Buildings in use
Leeds Corn Exchange:
This is one of those buildings from the outside looks quite nondescript and uninteresting, however when you step through the doors any preconceptions you may have had are taken away. The building inside is light and airy and has an almost tardis effect when you walk through the door. I'm sure this building has not always looked so splendid and I'm sure in its day when used as a corn exchange, my opinions would have been completely different. Today it is used to house boutique shops and is host to many ceremonies and party,s and to that end works very well, Its style and grandeur is befitting any occasion that were to be hosted there.
When photographing this building I wanted to try and display its grandness while still trying to pick out the important features in the building that makes it what it is. The roof is undoubtedly the
Pièce de résistance of the structure allowing the light to flood in.
Designed
by Cuthbert Brodrick, a Hull architect best known for Leeds Town Hall,
this Grade I listed structure was completed in 1862 and opened on 28
July 1863. Leeds Corn Exchange is now just one of three Corn Exchanges
in the country which operates in its traditional capacity as a centre
for trade, albeit no longer for trading in corn
Originally built to house corn dealers and merchants in the mid- 19th
century, the Exchange is now an upmarket ‘independent fashion outlet’,
having previously been used to house ’alternative’ fashion stores,
record and vintage sales, animal shows, leather markets and a war
memorial. Following the decline in agriculture the Exchange was used
much less frequently by corn dealers and even faced demolition in the
mid-20th century
The building is estimated to have cost £26,000 (although some sources
claim £32,000); the old building had cost £12,500 just 34 years
earlier. The impressive structure served as a reminder that although a
hive of industry, Leeds still stood as a major centre for marketing
agricultural produce.
The continuing success of the agricultural industry meant that the
Exchange continued to be used for trade 6 days a week into the early
20th century, and the building had also found other uses- as a war
memorial in 1925, for leather markets, and for dog and cat, mouse, and
bird shows.
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| Corn Exchange 1 |
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| Corn Exchange 2 |
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| Corn Exchange 3 |
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| Corn Exchange 4 |
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Corn Exchange 5
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Fountains Abbey:
Fountains Abbey is one of my favorite places to go and take photographs, It is steeped in history and as you are walking through the ruins you can almost imagine what it would have been like with Cistercian monks busy walking up and down the long corridors. Whilst this building is no longer in use for its intended purpose, it now has a new use it is a top north Yorkshire visitor attraction managed by the national trust.
Because this site is managed by the national trust the times of entry are limited, I have always wanted to photograph the abbey at dawn or dusk to get it in the best light but unfortunately not managed to.
Because of the sheer size of the abbey there is lots of different angles to shoot from, I believe the shots I have chosen would give somebody who has never seen it before a fairly good understanding of its size and scale. The first 5 shots were taken on the same day the last one being taken on a somewhat sunnier day, For this shot I took five bracketed shots and merged to HDR in photoshop.
Fountains was the second of the Yorkshire houses to be founded. In spite of its rather inauspicious beginnings, Fountains became the largest and richest of the Northern abbeys and headed an extensive family that extended to the shores of Norway. Fountains stemmed from the Benedictine house of St Mary’s, York, where a group of reform-minded monks fled from their abbey to pursue a harsher and more disciplined way of monastic life. They were at first sheltered by Archbishop Thurstan, who assumed the role of patron and adviser. Thurstan later settled the community on land at Skeldale, near his archiepiscopal manor at Ripon. The monks were not at this time part of the Cistercian community, but were soon welcomed within the family of White Monks.
The community
suffered severe hardships in its early years and was on the
point of disbanding. However, the arrival of several wealthy
recruits brought a change in fortunes and secured the abbey's future.
Recruitment and
endowment flourished thereafter and by the late twelfth century
Fountains had lands in over two hundred places. Throughout the
Middle Ages Fountains played a prominent role in Cistercian, ecclesiastical
and political affairs.
Indeed, Abbot Henry
Murdac (1144-7) spearheaded
opposition to William Fitzherbert's appointment to the see of
York. Fountains also made an important contribution to poor relief
during the famine of 1194-6 that afflicted Western Europe. The
community helped a
number of
needy souls
who flocked to the abbey gates, extending spiritual and bodily
care.
Fountains
experienced financial problems in the 1290s and, like all of the
northern houses,
fell
victim to
the
Scots
in the early fourteenth century. The abbey recovered its fortunes
in the fifteenth century and by the time of the Dissolution Fountains
was
the richest Cistercian abbey in Britain and the twenty-fourth
wealthiest house in the country.
