Reeks d - The Cosmic House

Identificatie

referentie code

CJA-TCH-d

Titel

The Cosmic House

Datum(s)

  • 1978- (Vervaardig)

Beschrijvingsniveau

Reeks

Omvang en medium

1 house

Context

Naam van de archiefvormer

(1939-2019)

Biografie

Charles Jencks was born on 21 June 1939 in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents were Gardner Jencks, a pianist and composer, and Ruth (nee DeWitt Pearl). He took at BA in English Literature at Harvard University (1961) and then a BA and MA at Harvard Graduate School of Design (1965) He received a PhD from London University in 1970 for his thesis "Modern architecture: the tradition since 1945" which led to a series of articles in Arena and to the publication Modern Movements in Architecture (1972). From 1961 to 1973 he was married to Pamela Balding and had two sons, Justin and Cosmo. He married Maggie Keswick Jencks and had two children, John and Lily. Maggie died in 1995. In 2006 he married Louisa Lane Fox . He died on 13 October 2019.

Naam van de archiefvormer

(1941-1995)

Biografie

Maggie Keswick Jencks, Charles Jencks’ wife and collaborator, was a Scottish writer, artist and garden designer. She collaborated on the design of The Cosmic House and helped shape the intellectual life that unfolded there until her untimely death in 1995 at the age of 54.

She was born on the 10th of October 1941, the only child of Sir John Keswick and Lady Clare Keswick. As Sir John was the head of the Asian conglomerate Jardine Matheson, Maggie was brought up travelling to China, Hong Kong and South-East Asia at a time when few foreigners visited. During her visits, she developed a love for Chinese culture, in particular the highly designed classical gardens of Suzhou and Hangzhou in Western China. Her book *The Chinese Garden* (first pub 1978) was one of the most respected books on these intensely designed gardens for many years, and the first book of its kind written in English. Maggie and Charles met when she studied at the Architectural Association where Charles was teaching, and they married in 1978. Maggie and Charles travelled extensively together and sometimes lectured in the same venue (she on Chinese Gardens, and he on Post Modernism). This is also the year they purchase the building that would become The Cosmic House. Maggie was particularly influential in the design of the garden, although she was involved in every decision about the design of the house. Maggie was influential in Charles’ ideas on Post-Modernism, being a demanding debate partner on cultural issues and a keen editor of his manuscripts. She had an excellent hand at drawing and painting and produced many beautiful sketchbooks.

Naam van de archiefvormer

(1938-)

Biografie

In 1978 Farrell was commissioned to design the architectural shell of what would become known as The Thematic House.

Geschiedenis van het archief

Directe bron van verwerving of overbrenging

Inhoud en structuur

Bereik en inhoud

The Cosmic House is one of the key landmarks in the development of Post-Modernist architecture. A hugely influential distillation of the ideas at the heart of Post-Modern thought in culture and science, it is a remarkable testament to the polymathic talents of Maggie and Charles Jencks.

Built between 1978 and 1983 the house subverts the genteel architecture of Holland Park, exaggerating, caricaturing and embellishing the white stucco until it becomes a microcosm of contemporary architectural theory, semiotics and historiography. An almost human character is imposed on the architecture with each element related to the human body and then to the larger cosmos. It is an architectural essay about our relationship to proportion, building, culture and the universe.

Densely packed with ideas, symbols and motifs, its architecture embraces an entire cosmos of architectural allusion, history, metaphor and reference. Switching between pop and classical culture, between high art and accessible kitsch, it became a built manifesto for the architecture that emerged in reaction to the slowly solidifying canon of Modernism as it faded in the late mid-century. Designed in collaboration with architect (Sir) Terry Farrell, and built between 1978 and 1983, the house became a forum for conversation and dialogue at the epicentre of the Post-Modern moment and the cultural discourse around ideas, history, science and aesthetics.

The spaces are characteristically Post-Modern with multiple changes in levels, shifted axes, fragmented forms, architectural quotations, views obliquely across spaces and glimpses of neighbouring spaces enticing the visitor around the interior. Unusually for an interior of this period it remains substantially as it was designed, built and lived in with all its original bespoke furniture and fittings intact.

Waardering, vernietiging en slectie

Aanvullingen

Ordeningstelsel

Voorwaarden voor toegang en gebruik

Voorwaarden voor raadpleging

The Cosmic House is open to the public by timed ticket. For more information please visit the Jencks Foundation website.

Voorwaarden voor reproductie

Taal van het materiaal

    Schrift van het materiaal

      Taal en schrift aantekeningen

      Fysieke eigenschappen en technische eisen

      Toegangen

      Verwante materialen

      Bestaan en verblifplaats van originelen

      Bestaan en verblijfplaats van kopieën

      Related units of description

      Related descriptions

      Aantekeningen

      Alternative identifier(s)

      Trefwoorden

      Onderwerp trefwoord

      Geografische trefwoorden

      Naam ontsluitingsterm

      Genre access points

      Beschrijvingsbeheer

      Identificatie van de beschrijving

      Identificatiecode van de instelling

      Toegepaste regels en/of conventies

      Status

      Niveau van detaillering

      Verwijdering van datering archiefvorming

      Taal (talen)

        Schrift(en)

          Bronnen

          Voorwaarden voor raadpleging en gebruik