Alison and Peter Smithson for the extension of the University of Sheffield. A language of architecture in between, drawings and words

Abstract

The project for the University of Sheffield extension delivered by Alison and Peter Smithson in 1953 – the first in a long series developed by the British couple on the subject – represents a significant clue to interpret the basics of a rethinking in the language of architecture. The fervent period of post-war British reconstruction – and especially in the university building sector – afforded a rich opportunity for British architects to question themselves on the role and meanings to be sought and attributed to architecture. Through a crossover study involving both the plans and the written descriptions proposed by the authors themselves, the competition entry provides a lens through which to interrogate, decode, and interpret the formulation of an architectural language for the Smithsons with an unremitting antagonism between formal choice and theoretical intention.

Keywords

• smithson
• università
• linguaggio dell’architettura