University College London (The Bartlett) – Summer Exhibition 2009 Review – 02.07.09
Step inside my fellow reader, to a world of excess.
This is the mad hatters tea party of Architectural Exhibitions and you are about to take a journey into a different realm of existence. A world that knows no bounds, where buildings live and self obsessed people rule. This is a story of debauchery, opulence, over indulgence, excess, and… most importantly… FUN!
Unattended crates of Champagne and Ale in the main Quadrangle
The University College London (UCL) Architecture School, also known as The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment is probably one of the most famous Schools of Architecture in the world: I won’t nurture the ego of the students or University that this Exhibition celebrates: I‘m sure none of them needs it from a student from the wrong side of the river!
Choosing the hottest day of the year to make the bus journey to the Bartlett Summer Exhibition was probably not the best idea I had ever had… but then, I realised, viewing the Bartlett work under any condition was never going to be an easy experience.
"Hear, here" Pavillion in the Main Quadrangle by Ric Lipson
From the minute I walked into the Bartlett Quadrangle I felt out of place – this, my friends is a different world. A few minutes walk from the AA’s Bedford Square I felt as if there was an animosity in the air…. A sense of competition and well kept secrets under lock and key. I’m sure for decades there have been infiltrations from one (AA) camp to another (Bartlett), stealing ideas and scheming to get one over on each other. This is the way of the elite though isn’t it? It’s a dog eat dog world.
Completely overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of the work I felt lost and one tab short of an LSD overdose, my head was spinning with the mind boggling work that I was looking at.
I was confused…
Hadn’t I come to an architecture exhibition? Or maybe I had got lost on campus and was in the art exhibition by mistake?
Inside the exhibition I heard one student explain to some parents “its all about the number of hours you put in”. This I agree with, but as someone who would spend a minimum of 70 hours a week on my studies I couldn’t quite believe him 100%. Two weeks before a critique or pin-up I would usually go from 70 hours per week, to 90 and then 110 hours a week. Working for much longer than this is not humanly possible when time is taken for eating, sleeping, washing and breathing. I have tried to function on less sleep but it had an adverse effect – I could stay awake but could not produce cohesive work. My suspicions about work produced at the Bartlett come from the shear quantity of high quality work – how can one student produce SO MUCH work and of such amazing quality? Even the best student in the world can only do so much!
Rumour has it that an individual will do “whatever it takes” to produce better work than their fellow students: I have heard of extreme stories to get the volume of work completed. How long does a model of the quality seen at the Bartlett take take to make? Even the best model maker would take more than a week to make some of the models I have seen, I admit making models is fun, but surely if a model takes a month to build then the rest of the design process must suffer?
Rumours and Chinese whispers aside the exhibition was amazing. There is nothing I could fault about the projects except that most of the images and models didn’t actually look like buildings! I could not understand a lot of the work I was seeing, but I didn’t care because they were simply so breath takingly good! I wondered if this was the aim – to overwhelm the viewer so much that they couldn’t critique the work because they didn’t know what they were seeing.
Every room was crammed with floor to ceiling framed images, moving models, high tech gadgetry and painstakingly constructed over obsessive models. There is simply no way I can even begin to describe the work using words. It is obvious why The Bartlett is one of the best schools in the world, but don’t take it from me – go to see for your selves.
To any readers who studied at the Bartlett, I’m sure my critiques and opinions are far from true. I’m sure you are not happy with what I am writing about “you”, but please, I ask – imagine you were an outsider. Someone who is rarely allowed to see your work and is only drip fed the occasional rumour. We mere “earth mortals” do not know what goes on behind lock and key – all we see are thousands of breath taking images churned out and framed. We ask, if you are a student from the Bartlett let us see your work, please, explain your work. We want to understand! If you are a student from the Bartlett please contact me at mark.ellery@boidus.co.uk and we can even write a full article about your work and more importantly your experiences.
Sadly I cannot upload the photos I made of the Summer Exhibition because I was made to sign a declaration that I would not publish images taken.
Inside the Pavillion
The most impressive work of the show was:
Katie Walmsley
David Potts
James Robertson
Erin Byrne
Lucy Ottewell – “Tea Processing Factory”
Video by Rammy El
In the future I hope to write illustrated articles about these people and their work, sadly I cannot do so until I attain images I may use or permission to use images from the exhibition. Until then all I can recommend is that you view the exhibition with your own eyes – trust me, you will be blown away!
Follow up links:
22 Responses to “University College London (The Bartlett) – Summer Exhibition 2009 Review – 02.07.09”
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killion on July 5th, 2009
Mark says..”I won’t nurture the ego of the students of University that this Exhibition celebrates: I‘m sure none of them needs it from a student from the wrong side of the river!”…classic!
killion on July 5th, 2009
…but surely people wouldn’t go as far as selling themselves for work…!? I mean i can’t begin to imagine how much selling would get you a good model done…very interesting rumours you hear Mark. Can someone from the Bartlet that lived this experience comment..?
Mark Ellery on July 5th, 2009
well like I said it might all be Chinese whispers but I once heard of a girl who offered sex to a guy if he built a model for her… but don’t quote me on that!
killion on July 5th, 2009
i heard too wealth kids at the AA pay people to build ‘em models. Sex offer is extreme…
Robert Pike on July 9th, 2009
Who is your source for those ‘rumours’?
Mark Ellery on July 10th, 2009
Adam Khan says –
“The Bartlett is about telling stories,
LMU (London Metropolitan University) is about building”
Joshua on July 14th, 2009
the reason why the work is so good is because they filter out the students from the first day at the school. we started in 1st year with 120 students, and within my class now we have 56 going into the 3rd year. Its very tough, and the work is intense. Oh, and if anyone did sell themselves, they’d wouldn’t be allowed back at the school…its not as ridiculous as everyone thinks at the Bartlett…or as self-obsessed.
killion on July 15th, 2009
Its good to hear from someone from within the Bartlet.
It does sound like the school only nutures the ‘best’ or you get out…no?
I imagine how students coming in into your fourth year from other schools survive?
soph14 on July 15th, 2009
I have to say that this discussion is pretty insulting to all bartlett students who have put so much effort, and hours and hours of time into their work. The reason so many people drop out is because the course is so intense and you have to work so hard and so many hours just to pass. Most of the models you are talking about have probably taken much more than just a week to construct. Students have to keep up to standard to pass and that may well mean having to work more than 110 hours a week. Also- people don’t work to “out-do” their piers. They work to pass! Only a very few very talented students have the privilege of working to try and get a first. Suggesting that people pay others in money or sex is undermining all the sweat, blood and tears that we have all put into our work. Sorry if this is a bit of a rant- the bartlett definitely has its faults and i don’t always agree with the ways it teaches and works but to take credit away from students who have worked so hard on their work seems very unfair.
John on July 20th, 2009
Joshua,
Im not being rude but all schools filter students.
In my degree only half of the people from first year graduated.
At my postgraduate 5 out of 8 people in my studio group failed their FIRST year…
People leaving or failing is normal at every school- not just The Bartlett.
I am interested in th bartlett simply because so many rumours cloud what really goes on. so its not self obsessed? please do explain ..
how come th projects are so crazy and always adhere to this particular “bartlett” style that we see?
Kevin on August 26th, 2009
Dear all,
I have just finished my diploma at the Bartlett and i am not sure which comment to address first.
I have never heard of anyone cheating or offering sex – you can’t cheat your way through the Bartlett it demands so much from you and your work is so deeply personal. In Diploma Tutors spend 2 years workign with you – they know what you are capable of, what your style is and how you work – most of these qualities are what the school tries to help each student develop. Should you present work that youa re uncapable of producing they will notice.
It is often the case that people attack what they do not understand. I think it is important for everyone to understand what the Bartlett’s ethos is. They accept the bricks and mortar definition of architecture but they want each student to look beyond that and develop their own identity within architecture and establish new architectures and ideas of the discipline.
I would ask everyone who goes to the exhibition and does not understand a students work to ask the student – email addresses available from the school. Please remember that the pace at the Bartlett is break neck, and at exhibition we display maybe 4 pieces from the year which is a fraction of the work. A fraction of any project is going to be difficult to understand.
With reference to the abilities of the students – the selection process is a very well oiled machine and the tutors doing the selecting are clearly very good at spotting potential. There are some similarities between all the students at the Bartlett – including obsessive and competitive tendancies – please do not mistake this for arrogance as many of us are not.
I transferred into the Bartlett in my 4th year from a university on the other side of the river… and although i did struggle at the beginning of my 4th year i managed to get a distinction at the end of my 5th year.
The Bartlett Style – there is a particular Bartlett aesthetic granted and we are all very aware of it – so much so that the majority of distinction students are quite far removed from the prescribed bartlett style. There is a conscious shift happening to try and shed the all too familiar style.
With reference to the comment about London Met teaching how to build… this is a particular pet irritation of mine. The Bartlett is RIBA certified the same as other architecture schools. We have to produce working drawings, construction details, interior finish schedules, reflected ceiling plans – all the same as any other school of architecture. We jsut never show that stuff at exhibition because it is BORING! I have friends at other London architecture schools who were amazed when i showed them documents i had produced with building regulation compliant drawings, strategies and details! One even said – i didn’t think the Bartlett did this kind of thing.
Enjoy the exhibition for what it is – a celebration of the best bits of the students work. But bear in mind that this is only a glimpse of what goes on in the school.
Best to all
K
PS: i know some students who have spent 3 and a half months building a model not jsut a week – and thats why it is in exhibition!
Mark Ellery on August 28th, 2009
a very thorough and descriptive explanation of what goes on behind closed doors. i was intrigued to learn about th bartlett and admit i did partly attack the it because i didnt understand it. would anyone be interested on writing a concise feature article about the bartlett for boidus?
Kevin on September 14th, 2009
Mark,
I would be happy to write a feature article for Boidus. However i think there is slightly more to it than that.
You would have to define the nature of the article much more as it is a complex place. It would not be fair on many of the students to write a general article.
I have many friends who went and still go there who may even consent to submitting an image with their consent to display it and a small description to help understanding.
you’ve got my email from this post so let me know.
Best
K
james b on September 17th, 2009
hey interesting to read all the reviews and comment, but for some reason i am intrigued to find out which uni you mean by the “other side of the river” before you joined the Bartlett,
ohh this is to Kevin btw.
Mark Ellery on September 21st, 2009
kevin –
would you like to contact me at mark.ellery@boidus.co.uk to discuss a detailed article?
james b – I would presume the “other side of the river” would be London South Bank or Greenwich? these are the only architecture schools i know of that are south of the river… but maybe I forgot some?
Mark Ellery on October 2nd, 2009
I am sorry about any offence caused regarding students “selling themselves” to get work done or “cheating” their way through the Bartlett. I did not mean to insult or offend anyone and the comments were meant to cause discussion and debate. At no point did I want to bring the Bartlett into disrepute or be accused of slander. The blog has been edited and I hope you accept my sincere apologies.
Robert Pike on October 29th, 2009
Here is an article mentioning the work of the Bartlett on BLDGBLOG
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/who-would-want-to-be-architect.html
Robert Pike on October 29th, 2009
Here is the original from the Times:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/architecture_and_design/article6875085.ece
Robert Pike on November 22nd, 2009
A thoroughly good blog from year 1 students at the Bartlett. Lots of interesting subjects.
http://bartlettyear1architecture.blogspot.com/
Mark Ellery on December 2nd, 2009
Here are the links to all the 2009 summer exhibition reviews -
http://www.boidus.co.uk/?p=1169
http://www.boidus.co.uk/?p=1183
http://www.boidus.co.uk/?p=1250
http://www.boidus.co.uk/?p=1264
http://www.boidus.co.uk/?p=1261
http://www.boidus.co.uk/?p=1271
http://www.boidus.co.uk/?p=1263
http://www.boidus.co.uk/?p=1422
Mobile Studio on January 31st, 2010
‘Building’ is a product/outcome of architecture. It is, however, one of many others. Apart from buildings, Zaha Hadid designs shoes, furniture, vases etc., Amanda Levete designs benches, Diller + Scofidio designs stage sets and chandeliers, Norman Foster designs door ironmongery, Will Alsop paints, Vito Acconci writes poetry, Lynn Fox produces music videos…………
Mark Ellery on July 8th, 2010
summer exhibition 2010 review –
http://www.bdonline.co.uk/student/bartlett-school-of-architecture-ucl/5002230.article