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ROBERT ADAM - OSTERLEY HOUSE CONVERSION (1761-80) - OSTERLY PARK, MIDDELSEX, LONDON  -  (pics 1973 / to SW)


An audacious dramatic 'collage' !: Robert Adam removed the centre of the front wing of this Elizabethan courtyard mansion and as if 'slid in' an immense 'item of furniture': a huge classical pedimented porch that amplifies and dramatises the previously commonplace symmetry of the older building while maintaining an extraordinary state of 'focused confrontation' with its context. A shocking and magnificent combination of elegance and formal tension !  

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<  Return to:  THE FANTASY OF HOME:  OWNER 'IMPROVEMENTS' 

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