SEMESTER 1.5: London & Architecture Exhibitions

President's Medal Exhibition,

RIBA

66 Portland Place, London

I first visited the RIBA President's Medals Exhibition. It was great to be able to see all of the winners and commendations of the Presidents Medals as well as some of the other entries. I was inspired by some of the representation techniques that I saw and the ways in which some of the complex briefs were translated into design proposals.

The Delusions of Grandeur project is one which stood out to me in particular. First of all because of the variety of representation through model making, beautiful illustrations and a complex detailed section. But also by the narrative in which the project is unfolded. The proposal looks at a dystopian London, but explains the brief through five different characters, almost creating a story through the project. This in particular is inspirational as I would like to incorporate a form of story-telling, at least for the initial phase, in my project.

Sonia Madgiarz's How to Carve a Giant, which won the part 2 award, was also particularly interesting in how it explores the brief through model making, complex renders and a 5-minute long video detailing the project. I can see why the project was given the highest prize, as the level of detail that went into it is particularly impressive and I like the use of film as a design method.

Situated Practice Exhibition,

UCL Bartett School of Architecture

22 Gordon Street, London

I then visited the Situated Practice projects at the Bartlett, UCL. There I witnessed some interesting projects which engage with architecture and the urban landscape through a variety of representation techniques and design methods. The Life You have Always Lived explores London through the original intentions of developers, through a walking tour narrative, contrasting them with images of the current landscape that is in use. I particularly like the use of sound and collage with this work, as well as the interactivity in how the project is best used whilst walking around the city.

Situated Practice is a platform for exploring art, architecture and the political. Collectively, we re-imagine the role of the critical public practitioner.

Although I am not a fan of Tarot cards, I like the use of cards to capture different perspectives of the streets of London. Metropolis Arcana: Site Predictions was an interesting project to observe in terms of methods of representation and illustration techniques.

I liked the way that the researcher engaged with Plastic in the Post-Plastic project. The student collected plastic around the shore of the River Thames and recycled them in a variety of different ways including creating a plastic buoy. The buoy then had lights installed and was exhibited back onto the River Thames. The accompanying booklet that the student created as part of the portfolio also guided visitors through the process of recycling plastic.

(Ab)normal Exhibition,

Anise Gallery

13a Shade Thames, London

I first came across (Ab)normal's work through KooZA/rch, and when I found out that they had their (Ab)normal Exhibition at the Anise Gallery, I felt I had to go along to visit this as part of my trip to London. Their approach towards the work is summarised by their words:

From the frustration that the four of us experienced rendering photorealistic images while working in architecture offices. Behind the layer of perfect photo-realism, architecture gets often banalized and reduced to its realizability. We wanted to explore the fantasies abandoned during the design process. For us it is a therapeutic release of unexplored obsessions through illustrations.

I really like the colours and textures used within their illustrations, particularly the contrast between the pastel-coloured objects and the greenery and 'life' given through plants. This is also shown in the way that they exhibited the space. Contrasting plant life with the shiny plastic-like curtains draped across the walls. Each time I looked at the pieces of artwork, I would notice a new element or item that I would not have spotted previously. The end of the exhibition also had a VR headset which took you straight into one of the environments. I really enjoyed this experience as it made the spaces seem more palatable.

Peter Barber's 100 Mile City Exhibition,

Design Museum

224 Kensington High Street, London

Before considering Peter Barber's work in the 100 Mile exhibition, it is worth noting the manifesto that they wrote:

"In our view, housing is basic infrastructure, and not a commodity, and the control of the land economy and housing production has to be a matter for government - much as it was in the middle of the last century.

Three simple policies would de-commodify housing and end the housing crisis:

Introduced private sector rent controls
Halt the selling of council houses under the 'right to buy'
Build 150,000 council houses a year funded by direct taxation"

The context:

London was the first city to reach over 1 million inhabitants in the 19th Century. It was the first city to do so after Rome, approximately 2000 years before. London did not demolish most of its previous infrastructure, however, as some cities did such as Paris and Barcelona to do with the increased population. Instead, most of London's architecture and infrastructure has to adapt, mostly from Baroque times. When Victorian slums were built, to deal with the increase in population, the city of London had vast inequalities and poor living conditions. Tower blocks became the reaction against the Victorian slum and the standard for social housing to deal with the reconstruction of many of these areas.

The approach:

Peter Barber has recently been engaging with social housing and council houses in London over the last 20 years. His 100 mile city exhibition at the Design Museum exhibits some of the projects that his office has engaged with.

Peter Barber is a proponent of back-to-back house designs for efficient use of space when considering social housing. This means that there is only one facade with windows and the other three walls are parti walls. He also believes that the street is full of life and designed houses which did not have a fenced perimeter for the front facade, but instead was open to the street. Blurring the line between public and private. He aims to create an environment of interaction, and achieves this in several ways:

Fences, which have a slight decrease in height at certain points to allow for interaction with next door neighbours
No front fences to the street
Courtyard space behind the houses, a space for interaction purely for the neighbourhood

Each project then has its own interpretations architecturally, according to the context to allow for social interaction.