On Tuesday 1st November 2016 we at Grey’s of London attended the AIA/RIBA keynote lecture 2016. The lecture was led by Thomas Pfeifer, a world renowned architect whose buildings have been celebrated all over America.
He has created many structures such as the United States Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah. The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina. And now a new museum for the Glenstone Foundation is currently under construction in Potomac, Maryland alongside many other projects. Below you’ll find pictures of just a few of the buildings in which he has led in creating.
These photos are the property of http://www.thomasphifer.com/weblog
The Glenstone foundation is an organization that is working toward a future in which we can incorporate Art, architecture and nature into all infrastructures that we create. It is only active in the US but it is making a lot of progress.
The lecture was mainly concerning the integration of natural light in spaces. It was also a discussion about how to build infrastructure for art and how the art should not be overshadowed by the architecture, while at the same time it needs to reflect the grandeur of the art placed within it. We at Grey’s of London can identify with how important this is in a structure, the use of natural light is a necessity for many reasons, it is a great source of light saving on energy bills, it is uplifting, it has many health benefits including the absorption of Vitamin D. It connects you to nature, and it brings out the natural beauty of the surroundings. The use of mirrors, sky lights, glass doors and windows are all things that can be integrated into a building to fill it with natural light.
This can be a tricky task on both parts. If you live somewhere that does not see a lot of sunshine and clear skies, the idea of using mainly natural light is challenging. A few examples of work that we have done at Grey’s of London do follow the idea of natural light being the best light. We use Sky lights in ceilings and rooves, we have built outhouses with the entire front being made up of glass, and we use light colours within to create a light natural space.
We also appreciate that a building should reflect its surrounding environment. Just imagine you’re in the countryside, very rural all green. And then all of a sudden as you turn your head you see a giant glass skyscraper. It simply doesn’t fit. If the building were somewhere more urban e.g. London, It would fit in comfortably with its surrounding environment, but different locations require different infrastructure. We at Grey’s of London completely agree with this idea, and we do everything we can to ensure that a room in a house or perhaps an outhouse in the back garden will mimic its surroundings perfectly to create a building completely in sync with its neighbouring infrastructure.