Review of 2008 RSA Exhibition by architect Adrian Welch
8 May

As last year there the two octagonal basement rooms are purely for architecture.

CLIFFORD ROOM:

Highlight:
What really stands out in this room – over the Gold Medal winner – is a ‘secret’ 30-storey hotel proposal, also by gm+ad architects, on the Clyde: 236 Broomielaw. Sorry, no images allowed on the website just yet. This is illustrated in a large colourful CGI of top quality, and backed up with Alan’s now-famous drawing of the north bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow – reduced to half the size of the original yet still as wide as the Bayeaux Tapestry. This Clydeside hotel towers over its already tallish neighbours and by that token is bound to provoke controversy. Influenced by early SOM I reckon, in particular Walter Netsch's Inland Steel Building in Chicago [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Steel_Building].

Models:
Thee models – of gm+ad architects’ Craigton Road project, Graeme Massie Architects’ Venice Pavilion entry and Page \ Park Architects’ Kirkintilloch Arts Centre.

Framed work on walls:
Bennetts Associates’ striking panel of nine frames illustrating the Matthew Hay Centre in Aberdeen, complete with stacked acrylic plans.
Rising star Graeme Massie’s simple but striking Venice Biennale model plus his Vatnsmyri competition win.
Two large frames of Castlemilk Stables by Elder & Cannon
Two panoramic frames by WTARCHITECTURE
Sheffield Park footbridge competition entry by a+j burridge, good to see more Scottish architects casting there eyes outwith Scotland
McColl Architects’ Venice Biennale competition entry, shining a light for Aberdeen architecture!

BANK OF SCOTLAND ROOM:

Highlight:
Richard Murphy Architects’ Jesus College proposals – this is a bold building which doesn’t follow any current fashions such as random fenestration or multi-coloured panels. Robinsonesque expressed rhythmic brickwork forms evoke cathedral buttresses, perhaps influenced by college buildings at Jesus or the Victorian church opposite. Refreshing to see something different.

Model:
Dunfermline Museum winning entry by Richard Murphy Architects, perfunctory white card model suggesting an influence from Benson + Forsyth’s Museum of Scotland building, underlined by the colour internal images – not just the random slots but relationships such as steps to parapets and walls.

Framed work on walls:
Two houses by cameronwebster
Albany Street Lane house proposal + Todlaw housing by Oliver Chapman Architects
Carron Den housing in Stonehaven by cadell2
make’s colourful ZED project and Dunfermline Museum entry (similar, and placed opposite to, Richard Murphy’s winning entry)
Arcade’s The Causey
Richard Murphy Architects’ massive black-framed panels of Jesus College and Dunfermline Museum. Also shown but in a smaller format - Conan Doyle Centre and proposed Strathtummel house
draw architects’ Shanghai Expo 2010 shortlisted entry
Estonian Academy of Arts competition submission and Edinburgh waterfront proposal by Allan Murray Architects
Poole project by rankin fraser landscape architecture LLP with Donald Urqhuart – spacious, pleasant presentation
Nicolson Square proposed revamp by landscape architects LAND
Campbell & Arnott Architects’ New Teaching Block at the University of Dundee, crisp white buildings

Summary
Nothing outlandish here, or signs of a new style or new direction, but a general sense that architects based in Scotland are starting to look outwards a but more. This is to be encouraged and projects such as the Venice Biennale pavilion help whet the appetite for foreign adventures.

The fact that the Gold Medal winner is illustrated simply by a humble model and two handdrawn works should remind many of us, me included, to resist the world of CAD and CGI every now and then to scribble, sketch or draw.

Royal Scottish Academy Show 2008 Exhibition Review by Adrian Welch



RSA 182nd Annual Exhibition 2008 incl curated show ‘New Scots’

Dates: 10 May - 25 Jun 2008
Entry Cost: All RSA Galleries, Admission £4 / £2 Conc.


Image © Adrian Welch

Royal Academy Exhibition 2007

Royal Academy Exhibition 2006

Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition: 2005 Review

Cameron Mackintosh: House, West Coast Scotland


Ushida Findlay Architecture - Kathryn Findlay

This year sees some changes. Firstly it's only for Academicians. Secondly the architecture is interspersed with the art. Good or bad?

The former aspect means there's much less material, less of the crowded Salon and more calm art gallery. It could be interpreted as being a bit elitist but it feels much more professional and enjoyable this year.

Architecture being mixed up with the art means there should be more engagement from either camp, a more rounded experience as you flit through the galleries looking for architecture. This year there are simply models, drawings and photographs.

I would have preferred an incisve analysis of (first showing) Kathryn Findlay's latest work or projects rather than the pot pourri approach, we've seen that stuff before (well anyone who reads architecture magazines). It was the equivalent of Terry Farrell's huge boards that Alan Dunlop criticised in 2004 (letter below). The model of the clifftop house shown above was a highlight, but nothing really set the heather on fire and I hear Deyan Sudjic's words ringing in my ears from the time of the RIAS Best Building of the Year Launch.

