“Members of the public often only have a vague idea of how an architect works out a design”, says says Charles Hind, the Chief Curator at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
It’s a fair statement. Architecture is something that surrounds us all, yet few would know how a building *actually* comes to be, let alone the complexities involved.
In the architectural community at least, it’s well-known that steep slopes can inspire innovative cantilevered designs, while small spaces often lead to efficient, thoughtful solutions, and Hind believes working on complex locations encourages designers to go beyond conventional methods and think more creatively. Now, he wants to tell these stories to the general public, and is doing so at a new show at London’s RIBA gallery.
‘Difficult Sites: Architecture Against the Odds’ showcases over 20 projects on tricky sites dating back to the 1900s. It’s free to attend, and promises a “deep dive” into each of the backstories. “The concept for the exhibition was based on the idea that architects produce their best work when working on a site with particular difficulties,” says Hind – defining a “difficult site” as one where architects must deal with complex issues such as flooding risk, challenging archaeological conditions, or complicated underground infrastructure.
Boasting work by iconic British architects such as Nicholas Grimshaw, Neave Brown, and Norman Foster the display features a range of UK schemes, from homes near railway lines to structures at heightened risk of flooding. “Visitors will see several very different buildings that would not normally be grouped,” says Pete Collard, RIBA’s exhibition curator. “We’ve brought together a range of materials relating to the featured projects, with a mix of models, sketches, and photographs” he adds.
The exhibition is split into three sections: ‘Reworks’, ‘Landscape’ and ‘Urban Spaces’. “These are very much a light touch arrangement, though, as several buildings could have been in more than one section,” says Collard, referring to just how complex some projects were.
“The successful solutions might seem obvious once a building is complete, but they required a lot of hard work and careful consideration”
In the ‘Difficult Landscapes’ section, visitors will see how architects navigate complex terrain issues through projects such as Creek Vean House, a scheme built into the steep banks of a Cornish River, and Grimshaw’s iconic Eden Project, constructed in a former quarry. Hind believes that a challenging landscape is one where architects must manage water-related issues, such as Knox Bhavan’s March House, which hovers above a floodplain.
“When a commission presents particular challenges, the successful solutions might seem obvious once a building is complete, but they required a lot of hard work and careful considerations,” he adds.
The ‘Difficult Urban Spaces’ area features 28 ½ Lansdowne Crescent, a Grade II listed house built within a narrow gap in central London. In this zone, you can also learn about the monumental British Library, designed with tube lines underneath the site, and the low-rise, high-density housing scheme Alexandra Estate, which backed up directly onto Euston railway line.
Finally, ‘Difficult Reworkings’ highlights how architects have smartly reimagined structures, and the challenges involved in doing so. Wilkinson Eyre’s transformation of a derelict steelworks into a museum and Tonkin Liu’s conversion of a water tower into a house feature, alongside Ptolemy Dean Architects’ 30m tall extension to Westminster Abbey, completed in 2018. Before this, there hadn’t been any structural extensions to the church since 1745 when the Western Towers were added.
The RIBA worked with women-led architecture practice vPPR for the exhibition design and London-based firm Twelve for the graphics. vPPR used recycled foam padding which is typically used in playground design to create a landscape for visitors to pass through inside the exhibition.
‘Difficult Sites: Architecture Against the Odds’ will be on show at the RIBA until March 29th, 2025.
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