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.

Architecture of the Olympics

Everyone is getting into the Olympic spirit and so am I in my own way. I have decided to look at the architecture of the main olympic facilities, though I have already looked at the Olympic Orbiter in a Pevious post.

The london Olympic stadium

The Olympic stadium is the centre piece of the London 2012 Olympic and Para olympic Games. Work started on the stadium in 2007 and finished in 2011 at a cost of £468 million causing concern about the amount of money being spent on the Olympics. The stadium was designed by the Architecture firm Populous who are an experienced stadium. The Architects state that the design is totally fixated on the olympics and then can be transformed for long term usage. The repeated triangular ring around the stadium makes it look like a crown which is fitting seen as it is the crown jewel of the London 2012 Olympic games.

The Aquatics centre

Ground broke in July 2008 and took another 3 years to be completed at a cost of £269 million. It is one of my most favourite buildings from the Olympic facilities with its elegant form based upon the the fluidity and movement of water which is both in tune with its function but also sympathetic to the river landscape that the olympic park is set within. The Architect for the aquatics centre is the award winning Zaha Hadid.

London Velopark

The Velodrome is a part of the London Velopark designed by Hopkins Architects. The form of the building is inspired by the bicycles ergonomics and efficency and was a great response to the brief by using the most elegant and simple materials keeping the Velodrome on Budget. It cost £105 million and took 2 years to build.

Copper box

The copper box is a relativley small venue that will hos t sports events such as the handball event and the modern pentathalon. After the Olympics it will be transformed into the sports centre that will serve the local comunity. The architects behind this venue is MAKEarchitects, and Populous.

The olympic venues will be put to good use after the games for instance a new univesity specailised in sports science will be founded and there will be housing from the olympic village as well as more housing being built in the area.

Results

This is a little late but better late than never, I have got a merit in art foundation giving me more than enough points to study architecture at university. The day after our work from art foundation was put on display for an exhibition open to the public.

Here are a few pictures fom the private view for our exhibition:

The Shard opens

The Shard will open today it is something that I have been keeping an eye on. Londons newest landmark and Europes tallest skyscrapper, is expected to be unveiled with a spectacular laser light show at 10 pm this evening. The Shard is funded by a Qatari consortium that includes; Qatar National Bank, QInvest, Qatari Islamic Bank and the Qatari developer Barwa Real Estate. The inaugaration of The Shard will be attended by the prime minister of Qatar, Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani, and The Duke of York.

The Shard is apart of the development in the London Bridge Quarter, which is just the start of new awe inspiring architecture to come to London.

New project - impossible objects

I have recently started a new project to keep busy one of the subjects im looking at is optical illusions. A part of optical illusions is impossible objects these include; The Penrose stairs, The Penrose triangle and The Devils tuning fork.

The Penrose stairs

The Penrose staircase was created in 1959 by father and son, Lionel and Roger Penrose. It was the renowned op artist M C Escher.

Ive had a go at drawing the penrose staitcase and after a few attempts at drawig it I finally managed one that works.

3D sculptures can be created to show a penrose staircase from one viewpoint. This can be seen easily in the film inception.

The Penrose Triangle



The Penrose Triangle was created in 1934 by the sweedish artist Oscar Reutersvard but it was Roger Penrose that has popularised this.


Like the 3d sculptures of the penrose stairs the same would be able to happen with the penrose tiangle. This has been created in Perth Australia on a large scale.

The Devils tuning fork

The devils tuning fork also known as a Blivet. This works by mainly by being linear and long lines. This allows the the viewer to se a rectangular shape with two prongs which then changes to three cylindrical prongs at the opposite end.

Im planning to continue to study op art and illusions in art so i'll keep you posted.

The Hive opens to the public

The new Library in Worscester has opened to the public, it serves both the public and the University of Worscester. This is a sustainable building, using the river water of the river severn to cool the building down. The design has provoked a mixed response from the local residents mainly due to the fact that it makes a profound mark on the cities skyline, with the bright golden rooftops. the form of the building relates back to the history of the area as the architects, FCBS, state "The gold shingled form draws inspiration from both the historic kilns of the Royal Worcester works and the undulating ridgeline of the Malvern Hills."

Here are some interesting facts and figures about the Hive

Opening July 2012

Will be the first of its kind in Europe

12 miles of archive collections

Winner of one international award for the building's design

Shortlisted for two national awards

A quarter of a million books

Anticipating over a million visitors per year

10,000m2 of public space, over five floors

800 study stations

Over 26,000 records of historic monuments and buildings

Landmark design