However, I am more than a little disappointed by the plans outlined here. There are plenty of student union bars in the near vicinity. But SOAS offers one of the few dive bars left in london. Sure its grotty, but its character as a old (if worn out) proper bar is irreplaceable. The character it has is as an old school bar, with no pretensions (it doesnt feel like a pub or a shiny new bar – it fills a gap in the market that doesnt exist elsewhere). I agree with the need for refurbishment, but am concerned that the style and character will change irreversibly. For example, the SOAS bar is in a basement and should remain somewhat dark and dingy (in mood – certainly cleaner is better!).

I guess the people who say they wouldnt bring their friends there miss the point – its one the first places I’d bring friends visiting london! My main design objection is to the design of the bar itself – the wooden roof and the metal bars on the front are just too typical of a soulless refurbishment! Why does it need to be over-designed? A lot of people would prefer something simple and traditional. And in terms of overall design can I appeal, as others did above, for quality – no laminate and veneer please & no plate glass. If we want a compromise then by all means make the JCR upstairs bright, airy, open and colourful – a nice place to imagine you are having a coffee in a shopping mall or something! But please do not ruin the place which is the soul of soas! real wooden tables, exposed brick, etc would be much more fitting. Basically – if the jukebox will look out of place, then it will have failed! 80s New York, 90s berlin – just anything with some character and some quirk to it!

My final quibble, (if this is the place to share it) is about TVs. I love TVs, I love football on TVs, and I’d love for a facility at soas to watch sport. BUT – the soas bar is not and should not be that place! Put a projector in the JCR or put a partition between the bar and where the shop is now to make a tv area, but please do not kill the unique atmosphere that the SOAS bar has by putting tvs in there!

A long rant perhaps, but I hope those designing the refurb take some of this on board. I know a lot of other people who agree with me on this.

Lets hope that if the character of the bar is to change over time, it is because of the people, and not some seismic change because of an ill-thought-out redesign!

one cant please all of the people all of time, but you should be aware that the people most attached to the bar are the ones who like it as it is! Be careful please. Change is inevitable, but lets hope it is managed sympathetically!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/dec/07/obama-interference-independent-palestine

When I first read ‘In Praise of Shadows’ I considered Tanizaki to be overly simplistic, contradictory, probably xenophobic and certainly nationalistic in his justification of an ‘aesthetic’ with such disjointed cultural evidence. I still do, and I can only assume that his literary reputation rode before him at the time.

I have no problem with suffused light and contemplative spaces, but Tanaki is a poor proponent of such. Louis Khan’s ‘In the Realm of Architecture’, or ‘The Secret of the Shadow’ by Ingeborg Flagge and others, both offer very balanced discussion on the subject.

You ask me to think ‘In Praise of Shadows’ – I do not know which translation you have of the book (if indeed it is a translation), but mine is the Thomas Harper version. I quote directly from Harper’s Afterword:

‘Mrs Tanizaki tells a story of when her late husband decided, as he frequently did, to build a new house. The architect arrived and announced with pride, “I’ve read your In Praise of Shadows, Mr Tanizaki, and know exactly what you want.” To which Mr Tanizaki replied, “But no, I could never live in a house like that.’