Bowellism is a modernarchitectural style heavily associated withRichard Rogers. It is described as a transient architectural and flippant style that was influenced byLe Corbusier andAntoni Gaudí.[1] The style consists of services for the building, such as ducts, sewage pipes, andlifts, being located on the exterior to maximise space in the interior.
The style originated withMichael Webb's 1957 student project for a Furniture Manufacturers Association building inHigh Wycombe.[2][3][4] Webb coined the term in response to a comment on his design bySir Nikolaus Pevsner in a 1961 lecture, in which he recalled hearing the words: "within the schools there are some disturbing trends; I saw the other day a design for a building that looked like a series of stomachs sitting on a plate. Orbowels, connected by bits of gristle".[5] Thus this inside-out style was termed 'Bowellism' because of how it recalled the way the human body works. One of Webb's proposed structures based on bowellism was the Sin Centre forLeicester Square. The concept was a geodesic structure that supports a glass skin.[6]
Some scholars citeReyner Banham as the first to use bowellism for the new architectural fascination with visible circulation, one that focuses on a building's skeletal services as well as its "bloodstream" or the moving cars and crowd, cascading down from the top to the main foyers—all visible through the structure's geodesic skin.[7] Banham is also credited for introducing the term "topological" to refer to an aspect ofbrutalism.[4]
Richard Rogers andRenzo Piano continued the style with the design of thePompidou Centre in Paris, described as a "vast exercise in Bowellism",[8] so the floor space of the interior could be maximised to fully appreciate the exhibitions.[9]