FESTIVAL CONNECTIONS
Royal Scottish Academy
179th RSA Annual Exhibition
13 Aug - 25 Sep 2005
Admission free, entrance via Princes St
Mon to Sat 10 - 5, Sun 12 - 5pm



Also featured are Ric Russell's Calyx, Page & Park's Maggies Highlands and Richard Murphy Architects' Caernarfon Arts Centre and their latest Edinburgh Filmhouse model (above). Academicians not exhibiting include Malcolm Fraser.

Royal Scottish Academy : Article


building: photo © adrian welch 2006

Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition: 2004 Review

Interesting to see Richard Murphy ARSA has won the RSA Medal for Architecture: the blurb reads 'Medal for outstanding work, preferably a drawing, to encourage younger architects'. An RSA Latimer Award went to younger architect Mr Chapman for Oliver Chapman Architects' 'Hidden Garden HQ', wonderful title, one imagines spymasters nestling within illusive shrubberies.


Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh: image by Adrian Welch

Joking apart, this year's field is strong and presentation generally of high standard. For non-architect denizens of Auld Reekie the three Princes Street Galleries drawings are surely a highlight and it is useful to engage in this way despite the current state of flux, so thanks to EDI for approving this outing. Getting light into the depth of the section is the key but the promenade could live on, circumscribing the vital rooflight to form an arcade a la Mayfair's 'promenading arcades' such as the Burlington.

For the architects there are a veritable multiplicity of highlights - the rhythmic facades glowing poignantly in RMJM's Beijing Convention Centre, the sumptously coloured and cropped Landforms photo, Alan Dunlop's fantastic drawing(s) cutting through Glasgow, with a bridge in there too.

Allan Murray Architects' Frankfurt images show a real move away from ordered forms of their Edinburgh Park, Coalhill - and even the recent Stavanger competition - schemes: 'flowing lines' is the description and there is something rather eurozeitgeist about these twisted forms. The Newcastle College Performance Academy presentation refreshingly shows a building being made, great!


Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh: image by Adrian Welch

Terry Farrell's twenty-four Warholesque colour plates of Ocean Point 1, Leith, doesn't make the scheme any easier to digest.....viewers will be left wondering (where's the text?) if it was a study of options or a proposal for variant lighting or kinetic sculpture. Their central two blockbuster images (EICC & The Dean) are oversized for the room, bludgeoning the subtler drawings and white-on-white models, but usefully catch the eye on entering the RSA's Galleries.


Most useful for many will be the unbuilt schemes as these rarely make it into the trade press: Edward Hollis' & Frazer Hay's colourful and subversive Thameside Kiosk (& Ed's Cowgate Fire Competition entry), Ric Russell's Finnieston Bridge Competition model, RMJM's Queen Margaret University College Relocation Proposal & Vietnam Parliament Competition entry [Mick Duncan], and Bob Steedman's Landforms extension to name but a few. A country that forgets its unbuilt schemes is a country lost to the joy of differance and the richness of choice: this exhibition celebrates as many schemes that are unbuilt as those that have made it through to the other side. Vive la differance, or, as the RSA motto states, 'dignity and force'.

Review by Adrian Welch ARIAS RIBA

RSA Exhibition: Letter
02.04.04

Dear Adrian,
How terribly droll for the Royal Scottish Academy to open up it's press day on April Ist with some huge, well viewed images by Sir Terry Farrell. The cappa mounted photographs take up a whole wall, just for fun and include some sketches that the great man has obviously produced whilst running for a bus.
Now that the day's over though, the RSA should also let us know what really won the Gold Medal for Architecture. I mean we all like a laugh but you can take a joke too far.
Yours sincerely
Alan Dunlop

RSA Exhibition: Press Release
178TH ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY ANNUAL EXHIBITION
The Royal Scottish Academy Building, The Mound, Edinburgh
3 Apr - 20 May 2004

Celebrating the Royal Scottish Academy's return to its home galleries after an absence of three years, the Annual Exhibition is larger than ever and will span the whole of the twelve upper and lower galleries in the newly refurbished building!

The Annual Exhibition is long known for showcasing the best of contemporary Scottish art in the disciplines of painting, sculpture, printmaking and architecture.

Among this year's submissions are some spectacular invited works by Honorary Members of the RSA, which include paintings by John Bellany and Craigie Aitchison, prints by Alan Davie and sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi. Also invited are outstanding paintings by leading contemporary artists Peter Howson, John Byrne and Steven Campbell. In addition to these, Callum Innes who is a newly elected Associate, will also be exhibiting with the RSA for the first time ever!

This year features prominent national and international artists with impressive prints from Anthony Tapies and an original Marilyn Monroe photograph by Eve Arnold, also Honorary members of the RSA.

There are over £7000 worth of prizes and medals, as well as two-year memberships to the Glasgow Arts Club and Scottish Arts Club together with a solo exhibition at their premises.

It is a great opportunity for visitors to experience and buy the best of today's contemporary artists all under one roof!

The RSA exhibition has been sponsored by Maclay Murray & Spens, Solicitors, since 1989.

