Jamie Fobert Architects
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Instagram @JamieFobert
28th Nov 2022

@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

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16th Oct 2022

@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

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23rd Jul 2022

@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.

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29th Jun 2022

@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

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10th Jun 2022

@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.

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12th May 2022

@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

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10th May 2022

@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

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25th Jun 2020

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

Instagram @JamieFobert
5th Jun 2020

“… hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr .
.
.
.
I am replacing my blackouttuesday squares with a few quotations from the great man.

Instagram @JamieFobert
20th Apr 2020

Thank you Peter for the lovely post! #Repost @peterjakewilliams with @make_repost
・・・
The highlight of my East to West morning ride was stumbling on @jamiefobert stunning Levring House. Beautifully detailed and super articulation on a tricky mews corner. What was really lovely was a clearly still, five years on, thrilled client came out to say hello from the balcony (appropriately socially distanced) and tell me all about it. It’s always lovely to see a client in love with their home.
#bloomsbury #jamiefobertarchitects #londonarchitecture #modernhouses #romanbrick #brickwork #bronze #themodernhouse #mewshouse #mewshouses

Instagram @JamieFobert
2nd Apr 2020

This morning was meant to have been my Investiture at Buckingham Palace. Oh well, its postponement is clearly insignificant in the face of the current health crisis. But on Sunday, on our cross city cycle (permitted once a day exercise) we stopped and took this pic at the deserted palace. It’s the closest I’ll get this week.#cbe #queenshonourslist #buckinghampalace #desertedlondon #cycle #london #architect #somethingtolookforwardto

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27th Feb 2020

Night shots, looking up from the courtyard of our recently completed house in Primrose Hill. #brick #concrete #travertine A big thank you to @gregjcohen and @evieccohen for a wonderful dinner in their new home. #amazingclients #lovelyfamily

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6th Feb 2020

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

Instagram @JamieFobert
2nd Feb 2020

On Friday we went to Dublin to see the cladding mock-up for a house under construction there. The cladding is an extruded unglazed ceramic. The form of the extrusion was developed through numerous tests in the studio, cut in foam, before the dye was cut. The vertical ribs move from shallow to deep across the surface, catching the light and creating depth. #architecture #ceramic #cladding #contemporaryarchitecture #dublin #facade #design #ceramicacumella @ceramicacumella

Instagram @JamieFobert
17th Jan 2020

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

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29th Dec 2019

So, much to my surprise I have been appointed a COMMANDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE (C.B.E.) in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours Lists. As a Canadian immigrant to this country I never expected anything like this would happen. I was more than content that I had been able to practice here for the past 30 years with such a great team to work along side and on so many wonderful projects, with the most incredible set of clients any architect could hope for. I owe so much to so many. (And ,yes, my middle name is Earl, named after a dear uncle) #cbe #queenshonours2020
#architecture #honour #amazingnews #thankyou

Instagram @JamieFobert
18th Dec 2019

DOMUS magazine (December issue) announces that @davidchipperfield will be its guest editor for 2020. I was very happy to contribute to this introductory issue with a short text recalling a moment from the beginning of David’s extraordinary career. #davidchipperfield #architecture #domus @domusweb #italianarchitecture @showstudio @nick_knight #editor #rememberanceofthingspast

Instagram @JamieFobert
16th Dec 2019

A wonderful studio visit to the magical São Lourenço Do Barrocal in central Portugal. Primarily to let everyone visit the site of a new house project we have there but also to have our Christmas Celebration, in great style. The house will be on a vast estate of vines, olives and beautiful cattle not far from these restored agricultural buildings which Eduardo Souto de Moura converted (with a very light touch) into a hotel. The simple rural vernacular is beautiful. #portugal #architecture #vernacular #rural

Instagram @JamieFobert
12th Dec 2019

It’s been great to watch how brands have been occupying our aluminium frames in The SELFRIDGES Men’s Streetwear Department over the past year. The imaginative additions and playful use of materials all set against the consistent repetition of the frame. Here are a few recent additions. @theyellowdrop @theofficialselfridges @meldabur #retail #streetwear #selfridges #aluminium #framework #architecture

Instagram @JamieFobert
10th Dec 2019

A big thank you to THE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW for their article on Kettle’s Yard in the December issue. A very interesting text by @eabeaumont on the evolution from private house to public building, drawing on other examples as well. @thearchitecturalreview @kettlesyard #cambridge #gallery #kettlesyard #house #jimede #art #contemporaryart #contemporaryarchitecture #architecture #brick #domesticspace @andrewnairne

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