0:00:02 > 0:00:06BBC FourCollections - archive programmes chosen by experts.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10For this collection, Janet Street-Porter has selected
0:00:10 > 0:00:12programmes about Post-War Architecture.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14More programmes on this theme
0:00:14 > 0:00:18and other BBC Four Collections are available on BBC iPlayer.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08It's absolutely in the spirit ofBoarbank Oratory to want
0:02:08 > 0:02:10totalk about it before you've even got there.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14On my last visit, travelling upfrom London to Grange, which is
0:02:14 > 0:02:16just to the south of the Lake District,
0:02:16 > 0:02:21I experienced a heightened sense of arrival,of pilgrimage, even.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Tucked away in the hills which surround the north end
0:02:25 > 0:02:27of Morecambe Bay is Boarbank Hall,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30a convent run by the Sisters of St Augustine.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34First impressions of the place are of an overelaborate Victorian cake.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Heavyand rich is how I'd describe the interior.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45The tiles in the hallway, for instance,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48have that earthy and fruity colour to them.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51But I'm looking fora place which is architecturally light years
0:02:51 > 0:02:52away from all this.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58It's tucked away in the 1960s extension to Boarbank Hall.
0:02:58 > 0:03:04These modernagglomerations can be more gloomy than anything Victorian,
0:03:04 > 0:03:09but there's, literally, light at the end of the tunnel, in an area
0:03:09 > 0:03:11which once functioned as a laundry room
0:03:11 > 0:03:14but has been converted into a place for private prayer.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21It's as if you become detached from Earth inthis room.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27This effect is achieved architecturally by the circularity
0:03:27 > 0:03:29of the room and the absence of visible support
0:03:29 > 0:03:31or strong orientation.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36But instead, there's an abstract horizontality which reminds me
0:03:36 > 0:03:38of Mondrian andthe Modern movement,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41as well as traditional Japanese architecture.
0:03:41 > 0:03:46It's a subtle purism, in the context of which special objects become
0:03:46 > 0:03:49highly charged and symbolic
0:03:49 > 0:03:52religious landmarks in a miniature universe.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56I feel I shouldn't be talking in this space
0:03:56 > 0:03:59because it's essentially about silence -
0:03:59 > 0:04:05a silence conveyed by quality of light, a marvellous, luminous calm,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07like snow or sea mist.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Although this interior is about the inner life,it does reflect
0:04:19 > 0:04:23an aspect of the outside world, of the physical landscape.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Paradoxically, though, what often strikesyou about the terrainhere,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31in certain weather conditions, is its disembodied quality.
0:04:33 > 0:04:39It's evanescent,not quite there, immaterial, like the oratory.
0:04:39 > 0:04:40Sea mist again.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45There are more tangible, direct links betweenthe oratory
0:04:45 > 0:04:47and the world outside.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52The ash furniture is as palpable as the trees which can be seen through
0:04:52 > 0:04:53the north-facing window.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57The simplicity of the design and its economydo not
0:04:57 > 0:05:01invoke the mechanistic aspect of modern architecture, but the finesse
0:05:01 > 0:05:05of the Arts andCrafts movement and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11The detail and exquisite finish, as in the glasswork ofthe doors,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13also conjure up this tradition.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24Onceinside the oratory, you've entered a different world,
0:05:24 > 0:05:25that of the spirit.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33The low portals outside instil this awareness as you approach,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35as do the strategically placed mirrors.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Inside, they serve a similar function.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45Theirs is not a reflection in a narcissistic sense,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48but in a thoughtful, contemplative one.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05ORGAN MUSIC PLAYS
0:06:05 > 0:06:10What makes the oratory special is the way its privacycomplements and
0:06:10 > 0:06:13contrasts with the nuns' more public and collective forms of worship.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17My brothers andsisters,
0:06:17 > 0:06:22we come together to our mass to celebrate the Eucharist...
0:06:22 > 0:06:26As a large part of the sisters' day is devoted to nursing,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28it's appropriatethat the oratory should be
0:06:28 > 0:06:31so accessible from the nursing home wing.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35It adds to the spiritual value of the room that it has such
0:06:35 > 0:06:38proximity tothe everyday work of Boarbank.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42The cylindrical shape of the oratory is significant.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46There's an age-old tradition for representing Christ's tomb,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50symbol of death and resurrection, as a cylinder.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53The architects found this source of inspiration ina 5th century
0:06:53 > 0:06:56ivory relief in the British Museum.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00It has affinities with the oratory in scale aswell as shape.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Just as the cylindrical sepulchre contained thebody of Christ,
0:07:06 > 0:07:11so the oratory contains the Host, which, according to Catholic belief,
0:07:11 > 0:07:16is changed bythe priest during mass into the body and blood of Christ.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21The tabernacle, though a focal point, seemsto come out of nowhere,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25suspended in the infinite, very much a part of the room's spatial flux.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38If, for those using the oratory, Christ isthe dominant presence,
0:07:38 > 0:07:43St Augustine, as befits the sisters named after him, has a special place.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Theglass images in the shutters reproduce
0:07:46 > 0:07:5215th and 17th century paintings of key scenes in the saint's life.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00This use of colour is dramatic in the context ofthe white,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02sandblasted glass screens of the oratory's structure.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09The intense reds and greens, which symbolise St Augustine's heart
0:08:09 > 0:08:13and the olive tree, have a similar effect.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21This is a wonderful building, anact of faith, which transcends
0:08:21 > 0:08:27the commonly held assumption that the new is opposed to the old.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Drawing on the modern movement,
0:08:29 > 0:08:34the architects have created a building in which the sisters find
0:08:34 > 0:08:39both an affirmation and a renewal of their spiritual traditions.