AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

All around them, demolition work was taking place. Queensberry House itself would be saved, but the more recent additions either side of it were going. Workmen crouched on roofs, removing slates, tying them into bundles which were lowered by ropes to waiting skips. There were enough broken slates under foot to show that the process was imperfect. Rebus adjusted his hard hat and tried to look interested in what Gilfillan was saying.¹

Right from the beginning of the construction project for the new Scottish Parliament Building in 1998, it attracted huge public attention, such that famous Scottish crime novelist Ian Rankin used it as the opening scene for one of his novels in the Inspector Rebus series. Designed by Spanish architect Enric Miralles the Parliament building took four years to complete, opening in 2002. With its unique features and its massive cost, most of the general public greeted it with hatred, but it was recognised by architects for its attention to detail and incredible contemporary style. This essay describes the project with emphasis on site as its most important aspect. How the Parliament relates to the other works of Miralles, and its place within postmodern architecture will be discussed. Finally it will address how the building’s economic conditions affected its social impact.

The radical design of the Parliament building saw it classified as deconstructivism within the postmodern architectural movement. The scale and immense detail of the project shows deconstructivism in an innovative way. Shapes of upturned boats from the nearby shoreline along with motifs from the flower paintings of the famous Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh formed the main shapes of the building. Skylights for the garden lobby in the impressive shape of canoes sit low in the heart of the complex. The deconstructive approach taken by Miralles led to every surface, joint and opening being designed intricately. Facades were given a fragmented appearance and inventive solutions were used for structural devices to continue the theme of an unconventional design. Viewing the design from above gives a new dimension to the overall project as it shows the building from ground to roof was carefully crafted. Miralles does this in a way that only a deconstructive approach could – in a distorted, non- rectilinear style. ‘Controlled chaos’ is an appropriate descriptor.

One of the most important aspects of the Scottish Parliament Building is its connection to the site both physically and symbolically. For Miralles it was fundamental that he created a building that all of Scotland would be proud of: “we don’t want to forget that the Scottish Parliament will be in Edinburgh, but it will belong to Scotland, to the Scottish land.”² For this reason it became crucial to preserve some of the site’s heritage. Much like Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum built around the same time (1990-1999), where the design incorporated the Baroque Kollegienhaus, Miralles designed the parliament around the 1667 building – Queensberry House. The symmetry of the classical building was countered by the flowing organic forms of the rest of the project. In opposition to the idea of classical monumentality, he emphasised a connection with nature. With the Salisbury Crags as the backdrop, Parliament became a kind of “fragmented landscape” with “the land itself [becoming a] material” for the building.³ Looking to the land for further inspiration, Miralles “borrowed the forms of upturned boats from [the Scottish] shoreline”. Prominent postmodernism theorist Charles Jencks commented that,“[the Scottish Parliament Building] creates an iconology of references to nature and the locale”; instead of being monumental “it nestles its way into the environment, an icon of organic resolution, of knitting together nature and culture into a complex union.”⁴

To gain a greater understanding of the ideas underlying the Parliament building it is important to look at Miralles’ other works. The Igualada cemetery in Barcelona (1985-1994) can be seen as one of Miralles’ most important early works. Many of the fundamental philosophies behind the cemetery can be seen in the Parliament building. Miralles himself confirms a link between his architecture where he states “no project can be produced in isolation.” He believes “architects work by assembling groups of ideas” therefore “each design, rather than simply existing as a project in itself is also used experimentally by the architect, from which new ideas can be developed”⁵ As with the design of the Parliament building, the first step for Miralles when designing Igualada cemetery was to study pre-existing site conditions as a way of dealing with the history and associated memories of the area. For Igualada cemetery, excavated stone was used in construction, much like the parliament building, where Scottish rocks were incorporated. Both render the buildings “part of the landscape.”⁶

In looking at his previous projects a common theme can be established. Complex, deconstructed forms give a basis to his projects, where he finds value in experimentation. His ideas can be seen as a reverse of the common modernist principle “less is more”, instead following the postmodern response, “more is different.”⁷ Examples of this can be seen in his complicated structures for the Olympic Village pergola in Barcelona (1990-1992), the Utrecht Town Hall extension (1997-2000), and Diagonal Mar Park (1997-2000). The flowing steel forms and deconstructed profiles of these projects lay a foundation for the Parliament building. Bringing together all aspects of the Parliament can almost be seen as a complete amalgamation of the aforementioned projects, making the building a thorough representation of Miralles’ architecture through the years.

