KLEANTHIS KYRIAKOU

CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS COLLEGE OF ARTS AND

DESIGN
ESSAY IN CONTEXTUAL STUDIES
UNIT 3

AN ARCHITECTS POOL
2013

The aim of this paper is to explore the design and

social ideals, ethos and agendas of one of the
greatest architects and visionaries of the early 20th
century-Berthold Lubetkin. The paper then will
analyse what political, economical, social and
cultural events of the time played a critical and
essential role in constructing his approach in
architecture and design aesthetics. This analytical
examination will help form a deeper understanding
of Lubetkins work and in particular his iconic
Penguin Pool, in relation to the Modern utopia .
Berthold Lubetkin was born in Georgia in 1901.
Even though education was thought to be an
extraordinary qualification and by many even
thought to be a luxury for that time Berthold
received an outstanding higher education studying
in various institutions across Europe. Through his
studies he became familiar with the ideals of the
Modern Movement adopting them in his future
work.
His journey as an art student begun in Moscow
and then Petrograd, where he witnessed the
October revolution of 1917.The experience, living
and studying in Russia gave him the opportunity to
observe the birth of a new Art movement the so
called Constructivism.

Constructivism that had emerged from the

Russian futurism- spread quickly through the fields
of architecture and design. This had the result of
reshaping their foundations by introducing a
technological cubist vision and a communist social
purpose, which grew stronger receiving greater
recognition at the beginning of the revolution.
As a result it can be argued that the year of 1917
had a tremendous impact on him and his
ideology. The end of the revolution concluded
with the lower working class hoping to rebuild their
cities according to the new socialist values.
Lubetkin acknowledged this prominent wish of the
working class for social change. He was positive
that art and architecture were fundamental
instruments in creating a more humanised
socialistic future. As demonstrated by his work, he
embodied this belief during his extensive career.
By the time Berthold Lubetkin arrived in Berlin in
1922, the Industrial revolution was blooming
around the country, establishing Berlin a prominent
epicentre of Modernism, technological innovation
and progress. The industrial revolution led to the
formation of new building techniques, materials
and methods, which Lubetkin got familiar with.
Particularly he had the opportunity to study the
applications in construction of a new building

material, the reinforced concrete. Lubetkin

experimented with the use of reinforced concrete
in depth creating astonishing modern structures,
including the Penguin pool. With the deep technical
knowledge acquired from his stay in Berlin,
Berthold in 1925 moved to Paris to continue his
studies in Architecture.

One of the most significant education that lubetkin

got, was his studies in the Ecole Superieur de
Beton Armee and Ecole des Beaux Arts
respectively. Both were leading institutions in their
field, focusing on concrete building methods
creating constructional innovation for that time.
During the years of his studies he acquaintance
himself with leading and well established architects
of the time such as Auguste Perret and Le
Corbusier, both pioneers of the evolution of the
Modern movement in Architecture. Additionally
socializing with elite intellectuals and artists such
as the novelist-filmmaker Jean Cocteau and
Fernand Leger resulted in influencing his later
inspiration for his work. Berthold was slowly
becoming a regular member of the exclusive social
circles of Paris, where all the bright minds like the
above mentioned where debating endlessly about
Art, Architecture, Politics and Social matters.
After a period of time, Lubetkin got tired and
frustrated of the restricted social circles of Paris
and the on-going conservatism. Motivated by a
meeting with an English student Godfrey Samuel,

Lubetkin decides to move to London in 1930.

Marking his arrival to England Lubetkin created the
architectural firm Tecton which membered some
of the most innovative brains from the
Architectural Association. By that time he was one
of the driving members of the continental
Modernist Movement and soon introduced the
ideals of Modernism in England, through the
structures he designed with his firm Tecton. Some
of his greater modernist accomplishments include
the Highpoint housing complex, the Penguin pool
and Gorilla house in London Zoo and the Finsbury
health centre. Lubetkin came to Engand full of
revolutionary zeal but found a county that was, he
said,fifty years behind the rest of Europe in
architectural terms.

Although Berthold was certainly positive that

England was in a position to accept the ideas and
ideals of the Modern movement, the country was
not. Lubetkin came to Engand full of revolutionary
zeal but found a county that was, he said,f ifty
years behind the rest of Europe in architectural
terms( Icon, February 2004 p.29). Wounded from
the First World War, England found it extremely
difficult to step out of the traditional restrictions
and regulations of construction. However, Lubetkin
wanted to break the mould and promote his ideas
transforming the till then conservative
environment into an ideal modern landscape.
One of the stronger reasons that England was
unable to break through its conservative tradition

was in a great extent the dominant position that

the middle and upper classes possessed. Hence
overpowering the voice of the working class. The
conservative views of the two dominant classes
formed a barrier to any technological innovation,
expressing no appreciation regarding the
modernist ideas. One of the buildings that clearly
demonstrate the above views is the Serpentine
Gallery Pavilion, an exquisite classical Victorian
style structure. The strong opposition of the middle
and upper classes forced the architects to form
various groups fighting for drastic changes
professing cultural and social development.
After considering the political, economical and
cultural events that formed Lubetkins architectural
style and ideology, now we will examine one of his
structures. The focus of the paper now will be
placed on one of the most luminous example,
which incorporates all of his ideas and beliefs, the
Penguin Pool.

