Arne Jacobsen's St Catherine's College, Oxford is perhaps his best work, and certainly the best preserved, even after 50 years. Film commissioned by Skandium.
I was there from 83-86. It was like living in a prison. Tiny rooms with uncomfortable beds. The chairs in the dining room were hard and uncomfortable. Food was quite good. The bar was good with entertainment most Saturday nights.
LOL, I remember those right handed spoons. And the proprietary wall sockets. Ah the lecture hall to screen sunday night movies. LOL the library where I read Watchmen. The beds pull out! My goodness, it hasn't changed in the 30 years since I was there.
I hope it doesn’t change very much, that would undermine the unique design. As wear and tear takes its toll, hopefully like will be replaced with like as much as possible. Perhaps the greatest challenge has arisen recently with the unfortunate use of RAAC and the forced evacuation of many buildings. My recollection (77-80) of St Catz architecture is summed up thus: beautiful to look at, but not always easy to live in. West-facing student rooms got far too hot in the summer and we all endured endemic issues with noise. The feeling of space was extraordinary, even though the rooms were small, everything else felt epic, with the rest of Oxford mentally far, far away. But most students probably don’t care about the buildings anyway, much more interested in each other, their study, work and play.
