Secondary Research

In this secondary research task, we had to explore architecture in Bradford based on old and new buildings. Then collect images to create 2 mood boards - one for old and one for new. 

Old buildings moodboard.

This is my moodboard for old buildings. You can see how they all look very similar all in Bradford and they all have lots of details in the architecture. I will now make a note on some of the images I've included in my moodboard and the dates they were built.


Bradford Town Hall 

It was built for 3 years and opened on the 9th September 1873. After being built, it was decided that the building would be extended in 1909 for a new committee room and a banqueting hall; also again in 1914 which included a redesigned entrance and grand staircase. The clock tower has thirteen bells which weighed 17 tons. It also plays tunes at lunchtime and on special occasions.

Background Research Link:
http://www.bradford.gov.uk/bmdc/leisure_and_culture/culture_and_creativity/history_of_city_hall

Cartwright Hall

This is a art gallery/museum that was built in 1904 in Lister Park. It has the same architect as Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum that is located in Glasgow. It has a nice flowery display in the front of the building that is always kept up to date. The building itself has a lot of work with the architecture. There is lots of details on each layer. It's built with sandstones that are carved because the details if you look closely is very spectacular.

Background Research Link:

http://www.bradfordhistorical.org.uk/antiquary/third/vol04/cartwright.html

New Victoria/Old Odeon

This building with two domes used to be an Odeon Cinema. This building became the cinema in 1969 and closed in 2000. It looks like it was built with bricks and stones and had some steel underneath. It had a bingo and social club along with the cinema.

Background Research Link:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/feb/19/bradford-water-feature-city-park

http://www.bradfordtimeline.co.uk/newvi2.htm#odeon12

Little Germany

This area is Bradford was home to German merchants who came to bradford in the late 1850s for the famous textile industry that grew in Bradford. There are a collection of 85 buildings constructed between 1855 and 1890 and the buildings were Victorian architectural.

Background Research Link:

http://www.visitbradford.com/thedms.aspx?dms=3&venue=2183380

Wool Exchange, Bradford

This building in town is still existing as a small shopping centre where Waterstones is. Going back in time, this building were a wool-trading centre. It was built between 1864 and 1887 in the 19th Century. The building was built with sandstones that also has yellow and red features.

Background Research Link:
http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/lockwood/1.html

New buildings moodboard.

City Park, Bradford

This is a water fountain feature that has been built in 2012, which reaches 30 metres from the ground. It has modern touches with laser light beams and smaller fountains around. This immediately differs from old architecture because the brick tiles are very much modern and the grey colour on the ground really stand out beneath the water. It has also cost £24 million pounds to invest in this new feature.

Background Research Link:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/feb/19/bradford-water-feature-city-park

National Media Museum, Bradford

The Media Museum was established in 1983. The museum also launched IMAX which has the largest screens back in time. Although the actual museum is very old, things started to change in 2006. The museum had refurbished with its new name rather than The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television. It also evolved with the architecture with some glass panels outdoors going all across the front.

Background Research Link:

http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/aboutus/MuseumHistory.aspx

Hockney Building, Bradford College

This is the new building for Bradford College. It was opened in September 2014 and is named after David Hockney. The architecture of the building is very modern with new large windows, spaced brickwork and some glass features. There are also some pillars that co-ordinate with the whole building in terms of colour. The building almost is built in a pattern structure and you can just tell by looking at it that it's brand new. On the other side, there are red and black matt tiles panel on the building with is very much different to old buildings sandstone. 

Background Research Link:
https://www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk/about/new-building

Alhambra Theatre, Bradford

Although this was opened in 1914, I thought of including this in my new architecture moodboard because of the refurbishments and all the fancy lights that are put up. It was actually established in 1986 and up to these times, still looks very modern. It has a gnome on top and the colours are very out the boat rather than the typical type of old buildings that exist with old bricks or cement and sandstones.

Background Research Link:

http://www.bradford-theatres.co.uk/venues/the-alhambra-theatre/about

Through time, I can see a change in the design of the buildings and the materials that were used to construct them. As I've roughly mentioned, old buildings seem to use the same type of materials like sandstone and carves designs on the building. Whereas newer buildings are much more sophisticated yet simplistic to an extent. Some of these features includes using glass as a design rather than a need. They also use large tiles or large bricks that really stand out because it's the same across but the simplicity of the design can catch your eyes. The newer buildings are also much more colourful than before, whereas before they always stuck to that brown colour. To sum it all up, modern architecture is very costly and sophisticated as the materials used are very elegant and simplistic. On the other hand, I would assume that the materials used for older buildings are much cheaper and accessible more.