Details

On Thursday we had the last crit for the diagram project. I have to admit i was a little bit nervous about presenting my idea as i felt that maybe i could of done a little bit more work into contemplating my reasoning's behind the finished product. I personally felt that the crit itself went on for too long. If im honest i didn't even listen to the last few presentations because everyone started repeated themselves and there is only so much self indulgence you can listen to until it gets old. 

After the crit we were given a short research project where we had to go and collect images of details ready for the seminar that we will have on construction detailing next week. 

I came across this staircase when i was applying to take a Japanese language course at the Glasgow university...im not sure if it comes under the umbrella of detailing but i really liked the way that the stairs are separate from the handrail. And the shape of the 'canopy' at the top of the stairs, it looks really complicated so i wonder if Drew will be able to figure out/give some hint as to how it is being held together.

First day of third year.

Again i have spent a large amount of time away from this blog not really thinking or doing anything about it. I kind of lost interest from blogging when i realised that i didn't really have enough time to be writing about the things that interest me and in fact started to miss out on somethings and or not appreciate them as much as i really could have. It became a chore and that is the last thing that i wanted it too be!

This summer i went to Berlin to take part of a summer Academy run by a self organised group known as Interflugs. It was such a great experience and i ended up meeting allot of inspiring people who all seemed to be working towards some very interesting and worth while causes. Im not sure what else to say, i think its incredibly hard to summarise an experience so varied and enriching as this in a few sentences sooo...here is a link to images of the Academy!

For the first project of third year we have to make two diagrams based on personal reflections of our practice. One being what we think is essential in the making of a good interior and the other being our design process. Whilst i think that this will be a helpful thing for us to do, im not sure why we are doing it now and not at the beginning of second year.

John John John

Today was the first day of my productive job hunting/work doing day. I have realised through the checking of my budget that if i don't get a job by the end of May i will be officially bankrupt and my education will have to stop right here. And so this week is my job hunting drive, i will be spending every day of the week handing out at least 5 Cvs to different places in the hope that i will find somewhere quickstyle. So far i have given them out to 4 cafes and a bookshop so fingers crossed i will hear something within the next two weeks, although this is a long shot if anyone reads this who knows of a Part-time position in Glasgow going please please please drop me a line.

On my hunt i decided to stop off at the lighthouse to eat lunch in the lookout room and realised that there was a new exhibition on in galleries 4 and 5 on the influential American Architect John Lautner. He was trained by Frank Lloyd Wright and created over 150 buildings in California! I really liked the sections and elevations of his work, they were so detailed...some were very confusing to understand and took a few minutes for me to know what i was looking at but they captured my imagination non the less.

A night of Gram

Phew. What a intensely busy week i have had. My essay, although finished, is a little bit too...sparse than i would of liked to have made it but all of the different threads got the best of me and i ended up spiraling out of control and becoming something that im not sure makes a whole lot of sense. For the first time in ages someone helped me with my essay, my friend stephen, which was a really nice but slightly embarissing experience (because my grammar/spelling is terrible!)

Last night was the night of Gram! As i had been given the responsibility of creating a bigger presence of the night and trying to transform the vic into somewhere that well wasnt the vic! So i made some slides and some big M's to put up around the venue and i have to say i was really happy with the result. Im pretty excited for next time cause its going to look EVEN BETTER.

Working like a coal miner

Last year on the run up to the end of my studies the work load seemed to creep up on me and jump out from a dark corner striking fear into my heart...and this year i have a feeling that its going to be pretty much the same sort of scenario. Although this time its entirely self inflicted because i have so many ideas for projects that i want to start that my main university project (this & that) is beginning to get put on the back burner. As a result im not sure how loyal i will be to updating this blog, one thing is for sure i think the posts with have to be a little bit more brief as each post can take up to 2 hours of my time if i am being particular about layouts and uploading photographs from the terrible halls Internet. I hope i am forgiven for this!

One of the hardest parts of the course at the moment is getting hold of the course tutor to ask him his opinion on what i am doing in this project, so even though the other tutors will help us, i could be veering dangerously off point. Is this a part of university that i havn't taken in? In regards to 'Self study' that is?


My research sketchbook is starting to take shape, at the moment im looking at various architecture and interiors to get some inspiration. Mount Fuji Architects created an interesting house exterior with the use of a punched stainless steel cover, i think this kind of 'punched' material could be used in my design, either through window covers or maybe room dividers. Anyway what you see above is an excerpt from that sketchbook, the drawing was just a little idea about the exterior of the box...although as i have already said im not sure if we are allowed to change the shape of the container that much. Id love to find a way to create an interesting shape whilst allowing more light into the container itself...and im sure i will come to a good conclusion after some more sketch booking.