"It's great news this year's summer exhibition is returning to its home at the RSA. The newly refurbished building is simply stunning and does justice to the event's leading international status, which is a source of pride for Edinburgh and the whole of Scotland. The exhibition represents a unique opportunity to enjoy the work of world-renowned figures, next to the very best up-and-coming artists, and has earned its popularity among a very broad cross-section of society. Maclay Murray & Spens is delighted to be associated with the RSA summer exhibition and support the arts in Scotland."

Magnus Swanson, chief executive officer, Maclay Murray & Spens

The RSA would also like to thank the Alan Cristea Gallery, London; Timothy Taylor Gallery, London; Flowers East Gallery, London; Pier Arts Centre, Orkney; Solisquoy Printmakers; Linni Campbell; Rowan James and Constantine for their assistance.

Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition Prizes:

· The Royal Scottish Academy (6 awards totalling £2150)
· NS Macfarlane Charitable Trust Award (£3000)
· The Highland Society of London Award (£500)
· William J Macaulay/Scottish Gallery Award (£300)
· Glasgow Arts Club Prize (Free 2 year Membership and solo exhibition)
· Scottish Arts Club Prize (Free 2 year membership and solo exhibition )
· DCA Data Solutions Award (£750)
· Sir Robin Philipson Prize (£200)

Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition Opening Times:
Mon to Sat 10 - 5pm Sun 12 - 5pm
RSA Exhibition Admission: £4 - £2 concession £8 - (£4 conc) season ticket

Memorial works by Royal Academician John Richards and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Honorary Academician of the RSA. A member of the St Ives Group of painters, Wilhelmina was one of the foremost abstract artists of her day and continued her vigorous, colourful paintings well into her nineties. John Richards was an architect whose work notably includes the Edinburgh commonwealth pool and the Pathfoot Building of Stirling University.

Steven MacIver is exhibiting this year with his painting 'Daegu'. He was a winner of the RSA John Kinross Scholarship in 2002 which provides funds for students to live and work in Florence, and was also awarded the John Murray Thomson Award for a promising young painter at the RSA Annual Exhibition in 2003. He is currently in his second year at the Slade School of Art in London.

Jackie Parry is a printmaker and one of Europe's foremost artist papermakers, also having studied Japanese paper-making extensively. The works in the show are cast paper sculptures formed around hand made shaped sandbags, making them both delicate looking and durable. She is a teacher of printmaking at Glasgow School of Art.

The impressive architecture pieces include some well known Edinburgh based projects such as Allan Murray Architects fascinating 'Vision for Princes Street' which redesigns the Gardens to incorporate a three storey underground shopping arcade and the restoration of the Nor Loch! Invited architect Terry Farrell shows the restoration and conversion of the Gallery of Modern Art from the Dean Orphanage (designed in 1833), and also his designs for the Edinburgh Conference Centre on Morrison Street.

For further information re the Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, contact Colin Greenslade, RSA Exhibition Coordinator at colingreenslade@royalscottishacademy.org or Alisa Lindsay, RSA Marketing Assistant on alisalindsay@royalscottishacademy.org, on 0131 225 6671

The RSA John Kinross Scholarship
Royal Scottish Academy: Jun 2004 PR
Thirteen Scottish students win scholarship to live and study in Florence
for three months.

The John Kinross Memorial Fund was established in 1982 by Mr JB Kinross
CBE, HRSA in memory of his father, John Kinross RSA, a renowned architect
who was greatly influenced by Florence. The fund is intended to assist
young artists and architects in Scotland, within the disciplines of
Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking and Architecture. The John Kinross
Scholarship is open to students from the four main colleges of art and six
schools of architecture in Scotland.

RSA Annual Exhibition
For the first time in its history the Royal Scottish Academy's 176th Annual Exhibition will be held outwith Scotland's capital. This year's RSA Exhibition was held in the McLellan Galleries, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, as the RSA Gallery in Edinburgh is currently closed as work on the £26m Playfair project proceeds (will not re-open until early summer 2003).


Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh: image by Adrian Welch

NEW AWARD FOR ARCHITECTS:
Student architects at the RSA Students Exhibition (held every March) competed for a new award given by the Property Division of Standard Life Investments: STANDARD LIFE INVESTMENTS PROPERTY KIRSTY LEES INVESTMENT ARCHITECTURE AWARD, £500 - Mackintosh School of Architecture

RSA Playfair Project

Architecture Books



Scottish Architecture: best Scottish Buildings of the last three decades

Architecture Walking Tours

Edinburgh : back to index

Royal Scottish Academy: 2002 Designs
The RSA Annual Show is also an opportunity for architects to display recent or proposed projects. Richard Murphy’s adventurous intervention in Stirling Tolbooth to create a new arts centre is illustrated here, along with other important architectural projects such as Allan Murray Architects’ sharp designs for a new Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.
07.05.02

Comments / photos for the RSA Architecture Exhibition page welcome:
info@edinburgharchitecture.co.uk

Royal Academy Exhibition 2008 : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt