White Cube. Anthony Gormley

The white cube off Masons Yard could be the exhibition itself, its fab!

Gormleys Lost horizon is exhibited on the ground floor of the white box. It comprises of the 32 solid Iron body forms which previously animated London's skyline in the 'Event Horizon' exhibition (see previous blogg entry) , they are placed throughout the space standing abruptly, suspended horizontally. Those attatched to the ceiling seem weightless, those grounded don't. One must weave and duck through them for human and inhumane encounters. Each figure has presence when looking at them too long its awkward like you're staring at someone!

'Here the haptic field that acts directly on the body of the viewer' (press release) Our 1.5m comfort zone is broken as you walk through the art work.

The stairs in the White cube are dramatic- next to them the facade is glass to the floor so, decending underground the bright white granite floor outside becomes eye level.
The stair case takes you into the exhibition 'Firmament', a sculpture, alike a celestial constellation . I got lost following the patterns which 30 by 30 mm mild steel tubing made, as it collected into a mass and dwindled in arms to the edge of the room. Firmament is constructed of 1770 steel elements and again impedes on personal space and has a direst relationship with the viewer. 'In this exhibition the viewer is asked to re-adjust continually their relationship with the field as they navigate through it'(press release) 'its form disolves and resolves throuought the gallery. Like a map of space bronging our awareness to the white box's capacity.'(press release)
Gormely's cast Iron figures have visual similarities to Frinks aluminium cast people.

Flying Figures Shaftsbury square:


'Frinks forms defy categorisation and merge human, bird and animal characteristics.'

Frinks sculptures are sureal as they are busy doing things, yet so static- they have less presence and relationship with the viewer than Gormleys people.

community agriculture video

My work on the SLIC leaflet

Lighting

CPD Lecture at EDCO Design 18th April 2008

More Light does not create better effects

Dominic Meyrick animatedly presented his lighting concepts and projects. He talked about the level of light needed for different situations, measured in lux:
home 50-150, dusk 50-150 street lighting 5-10, moon light 0.5 and starlight is 0.2 we can see in very little light.
Sky glow can be minimised with the right light fitting
White light is a low voltage tungsten colour which gives good colour rendering compared to the yellow street lighting which colours everything the same.

Daylight is called white light compared to the warmer light inside, however at night this is reversed and indoor light becomes white compared to the darker atmosphere outside.

Lighting design can cover the macro and micro scales macro could be lighting an iconic building, and micro is lighting on a human scale. The human scale rarely deviates from 4-6m high.

A good way of saving money in a scheme is to light the landscape from the buildings adjacent.

Reasons for lighting:

Security
our personal space is 0.5m (this is why handshaking is such a one to one gesture) at night this circle of comfortable distance between you and others can increase to 3m- lighting can reduce the fear of crime if done in the right way.

Safety
Spot lighting creates shadows- safe lighting will allow people to see who's there facial expressions, and age and will allow people to judge distance

Work

Movement- Leon is designed so that the main roads leading in and out of the grid structure city and lit with cool white light, whereas the rest of the grid is lit with warm yellow light. In fact blue light is the best light to see by at night and the yellow light scheme everywhere is a major error!

Leisure

Visual Appeal
Lighting draws people in at night, and can highlight different qualities of the space from the day.
theatrical and dramatic lighting has it's place, but not in the everyday public realm because of safety issues

communities within communities

The Luxurious Holland Park, Kensington.

Open City Exhibition

This is a must see, analyse and go back to, and spend hours in.... exhibit! It showcases ideas for an improved London for pedestrians in a wonderfully innovative displays encompassing masses of information. The strategies are easily digested and it's a exciting to see the work of the pro's including MUFF, MJP Architects, Witherford Watford Mann Architects, and Gross Max.

I have outlined some of the information from the exhibit for anyone who missed it and for my own reference:

Now is ' a change in political and cultural climate caused a remarkable urban renaissance.'

London is 'A Patchwork of different neighbourhoods each with its own identity.'

Artwork a collage of public views on how to improve London's public realm:

The exhibition shows possibilities for unlocking the potential of Lon dons Public Places and Streets, acknowledging the charm of hidden moments and surprises whilst recognising the need to collaborate far and wide to improve accessibility, the hidden, and connections. Strategies cover large scale change, transport corridors and gateways, blue ribbon network, green space, access to nature, public space, small things everywhere, prospects and panorama's.

'London bristles with barriers, railings and spikes.' 'The ring of steel around the City.' (Edwin Heathcote)

In our fight to tackle antisocial behaviour in urban areas we have crammed the streets with clutter and signs forbidding and restricting, often having an adverse effect on behaviour.

Pedestrians prevail

The 1960's car based approach to planning has led to the need to re- address the balance between pedestrian, cyclists and cars- aim is to increase the amount of infrastructure which is for the human scale.

The River

The City to sea path capitalise upon the investment of the East End Thames public spaces connected to the Olympics. It will extend the Thames path to the end of the estuary- NICE!

