The paradoxes of Castle Drogo
J. van Caloen (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
J.M.K. Hanna – Mentor (TU Delft - History, Form & Aesthetics)
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Abstract
A project evoking every superlative, Castle Drogo symbolizes the design approaches of Sir Edwin Lutyens, and the shifts in our society’s appreciation of them, better than any other of his works. A neo-medieval castle finished in 1930, it represents the end of an era while at the same time anticipating contemporary architectural principles and aesthetics. Through its strikingly modern design, it condensates 800 years of architectural elements into one convincing whole. Castle Drogo’s relative obscurity, even within the architectural field, comes as a surprise to those who recognize the lessons it can teach designers today. Lutyens’ skill at reinventing historical principles into new buildings seems prescient at a time when the tenets of modernism are increasingly invalidated. Indeed, the vernacular and the site-specific are more popular than ever. In this context, Lutyens’ philosophy seems surprisingly current. Unfortunately, Castle Drogo’s fanciful and anachronistic nature has limited its appeal to designers: a prestige project of unusual taste and limited use, it is often dismissed as a symbol of Edwardian excesses. Within this reality, however, lies an architectural tour de force that merits to be recognized as such, by both designers and society at large.