Serpentine Pavilion 2016

By Bjark Ingels Group (BIG).

 

Serpentine Pavilion 2013-2015

2015: selgascano

Just out of the blue I decided to go to the pavilion at 6 am on Sunday to have a quick look at this year’s pavilion. It was not a planned visit so I only had my mobile phone to take photos with.

A few photos from the last two pavilions are also added below.

 

2014: Smiljan Radić

2013: Sou Fujimoto

Serpentine Pavilion 2012 Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei

So I finally went to go to this year’s pavilion to take some photos and see how it compares to the other past pavilions. All in all I think it was ok but nowhere near as good as last year’s Zumthor effort.

The design is essentially made up from tracings from previous pavilions and the basic idea was to have a kind of sunken space that reveals the history of the site, almost like an archaeological excavation. Internally, the space is made from cork and is carved to create stepped seating areas all over the place. Above is a large disc which sits slightly off centre with water pool on top.

I sat there for a while to see how people were reacting to it and using it. On the whole it seemed like they were mostly confused, not exactly sure where to sit. The oval shape creates a space that looks inwards so no views to anything outside. People, therefore, predictably were sitting there watching each other. I suppose if you had a person sitting somewhere in the middle giving a talk then it would work better. I think it’s something they’re planning to do later on.

Also, on this sunny day, the space underneath was really dark. There were lights attached to the bottom of the disc that covers the pavilion that helped a bit. I don’t know if they were part of the initial design but to me they looked like an afterthought.

As I was about to leave I heard someone stumble on the opposite end of where I was sitting. It was an old man, probably in his 80’s. Some people next to him went to help him up. As he got up, after a good few minutes, he turned to them and said, “too many steps”.

I did enjoy being there but I think what he said summed it up pretty well.

Short video I took with my mobile phone.

Film Course

I studied film for one year when I was at architecture school.

These some sketches from my old note book showing what ideas I had floating around in my head at the time. I needed to make a movie by using still images and to do that I researched some famous old films, like Wings of Desire, Les Enfants du Paradis, October and some Hitchcock ones like Rope. (all images are clickable)

Peter Zumthor Pavilion

  
 
 
  

I finally had time to go visit the Peter Zumthor pavilion in Hyde Park and it really did not disappoint. I had read a number of negative reactions by experts who said that it did not live up to the expectations. I completely disagree.

As I was approaching it my initial reaction was that it reminded me of the monolith in the film 2001. Somehow you were not supposed to come close to it but for some reason it did feel inviting. Maybe it was the wavy pathway leading into the 6 openings that puts you inside a thin long corridor that frames the entire rectangular structure. Or maybe it was the number of children there who was playing hide and seek and running in and out of the doorways that made it seem fun.

When I entered I was struck by just how dark it looked esepecially on day like today! It was difficult to see anything and I had to give it a minute for my eyes to adjust. I was actually very surprised later on by my own photos when I noticed all the detail that was hidden. As you go around this corridor there were I think two openings that take you inside where you see a hidden garden with seating all around, and again, lots of families and friends chatting away and enjoying the flowers and plants (By Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf). I remember seeing an interview by Zumthor where he said that he gave Oudolf complete freedom to do whatever he wanted without instruction and the result was this wild, varied mass of plants. I think it really contrasts well with the clean and minimalist approach taken by Zumthor.

So yes, in short, it was great!

Random models

 
 
 

Maybe I should rename my blog “Random Sketches and Photographs……and Models”!

Reflections

This is a short project I did in my first year studying architecture where we were told to find our own site and to investigate some kind of ‘boundary condition’.

So, a site anywhere in London! Anywhere you say? Well, I ended up choosing my living room and the door to the terrace. It just meant that I could be on ‘site’ a lot more and work a lot harder, I’m sure you understand. Nothing to do with not wanting to travel far or anything!

 

Initial idea, and two photos – one taken during the day and one at night.

My idea was to look at inside and outside space through my terrace door, and more specifically through the glass boundary through reflections. As the day progresses light outside gets darker of course and as a result the view towards the outside terrace and the sculpture I put there is gradually replaced with the reflected view of the inside of the room, where I was there taking photos every 15 minutes.

