I've been hanging out with Shane recently

I finished my 4th year on Thursday. Everything handed in and ready, and I'm happy with how it all turned out.

I love to use friends in my images, it gives me an excuse to revisit lovely old photos to find just the right pose, activity or light condition. In this case I have been trawling through photos from mine and Shane's trip to Calcutta, Varanasi and Bodhgaya in 2006. Lovely memories! I thought I'd share some of the resulting images from my design.

India pt 2

So, as some of you might know, this year my relationship with India has taken a bit of a professional turn. I am doing my 4th year diploma project in Agra, city of the wonderful Taj Mahal. Here is a little sketch I did of my project as it stands.



I have three weeks left till portfolio hand in, so now it's all about hard graft and long days with lots of coffee!

The Inner Workings of an Architecture Studio, or, F**K, Only 3 weeks left!

Oh dear. I thought I knew what hard work was, sitting in the MPH studying for my IB exams.

I didn't.

Now, knee deep in things to be done, me and Naomi decided we had to make the best out of the situation. What better to do than set up a studio in my unused livingroom and invite all my best architecture mates for a three week long party?
Liam has announced his arrival, bearing computer, mattress and espresso maker, and me and Names (yeah, I like to call her Names) are already hard at work.

Here are a few glimpses:


My favourite little setup, with the Ant shelf and all our architecture books close at hand. Note the Lidl bags used to transport all our model making scraps from the Real Studio.


The wall is our friend! It contains all our ideas and scrappy sketches.


The wall is not our BEST friend though, that would be UHU glue (the solvent free kind. We don't want to go completely loopy after all.)


When we get bored, we put the TV on. Watching the news for example. We need to know a little bit about what goes on outside these walls! Note also the stock of emergency food (sugar puffs, jaffa cakes, tortilla chips, granola bars and bourbon creams).

But, the most important feature of our studio is this wonderful view, reminding us what NOT TO DESIGN (Notably the gorgeous St Georges Road tower blocks):


Who knew stress could be so much fun!

Music Box Underway!

Trying to think of urban strategies for my new project, the 'Music Box' aka some sort of community performing arts centre. Here are my initial thoughts... (these must be regarded as sketches!)

The project is in Stranraer (where the ferry goes from Scotland to Ireland), which used to thrive as a sort of seaside resort but has lost a lot of its charm. Cars have take over the whole town, and i am torn: should we accommodate for the cars (and maybe bring back the 50's drive-in cinema?), or should we provide some areas that are pedestrianized, trying to minimize the use of cars in the tiny town?

Hmm...

Musical Retreat pt 2

Hello dear friends, I just thought I'd show you what I have been working on recently - this is not the final drawings, not the final design, but it gives you an idea of what I'm up to. I'm drawing construction drawings at the moment, to hand over to my engineer tomorrow... Happy days!
Hope you guys are having a more interesting Sunday!

Blog Activity

Hello friends, just showing a little sign of life here on the World and Other Issues.

LETS BUILD STRAW BALE HOUSES!

Musical Retreat

My new project brief for this term is to design a musical retreat in Glenluce, Dumfries & Galloway in the south of Scotland, on a site adjacent to the ruins of the old Glenluce Abbey.
It is meant to be a building which offers a "sanctuary" for twelve young musicians and three resident musicians who run the retreat. Seeing as the main aspect of third year is to become aware of environmentally friendly strategies, the site for the retreat is very remote and does not have access to any electricity grid, meaning it needs to be completely self sustaining in terms of heating, lighting, ventilation etc. A pretty "daunting task" as my tutors like to call it, but very interesting and completely in tune with my aspirations as an architect! Of course, also, telling me to design a musical retreat is like sticking a big, fat lollypop into my mouth, seeing as i once was an aspiring violinist (hehe) who used to go to orchestra camps in the summer time. I should pick it up again, considering my knowledge of the violin is pretty much limited to the level of this:


Also, the fact that I did my summer project on sounds is quite appropriate!
I LOVE THIS BRIEF!

In school we are underway with a lecture series with the title "retreat", looking at monasteries, churches etc, and also spas, hotels and the like. Today's lecture was on the "retreat as workspace", and we did a little historic tour of the working spaces of Le Corbusier, Heidegger and George Bernard Shaw. So far, it seems that a huge part of "retreating" is spending time in a pretty austere environment - monasteries and little huts in the mountains. I am quite interested in hearing your thoughts on retreat!
Also, the activities that happen in this building give a lot of meaning to the theme of retreat, seeing as the making and playing of music is definitely quite a sanctuary in its own right.

