The Lisson Gallery

We can all identify with those pivotal moments that change the way we think about a subject. Whether it's something you see, hear or feel, we immediately experience a deeper understanding. This is exactly how I felt when I discovered the Lisson Gallery by Tony Fretton Architects. It's minimalist architecture that creates the ultimate effect, it makes sense of a socially and visually challenging location, it serves a higher purpose. I have illustrated this post with some of my own drawings.

52-54 Bell Street, Edgware Road, 1991-1992 date of project,
£500,000 cost, Tony Fretton Architects, Price & Myers 
Structural Engineers, E.C.Sames Main Contractor
Source: Tonyfretton.com

The Lisson Gallery was founded in 1967 by Nicholas Logsdail. It is an influential contemporary gallery to this day, praised for encouraging the careers of many great artists. A legacy of British sculptors and International artists such as Anish Kapoor, Ai Weiwei and Sol LeWitt have adorned the exhibiting spaces with their work. To see more information on past and current exhibitors visit: http://www.lissongallery.com/artists.

The artist, Dan Graham explores the spatial relationships between interior and exterior, the correlation between architecture and sculpture, and connections between the work of the art and its beholder. He has shown his work in the gallery numerous times since 1972, always exploring similar themes of engagement between architectural environments and their inhabitants. Through the media of photography, drawing, sculpture and videography he has explored these ideals. "The pavilions draw attention to buildings as instruments of expression, psychological strongholds, markers of social change and prisms through which we view others and ourselves, (lissongallery.com/artists/dan-graham).

Dan Graham: Pavilion Sculptures and Photographs, 1991-1992,
source: Lissongallery.com/exhibitions/dan-graham

The famous gallery was initially the result of two phases of construction. The first face of the gallery was the Lisson Street facade. The elevation of the once derelict building, rhymes with neighbouring shop fronts in a traditional way. The gallery became a significant mechanism in displaying the work of emerging talents, it was only natural for the building needs to grow with its success.

The Lisson Street facade

The plans of the original gallery

The second phase of the Lisson gallery arrived in the form of the iconic Bell Street facade. This elevation opened up the gallery to social engagement, very much like Graham's sculptural pavilions, there are spaces which are exposed to the adjoining street. The atmosphere of the exhibition space is different to that of the Lisson Street building in that it is socially more inviting and exploratory.

Passers by experience the art from the street,
Source: Tonyfretton.com

The facade is simple, it compliments its surroundings and it is a contemporary interpretation of it's surrounding shop fronts. It bears the same practicalities as it's neighbours' in terms of privacy, the lower floors are visually exposed whereas the 2nd and 3rd floors offer a haven of private space. The materials and spaces alike are minimalist, the technical details are elegant and appear to be simple upon a first glance.

The Bell Street facade as designed
by Tony Fretton Architects

The 1st floor plan and the long-section of the Bell Street building

The existing building links to the newer Bell Street facade across a complex site.  The project is unique in that it combines two facades, on two different streets. The result is an irregular, L-shaped plan.The two buildings, though linked via the first floor were intended to carry their own identity, the joining of the two was to be a discovery.

A collage showing the irregularities of the site,
source: tonyfretton.com 

Over time the needs of the gallery have changed, there is another building offering smaller spaces across the road also on Bell Street and more recently new buildings in Milan and New York. It is one of the longest-running contemporary art galleries in the world. If you are yet to visit then I would highly recommend it, be it for the art or the architecture, there is something for all you creatives to take away from it!