My interest was really to do with seeing the glass as a 2d space where the two opposite ends combine. I wanted to imagine what that flat space would look like if you were to expand it. That’s the final image which shows this hybrid space. Unfortunately, that’s the only image I could find so it will have to do. So, essentially, the end result is a collision of the two worlds on either side of the glass.

  
Sample of sketches that I made during the day. There was a set of about 40 different photos and drawings I think.

and another panel.

Bellagio Project – Extra images

This was an investigation of the city of Bellagio and the insperation was the essay the Smooth and the Striated by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari from the book A Thousand Plateaus.

Google Map of Bellagio

Bellagio and random sketches from Moscow

I spent time in a unit where the tutor (who happened to be a very famous architect) tried to push into a new way of thinking about how to make spaces and how to see a particular site. Even though I passed the course I never really felt right about the unit’s work and I told my tutor that I didn’t think what we were doing was a good way to do architecture! I said to him a lot of it seemed random to me and I could easily use the same methadology to ‘create a form’ by using data taken from how much bread was eaten by the population of the town! He took it quite well!

Anyway, this is one panel from an detailed investigation of the city of Bellagio in Italy. I admit I do like the form but I’m not sure of it’s architectural value. Maybe I’m being too harsh, I don’t know anymore.

Something a bit more interesting perhaps, some sketches from my note book. These were carried out very quickly when I was in Moscow. I tried to take one glance and put down what I thought I saw so I only got flashes of what was in front of me.

 

 

Objects of Desire – Egg Buildings

This post is about a project I worked on while in architecture school that was based on Objects of Desire. It was a long project with a lot of different ideas thrown into it.

In simple terms it was split into three stages. First stage was to design and build my own object, which ended up being a rocking chair that moves around the living room when you rock on it. Click the chair image to go to a post that explains a bit about it. Second stage was to design an object that you give away as a gift. I made a frame with an egg inside that I sent to an architect in Japan. You can click the egg image to go to a the relevant post.

 (Yes I know the blog is not very organised! If you want further proof, click the water colour trench drawing. It will take you to yet another post)

 

Last stage was to take these ideas and apply them to the city, on an artificial island in Tokyo to be more specific. Since my approach invovled looking at objects and on movement from one place to another I decided to expand on those ideas and to apply them to the island.

 

I’m going to keep it simple. The island is made up of rubbish that accumulated over the years to create the ground. From memory, the layers were made up of squashed objects that were thrown away, like old TV’s, microwaves, computers, etc. All objects of desire in a way! I thought if you were to make a long cut, or a trench, right through the island then you would get a wall that shows in layer upon layer the history of the development of the city of Tokyo. That would be something you’d see up close on a micro scale. Then, I looked around the island to things were close by, on a medium scale. I found Mount Fuji! I made some cuts and lookout points that frame the mountain and bring it into the island. Lastly, on a macro level, I thought the night sky, the planets and the stars would be my objects of desire and I made a number of planetariums that let the public see the stars up close. I know I’m probably making a complete mess of the explanation, so I’ll stay quiet now and just display some random drawings from the project.

Click the images below to expand them.

 

City of Dreams pavilion

This was an architectural competition based in NY which I entered at the end of 2010. The idea was to design a pavilion to be placed on Governer’s Island. The 2 images show the idea I was working with before my computer went kaput and died on me 2 weeks before submission. So I was not able to send anything in the end to my great frustration.

 

The idea involved a number of themes, including virtual travel, broken distorted memories and a place to exercise self introspection! The frame is fragmented so you can see bits of the island as you walk through it. The inside of the frame is clad in mirrors and you see a reflection of yourself juxtaposed with the island and looking further to the opposite side a glimpse of New York . It’s a bit like how dreams are fragmented. I read Freud while reseraching the project. Wow, that guy has a one track mind!

Later I might post some of the sketches and ideas I had to this blog, if I have time.

Building in Ireland

Around 2001 I was working on a design with an architect for a new build house in Ireland. The basic idea was to make the house spiral around itself. The images below show the initial very early designs.

It actually always bothered me that we never finished it.