Projects and Practices:

Victoria Embankment by MJP Architects

is littered with gardens, monuments and memorials, it has a rich history, yet cars rule- and it is not as well used as its moulded partner- the south bank. MJP Architects have considered all the layers of the landscape rigorously; transport, history, pedestrians, overview, sound scape, landscape, environment, the string of beads (meaning important buildings along Victoria Embankment) and public art. Their design is widening the path next to the river and introducing a tree scattered walkway.

Potters Field Park by Gross Max

AKA big news! Another public space for the South bank a place to take a break and for public events, for views of the Tower of London , the Thames and the city skyline. The 'green oasis' contrasts to the paved areas of the Scoop which was developed as a part of 'More for London', it sits next to the GLA building.
The exhibition hosts some really seductive plans and elevations by Gross Max, and I look forward to the planting area designed by the fabulous Piet Oudolf to flourish.

I like the movement patterns and parallel edges with different speed zones i.e river, pedestrian walkway, park out skirts, park centre, then planting towards the back.

The Bankside Urban Forest by Witherford Watford Mann Architects

'The emphasis is not on beautification, but rather how the public realm can 'work harder' and be occupied and shared by more different players, more ages.'

They are rigorous and thorough with their approach, the images are inviting and they cover every influence both existing and predicted for the urban forest. The scheme creates lively, pedestrian friendly places through planting, lighting and landscaping.

Labelling and zoning, Layers of the Landscape : pedestrian movement, urban interior, land use- dominant, -day/night, institutional players, local networks, hidden places, places of exchange- bringing people into contact, seeds of framework, spreading roots, maturing of framework

Rides- straight routes alike cutting through royal hunting forests

Streams- oldest pathways and roads

clearings- places people navigate to to sit and read, meet or eat.

Barking Town Center By Muf

click for MUF

Brick lane

Art in the Park.

Burgess Park, Elephant and Castle, 6th April 08.

A chance find which brighten up the dreary city skyline of Elephant and Castle:

'Art in the Park' and the local school children made drawings of themselves, plants and birds, either imaginary or realistic which metamorphosed into an environmental dreamscape that complements the parks' green spaces.Inspired by themes of 'camouflage and enchanted forest', drawings have been turned into relief sculptures, transforming the ghostly building's outline into a synergy of architecture and plant life.'

read more here

and here!

Guerrilla Gardeing

April 4th 2008. Old Street.

Guerrilla gardening link

The smell of soil in the heart... of London, lots of busy hands attracted much attention as we cleared a rubbish heap, planted ivy & daisies and sprinkled Eschscholzia seeds. I wonder how the nombs will get on!

Stephen Walters & Magical Maps

Below is walters map of Kingston
Stephen Walters fantastic maps! They depict the london landscape through human meaning and sybolism of the past and present. The following map is a special edition print made for the subteranea V&A exhibition covering the exhibition row in west Kensington.

They are addictive and one gets easily lost in an intricate web of words and symbols!

According to the V & A website:

'map is ever the truly objective description of a place that it purports to be. Every map is shaped and coloured by political, cultural and social conditions, and by the personal experience or imaginative projections of its maker.'

Please click for: Stephen Walter's website

Late Night at the V&A. Friday 28th March.

The V&A is open late every Friday, at the end of each month is hosts a range of talks and exhibitions, March 2008 was themed Subterranea,

I managed to see a lot of the V&A due to its maze of rooms to navigate around! Here's more about the interresting events:

The new V&A tunnel commission is 'Seasons through the Looking Glass' Tunnel by CJ Lim of Studio 8 Architects,


White T-shirts are rolled up to become roses amongst corregated cardbord panels. They will be painted with the seasons, the exhibition is accompanied by a passage from Alice and wonderland connecting the idea of painting roses and being under ground and giving the 'sculpture' narative.

apparantly it is a 'multi-sensory invention exploring the spatial possibilities of a subterranean garden space'
After a talk by CJ Lim the public were invited to play!

'Nighthaunts'National Art Library

'Join a reading by Sukhdev Sandhu, from his recent book 'Nighthaunts', an exploration of nocturnal London and a reflection on the nature of the urban night. Accompanied by music by sonic artist Scanner.'

The eerie and intimate ambience of the Victorian Library lended itself perfectly to this reading, the lights were out and we were able to drift in and out of a story about working in the unnatural underground of Londons sewers. An environemtn people overground try to forget, where engravings in the walls 'street art' are gradually filled in with shit, as if nobody was ever there. mmm!

Talks at the Bartlett:

Global Cities

Mumbai is the most densley populated in the city has a powerful physical divide between rich and poor.

It is more sustainable to live in a highrise city environment than to live a twee life in the country. Manhattan was called a 'Green Machine?', just imagine how green it could be if everybody became more responsible for their existence.

Fractals

Image take from Bill Mollison's book 'Permaculture. A Designers Manual'

'Fractal geometry and cellular automata in urban design' lecture by Dr Michael Batty. The structure of everything, it is basically the repitition of a triangle overlapping itself. Natural forms like a leaf or the shore line and and why they work, they are not organic shapes, though on the human scale they may seem it. Batty suggested the same structural theory should be applied to town planning, to create forms that work and to look at natures complex system for inspiration. I now look at trees in totally different light!

Edaw on the Olympics

London a city on a string, a string of villages- what is their individual identity? It was refreshing to see some really creative conceptual work produced by such a big practice.