Adam House, 5/6 Chambers Street, Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

41147

Title

Adam House, 5/6 Chambers Street, Edinburgh

Artist / maker

MacLean, Kevin

Date

2016

Type

Digital image

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Adam House, owned by the University of Edinburgh, was designed as an examination centre. During the Festival it is also the central building for C Venues.

Adam House is a bold addition to the architecture of Chambers Street, making experimental use of modern neo-classical design principles while utilising contemporary materials and methods of construction. William Kininmonth was one of the leading Scottish exponents of International Modernism during the 1930s. Built for the University of Edinburgh, Adam House's neo-classical facade was dismissed at the time of its construction as an ill-conceived throwback by a number of those in the architectural profession, while others championed it as a survival of an alternative classical tradition. Kininmonth stated in1955 that architecturally, the building "is intended as a visual reminder that the University is a store house of learning, much of which is valuable in any age" and that the "underlying intention of the architecture was to attempt the integration of contemporary materials and methods of construction into traditional principles of proportion". The name of the building commemorates the 18th century 'Adam Square', which was demolished to make way for Chambers Street under the 1867 City Improvement Act.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Arches

Architecture > Architectural features > Pediments

Business > Service industry > Shops

Education > Educational facilities > Universities and colleges

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Infrastructure > Barriers

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