Oscar Niemeyer

The Pritzker prize winning architect Oscar Niemeyer has died at the age of 104. He was famed for his contemporary work in brazil especially city of Brasilia.

The Rio 2016 concept art

The London Olympics have only just finished and the attention is already starting to turn to Rio. AECOM have just released the Masterplan of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic park. A change to the usual, the olympic stadium is not to be built as existing venues are to be used, this is a sesible method to save money as places already exist to suit the cause.

 

The perfect Bench

In this project we had to use what we had learnt from the lectures on proxemics to create a seating arangement that would be comfortable for peiple to use and interact with. To start with we had to study people talk and interacting with each other  and how they moved around a space.

What we found was that a majority of prople were sitting across corner of the table to get closer making interaction more easy. A reason for the need to get more close was the noise levels in the cafeteria.

I looked at designs that could enclose the users in making interaction alot more easier and reducing the noise level. I also looked at making out of plastic or wood to make it light to move around as well as making it easy to clean.

 

Allthogh this was a very short project I did enjoy it.

Chaos to cosmos

I have not posted for a while as i have been busy with my University work however I will post more about the projects that I have done in the last few months.

Chaos to Cosmos
This project looks at different types of composition in general, not just in architecture. we worked in teams of three one person studied chaos, another cohession and I looked at cosmos and symetrical compositions.

I started studying examples of cosmos in architecture within Lincoln, it started with the the churchs and the Cathedral.

However the building that took presidence in this project was the residential block by the Brayford Pool, this is a new build which is a bit out of the norm as they are more often cohesive.

Part of the project was to use reverse logic, so I  had to take my ordered building and make it chaotic and aysmetrical.

 

Another part of the project was to create a composition that was made out of lots of identical atoms. the shape of the atoms were a corner block

This was the composition I created:

This was the first major project that was on a longer time scale so I felt I was able to get more stuck in to it.

 

 

Developing Lincoln

Over the past week I have discovered some interesting plans for the development of my local area. Firstly is the Brayford campus on which the Architecture building is situated, I have previously reported the rest of the Art Department would be located next door. However there has been new plans of what the university wants  to acheive over the following decade. The plans include more academic space, student accomadation, cafes, hotel and multi-story car park as the current car park shall be built upon. the University are also looking at expanding the award winning GCW Library.

 

 

The next part is the bridge over the railway line next to the engine shed. As previously posted network rail have looked into putting bridges across the railway line at densley used areas, this week they have released plans of what this may look like.

This is very exciting time to be studying at the university as it is expanding, especially being an architecture student as I can watch my future profession input into my present.

The Lincoln story

The first project I was given at Lincoln was to study the buildings on a route from the cathedral back to the architecture block. As well as drawing sketches and taking photos we were to think about the enviroments social, sustainability, practicality, condition, beauty and sustainability. We did this as a part of a group (alpha 2), at the end of the two weeks of collecting all of our work we were to present it in a crit in front of some of oour lecturers and peers.

 Also pinned up was our own work that took a part of lincoln and change it. I chose steep hill as I thought it was very steep (hence the name) and very slippy, this must cause problems in the winter months, especially for older and disabled people. This lead me on a design to create steps on the east side of the road cutting into the steep hill to create steps clad with the cobbles. The red brick wall shall be used to create a hand rail from protruding bricks.

Our first Crit went well with the lecturers comenting on a caring for social aspects of architecture as well as the detail our group has gone in to.

Hybrid Images

I found this on facebook whilst procrastinating, but actually ended up working. These images come from very clever people at MIT and are great optical illusoinists. the images change their content depending on the distance away from the viewer. It works by combining high spatial frequencies from one image and low spatial frequencies of another, ( confusing i know but it works).

Here are a few to have a look at look at it very close then move a few metres away and see the image change;



Who's face is it?



astronaut or diver?

heres more on their website: http://cvcl.mit.edu/hybrid_gallery/gallery.html

MC Escher's Waterfall

My dad has pointed me to a video on youtube that shows MC Escher's waterfall but actually real and working, which is a pretty impressive feat seen as it is an impossible object. the video is bellow;

 



If you were to view the illusion from a different angle you would be able to see how it is set up although we are not able to get a different view, it is possible to gain clues fom shadows and lighting to understand how it works. this shap eyed youtuber explains below;

 

Many thanks to John Boffin fo sending me the link.

Daniel Libeskind to receive LEAF lifetime award

The Polish born, world renowned architect Daniel Libeskind is set to receive The Lifetime acheivment award at the Leaf awards 2012. This is a well deservered award as he has designed many notable structures during his including; Imperial war museum North, the Jewish Museum Berlin and the Museum of Military History Dressden. This Lifetime acheivment award is just one of many that Libeskind has collected over the course of his career. Well done Daniel Libeskind.