Despite his postmodernist style, much of Miralles’ inspiration for the Scottish Parliament can be linked to the geometries of the great modernist Le Corbusier. David McCrone in Creating a New Scottish Parliament refers to the Corbusier link, specifically his chapel at Ronchamp, saying the influence of Ronchamp can most easily be seen in the entrance hall “evocative of [a] cathedral (crosses on ceiling).”⁸ It seems clearer however, to link the Ronchamp with the heavy organic forms that make up the roof of the Parliament. Although some of Miralles’ inspiration came from modernism, there is no doubt the building is original. For this reason it is more valuable to talk about its place in postmodernism and which projects it sits alongside as opposed to which projects inspired its design.

The Scottish Parliament sits within the deconstructive aspect of postmodernism, but also relates to a style of adding a contemporary structure to an existing traditional building. This shrinks the number of projects that the Parliament has a strong connection with. Co-op Himmel(b)lau’s Remodelling of the Biberstrasse Offices Rooftop (1985) is one project that shares a connection with the Parliament. Sitting atop a classical building in Vienna, the glass and steel structure resembles the garden lobby skylights of the Parliament, in the shape of an upturned canoe. For both projects, the skylights control light into the interior with a complex structural device casting playful shadows below. The volume of glass is a striking feature which places both designs in the heart of postmodernism. As mentioned earlier, the Jewish Museum by Daniel Libeskind shares similar features with the Parliament. Both projects incorporate existing historic buildings, and as public structures they share similar scale and a type of architecture, featuring geometric volumes and voids on their facades, causing unconventional breaks in the surfaces.

The economic ramifications for the extravagant design and construction of the Scottish Parliament are the most talked about point of the project as a whole. The initial price estimate was around £50 million⁹, although this was for a “siteless, shapeless office block of the approximate requested size.”¹⁰ Miralles’ first design began at £109 million but due to extravagant amenities and a demand for nearly double the office space, the bill ended at a final £414 million shock.¹¹ The social impact of the building – the way the public responded to it – was made much worse by the miscalculated budget, and it was condemned by the general public, appearing in fourth place on a list of buildings Britain most wanted to see demolished.¹² Scottish novelist Quintin Jardine described it with its spiralling cost as an “albatross hung round the neck of the restored legislature.”¹³ In contrast to most of the British public, the architecture community realised its brilliant deconstructivist style and the building received many awards, most notably the 2005 Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling prize.¹⁴ In more recent years the success of the Parliament building has lessened the rift between the architectural community and the general public.

Enric Miralles passed away in 2000 so did not see his last project in its finished state. Despite this, his Scottish Parliament building holds great significance in changing the way a nation views their new legislative assembly. In a way that Norman Foster’s ‘Reichstag’ (1995-1999) did not, Miralles’ creation marks a transition from the classical ideals that house a country’s leaders. There is no mistaking the influence such a project will have on the future of Parliamentary designs. Future projects are already planned for both the Albanian Parliament by Coop Himmel(b)lau and the Iraqi Parliament by Assemblage Architects in a similar contemporary style.

1500 words 

1 Ian Rankin, Set in Darkness (Scotland: Orion Publishing Group, 2000), 3.

2 Alan Balfour, Creating a Scottish Parliament (Edinburgh: Finlay Brown, 2005), 26.

3 Charles Jencks, The Scottish Parliament (London: Scala Publishers, 2005), 18

4 “The Scottish Parliament.” Royal Institute of British Architects. Accessed May 7, 2017. https://www.architecture.com/StirlingPrize2010s/RIBAStirlingPrizeWinners/TheScottishP arliament(2005).aspx.

