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Serpentine Pavilion 2016
By Bjark Ingels Group (BIG).
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.
Wildlife Wide Web
That’s not even a remotely funny title.
Just some random photos I took this morning. I wish there were more people there to give some scale. Instead it was quiet, foggy and very cold.
There was only a cyclist and he stopped briefly to have a chat with me and to light up a cigarette! Yes, a cigarette. No, I don’t really get it either.
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!
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!
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.
Photos from the last day of school
Well, I think it was the last day. It was close to the end of the year anyway. This is when every unit works to put together their own space for the end of year exhibition.
And one more of a student friend of mine. They used to smoke like chimeneas back then. Thankfully I got through without picking up that habit. I don’t smoke anything, except a pipe I have. Well, I don’t put any tobacco in it. I just sort of suck on it. It makes me feel smarter.
Just a walk in the park
Well I say park but it really felt more like a forest. This is my first time there and I was really surprised by how much variety it had. There was something a bit different at almost every turn.
Walk in the park
Walking by the Serpentine.
Maastricht
I keep finding photographs stashed away in odd places around my house! Today I found a small bag full of photos labled “NETH”! When I rummaged through I started to remember some of the photos were actually taken in Maastricht and suddenly I realized “NETH” stood for “Netherlands”.
It’s funny that I have almost zero recollection of this trip! It does not help when you have your head up in the clouds like I do.
Out of the many I took there only the two above really interest me today. They were taken in a derelict site which used to be some kind of factory I think.
I also vaguely remember visiting this building below by Wiel Arets. It’s the Academy of Art and Architecture which was built as an extenstion to the school. It was an amazing building to walk through. Everything from the scale of the rooms to the lighting was fantastic. I would have loved to have studied there.
Adventures abroad
That statue below was taken in Père Lachaise cemetery.
Snow in Hyde Park
It’s snowing in London as you can see. As predicted we’ve come to a standstill which happens every year. It’s the wrong sort of snow apparently. I went to the park to have a look and basically got jumped on by animals. Pigeons and squirrels got closer and closer to me because they thought I had food. Then one of them literally ran up my leg! the photo of that moment is right at the bottom. I got up and walked away slowly and they ran after me. The last photo below if you look carefully you can see the bench I was sitting on in the distance, that’s how far they followed me!
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.
Autumn in Hyde Park
I went a little bit mental today photographing everything in sight! There were lots of things I tried to capture, including some of the wildlife. Honestly there were so many squirrels running around and nobody batted an eyelid. How they are not scary to people? Is it the fluffy tail? I remember someone saying that squirrels are basically rats, but with really good PR!
That’s how they get away with it.
Apart from that Anish Kapoor had a few interesting installations – the mirrors you see there, which were fun. And of course lots of nice trees.
My favourite photo today? Well, it has to be the one with the swan in the pond with its bum in the air.
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.
Photos I took this morning
Testing out my new SLR camera.
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.
Japan 2001
Couple fo old photographs I found. Both were taken on a trip to Japan. One from the plane on the way back (that’s Mount Fuji in the back) and the other in a Tokyo skyscraper looking over the city.
Spektreman 
