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The name Richard Seifert has become synonymous with the commercial tower blocks of the 1960s and 70s that his practice built so many of in London and throughout the UK. Buildings like Tower 42, the NLA Tower and of course Centre Point are prime examples of Seifert’s projects; towering concrete high rises, often planted on small plots that been bomb damaged in World War 2. Of course, the practice produced many other building types, with houses, railway stations, hotels and hospitals all built by Seifert. Richard Seifert was born in Zurich on 25th November 1910. His family moved to Britain when Seifer tas young, and he would enrol in the Bartlett School of Architecture in 1927, graduating in 1933. Seifert set up his own practice in the 1930’s, and served with the Royal Engineers during World War 2, achieving the rank of Colonel. He resumed his practice after the war, designing a number of buildings in a slightly out of date art deco style including a synagogue in Tottenham, a cinema in Paddington, a factory for Rival Lamps in Brighton and flats in Chiswick.  Rival Lamps Factory, Brighton (1949) by Richard Seifert. Image from RIBApix. It was at the start of the 1960s that his practices designs began to come to attention, with speculative tower blocks such as Tolworth House in Kingston and Space House in Holborn. These buildings were designed by George Marsh, one of Seifert's partners, and his use of concrete, often in precast units, chimed with the contemporary style of brutalism. Seifert and Partners designs were not the raw Breton Brut of others like The Smithsons, but a more commercially palatable use of concrete that allowed buildings to be constructed quickly.  Centre Point (1963-6) by Richard Seifert & Partners. Image from Building. The most famous building associated with Seifert is Centre Point at the junction of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street in London. Again designed by George Marsh, this 36 storey block built for developer Harry Hyams was famously left empty for 15 years as Hyams insisted on a single tenant leasing the whole building. Centre Point was Grade II listed in 1995, with Space House also being listed in 2014 (along with Alpha Tower in Birmingham).  Tolworth Tower, Kingston upon Thames (1963-8) by Richard Seifert & Partners. Image from Pinterest. His practice would design over 500 office blocks all over the UK before his retirement in 1984. Buildings like the Natwest Tower, the tallest building in Britain when completed in 1981, would reach higher and higher, with ever more complicated engineering requirements and ever longer planning battles. However, his practice could design at the other end of the scale as well. Angel Cottages in Mill Hill, North London are a group of four houses in brick and weather boarding, overlooking a pond. Mill Hill was Seifert's home, where he bought a semi detached house and extended it as well as building a house for his daughter in the grounds.  Richard Seifert 1910-2001. Image from Wikipedia. Seifert's reputation, which had suffered in the 1980s, came around in the 1990s with the listing of Centre Point, and continues to celebrated with the renewed interest in post war buildings. Unfortunately many of his buildings are now being demolished to make way for a new wave of commercial tower blocks, and the campaigners who once fought against designs are now trying to save them.
A Guide to Modernism in Metro-Land, our guidebook to help you discover the suburbs best art deco, modernist & brutalist buildings is crowdfunding now. Go HERE to get your copy.
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Whilst we regularly feature and praise the work of Charles Holden for London Underground, without Frank Pick, none of Holden’s designs would have been possible. Pick, working for the Underground Electric Railways of London (UERL) and then the London Transport Passenger Board (LPTB), revolutionised the way the fledgling underground network presented itself, changing everything from advertising posters, network maps and the stations themselves, creating the tube we know today. Pick was born in Spalding, Lincolnshire on 23rd November 1878, to Francis and Fanny Pick. After finishing his schooling he studied law at the University of London, before going to work for North Eastern Railways. There he became assistant to managing director George Gibb, and when Gibb moved to work for the Underground Electric Railways of London in 1906, Pick followed. Starting as assistant to Gibb, by 1908 Pick had become Publicity Officer, and by 1909 Traffic Development Officer. Three years later Pick was the UERL’s Commercial Manager. It was this this role that Pick started to have a real impact on the identity of the Underground network.  Frank Pick 1878-1941. Image from the Standard. Pick was given the task of increasing passenger numbers, as the UERL was locked in competition with a number of other private rail, bus and tram companies. Pick started by instigating a standardisation of advertising materials; setting poster sizes, as well as their number and placement within stations. Pick also commissioned Edward Johnston is design a distinctive typeface for UERL materials, the now iconic “Johnston” type. A few years later, Pick would also change to the underground map o Harry Beck’s radical new design. Pick initially dismissed Becks design, produced by Beck unwarranted, but after some persuasion by Beck and a trail run, the tube map as we (almost) know it today was launched in 1932.  