MANY challenges are coming my way though, in terms of technical strategies for a completely self sustaining building. I intend to start the project with the environmental issues safely planted in my head before i dive into the pool of options of forms and "stylistic language". I was thinking maybe you guys have some keen opinions on sustainability and building that you might want to share with me!

I'll end this post with a picture from one of my favorite buildings, the Mortensrud Church in Oslo by Jensen and Skodvin. Designed within a very strict budget, but so beautiful! This will definitely be one of my major inspirations for this project:


Please share your thoughts on a Sustainable Retreat!

Bharatanatyam Centre Nearly Finished!

And Andrew is the happy picnic tourist!

the new oslo opera house

dear friends, now that we have discussed issues of both smell and olympic torch relays, i feel it is time for me to get into my field and discuss a little architecture.

the occasion is the opening of the new opera house in oslo, designed by norwegian architects snohetta (picture from saturday's opening galla)




following the opening of this massive new opera house comes, of course, much debate about whether we need an opera house, whether everybody should pay for the opera house (it is financed through taxes and cost approximately 4 billion norwegian kroner, or approx. 800 million dollars.) etc.

it is built in the harbour area of bjorvika in oslo, in front of the central station (when seen from the sea), and takes on the shape of an iceberg rising from the water. this whole area is one that is under development at the moment (anthony is doing his thesis project on the site right next to it, designing a new ferry terminal and hotel). i find it quite astonishing that, from what i can deduce from the debate pages on www.dagbladet.no, nobody seems to understand the importance of this building in terms of regenerating this area.



to enlighten you a bit more, the area around the central station has always been a major hang out spot for the drug addicts and hookers of oslo (the drug addicts have moved elsewhere after a government initiative was implemented a while back, but the hookers were definitely lined up two weeks ago when me and anthony went for an evening walk down there) and whereas most of the motorways in oslo are underground in tunnels, at this tricky place the road comes back up from the tunnel and separates the whole harbour area from the rest of the city.

in order to make the opera house work they have built a pedestrian bridge over this motorway, connecting the opera to the central station.

having studied issues like this in my "built environment" lectures, i found it incredibly interesting when anthony took me down there a couple of weeks ago. the whole area is rather cut off from the rest of the city, which was clear to me because it took an englishman doing his thesis to drag me down there (i had never been before, and i am from there. uhoh.)
i have since developed a burning interest in the development of the harbour area, because it is one where nothing has been done for years and years and there is so much land which has been left derelict because of this incredibly disruptive motorway (and also the train lines from oslo central).
i am very excited to learn from anthony that work has already started on building a tunnel for this road to go in. there is also a project called the "barcode" which will be a business park of high rise buildings organized in a "barcode" way behind the opera house. the first one has already been built and i happen to think it is an excellent building.

so i guess my concern is that people only seem to think of this as a building which has cost way too much money for everyone that is not going to use it (the common man doesn't go to the opera etc, but in fact let's say we have 4 million people in norway, so if you do the maths the opera will, if it stands for 100 years, cost each of us about 4 kroner pr year. which after all is pretty much the price of half a pack of bubblegum), but i think most people fail to see the real point of this. not only is it the first time in YEARS that a major new cultural building has been erected in oslo (i believe the last one was the national theatre in 1899), but it is also oslo's very first landmark building which will undoubtedly speed up the process of the urban renewal of oslo's harbour which it so badly needs.

also, i have real doubts that it will only be used for opera - rock concerts are already scheduled.
also, (again) i've already immensely enjoyed this building simply by walking around it and taking it in. also, the installation in the lobby by olafur eliasson is VERY nice.

things that should be blogged

first, i need to mention a new discovery i have made. you might already know about this show.
it is called 'trapped in the closet' and it is basically a soap opera in the format of a musical. r kelly wrote it, sings it and he is the man 'trapped in the closet' who can see everything which is going on, in a fly-on-the-wall kind of narrative.
if you're in the mood for something extremely silly, look it up on youtube.
we've had a bit of a debate going on here, whether r kelly is really stupid, or really a comedy genious, or something in between that results in a really funny show. i would like to hear your opinions on the matter.

