0:00:04 > 0:00:07Archiveprogrammes chosen by experts.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09For this Collection, Janet Street-Porter has selected
0:00:09 > 0:00:12programmes about post-war architecture.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14More programmes on this theme,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17and other BBC Four Collections, are available on BBC iPlayer.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57PIANO MUSICPLAYS
0:01:52 > 0:01:55Looking back, each period in the architectural history
0:01:55 > 0:01:56had its own heroes,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00and they were the people who stretched the existing technology
0:02:00 > 0:02:04and possibilitiesup to their limits and, sometimes, much beyond.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09This is why we admire Egyptian monuments as much as Eiffel Towers.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11And this is why I so much admire this building.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15This is a building which is daring, and there are not very many of those.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18When I first visited Schlumberger building,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20I tried to be very critical.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23But I found it very difficult not tolike the little monster,
0:02:23 > 0:02:24and I still do.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31Schlumberger is a research centre for testing oil-drilling techniques.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33It went up in 1984
0:02:33 > 0:02:36and is one of the architectural landmarks of the decade.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38Mind, a construction like this
0:02:38 > 0:02:42isn't just a feat on the part of the architect, Michael Hopkins.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46Think of all the engineering skills which go to make it up.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49The clients were visionary in paying for such an adventurous design,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53especially as the client can't be sure how plans will turn out -
0:02:53 > 0:02:56for all good new architecture is a calculated risk.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08It is an act of bravery to get such a building up in Britain today.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Encouraged by the heritage industry and the promptings of Prince Charles,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15we have developed a phobia aboutanything new.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Schlumberger seems even more heroic
0:03:19 > 0:03:22when you consider its traditional setting.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25It is very close to the spires of Cambridge,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28where there is a conservation order on every stone.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32Of course, the old is not always delightful,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34even ifwe have constructed a myth
0:03:34 > 0:03:39whereby all old buildings are seen as exceedingly comfortable -
0:03:39 > 0:03:42old masterpieces of design. I disagree.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45The old can be as uncomfortable as the new.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Anyway, we shouldn't be thinking
0:03:49 > 0:03:52in terms of new and old buildings, but good and bad.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Schlumberger is a good building and, paradoxically,
0:03:57 > 0:04:02it's closer to traditional Cambridge than you might at first think.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05It breaks the East Anglian skyline in a patterned and dramatic way,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08just like the best traditional buildings.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Notice, too, how many Cambridge buildings
0:04:22 > 0:04:26make a virtue of having an open space in their centre -
0:04:26 > 0:04:27the courtyard.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35The Schlumberger has made a virtue of central space, too.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37But it's a functional use.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40With labs and offices running along the sides,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43the heavy work is carried on in the centre.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Under that great membrane of a roof is the test floor,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52where researchers try out new oil-drilling techniques.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59But give or take a few very well soundproofed sheets of plate glass,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01these industrial aspects of the building
0:05:02 > 0:05:04are mixed in with the social, like the canteen.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10This is not at all oppressive, and seems to lighten the workload,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12making for a very good atmosphere.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28A big contributing factor to these nice atmospherics
0:05:28 > 0:05:32is the Teflon-coated glass fibre roof which, by diffusing light,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35makes it soft and liveable with.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39It gives a feeling of space and airiness - even playfulness.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44That's the sort of atmosphere I'd find conducive to hard work.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46And the offices, running along the sides,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49are well served with light too,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51which the electronic blinds help to control.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04It's the small aspects of the building which I very much like, too.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Most things about it have a good finish.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10There is no sloppiness, even with the nuts and bolts.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17It's all very solid, in spite of its looking like a travelling circus.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Yes, it does look like a big top. That's all part of its humour.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Abuilding ought to have a sense of humour.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28But a building with a sense of humour is still serious.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31These aren't mere punning references to circus guy ropes,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34butsolid-steel masts and anchors,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36following all the correct principles
0:06:36 > 0:06:38of a properly balanced stanchion structure.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Last year's hurricane didn't trouble Schlumberger.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55There are more and more new buildings inCambridge -
0:06:55 > 0:06:58many of them a spin-off from university research
0:06:58 > 0:07:01and new hi-tech silicon industries.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03But very few of these constructions
0:07:03 > 0:07:07reveal Schlumberger's spirit of adventure.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10They are basically unimaginative box shapes
0:07:10 > 0:07:12into which everything is packed away.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20However, some Cambridge buildings have departed from a simple box.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24James Stirling's history faculty is much more inventive with the form.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31There's nothing boxed-in about Schlumberger.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34I'd like to see more buildings like it,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36but there are few to touch its sense of drama.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42In the meantime, we have the prospect of the building itself growing.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45It's been left deliberately open-ended,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48so that extensions can be easily added.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53I said it was a little monster, andit can get bigger, multiply.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56It never sleeps. It's alive.