Edward Johnston's typeface for London Underground. Image from Mikey Ashworth. The other important person Pick bought in to the UERL fold was of course, Charles Holden. They met in 1915 at a Design and Industries Association meeting, and when in the early 1920s Pick wanted to modernise the underground networks stations, Holden was man he turned to. The UERL already had a chief architect, Stanley Heaps, who had taken over from Leslie Green in 1908, but Pick was not a fan of his designs, so Holden and his firm, Adams, Holden & Pearson, were bought in to create a “new architectural idiom”, with the stations themselves communicating modernity, speed and ease of use. This was first achieved on the Morden extension of Northern Line, where Holden produced a simple design of double height ticket halls, clad in Portland stone.  Harry Beck's map of the tube system. Image from talassa magazine. Pick and Holden’s next major project was the Piccadilly Line extension. Something that had been planned for a number of years but shelved due to lack of funds, before work began in the early 1930’s. To research the new architectural styles, in 1930 Pick and Holden visited Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, visiting buildings by the likes of Willem Dudok, with whom Pick was particularly taken. The buildings they saw eschewed decoration and concentrated on letting the function of the building guide its form. Pick and Holden were also impressed by the illumination of buildings at night, something they replicated on many underground stations.  Piccadilly Line Extension poster. Image from London Transport Museum. The new Piccadilly Line station, especially those built from Turnpike Lane to Cockfosters, set new standards in contemporary British public architecture. This was the first time a group of public buildings had been so carefully planned and executed in the modernist style, taking in all aspects of the commuters journey from station design to advertising posters to platform lighting. The buildings themselves were highly praised in the architectural press and visited by designers and officials from aboard. Of the stations built, Turnpike Lane was recorded as Pick’s favourite due to the to the success of the design in integrating the different above ground transport elements, including bus station and tram stops. The highly thought of Arnos Grove proved to be his least favorite, and he approved the scheme only after much persuasion.  Turnpike Lane ticket hall (1932) by Charles Holden. Image from RIBApix. More stations and works were built as part of the 1935-40 New Works Programme, and Pick who had become Joint Managing Director of UERL in 1928, was named as Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of London Passenger Transport Board when it was formed in 1933. However, Pick’s star would not ascend forever. Despite his achievements since joining the UERL in 1906, in May 1940 Pick resigned from the LPTB after disagreements of its restructuring. He then had a short and unproductive spell as Director General of the Ministry of Information. He only lived until November 1941 when he died at his house in Golders Green from a cerebral haemorrhage. Pick’s legacy was far reaching, being instrumental in creating a large scale integrated transport network for what was then one of the worlds biggest cities. Pick thought of this undertaking as being the modern equivalent of building a medieval cathedral, bringing together a large number of master craftsman, to create a modern work of art. Pick’s mix of pragmatism, drive and attention to detail would allow those designers, such as Holden and Johnston, to create the Tube as we know it. Sources Charles Holden- Eitan Karol Bright Underground Spaces- David Lawrence Frank Pick Wikipedia page A Guide to Modernism in Metro-Land, our guidebook to help you discover the suburbs best art deco, modernist & brutalist buildings is crowdfunding now. Go HERE to get your copy.
Crowdfunding for A Guide to Modernism in Metro-Land has reached 84% with over 600 supporters! Thank you to everyone who has pledged so far. We know you all eager to get your hands on a copy of the book, and we thank you for your patience. We are getting closer and hopefully it won’t be too long before you’ve got your copies in your hand. To help the final push, we have introduced three new pledge levels, as follows; Frank Pick For £20 you will receive a first edition paperback of A Guide to Modernism in Metroland as well as one 8x10 inch digital photographic print from a choice of three of Charles Holden’s “round” stations; Arnos Grove, Chiswick Park or Southgate. If you have already chosen the £15 pledge level you can upgrade for only £5 and receive a print as well as helping push the total towards the magic 100%! This will really help our progress. To upgrade just click on the green Upgrade/Donate button next to A Guide to Modernism in Metroland on your Unbound account.  Piccadilly Circus For £35 you will receive a first edition paperback of A Guide to Modernism in Metroland and three 8x10 inch digital prints of Charles Holden’s “round” stations; Arnos Grove, Chiswick Park and Southgate. Hammersmith Ideal for anyone organising an architectural society or reading group, or just someone who is stocking up on Christmas presents; this pledge level gives you 10 copies of A Guide to Modernism in Metroland for £150. We chose “Frank Pick” and “Piccadilly Circus” as pledge level names as they both celebrate important anniversaries in the next few weeks. Keep an eye out on our blog for more information. As ever, don’t forget you can choose one of our other great pledge levels or simply donate a sum by clicking on the green Upgrade/Donate button on your Unbound account. Every little helps push us closer to 100%. Once again, thank you for your support and patience, and we hope the next update will be when reach 100%.  |
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