Let’s be clear that EAT GOLF! does not condone the idea of knocking down existing buildings in favour of constructing new glass structures. We are simply aiming to bring to light some of the possible advantages a fresh approach to building a clubhouse from scratch could offer. With almost one hundred new golf courses being developed around the world each year, attempting to find and create an identity is of paramount importance in generating income by attracting new clients and members to join them.
There are very few examples of modernist architecture styles being implemented in the design of clubhouses today. Many stately homes, which traditionally have large acreage devoted to gardens, make ideal sites to transform the land into a golf course and can immediately bring a sense of grandeur and history to a new club. Farmland and converted barns are another way we preserve and adapt existing buildings for sporting use, and this is perfectly understandable.
However when no such property exists our attempts to interpret these historic buildings in a modern style - by taking a ‘corniche’ here and a ‘column’ there - often has awkward looking results. Building aspirations through false authenticity is what makes this mock style of architecture known as a modern parody or pastiche. It is true that almost all architecture has been influenced by other styles and cultures, and could therefore have been considered pastiche at one time. But these historic homes have a quality to the architecture that is rarely recreated by craftsmen today- their modern counterpart frequently displays a lack of sympathy, character and imagination present in the original.
Benalmadena Golf Clubhouse, Benalmadena, Spain
Designed by Global Golf, the first modern clubhouse to appear on the Costa del Sol
houses a restaurant / bar, changing facilities, the clubs offices and pro shop.
Post modernism is a take on the term modernism, a movement that spread throughout Europe in the 1930s with very clear aims and ideals. Modernism was never meant to be ostentatious, quite the opposite. The modernist movement was created to blur the boundaries between the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of popular culture. Rather than viewing it as a style which is empty and devoid of culture, it should perhaps be seen as a creative outlook which represents an opportunity to break new ground, creating an escape from our busy world and a chance to develop a new identity.
Failed attempts are responsible for a negative attitude towards modern architecture. British high rise flats of the 60s, Expo ‘98 in Seville and the Millennium Dome in London have become symbols of unsuccessful efforts to create the modernist dream. Uncared for and left to deteriorate, these examples were flawed ideas from the outset. Without consideration of their long term practicality they lacked the focus and vision of the very future they were meant to stand for. The difference with a golf clubhouse is that it has a clearly defined brief of what is required to successfully serve its clients.
A more favourable precedent can be seen within a city environment. Here modern architecture is used to give a clean, bright and functional habitat whilst demonstrating the wealth and stature of the company which occupies the building.
Are these not the very ideals that a well designed golf clubhouse should endeavour to achieve?
