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@JamieFobert

For the past few days the JFA team have been exploring Matera, Basilicata, Italy, an ancient city carved out of the tufa (soft limestone) cliffs of a steep ravine. For thousands of years the people of Matera lived in Sassi, cave homes, and worshiped in churches carved into the cliffs. Poverty and disease propelled the Italian government to forcibly drive the people from these homes into a New Town built on the plateau above. In 1964 the abandoned city was used as the setting of Jerusalem in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s ‘The Gospel of St. Matthew’ (6th image). But in the past decades the old city has come back to life, maybe with a few too many hotels and restaurants, but the fabric is extraordinary. A single material city of immense beauty. The churches carved in tufa with fragments of frescos dating back to the 10th century were so moving.
And the laughter of the team at our Xmas dinner and late night Christmas quiz (thanks to @thomas_longley) made it all the more wonderful.

#matera #city #architecture #caves #fresco #stones #italy #magical

@JamieFobert

It’s been four years since I last walked on the roof terrace of Tate St Ives. We created it as a public space for the town, with places to sit and look out to sea, as well as a more gentle route from town down to the beach.

Here are a few shots:

1) the ceramic clad pavilion reflected the sloping glass of the light chambers.
2) A granite clad light chamber frames a view to the sea.
3) The slight tilt of the hand glazed shiplap tiles reflects the colours of the changing sky.
4) Here the complex layering of colours is seen, even a purple hue emerged in the centre.
5) The granite chapels of St Ives cemetery seen beyond the final light chamber of the landscape.
6) People from the town using the route down to the beach.

#tate #tatestives #landscape #granite #form #local

@JamieFobert

“Nubia Way – A Story of Black-led Self Building”
has just been released on YouTube.

It is a short film that tells the story of a group of individuals who built their own homes in a back lot in Lewisham, south London, surrounded by an often hostile housing estate. Many of the original house builders still live on the street and the combination of original film footage and recent interviews is insightful and beautiful. Their pride in their work – “it was hard, but never harsh”, makes this film a powerful piece of architectural history.

Watch it – it is so good!
A gentle yet powerful reminder of how our current house building is failing.

Congratulations to @roznaii for her role in making this happen. Very happy to have been able to support the making of this film in a small way.

@JamieFobert

It has been three weeks since my investiture and I’ve finally got round to making a compilation of photos of the party by the wonderful photographer @olivier_hess.

There were many more but I thought these gave a flavour of what a wonderful afternoon and evening we had in the garden of Rochelle, where I am so lucky to have my studio. It was an amazing day, surrounded by my brother and two sisters who came from Canada, as well as so many dear friends and even a few architects.

Thank you to @rochellecanteen for the amazing food and to @bennaschellhorn and @laurajanefrench for organising everything so perfectly.

A day I’ll never forget.

#investitureparty #party #architecture #london #shoreditch #family #friends #colleagues #sograteful #wonderfulday

@JamieFobert

Two years and six months after having been made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) I was finally able to have the investiture on Wednesday morning.

The day was beautiful and my brother and two sisters from Canada came to Windsor with Dom and me. Prince Charles did the ceremony and we had a brief chat about the work we are doing at the National Portrait Gallery. I don’t recall exactly what I said that generated the laugh in the first photo, but I think I said we’d do our best to get his family portraits back on the walls as soon as we could.

The visit to Windsor was followed by an afternoon and evening of celebration. Photos of these to follow.

While the honour and the ceremony were lovely, it was the day surrounded by family, colleagues, supporters and friends that left me with a deep sense of gratitude.

@JamieFobert

After over a year of construction at the @nationalportraitgallery I am able to share with you a first view of our work there.
The NPG have released a short film showing the opening up of three windows in the north façade to create a new entrance. To connect this new hall to the public realm on Charing Cross Road a bridge was required to span the historic courtyard. The solution is a precast bridge in five sections, cast in Northern Ireland and installed in one tense night. Its curvaceous form, we hope, will open the gallery to a much wider public.

With thanks to Moore Concrete, Ballymena, Co. Antrim for their perfect execution and to Gilbert Ash @gilbertashnews our amazing contractors.

#nationalportraitgallery #london #gallerywall #portraitgallery #historic #historicfabric #bridge #precast #stonework #connection @heritagefunduk

@JamieFobert

I’m very happy that JFA’s House in Primrose Hill has been awarded an RIBA London Award.

The text that accompanied the award is very concise and beautifully written. (Thank you to @carol_macbain, who, with the RIBA team, wrote the text).

https://www.architecture.com/awards-and-competitions-landing-page/awards/riba-regional-awards/riba-london-award-winners/2022/house-in-primrose-hill

#london #architecture #house #contemporaryarchitecture #historic #historicfabric #amazingclients #primrosehill

Over the past few weeks I’ve been spending time creating observational studies in pencil and watercolour. They are reflections on the nature of the light as it alters through the day on the tiled facade of our building at Tate St Ives. The tiles were hand-glazed in multiple layers of green and blue onto pale yellow ceramic. Tilted gently upward they capture the light and shifting sky of St Ives. In series – Dusk – Midday – Dawn. These studies are, as has been noted, very much influenced by the work of the great Agnes Martin, who is without a doubt one of my favourite artists. But for me they remain architectural drawings, grounded in the language of the measured drawing and material representation. @tate @tatestives #tatestives #watercolour #elevations #cornwall #ceramics #glaze #architecture #architecturedrawings #measureddrawing #ephemeral #shifting

Following on from my last post I thought I would share the material explorations we did in the studio for the ceramic cladding for the Dublin house. The first three shots are of a study where 16 pieces were hand cut in foam at 1:1 but with a reduced height. These allowed us to study the effect of various stacking formations. The last three photos are of a 1:1 study we made in the studio in clay. The form was made by dragging a cut timber plate across the surface of the wet clay, simulating the extrusion process. Next to it, in the last shot, is the first prototype in a pale ceramic, that @ceramicacumella produced from our design. #architecture #ceramic #ceramicstudy #clay #experimentation #contemporaryarchitecture #dublin #house

What a difficult task I was set yesterday! Nine young people, all under 19, spoke for 10 minutes each about a work of art they admire. Nine amazing, passionate and powerful talks, and I was asked to adjudicate, deciding who would go forward to the London finals. The whole uk wide event is called ARTiculation, and it is an inspired initiative; giving young people a platform to hone there skills in public speaking and the confidence to put their own ideas forward with clarity and passion. What an amazing thing to see. But horrible to chose two to go forward when, honestly, they were all amazing. Thank you to the team of ARTiculation for making this great event happen all across the UK. #articulationprise #articulation #art #arthistory #publicspeaking #v&a https://www.articulation.org.uk/. @articulationprize