WEEK 4 - Descriptive analysis of Nottingham Contemporary

Nottingham Contemporary - Oumy Niang - 2023

INTRODUCTION

Nottingham contemporary is an art center and one of the main caracteritics of this building is that it is really depending on strict geometrics forms and the materials used are diverse. Through this assigment, I am going to analyse the Nottingham Contemporary by talking about formal elements that constitute this piece of art such as lines, texture, patterns, light and space.

PRIMARY RESEARCH

Oumy Niang - 2023

VISUAL ANALYSIS

• Shape, Lines, forms

From an external point of view, this building represent an assembly and a repetition of square and rectangular shapes but there is no curvilinear shape. Even in the building, we still feel the straight lines that constitute the spaces with an additional triangular form.

• Texture

Oumy Niang - 2023

We can observe on all the blue-green parts of the wall that the lace work is printed on theim while on the black part, the texture is more rigid and grainy. All the beige parts that constitute the walls look like smooth or polished wood, and so make it look shiny. In the interior of the building, to the ground level, the ceiling is covered by a sort of brown carpet.

• Patterns

On the lace work, the patterns look more like some flowers vertically aligned with a space between each row. If we take a look at the beiges parts of the building the walls are more ribbed.

• Light

Oumy Niang - 2023

Outside, All the facades are exposed to the sun, so they are well illuminated. Thus, all the internal spaces that have a glass giving to the exterior have a good brightness with the help of the sun light. But, even if all the spaces don't have a straight glass, there are also some strong lights on the ceiling that are making the rooms more lighted.

• Spaces

All the spaces are large enough to welcome a huge number of people and are well organised. The size of the spaces shows that a lot of activities can take place in these areas as it is an art gallery.

TEXTURAL ANALYSIS

The variety of textures on the Nottingham Contemporary is something that really attracts me because it is quite interesting and we can feel the work behind it, especially the lace work on the walls of the building. This work is deep and ingenious. Same position for the grainy material and the ceiling carpet that is well placed in the coffee to make feel the space more unique.

CONCLUSION

The Nottingham Contemporary is an interesting building to analyse because of the mixity of the materials used, the light, the straight lines that constitute the form of the space... It is a open building with tones of variety and we can feel the hard work that was behind the conception and realisation of it, especially with the lace work that we can see on the walls, which is something that captivated me so much.