I travelled to the Kefalonia Island in July for a week and it was an incredible experience, being able to witness their culture, arts and life is forever one of my favorite aspects of travelling to someplace new.
Anyhow, on that note I found that the architecture in Kefalonia is a remarkable example of mixing the past and present (which a lot of countries inevitably do). But most interestingly, this profound effect had been caused by a natural disaster, affecting the overall development of this place. Of course I only found that out after visiting which influenced me to research further into how architecture in Kefalonia, specifically the area Argostoli can be seen to be based on cultural factors. In this case, it would be the Venetian occupation of Kefalonia which would explain the exposure to Venetian cultures, portrayed through the vast amount of Churches on the Island. From other personal observance, the Island is definitely not walking friendly, the landscaping is incredibly slanted and slippery when wet which perhaps suggests a lack of knowledge regarding how weather affects material which is something that is getting improved in modern day society. However, driving up and down the island was very satisfactory, seeing how architecture develops amongst sea side for example the town of Fiskardo. This island is quite architecturally contrasted from places like Santorini or Athens, following a more neoclassical style than ancient greek, even though similar in color schemes to other parts of Greece, a close eye will be able to sense a slight difference.
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Above are some photographs I took on my Ixus camera of Downing College at Cambridge.
Upon my visit to Cambridge, I shifted my weeks reading and academic activities to researching the history behind Cambridge's architecture and I was particularly enamoured with Downing's architecture so I thought I would create a blog post exploring the architectural elements of this site. The site was founded in the year 1800 by Sir George Downing and architect William Wilkins was commissioned to design it. Through competitions hosted to find architects for other sites in Cambridge, Wilkins also worked on parts of Corpus Christi College and Trinity College. Regarding individual spaces within Downing, as one enters they are greeted with the Heong Gallery which was only recently established (2016) compared to other parts of the site. Wilkin employs a neoclassical style which I find myself to be particularly enamoured by, walking through the site made me feel as if I were in a Jane Austen novel especially when sat on the stairs with the classical pillars in my peripheral vision looking out at the meadow. The space is quite simplistic and peaceful with the main buildings surrounding the large circumference of grass and even though my visit was during British summer time, I could imagine the fields of Downing College covered in snow and how ethereal it would look during winter. The site was so picturesque and consistent with choice of material which all ultimately increased my architectural appreciation for the college. The former police station, now a Centre for heritage and arts was designed by the architectural firms Herzon & De Meuron, Rocco design architects and Purcell. The building is in Tai Kwun, Hong Kong and the restoration was built for Hong Kong Jockey Club. It is considered an historic site where people can see traces of colonial style buildings from the colonization of United Kingdom, within the site there are art galleries, food and drinks and a large courtyard.
The main block started construction in 1862 and finished in 1864. However, there were several changes that took place, including the police headquarters being placed there in 1919, during that time they built an armory and inspection rooms. Officially, no more changes were made after 2018 so 2018 would be the main date of completion. The site was reformed by three different architect firms due to the complexity of preserving the colonial style. Purcell’s main inspiration was to show Hong Kong’s historic heritage and how the British colonization impacted every aspect of living in Hong Kong. This site is one of the many few buildings that remain from this time as Hong Kong has become a city of skyscrapers and modernization. Purcell’s wanted to highlight the potential that Hong Kong colonial buildings have by being preserved and reformed into something useful. The art gallery was designed by Herzon & De Meuron, inside there is an archive for art, small retail businesses and restraunt/cafes. You can see how the architects used a collaborative effort to transform the site into something useful but still able to preserve its historical heritage. Regarding the structure of the site, the center is in the form of a fortress and that was a challenge for the architects because they had to think about how to embed it into its surroundings, which is urban skyscrapers. In order to conserve its fortress form, they had to demolish some surrounding buildings and with that space they restored it into new art facilities. For the design of the fortress, the architectural firms focused on making exits and entrances simple for pedestrians to incorporate walking through the site as a normal everyday route. Inside the fortress walls you can walk past empty prison cells that have remained intact since the Victorian era; people state that when they walk through, they feel ‘immersed’ in history. Inside the new art gallery addition, the architects employed a contemporary style and used brutalist materials to show the combination of colonial style buildings and modern buildings, by doing so, it reflects the modernization of Hong Kong mixed with the historic heritage carried from the colonization. In 2021, the building was awarded the RIBA award for excellence. RIBA stated that this project was a perfect demonstration of the potential to conserve buildings in Hong Kong as a way of portraying Hong Kong’s history. UNESCO also says that this project has opened a ‘vibrant’ space amongst the ‘business district.’ Opinion & Conclusion: Moreover, the reason I personally like this building so much is partly because I love the conservation of historic buildings and it is one of the main reasons I have a passion in architecture in the first place, I like the buildings long pillars and open court space, incorporated with the concrete stone bricks that layer amongst each other as the fortress grows upwards. I also like how even though the site's style is supposed to juxtapose the surrounding urban living, the site still looks in place and blends in nicely with its modern surroundings. The other reason I like this specific building is because I grew up in Hong Kong myself, so as a child I would hear my family talking about the restoration of the building. In conclusion, I believe that this site is an opportunity for other architects around the world to see how they can still preserve old buildings and not completely demolish historical architecture, at the same time being able to transform space into something innovative and useful to fit every purpose. Upon my recent visit to Spain, I of course had to see the La Sagrada Familia as a young aspiring architect and witness the intricate attention to detail. My school set a writing assignment in regards to our favourite architectural designs, I thought since I had just seen the Sagrada Familia myself, I should write a research piece on it as that is one of the best ways I preserve knowledge, by combining my visual aspects with internet articles. Here is the submitted essay:
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