27. Reading, Shakespeare Versus Wilde (1999)

This piece depicts various sites and buildings which I experienced over my 6+ years living in the UK (1997-2003). The sky in each frame brings memories of the unstable English weather but all of that has been left if the background and a more interesting side is, at least to me, the foreground showing architecture across various architectural styles and historical periods. 

From top left anti-clockwise: Coventry Cathedral, although I formally completed my Master degree at Loughborough my graduation ceremony was held at Coventry Cathedral, it was not a new place to me as a few friends studied at Coventry and occasionally visited, more often for a round of pints than not. Ruins of the original cathedral were left after the postwar reconstruction of Coventry and a new Cathedral was built on a side in the 1950's (by Indian born architect Basil Spence. b. 13 August 1907, Mumbai). The new building was highly controversial as built with reinforced concrete and light structure shell for the roof, the internal columns are merely symbolic and for spatial organisation, rather than as load-bearing components.

 Lower left: Reading Abbey, an old ruin which becomes part of the cityscape, quiet in winter and lively in summertime as it hosts an open door theatre stage, always with Shakespeare plays in mind. The building behind (to the east) is a prison, the same prison where Oscar Wild was incarcerated (1895-1897).

Lower right: Is a taste of the City of Bath Circus and Royal Crescent (1754-1769), a magnificent Georgian housing project. While my years at Reading, I frequently visited Bath as the city hosted the Royal Photographic Society and much enjoyed attending events and talks hosted there.

And finally, Top-right: The faculty of Physics at the University of Cambridge, its newest academic building (at the time), the project and construction became a case study in my Ph.D. Once competed, this building with an early green roof, water harvesting and energy capture hosted Stephens Hawing’s (1942-2018) office and laboratory. A very innovative building indeed...

... And here my Brief History of Time. 

Guillermo Aranda-Mena Ⓒ2023