The Red House : The home of Arts and Crafts
The Red House it’s the iconic Arts and Crafts home located in Bexleyheath, and passion project of the English textile designer, artist and writer William Morris.
This was the only house that the designer William Morris ever built, collaborating with the architect Philip Webb and is a building of extraordinary architectural and social significance. Both designers were influenced by medieval design, and had the ambition to celebrate the manufacturing process and the skill of the craftsmen. Morris and Webb designed the house in a simplified Gothic style. The features of
this style include historicizing elements such as steep roofs, prominent chimney and exposed-beam ceilings, all present in Red House. They also viewed the Gothic as a more suitable style for Northern Europe because it originated in France, a northern country, as opposed to the classical forms of ancient Greece and Rome.
The use of exposed red brick for the exterior both gave the house its name and reveals the innate beautyof the construction materials.
The L-shaped plan of the house allows the house to embrace the gardensas a part of the domestic sphere, as well as creates an asymmetry that is typical of traditional Gothicstructures that were built over long periods of time. Besides, Webb, Morris, his wife, Jane, and the painter Edward Burne-Jones all worked together to design everything in the home, from the wallpaper to thebuilt-in cabinets and furniture, so that all celebrated the beauty of nature and the medieval guild ideal.
The white-painted settle, designed by William Morris
The drawing room is dominated by a huge settle, designed by Morris
for his previous quarters in Red Lion Square and adapted by Webb.
It has three doors painted with scenes from Dante – a wedding present
from Rossetti. Regarding the canopy and the ladder at the side, they
were added by Webb to create a little minstrels’ gallery and give
access to the loft door.
The dining table, designed by William Morris
The oak dining table with legs that carry out the house’s
castle turret theme is a good example of celebrating
simple, utilitarian design and craftsmanship.
The Isokon Gallery – The early Modernism
Founded in 1929, Isokon aimed to bring the new ‘international style’ of modernist design that was emerging across Europe to British homes. The Isokon’s narrative begins with a design firm of the same name, founded by Jack and Molly Pritchard and architect Wells Coates. Their debut project was to design an apartment building and its interior based on the principle of affordable, communal and well-designed inner-city living.
The Prichard’s also shared a deep appreciation of the ideas of Corbusier and the Bauhaus. Their visits to the Stuttgart’s Weissenhoff Estate and the Bauhaus School
in Dessau had made a huge impression and in the Prichard’s made a determined effort to plant the seeds of modernism and international style in archly conservative Britain. Besides this, Jack Pritchard was the Sales Manager of the company Venesta, which is the largest manufacturer of plywood in the world in the 1930s and as a result, plywood was exclusively used by Isokon’s furniture production.
The Isokon Long Chair, designed by Marcel Breuer between 1935 and 1936
The chair is considered one of the most important pieces of furniture to emerge
from the inter-war modern movement and it’s in the permanent collections of several internationally renowned museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum Breuer came to Britain in the mid-1930s following the closure of the Bauhaus by the Nazis. He became acquainted with Jack Pritchard, the owner of Isokon, whosuggested he design furniture for the company. Pritchard had become interested in the plywood designs of Alvar Aalto and wanted to produce similar furniture himself. The Long Chair was an adaptation of a previous design for an aluminium framed chaise Breuer had produced in 1932
The Penguin Donkey book stand, designed by Egon Riss in the late 1930’s
The Donkey’s name originates from its four legs and two side shelf compartments (their form resembling the panniers carried by a beast of burden, typically a donkey). At that time, Allen Lane, founder ofthe young publishing house Penguin Books, was inspired by the Donkey’s design.
2 Willow Road – The early Modernism
Willow Road is a terraced house designed in 1937 by the architect Erno Goldfinger, located in Hampstead, London. It is considered one of the finest examples of modernist housing in the UK. The building was constructed from concrete and red brick facing, a concession necessitated by the controversy of the plans. According to other modernist houses of the time, it comprised strong, clean lines, with exposed load-bearing concrete columns as part of a reinforced concrete frame, and a stretch
of continuous windows across the first floor.
The rooms are variously divided by raised levels and removable walls, allowing for the reconfiguration of interior spaces as and when required. The first floor is perhaps the most interesting space as it’s extremely flexible and it can either be a single large space or three separated rooms by a series of sliding doors.
Spiral staircase
Designed by the engineer Ove Arup
At the end of the entrance hall, there is a spiral staircase with concrete steps and an elegant brass handrail. The wedges of concrete stair treads are cantilevered from the surrounding core,avoiding the need for a central column. This allows light from a top floor skylight to flood down
Pedestal Desk, designed by Ernö Goldfinger
Inside the studio, there is a wood and laminate kneehole desk. The top is supported by four lacquered tubular legs and the drawers open on a pivot which means
that the back of the drawer is always easily accessible.
Used materials: Sapele, plywood, steel, brass and formica