on a more serious note, i have read a book lately, called 'louis i kahn - conversations with students', and this book is made up of questions that students asked him and his answers. (louis kahn is a famous american architect).
it makes me want to be smart, and it makes me think that maybe i should have studied philosophy instead. well at least louis kahn has some great thoughts about architecture that i wish i could be smart enough to implement into my designs at some point. i especially liked this part, where he is talking about the design of a school:

'i do not think that there should be rooms designated for seminars in a row on a certain floor, because a seminar is really an inspired thing, and you hold a seminar like this one, you sit around and hold it. as soon as you make it on the second floor, with all the seminars lined up, it is no longer a seminar. there isn't the spontaneity in the back of it.'

i wish i could be a bit more philosophical in my thinking about activity, and why and where and how events happen.

else, have you read any heidegger? he is next on my reading to do list.

'energy vibrations' or 'dear friends'

yesterday i spoke to gavin, anthony's flatmate, and he told me (out of the blue) that gyms around the world are being powered by the people running on treadmills and elliptical machines. this is very cool. even cooler is the fact that, according to gavin, there are nightclubs which derive power from the vibrations in the dance floor which happen when people dance! how cool is that! this gives me a reason to dance more; it is environmentally friendly. and it gives me some cool ideas for how to design environmentally friendly buildings. imagine all the things we can do!

dear friends;
i miss you to fucking pieces and i am about to go insane.
yesterday i had a bit of a bad night. i had two glasses of wine, but they made me tired and emotional, and i was supposed to finish this cubist drawing thing that i presented in school today. i didn't finish the drawing and i didn't really sleep either.
and it didn't help that anthony seemed to be in the mood for a DTR*. this resulted in me crying and crying, basically because i want my friends back. HERE, NOW. i want to go to fishing parties and i want to sit in my room with the two of you, crying because sufjan stevens songs are so sad. i tried to tell anthony this, and he said that eventually i will make friends and that i am not a stupid friendless person. i think the worst feeling in the world is to be lonely, and right now i am.
how can this be, i've been here for a year, and still i can't sit down with anyone and cry to sufjan stevens. i am a sociable person! this is weird! and it sucks!

hmm... i guess the whole world can read this, so i won't go on.

i will, however, tell you about something amazing that happened today! approximately 1 hour ago i went down to the canteen (the refectory) to get my daily panini (they had a new version today, roast chicken and veggies, mmm). as i was waiting for my coffee to brew and my panini to heat up, i turned around and i saw...who? PER! do you know per? the swedish guy from RCN, who organised the human rights forum?
well, it took me a couple of seconds to realize where i knew this guy from, and then i was extremely happy that a little UWC just popped into my day in an extremely random fashion. turns out that his first year, silja from the faroe islands, is studying here in the painting department. weeee, i have another UWC person!
also, i don't know if i've told you this, but our third year eduardo is in the year above me in the architecture school, and we're in the same studio! very nice!
i have a picture of else, daniel and daniel, pedro, arthur and sebas on my wall, from our trip to the holy beach, and one day eduardo came over and then he said; oh, daniel daniel and sebas! aaaah, i miss muwci! and then i realized how many friends we have in common, and how amazing all these people are, and i don't know. it gave me a bit of hope that one day, we will all be together again. i miss muwci.

so on saturday i'm going to a party with per and silja and simon (from south africa, he was also at roskilde, and now he lives in edinburgh!)

i love that there's a little UWC network forming around me.

i love you guys and i think else is right, we should move to a kibbutz and raise each other's babies.

i need help

well, i don't really NEED help, but i do want help.
in uni, this whole term is dedicated to studying an activity, involving around 10 people. we are going to make cubist paintings, collages, video montages and digital representations of this activity, and after christmas, our two terms are dedicated to designing a building to house the activity. it seems that most of my class want to do some form of dancing, because it should be an activity with a distinct pattern that we can make diagrams of and eventually draw in plans and sections. AND it should be an activity that we are interested in, because after all we will be spending half a year studying it. which does sound really interesting, but you know, i don't feel up to drawing salsa dancing every day.
AND, it can not be a sport, because sport arenas are too big for the scope of the project, so there's volleyball out the window.
i need your creative input on this one! i was thinking about kathakali dancing, which i think would be pretty cool, but how on earth will i find a kathakali group in glasgow?
hmm.
input?
quick?