Viva Brighton Issue #78 August 2019

CURATOR’S CITY
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to see how Spence embraced the challenge of
creating a smaller and more intimate church
interior, while adhering to his guiding principle
of powerful simplicity.
The upstairs chapel boasts the most colourful
interior on the Sussex University campus: 460
panes of coloured glass are set into a honeycomb-pattern
of fourteen tiers of concrete
blocks, illuminating the space in a constantly
changing way throughout the day and indeed the
seasons. Spence daringly combined very different
building materials here: the worryingly thin
coloured glass panes, made in Germany, are set
directly into the recesses of the roughly-textured
concrete blocks. It is a surprising and uplifting
interior, which forms a contrast to the plainer
spaces on the ground floor, including a large
‘Quiet Room’ with curtain-wall glazing that
provides an uninterrupted view of the campus.
The layout of the coloured panes follows a
chromatic pattern from green shades in the east,
through yellow and white in the north above
the altar and in alignment with the meridian, to
deep reds and blues in the west. The symbolic
use of the circle is evident here, with allusions
to the circle of life, the Christian year, and the
unbroken circle as a manifestation of safety. Its
importance is further accentuated by a pattern of
overlapping circles on the chapel floor.
No area of coloured windows is separate, the
shades merge into each other, and each area
contains elements of the others. Crucially,
not one pane is identical to another, each one
forming a new aperture through which some
of Spence’s other buildings can be glimpsed. In
early meetings concerning the building he asked
for ‘a full spectrum of coloured glass panes, each
in a single colour’ for the chapel fenestration.
However, in some cases two different-coloured
panes are overlaid, to create a new tint, or in
the interests of variation. Spence did not make
specific comments on colour symbolism, but he
said the design should express the ‘variety of the
human race banded together in a circle of unity’.
Spence created an interior that is powerful in
both its simplicity and vibrancy. Lit at night, the
building appears like a kaleidoscopic beacon from
the outside; while in strong sunlight the interior
is flooded with pools of colour, an emphatic and
romantic expression of Spence’s fascination with
colour, light and concrete. Apart from the Royal
Pavilion, this is my favourite Brighton building.
Alexandra Loske, Art Historian and Curator
Part of the colour scheme of the glass panes. Drawing by Sam Allen.
Interior of the Meeting House Chapel late afternoon. Photo by Clive Boursnell.
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