Inside Gormley's studio
In the mid-1980s, when Eric Parry was a young architect with a newly-established practice, a commission came in to design two artists' studios in a courtyard site on Bellenden Road, south London. The studios would play host to the creative production of painter and graphic artist Tom Phillips, and sculptor Antony Gormley, both of whom lived a short walk away from the site.
The studios were completed in 1989, and the architectural photographer Martin Charles captured them in photos published in the architectural press. These photographs have since entered the RIBA Collections as part of the Architectural Press Archive. Years after Phillips and Gormley moved their studios elsewhere, the photos offer a glimpse into the site of their burgeoning practice in the 1980s.
Tucked behind a small opening between two shops, the studios were arranged around a central courtyard spanning a gap in a row of terraced houses. They were designed as a coherent complex, stitched together from both new and existing fabric, but with discrete spaces and facilities to support the two artists' different creative practices. Phillips' studio featured etching and painting studios, an exhibition space, and a library. Gormley's studio, on the other hand, included a dark room and lead working studio.
At the heart of the complex was Gormley's large, top-lit main studio. Its design avoided details such as architraves and skirtings, creating a sense of continuous space so that Gormley could fully play with perceptions of scale in his monumental work. This studio is where Gormley developed his most famous work, Angel of the North.
Gormley and Phillips' studios are among hundreds of designs and images of artists' and architects' studios in our historic collections. You can discover many more of them on RIBApix, our online image library.
On Tuesday 12 September, Sir Antony Gormley will speak at RIBA for the inaugural RIBA + Grimshaw Foundation Annual Art Lecture, with a Q&A chaired by broadcaster and presenter Jon Snow. Book tickets online.