Today, the ruins at Fountains include some of
the most significant Cistercian remains in Europe, notably, the
twelfth-century
western range and the oldest surviving Cistercian water-mill. Excavations
at Fountains have uncovered the remains of the first timber buildings,
which were begun in 1134.
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| Fountains Abbey 1 |
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| Fountains Abbey 2 |
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| Fountains Abbey 3 |
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Fountains Abbey 4
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Fountains Abbey 5
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| Fountains Abbey 6 |
| (5 shot bracketed HDR rendered in photoshop) | |
The Victoria Quarter
The Victoria Quarter in Leeds is not just one building but rather a series of buildings all in-terconnected into a shopping arcade. I choose this buildings as its quite an iconic building.
The glass roof alows plenty of light through to make it feel light and spacial and shows of the mosiac and marble in its natural colours. Its very difficult to photograph without getting people in the shot as it is such a busy area of the city. I do think however that having some people in the first shot does give it a sens of scale and purpose.
The Victoria Quarter is an upmarket shopping area in Leeds. It consists of three blocks situated between Briggate and Vicar Lane, comprising County Arcade, Cross Arcade, Queen Victoria Street and King Edward Street.
The development was built around 1900 and designed by the theatre architect Frank Matcham, and originally included the Empire Palace Theatre, whichwas demolished in the 1960s. The exteriors are largely of faience from the Burmantofts Pottery, and the interiors of the arcades contain a number of mosaics and plentiful use of marble.
The Quarter was restored in phases between 1990 and 1996, during which a
coloured glass roof was erected over Queen Victoria Street.
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| The Victoria Quarter 1 |
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| The Victoria Quarter 2 |
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| The Victoria Quarter 3 |
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| The Victoria Quarter 4 |
Princess Exchange Leeds
The next building was quite an easy choice, it is one of the most modern looking building in the city and is also where I work. The design is quite unique with strong angles and curves all mixed together. I have tried not to make any of these shots arcitectural but rather show the strong lines of the building and the uniqueness of the design.
Princes’ Exchange is one of the most striking recent additions to the
Cityscape of Leeds. As part of a larger scheme which includes the
restoration of the listed Art Deco North Concourse of Leeds City
Station, the creation of a new waterside piazza, and a large
multi-storey car park, the 10,000 sq m (107,000 sq ft) office has
provided the Leeds Headquarters for DLA, the National Legal Practice.
careyjones
architects has a long standing relationship with Teesland Development
Co Ltd, and the two companies have worked closely together on a range of
large scale commercial developments in many locations throughout
Britain.
With Teesland’s joint venture partners, Railtrack,
careyjones architects designed and delivered this scheme which has made
one of the most significant contributions to the regeneration of the
centre of Leeds, and the redevelopment of the riverside as the new ‘west
end’ business district of the city.
Princess Exchange won the
BCO Award for the Best Office Building in the North of England 2001.
This has become a signature of careyjones architects’ architecture,
where superb lighting enhances the high quality design.
Princes
Exchange is a landmark in Leeds that is located next to the River Aire
and the railway station, and can be seen when you arrive in the City by
train.
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| Princess Exchange 1 |
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| Princess Exchange 2 |
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| Princess Exchange 3 |
Whitley Court
And finally come to my final selection for this assignment, Whitley Court, in its day I'm sure would rival the likes of Buckingham palace. When photographing this building i wanted to try and display its sense of scale and with a bit of imagination you could imagine actually what it would have looked like.
Witley Court in Worcestershire, England
is a Grade 1 listed building and was once one of the great houses of
the Midlands, but today it is a spectacular ruin after being devastated
by fire in 1937. It was built by Thomas Foley in 1655 on the site of a former manor house near Great Witley. Subsequent additions were designed by John Nash
in the early 19th century and the Court was subsequently bought by the
Dudley family in 1837. The site was acquired in 1953 by its current
owners, the Wigington Family of Stratford-upon-Avon, for £20,000, and is
in the guardianship of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and
Sport, and managed on its behalf by English Heritage since 1984.
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| Witley Court 1 |
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| Witley Court 2 |
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| Witley Court 3 |
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| Witley Court 4 |
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| Witley Court 5 |
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In summary
A challenging assignment that on first appearnce sounds quite easy, but as with many of these exercises the more you involve yourself the more challenging they become.
The buildings I have chosen represent the the most modern to some that are hundreds of years old. I tried to get a cross section that represents something from our past and something from our present. There are an infinite number of ways to photograph these buildings none of which are more or less right than the other, with so many factors to consider what might look good one day be not look so good on another.
On the whole I think I have picked out the important features in all of these buildings that make them all unique and individual.
