De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea. Erich Mendlesohn & Serge Chermayeff, 1935

No marks for originality of course but to continue the theme of early British Modernism after the Homewood thought I should commit to the ether my pics of Del la Warr, visited a few months ago now.

The Homewood, Esher, Kent. Patrick Gwynn 1938(?)

A trip to modernist heaven courtesy of the National Trust who maintain and organise viewings of the house, which is tenanted but doesn't look it.  Lot of tidying up must happen at the weekend.  

 The interiors are great - loads of highly detailed furniture and nifty details to be comitted to memory (as photos inside not allowed).

Fashion & Textile Museum, Bermonsey High St, London SE1, Ricardo Legorreta

A jolly dollop of Barrigan in Bermondsey.

The render is not very good, I should warn you.  Apparently we're crap at rendering in the UK.

And that brings an end to this Sunday's exporation of London SE1, which as you can see from the preceding posts not only encouraged me to post on subjects from beyond the 1970s but also included buildings of unusually high ranking.  Add to this that before home time we managed a quick look round the newly opened 'Tanks' of the Tate Modern and that they are extremely impressive and you'll understand I now need to catch my breath and take stock....but before I do... I will leave you with a bit of prime Victorian railway architecture brickwork  because - you lucky people - I'M AN UNBELIEVABLY GENEROUS GUY.

Bermondsey High Street, London SE1

Bermondsey High Street is not really what you'd call a typical British high street,  but seems to have been quite a little architect's playground over the last few years.  Spies tell me the project below is by an unknown architect who hasn't subsequently produced any more work, which is a pity.

Jerwood Gallery, Bermondsey High St, London SE1

Thanks to Mark for his suggestion of a visit to this new site for Jerwood's White Cube gallery.  Definately a highlight of the year so far, the entrance sequence and overscaled galleries have a kind of austere monumentality that's almost uncomfortable.

Don't seem to have taken many photos...sure there are lots out there however - or try the architect's website

Beckett House, St.Thomas St, London SE1

not going to be remembered fondly by all of it's users but really a terrific building, would love to know the architects...

note to self..

http://www.icallarchitecturefrozenmusic.com

Hadid

Thanks to Zaha for bringing a bit of much needed in-situ concrete to the London Olympics.

Stumbled upon another ZH building whilst fleeing the Olympic Enclosure in Hyde Park this afternoon.

Some kind of satellite to the Serpentine Gallery I believe.

Derivatives

...seem to me to deserve a little more attention than they get.

Front...

And back.

Zurich House, Sutton High Street, London Borough of Sutton

A new area for me, beyond my usual range but one which seems to have a whiff of ambition in it's history evidenced in part by a small number of confident and rather dominant buildings. Such as... 

Zurich House

 love the sort of blue & red thing going on here

Crete

The north coast of Crete is quite a good place for the in-situ concrete fancier due to the large number of unfinished or part finished villas/apartment complexes with their concrete frames exposed and infill blocks still un-rendered.

Almost all of this kind of thing, whether finished or not, seems to promise further development by leaving re-enforcement bars exposed topside.  

Didn't manage to get very good examples of the type but quite common to see the buildings either inhabited below with plans for expansion above or, vice-a-versa...

This quite large development facing directly onto the sea was in various states of non-completion and decay...with plumbed in marble bathrooms at the back, just a shell at the front and empty unfinished pool...

Improvised chicken coop against the ground floor walls

Had it been completed the complex would have been i think more Po-Mo than Modernist but in the unfinished state is a weird mix of post,early and late modernism.

Anyone wanting a version of the below in the Greater London area please feel free to contact me....(slide & swings optional)