A Rippling Townhouse Facade by Alex Chinneck Takes a Seat in a London Square

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/05/alex-chinneck-a-week-at-the-knees/

46•surprisetalk•8mo ago

Comments

readthenotes1•8mo ago

More money than sense.

In the UK is it more money than pense? (a play on pensive)

recursive•8mo ago

Personally, I think it's OK, and maybe even good, if sometimes humans do things for aesthetic purposes instead of paperclip optimization.

impossiblefork•8mo ago

While fun I always feel that grass and trees are basically always nicer than this kind of thing.

It feels like a human imposition on nature, that we decide that we are to have this brick thing here, instead of whatever grew there.

Maybe if it were a tunnel it would be okay.

pimlottc•8mo ago

It is a tunnel, you can walk through it.

> However ‘A week at the knees’ is technically more sophisticated in every way. It also offers a more immersive experiences for audiences, who can walk directly beneath and behind the sculpture, enjoying it from multiple angles.

https://fadmagazine.com/2025/05/20/a-week-at-the-knees-alex-...

impossiblefork•8mo ago

Yes, but what I meant by a tunnel is that a tunnel doesn't take away surface space whereas this does.

pimlottc•8mo ago

I’m not sure what you mean, like an underground tunnel?

impossiblefork•8mo ago

Yes.

pimlottc•8mo ago

Then how would you see the artwork?

TeaBrain•8mo ago

It's a small temporary art installation that takes virtually no space on the town square.

recursive•8mo ago

How about houses? I live in one. Maybe you do too. Are those an imposition?

If they are, surely they're a bigger one.

impossiblefork•8mo ago

To some degree, yes. But we also need them. They aren't just decoration or something to satisfy our desire to build.

recursive•8mo ago

What about an art museum whose purpose is to provide a place to show and view art? What about a concert venue?

appreciatorBus•8mo ago

I'm inclined to agree, esp since this is in a park. That said, the article suggests it's part of festival and is just a temporary exhibit, so I don't think any trees were sacrificed for the sake of overly precious architectural fantasies.

Zardoz89•8mo ago

You are missing the trees for the forest.

Reason077•8mo ago

This is an urban square in the middle of London, not a nature park. There hasn't been a natural landscape here for thousands of years.

mhandley•8mo ago

It's only there for a month.

egypturnash•8mo ago

I wanna play this skateboarding game. :)

aaron695•8mo ago

> 7,000 bricks

Not sure this is true from a construction shot -

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1102267448604760&set=pc...

ajb•8mo ago

They are probably "brick slips" IE thin cosmetic bricks, not full bricks.

Hmm looks from that shot that the door doesn't open; I was wondering about that.

hn_throwaway_99•8mo ago

The windows on this were extremely impressive to me. That is, I feel like this would have been way easier if all the windows were just on flat sections, but one set of windows have about their bottom third on the bottom curve, meaning he had to fabricate curved window frames and curved window panes, which seems really difficult to me. He could have easily "cheated" and put those windows just a tad higher so they were fully on the vertical back wall. Making them with that curve just shows a crazy attention to detail and really added to the illusion of the brick sculpture feeling like a flexible rug.

recursive•8mo ago

Seems like a great example of "bumping the lamp".

https://factsandfigment.com/bump-the-lamp/

jandrewrogers•8mo ago

I used to live in an apartment built in 1910 with curved window panes. While not common they must not have been too difficult to fabricate if needed, even a century ago.

ajb•8mo ago

Curved glass is easier in the historical method, because flat glass was made by blowing a large bottle and flattening a piece of it against something before it set (which is why you could only get small flat panes). So to get a curve you'd just shape it against something the right curve.

I'm not sure how you get curved glass today. Possibly you have to start with a flat sheet and heat it until it can be bent.

natpalmer1776•8mo ago

I’m genuinely curious as to how you acquired knowledge on old glassmaking techniques without also being familiar with modern techniques.

ajb•7mo ago

It's fairly common to see old techniques demonstrated, as those are the ones practical on an artisanal scale. I would guess the modern techniques are practiced in fewer locations, although obviously they account for the vast majority of glass production. But I'd have thought a pool of molten metal is not the kind of thing a small workshop can just keep around .

adammarples•8mo ago

Where is it?

tim333•8mo ago

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Charterhouse+Square,+Bar...

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A Rippling Townhouse Facade by Alex Chinneck Takes a Seat in a London Square

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