5 Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, Igualada Cemetery: Enric Miralles and Carmen Pinos (London: Phaidon Press, 1996).

6 Luis Diego Quiros, Stefanie MaKenzie, Derek McMurray, “Enric Miralles: Architecture of Time”. Quirpa. Accessed Jun 17, 2017. http://www.quirpa.com/docs/architecture_of_time enric_miralles.html

7 Jencks, The Scottish Parliament, p.29.

8 Alan Balfour, Creating a Scottish Parliament (Edinburgh: Finlay Brown, 2005), 30.

9 Miles Glendinning, The Architecture of Scottish Government from Kingship to Parliamentary Democracy (Dundee: Dundee University Press, 2004), 334.

10 "The Holyrood Inquiry: A Report by the Rt. Hon. Lord Fraser of Carmyllie QC." Sept. 2004. Accessed 17 Jun. 2017. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/SPICeResources/HolyroodInquiry.pdf.

11 David Langdon. “AD Classics: Scottish Parliament Building / Enric Miralles.” ArchDaily. Accessed May 8, 2017. http://www.archdaily.com/111869/ad-classics-the-scottish- parliament-enric-miralles.

12 Rod Mills. “No Hooray for Holyrood ‘ugly’ parliament building should be razed, says poll.” 14 October 2008. Accessed 17 Jun. 2017. from http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/65983/No-Hooray-for-Holyrood-ugly- parliament-building-should-be-razed-says-poll

13 Quintin Jardine, Lethal Intent (UK: Hachette UK, 2006).

14 “About the Parliament Building.” The Scottish Parliament/Parlamaid na h-Alba.

Accessed May 8, 2017. http://www.parliament.scot/visitandlearn/16187.aspx.

Bibliography

“About the Parliament Building.” The Scottish Parliament/Parlamaid na h-Alba. Accessed May 8, 2017. http://www.parliament.scot/visitandlearn/16187.aspx.

Balfour, Alan. Creating a Scottish Parliament. Edinburgh: Finlay Brown, 2005.

Glendinning, Miles. The Architecture of Scottish Government from Kingship to Parliamentary Democracy. Dundee: Dundee University Press, 2004.

Jardine, Quintin. Lethal Intent. UK: Hachette UK, 2006.

Jencks, Charles. The Scottish Parliament. London: Scala Publishers, 2005.

Langdon, David. “AD Classics: Scottish Parliament Building / Enric Miralles.” ArchDaily. Accessed May 8, 2017. http://www.archdaily.com/111869/ad-classics-the-scottish- parliament-enric-miralles.

MaKenzie, Stefanie. McMurray, Derek. Quiros, Luis Diego. “Enric Miralles: Architecture of Time”. Quirpa. Accessed Jun 17, 2017. http://www.quirpa.com/docs/architecture_of_time enric_miralles.html

Mills, Rod. “No Horray for Holyrood ‘ugly’ parliament building should be razed, says poll.” 14 October 2008. Accessed 17 Jun. 2017. from http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/65983/No-Hooray-for-Holyrood-ugly- parliament-building-should-be-razed-says-poll

Rankin, Ian. Set In Darkness. Scotland: Orion Publishing Group, 2000.

"The Holyrood Inquiry: A Report by the Rt. Hon. Lord Fraser of Carmyllie QC." Sept. 2004. Accessed 17 Jun. 2017. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/SPICeResources/HolyroodInquiry.pdf.

“The Scottish Parliament.” Royal Institute of British Architects. Accessed May 7, 2017. https://www.architecture.com/StirlingPrize2010s/RIBAStirlingPrizeWinners/TheScottishP arliament(2005).aspx.

Zabalbeascoa, Anatxu. Igualada Cemetery: Enric Miralles and Carmen Pinos. London: Phaidon Press, 1996.