Collective Impressions of Smithson Plaza: Weaving History with the Present. (1st April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saunt, Deborah; Greenall, Tom; Marcaccio, Roberta
• Other Names: Saunt Deborah guestEditor.; Greenall Tom guestEditor.; Marcaccio Roberta guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Architectural design. Volume 89:Number 3(2019)
• Page Start: 114
• Page End: 119
• Publication Date: 2019-04-01
• Subjects: Alison and Peter Smithson -- Economist Plaza -- DSDHA -- Michelangelo Antonioni -- Blow‐Up -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill -- Bury Street -- Kenzo Kuma -- Susannah Hagan -- Westminster University -- Max Risselada -- Dirk van den Heuvel -- Delft University of Technology -- Ryder Street; 729
• DOI: 10.1002/ad.2444
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-8504

Abstract

Abstract : Designed by Alison and Peter Smithson in the early 1960s, the former Economist Plaza in London is an icon of the modern movement. Its recent restoration by architectural firm DSDHA drew on the Smithsons' own post‐occupancy appraisals, as well as consultation with scholars who revealed the complex's choreographed nature. What was initially a retrofit with environmental performance enhancements thus evolved into a strategy to reinstate lost dynamism. Guest‐EditorsDeborah Saunt, Tom Greenall and Roberta Marcaccio – all key members of the DSDHA team – tell its story.