Cosmic House
The Cosmic House (formerly known as the Thematic House) is a house at 19 Lansdowne Walk in Holland Park, Kensington, London.
It has been listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England since May 2018.[1] It was designed by Charles Jencks and Maggie Keswick Jencks as their family home, in collaboration with other postmodern architects including Terry Farrell and Michael Graves.[2][3] The sculptors Celia Scott and Eduardo Paolozzi also participated in its development.[4] The architect Rem Koolhaas made a design for the Spring Room that was rejected by Jencks as "not symbolic enough."[5]
The existing 1840s end-of-terrace villa was initially purchased by Jencks and his wife Maggie Keswick in May 1978, and the transformation of the main structure was completed in 1983.[1] The stucco-fronted building houses such interior features as pedimented bookshelves, a sundial window seat, and an upside-down classical dome serving as a jacuzzi.[4] The main Solar Stair is complemented by a semi-circular 'Moonwell', which channels natural light over a darker area.[1] The house encapsulates Jencks's theories, before he died, Jencks made plans for it to be converted into an archive museum.[4] It opened to the public from 24 September 2021, as "The Cosmic House".[6]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Historic England. "Thematic House (1450124)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ↑ National Heritage List: Slough trading estate among new additions. BBC News, 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ↑ Listed postmodern buildings - in pictures. The Guardian, 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- 1 2 3 Wainwright, Oliver (15 October 2019). "Charles Jencks obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019.
- ↑ "Rem Koolhaas, Designs for Spring Room". The Cosmic House / Jencks Foundation. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Wainwright, Oliver (22 September 2021). "Is that a dishwasher or a Hindu temple? Inside kitsch pomo masterpiece Cosmic House". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Photographs of Thematic House at museandmaker.com
- Short documentary film by Edwin Heathcote at HENI Talks