A few days ago I had a dream where I saw that house again but it looked very different. As soon as I woke up I grabbed my notepad next to my bed and drew the image that I had in my head. I tried to get as much of it as possible before I forgot what I saw. It is very sketchy of course but I do hope at some point to try and develop it only for myself to see if I can make a proper building out of it. It could be interesting if I can work out how the rooms work. I will post the design later if I end up with something decent.

And another quick sketch I did today.

Adventures abroad

Two photos taken on a trip to Russia back in 2001. (Not sure where the 3rd is from. I think Spain)

This was a trip that I was looking forward to for many years having grown up hearing and reading about Russia, it’s history, it’s contribution to art, film and of course music! Rimsky Korsakov and Tchaikovsky were my particular favourites. I also remember watching Russian cartoons when I was a child and they were really completely different to anything you see in the West.

So this was brilliant, how can it go wrong? Well, I don’t know, it just was not what I was expecting I guess. Funnily enough take any Bond film and that will give you an idea of what Moscow was like. I found it cold and a little bit unwelcoming. It’s a pity because apparently I have something in my background from that region (Cossack hertiage maybe), or so I’m told. On the plus side I did go to St. Petersburg to see the Kirov Ballet perform Swan Lake which was ace.

Trip to Paris back in 95 or 6! I loved it for so many reasons. It’s just a beautiful city. I spent some time in a workshop run by an American architect who was trying to document the old areas in Menilmontant and that’s were the photo is from.

That statue below was taken in Père Lachaise cemetery.

The rest were taken in the Netherlands in Groningen again, and I think one in Rotterdam. The top left one is by Rem Koolhaas, I believe!

3 buildings I like

   
I must have walked down this street about 456 times I think over the years but never really stopped to have a proper look. That’s what I’m like sometimes, I either have tunnel vision or my head up in the clouds day dreaming and not paying attention to anything around me.

Yesterday however I suddenly decided to look around a bit. These 3 buildings situated in the same immediate area, a Parish Church (Victorian Gothic style and built in 1882 I found out recently), a Greek Orthodox Cathedral (1879) and a Synagogue (1877, and Grade 1 listed apparently) are simply beautiful and very distinct and amazingly all built around the same time! I can’t believe how I missed them especially considering that I have always loved these kind of buildings.

Holland and France

Found these old photos today that I took way back in 96 or 97. Not entirely sure exactly when. The first group are of the Groninger Museum in Groningen designed by Coop Himmelblau. And the second group where taken in Menilmontant in Paris during a time when some of these old buidlings were being demolished. They were at one point occupied by the city’s artisan community.

I also visited an old violin maker who had lived there for all his life. He was the kind of person you don’t really see very often these days. The many violins of all sizes on his wall were a sight to behold. I wish I had taken a photo!!

Incidently this the area where they filmed the movies “The Red Balloon”, one of my favourite films when I was a child, and “Les Enfants du Paradis”.

I wonder if “Amelie” was filmed here too.

On the way to the V&A

 

I am thinking of entering a competition to design a new gallery space for the Victoria and Albert Museum. On the way to site I took some photos of the Royal College of Art, Albert Hall, Imperial College and the V&A.

2 photos and an Installation

 
First photo taken in Paris. It think that’s where Edith Piaf lived if I remember correctly. And the other taken in London of the Southbank.

 
A proposed installation in central London. School project.

Serpentine Pavilion (Nouvel)

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Photos taken (with my old camera) during a brief trip to the Serpentine gallery to see the Nouvel pavilion.

House in central London

I worked with an architect on this project. The existing building had unique features that we wanted to retain while at the same time attempting to redeign the interior into a 6 bedroom house. We needed to show clients what it would could look if it was converted into a house. I built models and made a couple of presentations to express the size of the property and tried to highlight what made it different to other buildings in the area.

House in Kensington

I worked jointly on a new build with an architect here in london. The design was to house a family of four with the addition of optional office space below. I was responsible for the initial survey and the development of the concept from initial ideas we had up to the final design that was submitted for planning.

 
Models I made to further develop the idea.

 
Back elevation and the provider/divider.