, the concrete used proved to be too rough for the penguins’ soft feet. This stand-alone fact played also a critical role in the closing of the iconic pool in 2004 .The penguins then where moved to another enclosure, built with materials closer to the ones of their natural environment. ‘The penguins seemed happier away from Lubetkin’s iconic pool at London Zoo. The pool is now obsolete.’(Building design, July 2004 ,p.22 )

In conclusion, after considering the political , social and cultural events that inspired Lunetkin’s ideas , design aesthetics and ideology and closely examining the iconic Penguin pool we can argue that driving force Lubetkin was not creating a functional building serving the purpose of its creation. Instead what was a key influence for his creation was the promotion of his personal modernist visions. As proved when a huge gap seperates the function from the aesthetic value of a building the result would be a creation of a dystopian environment. Even though the beauty of the building can be considered as outstanding, the functioning element of building if not nil will be limited.

The Penguin pool was an architect’s dream not a penguin’s, part of a utopian architectural vision.

Bibliography:

Books (Bauverlag Gütersloh, 2004 , Utopia, gestern : Bauwelt ) (John Allan , Berthold Lubetkin – Architecture and the

tradition of progress : Black dog publishings) (Henry-Russell Hitchcock Jr., Catherine Bauer

Wurster,1937, Modern Architecture in England : The Museum of Modern Art)

(Peter Coe , Malcolm Reading, 1981, Lubetkin and Tecton : Architecture and social commitment, Arts Council)

(Hubert- Jan Henket, Hilde Heynen, 2002, Back from Utopia - the challenge of the modern movement : 010 Publishings)

Other publications (Building design , July 2004 issue) (Concrete Quarterly , December 2004 issue) (Architects journal , November 1987 issue) (Icon , February 2004 issue)

Online (http://brst440.commons.yale.edu/2007/08/09/

lubetkins-penguin-pool-and-the-london-zoo/) (http://designmuseum.org/design/berthold-lubetkin)

Images Penguins inspecting a model of Libetkin’s penguin pool

( RIBA photographic archives)