Learning from the Tropics / [presented by] Maxwell Fry (Fry, Drew & Partners).

Format:

Sound recording

Contributor:

Fry, Maxwell, 1899-1987, narrator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architectural design--West Africa.

Architectural design.

Architectural design--India.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 video file (29 minutes)): sound, color

Place of Publication:

London, England: Pidgeon Digital, 1979.

Summary:

The late Maxwell Fry - pioneer of the Modern Movement in architecture in Britain and Royal Gold Medallist- was working in West Africa in the 1940s and 1950s with his wife/partner Jane Drew. New conditions made the traditional, annually-renewed, mud and thatch of African villages inappropriate. New materials had to be considered. They experienced for the first time the difficulty of protecting buildings from the sun, colossal heat, extreme humidity and near horizontal heavy rain. In the process of dealing with these and other problems, they developed a series of rule-of-thumb solutions which have since become the norm for tropical building. This produced a quite new kind of architecture that responded to tropical conditions, harnessing nature even for 'air-conditioning' a university library. In Chandigarh, where Fry and Drew worked with Le Corbusier in the 1950s, the same principles applied, except that here the sun proved a greater enemy than humidity. Additionally, there was a dust-laden breeze to contend with. Fry and Drew's recipe for a future in which energy sources are drying up is that we must learn to obey Nature's laws. "We have come to the end of the era of the faceless box completely supplied with artificial climate and artificial light".

Contents:

Maxwell Fry

West Africa - Wesley Girls' Secondary School, Cape Coast

West Africa - Staff House, Mfantsipim

West Africa - School Girls

West Africa - Climatic Regions. From 'Tropical Architecture' By Fry, Drew (Batsford 1956)

West Africa - Aburi Secondary School, Gold Coast

West Africa - Sun Control Diagrams. From 'Tropical Architecture' By Fry, Drew (Batsford 1956)

West Africa - Shade Diagram. From 'Tropical Architecture' By Fry, Drew (Batsford 1956). Shady College Hall

West Africa - Shade & Air Diagram. Aburi Girls Secondary School

West Africa - Perforated Screens, Queen Elizabeth College

West Africa - Sun Protection. Roofs

West Africa - Balcony At Abigadel Teacher Training College

West Africa - African Art Influence

West Africa - Ibadan University. Plan Model. Study-Bedroom Block

West Africa - Ibadan University Library

West Africa - Ibadan University. Library Balcony Corridor. Cross Section

Chandigarh - Judge's House

Chandigarh - Two Women's Colleges

Chandigarh - Two Examples Of Housing

Chandigarh - Workers' Housing

Chandigarh - House 9

Chandigarh - High Court By Le Corbusier

Chandigarh - Nurses' Home.

Notes:

Title from publisher's website (viewed April 19, 2021).

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.