Preceding pages,
Ed Kluz in his Brighton studio
Main picture, Great King Street, Edinburgh
This page, The Temple of Venus, West Wickham Park, Buckinghamshire
Below, Kluz at work. ‘I’m really intrigued by lost houses and the sites of lost houses’
detailed and historical buildings in a graphic and slightly naïve style – which somehow increases the theatricality of the places they’re portraying.
And what do you think now about those video installations? Itwas a line of inquiry and valuable. But I’m interested in tradition, and materials seen as traditional, and in reworking those materials that are seen as traditional – loosening themup to find amore expressive way of working.
How do you attempt to redefine the contemporary view of historical architecture? Artistsmirror the attitudes and perceptions of the times they work in. I’minterested in our relationship with the past and heritage, in particular our architectural history and current approaches to its preservation and role within contemporary culture. There’s a whole new generation of artists, curators, historians and architects who are redefining our perception of our heritage. I’m fascinated by the work of the Landmark Trust in particular. My contemporary take on heritage fits in very much with theirs. Although
84 Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 3 2011
completely. But when so little of it would have been original when completed, it would have become a facsimile, an untruth. What Landmark has chosen to do instead is insert a glass box, a really modern, exciting building, into the shell of this house. That’s what really excitesme – that contemporary reworking. In 100 years’ time that will saymore about our attitudes and responses to heritage than it is if we over-restore things.
REWORKING THOSE MATERIALS’
‘I’M INTERESTED IN TRADITION, AND MATERIALS SEEN AS TRADITIONAL, AND IN
they do preserve and restore buildings to their original state, in recent years they’ve taken a really exciting leap. For example, Astley Castle, a medieval fortified house inWarwickshire, is one
of their projects. It was a hotel in the Seventies and Eighties and then had a devastating fire and lay decaying for 20 or so years.When the trust acquired the building it could have restored it
How do you find the buildings that inspire your works? Generally I’ll read about a building before taking a trip there. So I’m going with this loaded imagination. It’s not the quality of the building as an object but often the journey, the endeavour, that I find really interesting. My partner and I will go on adventures. We’ll take off for a weekend and just drive around wherever we’ve chosen. It’s very exciting, especially with someone who sees the way you do. When I arrive somewhere I sit down
and sometimes just very, very quietly, for maybe half an hour, I’ll soak up the impressions of a place. And then I’ll do a few sketches, andmove around the
JOHN LAWRENCE
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