Trips

This page is for housing reports on, and additional materials from, the outings and visits the U3A Architecture group make.

June 2013: Charles Rennie Mackintosh
This map will show the locations of the building we will either visit or view from the outside.


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February 2013

Early arrivals at the Library.
More pictures on the Trips page.

On Monday 25th February, the U3A Architecture group made a foray to Lancaster University to see the Ruskin Library, a building designed and built about ten years ago, with extensive help from  Lottery funding. The building's architect was Sir Richard MacCormac, of the MJP practice, and has been favourably reviewed and given awards. There are many allusions to Venice and Ruskin's love of the place, which Sir Richard was keen to note in his talk on the subject in a video on Vimeo ten years after the opening, and a few that he didn't mention, but which Hugh Pearman in his review piece does. There's also a lecture given by Sir Richard which is available from the website of his architectural practice: Architecture, Memory and Metaphor.

We were lucky to be given an introductory talk by Stephen Wildman, the current Director of the Ruskin Library, who talked first about the design and use of the building (and some of the things which are not ideal about it...), and then introduced us to the exhibition  'A Noble Invention': Ruskin's Daguerreotypes of Venice and Verona. A rather under-appreciated element of Ruskin's output. Our grateful thanks to Stephen for his time and erudition.

Looking around the exhibition

The group, taken by Lawrence.

The right-hand corridor from the main entrance: the building is completely symmetrical.

Looking up to the Library's Treasury, guarded by shutters evoking a medieval altar triptych, contains an etched glass panel designed by Alex Beleschenko, inspired by a daguerreotype of the north-west portal of St. Mark's.
The doors/shutters can be closed, but aren't usually, on account of the damage that would ensue to the panels of red Venetian plaster.

A detail of the   red Venetian plaster panels and oak frames. The crosses at the joins don't appear to have any special significance.