THE BROOKING NATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM
Registered Charity Number 1155363
The Brooking goes to Venice
The Brooking Collection has been invited to take part in the prestigious 2014 Architecture Biennale in Venice. This 14th International Architecture Exhibition focuses on the Fundamentals and the Brooking's contribution is at the heart of this in the “Elements of Architecture” theme, located in the Central Pavilion. A video features preparations for the event.
Rem Koolhaas the acclaimed international architect was invited to be the Director for the 2014 event. He explains that “Elements of Architecture, in the Central Pavilion, will pay close attention to the fundamentals of our buildings, used by any architect, anywhere, anytime: the floor, the wall, the ceiling, the roof, the door, the window, the façade, the balcony, ....”.
With its unrivalled range of material demonstrating the history of the window over the last four centuries, the Brooking Collection is able to make an outstanding contribution to the success of the event.
Charles Brooking, the Collection's founder, says “This is a major step forward for the Collection, moving it from the national level in Britain, on to an international stage.”
The 14th International Architecture Exhibition will take place from 7 June to 23 November 2014 at the Giardini and Arsenale venues and in various other sites in Venice.
Collection cross-
The Brooking Collection at Olympia’s provided a substantial display at Listed Property Show on 15th &16th February this year, where he has been exhibiting for over ten years at the invitation of the organisers. The stand generated much interest with a constant stream of visitors, whether owners of listed buildings, architects and other professionals and a variety of craftsmen.
A cross-
New Trust
The new charitable trust set up to run The Collection held its first meeting during
February, at the offices of the law firm Morgan Lewis -
The Collection has loaned a window to the Portsmouth City Museum for their exhibition
Tricorn: Controversy in Concrete (15th March 2014 -
Tricorn window loan
Time travel
CHANGES TO a church have brought a chance to take The Collection forward to a new generation of interest, according to Charles Brooking.
Architect Robert Potter, who came from Guildford in Surrey and died in 2010, was well known for his work on churches. Now one of his designs, the Baptist Church in Guildford, is undergoing alterations – and Charles has already begun recovery of early aluminium windows and door furniture typical of its period. The Rescue will move on to balustrades, doors and so on as the work proceeds.
‘This building was one of Potter’s classics, and the people there have been very helpful,’ says Charles. And he adds that it brings a chance to include artefacts that move The Collection forward in time.
‘In the broadest sense The Collection runs to 1960,’ says Charles. ‘But it’s increasingly put to me that later buildings are interesting in their own right, and some of them are being listed. I’ve been encouraged to feel it’s worth starting to include buildings into the 1970s.’
Links with the 20th Century Society have helped, he says. ‘It would be right to say they’ve influenced my thinking. We have a new generation coming along, and they have their own story. History moves on, and we should follow that movement.’
Home knowing
A NEW series of Continuous Professional Development Courses is to be staged around
The Collection – to suit audiences from planning, architecture, design and historical
backgrounds as well as home-
The series of half-
‘If you own a house of, say, 1760, and want to learn more about the windows, staircases
and fittings, we can adapt the course to you,’ he explains. ‘It won’t demand specialist
knowledge, and will give a direct “hands-
To find out more visit the Contact page.
THE BROOKING Collection has in the past loaned pieces from its reserve collection for display and interest raising in foyers and meeting areas of relevant institutions. At present the architects Purcell show a vignette of the Brooking Collection to stimulate interest. This facility can be made available for other high profile venues.
Roving displays
8th June, 2014 Announcement.
Charles Brooking has attended the very successful launch of the14th Architecture Biennale in Venice. A team of supporters and sponsors went with him. They took some of the strain of dealing with the high level of interest that his 'wall of windows' generated from across the globe.
The eye-
https://twitter.com/ollywainwright/status/474133212034129920
http://refurbprojects-
https://twitter.com/tomdyckhoff/status/474941671797706752
http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20140604_01130492
A key display from the prestigious Venice Architecture Biennale is being exhibited at the Brighton University Gallery. The Venice Biennale is the World's leading exhibition for architecture and in 2014 its Curator the internationally renowned architect Rem Koolhaas addressed the “Fundamentals” of architecture – from ceilings to corridors.
But it was the “Wall of Windows” provided by the Brooking National Collection, that captured the imagination of tens of thousands of visitors, and it became very much the face of the Biennale.
Through the local support in Brighton for the Brooking National Collection, the Arts and Humanities Faculty of Brighton University has been able secure the display that featured in Venice as the launch of the “Wall of Windows” in Britain.
This free-
“Elements of Architecture -
to Saturday 25 April, 2015 see Cranleigh Arts Centre. It culminates on 25th April with a talk “In conversation with Charles Brooking”.
2015 and earlier announcements
In December 2015 Charles Brooking was invited to Amsterdam for the launch of the second edition of the magazine MacGuffin, The Life of Things. This new publication explores our relationship with everyday items, and this edition was entitled The Window. Having met Charles at the Venice Biennale, editors in chief Kirsten Alegera and Ernst van der Hoeven visited him and the Museum and were overwhelmed by both the beauty of the museum’s Collection and Charles's passion for each and every object. Not only was Charles interviewed for the magazine but he was also invited to attend the launch as guest of honour.
Whilst he was there Charles was interviewed by local radio host Robert van Altena
to expand further on why he collects what he does and the importance of developing
the Collection into a leading educational resource. The full interview can be heard
here http://www.amsterdamfm.nl/springvossen-
For more information on McGuffin, The Life of Things please visit http://www.macguffin.nl
or to purchase a copy of the magazine please go to http://magculture.com/meet-
| What is it for? |
| Charles Brooking |
| How it began |
| Courses |
| Videos |
| Venice Biennale |
| Halls of Fame |
| Windows |
| Fanlights |
| Mouldings |
| Staircases |
| Ironmongery |
| Stained Glass |
| Fire Grates |
| Rainwater Goods |
| Everything Else |
| From A to Z |