New Exterior View. Image © Stanton Williams

Stanton Williams has released new and updated visualizations of their design for the renovation of the Royal Opera House in London. The project, titled ‘Open Up,’ aims to transform the public experience of the Royal Opera House at its Covent Garden Home through a series of “legible and flexible” spaces.

Updated Foyer Transition View. Image © Stanton Williams

The design will increase connection to the city through two reimagined entrances: a new glazed extension on Bow Street that will offer pedestrians a view into the activities taking place within, and an improvement entrance onto the Covent Garden Piazza that will provide additional foyer space and an exhibition area to display the work of the Royal Opera House.

New Main Foyer View. Image © Stanton Williams

New Linbury Entrance View. Image © Stanton Williams

The project also includes a second theater within the shell of the Linbury Studio Theater that will serve as an “artistic laboratory” for the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera Companies. The theater space will be adaptable to various performance formats, and will provide a warm, comfortable atmosphere with a distinct character.

Updated Main Foyer View. Image © Stanton Williams

Updated Linbury Foyer View. Image © Stanton Williams

Stanton Williams was selected for the project in 2013 as part of competition including Amanda Levete Architects, Heatherwick Studio and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Construction on the project is currently underway, while the building remains operational. Phase 1 of the project (conversion of basement into restrooms) opens to the public tomorrow, with the full project expected to be completed in 2018.

News via Stanton Williams.

Original Theater Rendering. Image © Stanton Williams

Original Theater Rendering. Image © Stanton Williams

Model. Image © Stanton Williams

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Courtesy of Unknown

Reflections on Architecture, Society and Politics brings together a series of thirteen interview-articles by Graham Cairns in collaboration with some of the most prominent polemic thinkers and critical practitioners from the fields of architecture and the social sciences, including Noam Chomsky, Peggy Deamer, Robert A.M. Stern, Daniel Libeskind and Kenneth Frampton. Each chapter explores the relationship between architecture and socio-political issues through discussion of architectural theories and projects, citing specific issues and themes that have led to, and will shape, the various aspects of the current and future built environment. Ranging from Chomsky’s examination of the US–Mexico border as the architecture of oppression to Robert A.M. Stern’s defence of projects for the Disney corporation and George W. Bush, this book places politics at the center of issues within contemporary architecture.

Foreword: Murray Fraser

Introduction: Graham Cairns

Chapter 0. Alberto Perez Gomez.
Ethics, Emotion, and Aesthetics: Architecture After the Crisis of Modern Science

Chapter 1.
Noam Chomsky. Hidden Power and Built Form – The Politics Behind the Architecture.

Chapter 2.
Robert A. M. Stern. Dream Culture and the Politics of the Past – Today

Chapter 3.
Peggy Deamer. Architecture and Capitalism – From Production to Product

Chapter 4.
Peter Nears.
Finance, Planning and Architecture UK – A Developer’s Perspective

Chapter 5.
Stephen Hodder. Politics, Society and the Public: The RIBA Reaching Beyond the Profession

Chapter 6.
Michael Sorkin. Driving on the Left: A View of the Street, the City and Architecture

Chapter 7.
Paul Goldberger. History and Modern Architecture in the Age of the Star

Chapter 8.
Clare Devine. The ‘Commissioning’ of Architecture and the Built Environment

Chapter 9.
Daniel Libeskind. Ground Zero – The Socio-Political Minefield of Symbolic Architecture

Chapter 10.
Steven Weir and Gareth Hepworth. Habitat for Humanity – Operating Outside the State and the Market

Chapter 11.
Kenneth Frampton. A Critical Architecture – Comments on Politics and Society

Chapter 12.
Jonathan Woetzel. Global Finance, Global Planning –China’s Urban Explosion Seen from the West

• Isbn: 9781472456083
• Title: Reflections on Architecture, Society and Politics: Social and Cultural Tectonics in the 21st Century
• Author: Graham Cairns
• Publisher: Routledge
• Project Year: 2016
• Language: English

Reflections on Architecture, Society and Politics: Social and Cultural Tectonics in the 21st Century

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