As was discussed in this article and this there is possibly a link between the design of the Chapel and Gibbs Building, and the wealth of the College.
- Aerial view of King’s College, Cambridge, from the northwest
The form of the two juxtaposed buildings is the result of many compromises spanning three centuries. Henry VI’s ‘Will and Intent’ of 1448 was only partially realized. The Chapel was all that was built, and that was a stop-and-go affair from his reign through to that of Henry VIII. War, apathy and regicide interfered with its completion. Henry VI’s plans were just too grandiose, as were James Gibbs’s for the finishing of Front Court in the 18th century. All that was realized of that scheme was the present Fellows’ Building to the west. The South Sea Bubble of 1720 put the brakes on college ambitions. Old college bells had to be sold in 1734 in order to pay off debts incurred in the design and construction of this building, and James Gibbs waited until 1742 to receive the balance of £154.10.0 owed him.
That notwithstanding, it is evident that Gibbs went to great pains to make his plain baroque design ‘answerable’ to the Gothic Chapel, in accordance with Henry VI’s ascetic specifications for the College as a whole.
So what we have in the two buildings is partial: a compromise and yet satisfying.
Time has consecrated the buildings. The College over the centuries has amassed a fortune of £121,000,000. If we are looking for an occult (viz. hidden) principle behind the ethos, prestige and wealth of King’s, we need look no further than the Chapel and Gibbs Building, and the ratio of the volumes of the two, which is 1156 : 745. It was never a sure thing from the start that King’s would get off the ground and flourish. But it did, and we can speculate that the formula for the equivalence of the College architecture, and its wealth is
1156 : 745 = £121,000,000
By the logic of these chains of thought, we may infer that wherever and whenever this specific ratio is present, so too is the ethos and value of £121,000,000. So, a piece of writing paper of the dimensions 7.45” x 11.56” automatically confers this astronomical value to the letter that is written on it, be it by a prince or a pauper: a Darwin or a Devlin.
المشاركات
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق