London MET Summer Exhibition 2010 – 29.06.10 – The Secrets of Shadows

Article written by Boidus Contributor Francesca Miles
francesca.miles@btinternet.com

The Secrets of Shadows

One of my early modules at London Met was a photography project under the theme of inside and outside entitled ‘Knowing London’. As the name suggests, we were encouraged to explore London and photograph spaces that we felt responded to the theme in a literal or abstract way. Fleeting encounters with various public spaces urged me to look for a place in London that exposed itself to this theme in a very natural but ambiguous way. Seeking inspiration, I was drawn to an article ‘Hidden Gardens in the City’. It was a vague account but enough to convince me that an eerie Church at St Dunstan’s Hill near Monument might hold the answer.

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Contributor’s Corner: Goldsmiths – from the inside

Blog written by Boidus Contributor – Sam Hill

You may – depending upon your background – know a little or a lot about Goldsmiths College. Chances are you’ve heard of the contentious Fine Art course (now based in Will Alsop’s ‘squiggle’) that spawned Damien Hirst, Marcus Harvey and most of the other YBA’s in the nineties. You might also know about the sterling BA Design course, which is where I graduated in 2008.

Of course, if you are interested in the BA or MA courses on offer at Goldsmiths, all the information you would ever need to know about the college is online but I’ll try and deliver an impassioned, recent-graduates perspective.

Goldsmiths College is not perfect, but it is pretty bloody brilliant. Deep in the grubby arse of south-east London (between Deptford, Lewisham and Peckham), it’s exactly the right breeding ground for experimentation, invention, fusion and raw, frontier culture. That’s not to say that the place is intimidating. Honestly, it’s not. It was the general un-stuffiness that led me (and plenty of my contemporaries) to choose the BA course over many of London’s other successful design institutions.

Goldsmiths Studio

Photo from Sam Hill

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Pestival

My experience of the “Pestival” on London’s South Bank outside Queen Elizabeth Hall was an impressive 6m cube.

Built of layers of timber that looked like a large scale laser cut model the sculpture represented a termite’s nest.

Originally designed as an 8m cube the “nest” had an intricate series of “dens” and caverns that reminded me of caving and pot holing when I was a teenager.  We were lucky enough to meet the artist and were allowed an exclusive “free range” explorative investigation of the structure.  Inside the spaces feel cosy and home like, we climbed up inside one of the cavernous holes to discover a small bridge like section and a dip down into a “den”.  Inside the den I felt like no one knew I was there, poking my head out of a “window” I felt hidden, passers by didn’t realise I was watching them!

The timber structure was a temporary installation as part of the Pestival, which is no planning on touring other locations.  It is soon to be moved to London Zoo and I strongly recommend if you get a chance to go along and see it.

Termite Pavilion Time Lapse from Park Light Pictures on Vimeo.

More images to come soon

The Diversity of Hyde Park: The 7/7 Memorial

Article contributed by Victoria Lee – Architectural Assistant and RIBA Part 2 Student

On a bright sunny Sunday afternoon between Lovers Walk and Achilles Gate in London’s bustling Hyde Park stood 52 pillars of strength shining and gleaming serenely in the summer sun.    London’s largest park and neighbour Kensington Gardens are no stranger to memorials, including the Albert Memorial and the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, a celebration and commemoration of life and a place for reflection.

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Interior Design and Architecture Showcase @Free Range 2009

Free Range

Above: Visual by Amanda Wheatley

The question that must be posed by this exhibition is what is your interpretation of interior design? Looking at the exhibition from an Architecture perspective should you be expecting an exhibition that deals solely with the shell left behind by Architects? If you consider the answer to be yes then surely you reduce the role of an Interior Designer to that of a painter and decorator. Hence on inspection of the work at Free Range you become aware that Interior Design is a holistic discipline where the best work emerges when the designer thinks outside that box, engages with the building and city, and adds something new.

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How to present your work at a critique

The critique (or crit for short) is probably your best opportunity to achieving a high grade for your work, but so many students work all night – right up until the final minute before their presentation that when it comes to talking about their work they have no idea what to say.  I have seen so many good projects presented so badly that I thought I would give a quick guide to presenting your work well… but before I begin, my main piece of advice would be to sleep for 7 hours before any presentation, you may be able to deprive yourself of sleep and still function, but I don’t know anyone who can give a good presentation after doing an all nighter.  Personally I think it is more important to be able to talk about your work well (even if it is not finished) than to have great looking work and present it badly.

Begin with the general and proceed towards the specific:

- state the design problem

- discuss the parameters / constraints and aims

- draw attention to your design process and development

- explain the concept

- show how the concept is apparent in the plan / section / elevation

computer lead design – the parametric design process

Pondering Parametrics…

School vs. Practice – Part One

In this article I will begin discussing architectural education and how it teaches students before beginning their role as a qualified architect.

This article was inspired by P.E.A.R. (Paper for Emerging Architectural Research) Issue One.  My article will by no means follow a logical path or try to make any conclusions.  Part One of this article will begin a discussion about teaching and architectural practice.  There may be a Part Two… or there may not…

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P.E.A.R. – Paper for Emerging Architectural Research

Today I was sipping a cup of tea and eating a Kit Kat when I came across a new and interesting article written by P.E.A.R..

P.E.A.R. is a new and interesting fanzine engaged with students and architectural practices alike.  The “Paper for Emerging Architectural Research (P.E.A.R.) is associated with an interesting “Research by Design” network called .horhizon.  In one of P.E.A.R.’s articles Bruce Davison and Tobias Klein discuss “parametricism” and explain that it should move beyond “input and output logic(s) and embrace a visual criteria”.

It would seem that .horhizon are questioning parametric tools because the software requires our “blind faith”.

Klein uses data from MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans to create a structure of virtual organs called “voxels”.  I admit I am intrigued, but also confused and frustrated.  I dont fully understand but I DO want to!  I want to learn more about Tobias Klein’s investigation into parametricism but I guess I will just have to wait for issue number 2 of P.E.A.R.!

P.E.A.R. is available from the AA bookshop, RIBA bookshop and the Serpentine Gallery.