Neighbours in Space and Time: Grafton Architects at the Soane Museum

Sir John Soane’s Museum is delighted to be collaborating with Grafton Architects on an exhibition that explores the relationship between two of the principal buildings on Lincoln’s Inn Fields: Grafton’s Marshall Building for the London School of Economics and Political Science and Sir John Soane’s Museum.

The Dublin-based firm, headed by 2020 Pritzker Prize Laureates and 2022 Daylight Award winners Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell, is a recent winner of the RIBA Gold Medal (2020), and the RIBA Stirling Prize (2021), and the Mies van der Rohe Award (2022). The exhibition examines shared themes and architectural values between the Marshall Building and the work of Sir John Soane.

Located at 44 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the Marshall Building and Sir John Soane’s Museum were both created as spaces for learning and debate, but are also sites of architectural experimentation in function, space and light. Both have Portland stone facades drawing the eye as they contrast solid masses and window recesses. The zenithal play of light within the Marshall Building resonates with Soane’s ability to ingeniously draw light down through his rooms, illuminating hidden corners and vistas in always intriguing ways.

Designed by Grafton for the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), the building sits directly across the square from Sir John Soane’s Museum. The two share commonalities in their function as sites of learning, but also in an architectural language that offers fresh insights on each visit. The Marshall Building’s layered façade of Portland stone, ingenious and dramatic use of natural light and the adoption of new technologies are modern translations of Soane’s approach to architecture, so revolutionary in his day.

Here, never-before-seen drawings by Grafton are paired with specially selected drawings from Sir John Soane’s archive to highlight these connections. They present a dialogue between two buildings and between architects separated by centuries, who share a craft.

Image: (left) a section through the Dome of Sir John Soane's Museum, by George Bailey, 1810; (right) the Marshall Building, section, by Grafton Architects.
Quan
19 October 2022 to 8 January 2023
On
Sir John Soane’s Museum
13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
WC2A 3BP London, Great Britain
Organitzador
Sir John Soane's Museum
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