| After Gehry set the pace for arts projects spearheading waterfront regeneration, such projects are in fast company. And Austin-Smith:Lord Theatre in Newport, South Wales has perhaps made a small homage to California Frank in the partly cantilevered metal-clad dance studio. Other motifs come from the standard menu for this building type, the glazed foyer and the bulky flytower over the main 500 seat auditorium for instance. But the foyer's curving form works well for the site and the three main spaces, while illuminating it after dark adds a literal touch to the beacon-like ambitions which it carries. Such projects will not only be the best measure of the real success of the lottery, they will also be evidence of its architectural effects. |