The Penguin pool is considered today a modernist

monument. The structure epitomized the modern
principles such as geometry and simplicity in form,
purity in style and use of innovative new materials
like the reinforced concrete- a material very
familiar to the architect. For Lubetkin the creation
of the Penguin pool was beyond an ordinary zoo
building commission, was an experiment, giving
him the chance to explore further the abilities of
reinforced concrete in construction. The result was
a structure of extraordinary beauty and style. The
pool consisted of a twin set of concrete spiral

ramps considered to be a true masterpiece of

engineering.
The interlocking ramps were located at the centre
of an elliptical concrete wall and rose above a large
blue pool, creating a forceful contrast between the
blue of the water and the white concrete used in
the structure. The slope of the intertwined ramps
was such, giving the impression of the letter U on
the two sides of the pool, creating a powerful visual
landscape. The formation of the letter U can be
reasonably argued to refer to Unity, a quality
essential in the ideal society imagined by Lubetkin.
The slopping entrance to the pool, was even
inspired by the peculiar way the penguins walk.

The Serpentine gallery pavilion, that was

mentioned earlier, was built on the same year as
the Penguin pool. However the characteristics of
the building were a clear presentation of the
traditional English architecture. Preliminary built as
a tea house, the Serpentine gallery pavilion consist
all the main elements that define classical
Victorian style: the symmetry of the structure, the
highly pitched roof, the typical bay windows and a
porch at the entrance of the building represent few
of them. In addition the selection of materials used
in the construction was traditional too, taking in

account that the basic material used was the

classic English red brick.
It is questionable why the Penguin Pool and the
Serpentine gallery pavilion, two buildings built at
the same period of time, present tremendous
differences in design aesthetics, style and
materiality. One reasonable explanation of this can
be considered to be the fact that these buildings
were constructed for a different purposes and
representing different architectural styles. The
Serpentine gallery pavilion was built evidently to
serve the needs of the upper class. Therefore the
building had to articulate the aesthetics and style
of the conservative English upper class of the 30s .
The final design of the building turned out to be as
traditional as a cup of tea for the English people.
On the other hand the Penguin pool designed by
Lubetkin was a ground-breaking , innovative and
daring piece of Modern architecture, designed to
express the principles , ideals and visions of the
Modern movement. Although Lubetkins intentions
were to create a modern environment for the
penguins and visitors of the pool, promoting
innovative building techniques reflecting his social
ethos , it can be argued that the final result was a
dystopian habitat. Instead of serving the purpose
of accommodating the users , in this case the
penguins, he served an Ideology.
Lubetkin being constantly focused into shaping a
building based on social and aesthetic innovation,
progress and advanced technology he dismissed
two crucial values into his design process:

continuity and tradition. Adding to that, he even

forgot to consider simple facts regarding the
functional use of the pool. Even though he
designed his beautiful double helix ramps after
observing the penguins particular moves, the
concrete used proved to be too rough for the
penguins soft feet. This stand-alone fact played
also a critical role in the closing of the iconic pool
in 2004 .
The penguins then where moved to another
enclosure, built with materials closer to the ones of
their natural environment. The penguins seemed
happier away from Lubetkins iconic pool at London
Zoo. The pool is now obsolete.(Building design,
July 2004 ,p.22 )
In conclusion, after considering the political , social
and cultural events that inspired Lunetkins ideas ,
design aesthetics and ideology and closely
examining the iconic Penguin pool we can argue
that driving force Lubetkin was not creating a
functional building serving the purpose of its
creation. Instead what was a key influence for his
creation was the promotion of his personal
modernist visions. As proved when a huge gap
seperates the function from the aesthetic value of
a building the result would be a creation of a
dystopian environment. Even though the beauty of
the building can be considered as outstanding, the
functioning element of building if not nil will be
limited.
The Penguin pool was an architects dream not a
penguins, part of a utopian architectural vision.

Bibliography:
Books
(Bauverlag Gtersloh, 2004 , Utopia, gestern :

Bauwelt )
(John Allan , Berthold Lubetkin Architecture and the
tradition of progress : Black dog publishings)
(Henry-Russell Hitchcock Jr., Catherine Bauer
Wurster,1937, Modern Architecture in England : The
Museum of Modern Art)
(Peter Coe , Malcolm Reading, 1981, Lubetkin and
Tecton : Architecture and social commitment, Arts
Council)
(Hubert- Jan Henket, Hilde Heynen, 2002, Back from
Utopia - the challenge of the modern movement : 010
Publishings)

Other publications
(Building design , July 2004 issue)
(Concrete Quarterly , December 2004 issue)
(Architects journal , November 1987 issue)
(Icon , February 2004 issue)
Online
(http://brst440.commons.yale.edu/2007/08/09/
lubetkins-penguin-pool-and-the-london-zoo/)
(http://designmuseum.org/design/bertholdlubetkin)

Images

 Penguins inspecting a model of Libetkins

penguin pool ( RIBA photographic archives)