The Economist Building/Smithson Plaza
Smithson Plaza, formerly The Economist Building
A talk by Deborah Saunt
Tuesday 17th September 2024, 1900hrs
At the Alan Baxter Gallery, London EC1, and streamed
Book free tickets, Docomomo UK members only
Book tickets for Docomomo UK non-members (online and in person), £12
Since its completion in 1964 by Alison and Peter Smithson, The Economist St James', as it was formerly known, has featured prominently in journals, history books, fashion shoots and cult films such as Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blow-Up" (1966).
It has also been a key destination for any architectural student interested in the modern movement and in 1988, it was Grade II* listed.
In this talk Deborah will describe DSDHA’s challenge in undertaking its refurbishment in 2016 which demanded that they establish a constructive dialogue between the project “as found”, its history and its genesis in 1964 following a limited competition and its role in the wider appreciation of modernism.
The talk will review how, crucially, DSDHA engaged in research and debate into the Smithsons' attitude towards their own project and the issue of change and evolution in architecture. In their own writings, the Smithsons described the Plaza as an open-ended, highly flexible set of buildings composed of elements with both long-term and short-term lifespans.
After its completion in 1964, Alison and Peter Smithson continually revisited the project to make new appraisals, which they then crystallised in writing, drawings, lectures and photography. As part of their refurbishment of the complex, DSDHA studied this archive closely, alongside other contemporary literature, and conducted first-hand research on the ground, observing how people occupy and move through the space and setting this against the Smithson’s own self-appraisal. All this informed DSDHA’s approach, the first phase of which was completed in July 2018 and saw the buildings repaired, with new lobbies for both the residential and office towers and the plaza paving resurfaced.
The talk will review this initial phase of work and how further adaptations, interventions and improvements have been made to the Plaza.
Deborah Saunt is an architect, writer and academic. She is the Founding Director of DSDHA, the widely acclaimed architecture, landscape and research studio, whose work to date has been recognised by 20 RIBA Awards, shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize, and twice nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award.
Deborah is also a Founding Director of the London School of Architecture, which focuses on broadening access to the profession and building new collaborative forms of research and practice.
Known for their high-profile urban strategies, landscapes and innovative buildings, often in complex and sensitive environments, as well as widely-acclaimed research, recent and ongoing DSDHA projects have included the disruption of the monoculture of the typical perceived audience of the City of London with Exchange Square - a new park above Liverpool Street Station, reinvention of the National Youth Theatre’s London headquarters, the redesign of the public realm around the Royal Albert Hall, the public realm framework for
the West End Project including the reimagining of Tottenham Court Road. Other major projects by the Studio include the refurbishment of London’s iconic Economist Plaza in St James and a new mixed-use building on Piccadilly for The Crown Estate.
Much of her current work is concerned with democratising architecture, having set up the Jane Drew Prize in Architecture, and helping to redefine the role of architecture in the 21st century.