Luxembourg and Belguim

I have recently been on a 100 mile hiking expedition with scouts and this gave me a chance to view the architecture of different countries and make comparisons between different regions. We were based in Wiltz in Luxembourg, which was fairly small (around 5000 inhabitants) but very modern. however as we walked out into belguim through the small hamlets and villages that ot many tourists go to the architecture changes to very old and rustic with very few modernist buildings. most residential buildings were made from large farmsteads. it was only until we got to the larger towns that we saw more amenities and modern architecture. pictures will be posted soon.

Lego Olympic park

One of my favourite toys of all time Lego has been used to create a work of art again. It has been used to create a model of the Olympic Park including all of the landscaping and permanent structures. The detail of this model is spectacular as it even includes two figures parachuting above the Olympic stadium, referring to James Bond and the Queens cameo appearance in the Olympic Opening ceremony. The model shall be kept but as for it's future home it is unknown.

Lining up

I have decided to look at art that forms something when viewed from a specific point similar to my previous work. My starting point was just to write the title "line". I will go on to use this with other subjects.

The RIBA Stirling prize shortlist

Following on from a post earlier on in the year about the longlist or the prestigous RIBA Stirling Prize award. The Shortlist has been anounced for award and the contenders are as follows:

The London Olympic stadium by Populas

The crowning glory of the Olympics may be the crowning glory of The RIBA Stirling Prize 2012. It was designed by Populous, an architecture practice with alot of experience designing stadia. This is designed totally for the 2012 Olympic games and Paraolympic games and can be adapted for any event in the future.

The Sainsbury Labatory by Stanton Williams

Also in the runnings for the Stirling prize is The Sainsbury Labatory is a complex or the study of plant science at the University of Cambridge. It brings together the leading minds in this subject as well as the leading workspace for plant science.

The Hepworth Wakefeild by David Chipperfeild

The Hepworth Gallery in wakefeild is the areas gallery housing peices from a multitude of artists as well as Barbara Hepworth. The trapeziodal and odd shaped roof is in response to the local skyline.

The Belfast Lyric theatre by O'Donnell + Tuomey

The Belfast Lyric theatre was developed in response to the Urban and Landscape conditions of the site which was very irregular. It replaced the substandard 1960's built building.

Maggies Centre Gartnavel by OMA

Maggies centre is a place where people suffering from cancer can receive emotional and Physical support. It has be designed to make the inhabitants feel warm and welcomed which some modern architecture can be the opposite.

New Court Rothschild Bank by OMA and  Allies and Morrison

Rothschild bank headquaters is like a glass cube rising between a buildings designed by the likes of Sir Christopher Wren and Sir James Stirling. This is a great adition to the capitals skyline.

The winner shall be anounced on the 13th October with the prize being £20,000.

Tompe l'oeil sketchbook size - anamorphosis

Whilst looking on the internet I have found an artist that draws on multiple planes to create a reverspective like image. He is 21 year old, Nagai Hideyuki from Japan. To gain the effect of his artworks jumping out of the paper he employs the technique of anamorphosis. Anamorphic drawings are drawn at a distorted view that it either has to be viewed by special devices or in this case at a certain viewpoint.

Anamorphic art has been around for a while, the most widley known example of anamorphic art is Holbein's The ambasadors. The foreground has a distorted shape but when viewed from an angle it shows a skull.

 Here are some of my own sketches using anamorphosis.

My lenticular piece

After being inspired by the lenticular fence art I last posted I decided to revisit this form of art. The subject I chose was a simple contrast between urban and rural both the scenes are fictional as I just wanted to see how small I could get the slices.

Lenticular fence

This fence looks fairly normal head on apart from a bit of paint splashed on it. However if you walk past you realise that it isn't just a bit of paint splashed on it. In fact it is a form of lenticular printing using a similar method to create an image the way I did for my final project.

Steelwork illusion

Linking with my theme of impossible I have found a picture by Deskarati. Initially it seems like a normal photo of by gone era of health and safety free workers relaxing on a high grid of steel girders. However it is only after you look at it in more depth that you realise the steelwork that the centre figure is relaxing on is an impossibility. This is a very clever real life take on what is usually a very simply drawn illusion.

More impossible objects and Leah Wolff

Since my last post on impossible objects, I have been drawing my own impossible objects which are below.



I was also contacted by ex KEC student Adam Pritchett, who runs www.therhumboogie.com. He pointed me in the direction of the work of Leah Wolff. Wolff's watercolour work on the subject of impossible shapes particularly interest me. It is a great example of impossible objects that have colour rather being liniear or just black and white.

Many thanks to Adam Pritchett for the information on Leah wolff.