Lomography

The Founders Building, Royal Holloway University ofLondon (RHUL)
written by spendospend on November 2nd, 2009 , 9 comments (6 votes)

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The construction of the building began in 1874, and was completed in 1881. The building and the college were a £600,000 “gift to the nation” by the entrepreneur and philanthropist Thomas Holloway. And designed by the architect William Henry Crossland, and known to be inspired by the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley, France.

Its difficult to understand the sheer magnitude of this building via these pictures but it is an unbelievable build, and for those who have been, or possibly the honor to have studied there can understand, so even with the dregs of last nights three quid bottles of wine loosely rattling around my head I could still appreciate the remarkable detail paid to every inch with great pleasure.

It was Queen Victoria who allowed the use of “Royal” in the college’s name, and it was officially opened in 1886, Which is why a statue of her stands proudly in the center of the north quadrangle of the building as does another of Thomas Holloway and his wife Jane, located in the center of south. To get the idea of where these are positioned I can only describe the building as a squared figure of eight with south and north open areas. The statues were made from marble and sculpted by Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

The building still houses the Picture Gallery, that contains a collection of over 70 pieces of original Victorian era art given to the college at the time of its founding by Thomas Holloway. The college’s Main Lecture Theater, Chapel, and one of three libraries on the RHUL campus are also located within the building. Today, the offices of the Department of Politics and International Relations, the Department of Classics and some offices of the School of Management are housed in the building, while other academic departments of the college are located in more modern buildings on the college’s campus, (which to be honest are no were near as impressive) also still Many of the college’s main administrative offices remain within the Founder’s Building, and also a Hall of Residence for the campus, with rooms for over 470 students. I’m also glad to say that it houses a bar within the building, named “Crosslands” in honor of its architect, so wanting to give the best description of my experience there as a whole, it was only fair I familiarized myself well with this particular section also.

The building has also been featured in several films and TV programs including Midsomers Murders and Basic instinct 2 and a new TV series called Trinity which has just begun to air, And has even rumored to play a hand full of sections in Harry Potter films as Hogwarts.

With the fortune of having one of my closest friends William there who studies Foreign studies, I had the luxury of staying locally with him and also the freedom to go to and from the campus for a few days giving me time to catch good weather,
So with the time I spent there it was only fair to treat our little Russian friend with a variety of film. I used all three of my favorite types of film Fuji Velvia 100, Fuji Provia 100, Lomo Redscale.

And for those of u lucky lomographers who own or have access to a horizon or horizon kompakt, it would be an unbelievable location to snap away, as I’m sure you will agree.