Stirk contrasts

摘要

Perhaps you're thinking 'It's not very Richard Rogers-y, is it?' while looking at photos of the British Museum's newest building, the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre (WCEC), by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Maybe you're jabbing a finger at the AJ's website, or the magazine, asking yourself: 'Where are the ducts? The bright colours? The expressive structure that shows how the building stands up?' Well, that's OK. You can think that if you want to. But you' be wrong.Wrong, because alongside the more exuberant buildings to emerge from the stable that brought us the Pompidou, Lloyds and the Bordeaux Law Courts - big, institutional buildings unafraid to declare their presence - there has always been another mode of expression in the RSHP studio: a subtler, calm, simple architecture that is sometimes hidden from view. The refurbishment of Billingsgate Market, a listed Thames-side warehouse, comes to mind. Its interior was given a highly serviced hi-tech refit way back in 1988 but, from the outside, toughened glass on the ground level arcade is the only hint vou'll set of the overhaul.