EPosted by Jack Hale Fri, September 21, 2012 13:42:50Cruikshank & Seward
St Peters Square, M2 3DE
1960.
grubby, derelict and long derided for its 'cheap finish', Lizzy House (RIP), famous for serving generations of students generous helpings of Pancakes and fried chicken, was finally demolished this year to make way for yet another 'signature' office tower, part of the much vaunted yet hotly contentious Peter Square revamp.
delicate, assymetrical with interesting stairs & a delicate rooftop, all balanced on slim mosaic tiled columns, this was a shy beauty which always deserved a second more sympathetic glance. and a sympathetic refurb....
EPosted by Eddy Rhead Fri, July 01, 2011 20:20:35Henry Elder - Architect
The former Longford cinema - Stretford
Henry
Elder was born in a terraced house in Lower Broughton Salford in
1909. He originally trained at the Royal Technical College in Salford
to be a bricklayer but his aspirations and talents meant he soon
progressed to The Manchester College of Technology, finally training
to be an architect at Manchester University's School of Architecture.
At a precociously young age he became a partner in the firm of
Roberts, Wood and Elder – a firm making a name for themselves
mainly in cinema design. Elder designed a house for himself and his
family in Timperley at the age of 24 and he was only 25 when he
designed perhaps his most well known building – the former Longford
cinema on Chester Road Stretford – now a Grade II listed building.
Other
cinemas and private houses followed but the Second World War brought
a halt to his work. Before the war Elder had become fascinated by
Japanese architecture and had travelled to the country and had had
his observations published. Ironically the expertise and insight he
gained was utilised by the military during the war and he was
consulted on how best to destroy Japanese buildings with aerial
bombing. For this work he received an MBE but it apparently sat very
uneasily with Elder – torn by patriotic loyalty and the knowledge
he was serving to destroy a nation he had much regard and respect
for. His wartime experience were to greatly influence his later
life's work. Lack of jobs due to post war austerity and a growing
disillusionment with the architectural profession in the UK led him
to emigrate to North America in 1958.
He
taught at Cornell University and was eventually to direct the School
of Architecture at the University of British Columbia. His teaching
was, at the time, radical and controversial. He promoted the
increased enrolment of women and encouraged his students to develop a
greater understand of architecture as opposed to just churning out an
endless stream of jobbing architects. He promoted the idea of
sustainable architecture, decades before the concept had a name –
emphasising the need to build in harmony with the surrounding
landscape and using materials with the lowest environmental impact.
His ideas preceded ideals that would become the norm in the 1960's –
a proto hippy if you like.
He
was hugely respected by his students and is still talked of fondly by
a whole generation of North American architects. His name still lives
on in a UBC scholarship which according to the UBC website is “A
prize that has been endowed by friends and former students of Henry
Elder, Director of the School of Architecture from 1961 to 1975, to
recognize his inspirational and humanistic qualities which brought a
spirit of enquiry and joy in the study of architecture.”
Not
bad for a lad from a scruffy terrace in Salford.
EPosted by Eddy Rhead Fri, December 31, 2010 21:40:26
Manchester Town Hall Extension, E Vincent Harris 1938
St.Peter's Square, Manchester
M60 2LA