Next week i am hoping to have both model making and Vectorworks tutorials but again the tutor hasn't been in for me to check.

A busy day

Today is going to be a really really busy day. Well the afternoon/evening at least will be busy, for now im just doing washing and a bit of tidying. Its hard to work in a messy room...especially when its not the biggest size ever.


My room rarely stays that tidy when i get into a project, i don't really see the need to put everything away that im working with and so it tends to descend into chaos quite quickly. Anyway the main reason for me to tidy my room is because im going back to my home town, Milton Keynes, for 1 week starting today (well the travel anyway) and i allways like to come back to a tidy room so that i can jump straight back into work or whatever i want to do without the stress of mess.

That picture above was actually taken at the beginning of university, now i seemed to have procured a ton of DVDs/magazines and have a calender that my grandparents sent to me stuck on my wall next to the mirror. The basic layout is the same though, and no doubt i will probably bring back more things to fill up those shelves this time around!

At 2pm i have a flat viewing along Argyle street im hoping that it will be really nice. I promise to take some pictures and post them up here tomorrow, so long as it doesn't infringe on any kind of law that the estate agents might have....ill have to ask them just to make sure! Then i will have to go into town to buy a magazine for the coach. Im thinking something like ID or Dazed and Confused, maybe the new issue of Elle decoration will be out. After that i have to pack and i might be going to see a film called 'The Orphanage' (made by the same director of Pans labyrinth) and finally i catch the coach at 10:30pm! Just writing it is making me feel tired.

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The first project we had to do this term was to make 49 drawings of an object that we had picked for us out of a hat. I got this strange funnel (from ikea i think) and some other people got things like a brush, a dog toy and a peg? At first i was really angry with my object but quickly realised that i had been quite lucky.



After creating 49 drawings we had to put them all together and arrange them in a way that all of the drawings could communicate with each other.



Not sure i like the finished piece but ah well what can you do? Apart from try harder next time.

My felt Sanctuary

Throughout the last term i have concentrated as hard as i could on my drawing skills and on the delivery of my design ideas to the tutors. That was something that they wanted me to improve on for this term and apparently i did something right because they seemed to like my work...even if i couldn't explain the meaning behind it very well.

The last project i did was based around the idea of sanctuary and peoples perception of sanctuary. Everyone in all the floors had to fill in a questionnaire answering questions like "What do you seek sanctuary from?" when we finished all the finished sheets were passed around the classes and became the basis for our brief. I had to respond to what the person had written in their questionnaire and collect a selection of images that reflected the brief.

My selection of images

Then i had to create a portable sanctuary informed by the collage of images. In my brief the person wrote alot about being by the seaside and the feeling of the clothes of people close to her so i decided to work with natural materials. Namely felt (£22 worth of felt) and pebbles. First i glued felt pieces directly onto stones trying to soften the rough surface and then made some small paintings.



I developed this with the use of a sewing machine i recently bought and started to encase entire stones in felt. In all i think i spent around 4 days of sewing pebbles into felt but i was really happy with the results and i think that they fit the brief perfectly. In total i made around 15 encased pebbles and decided to put them back into their natural surroundings to highlight the 'roots' of the object inside the felt, then photographed them for my final piece.



The image above is the one i used as a 'final product' for this project. Since the beginning of the year i haven't really been happy with the outcome of any of my projects, but this is the only project which resulted in a design that i like! I hope i can make things like this on the side of my projects when i specialise...im not sure but i have a feeling that most things will result in a conceptual idea and nothing that is material, i guess only time will tell!

Its March

This is a heads up post and yet another apology.
This Blog is rocky, a rocky footing doesn't really create a solid blog so...im going to try and fix this somehow. Its going to be a long haul but, i owe it to myself to do it. For a start I've decided that this blog will seriously begin NOW.

Term 3 is approaching quickly, which means i will be specialising in Interiors. Such a big change to my course should instill change to my state of mind and how i waste my time on various Internet profiles/websites instead of doing something creative like Blogging. Im really excited about this change, even though i feel really unprepared, and so too celebrate im toying with starting a fresh and opening a brand new blog.

As a step towards this i have bought the domain name and will upgrade so that i can host a blog within the next two weeks...with a separate self run blog i can have stability and ownership that a blog spot doesn't really provide. But I have a feeling i might just keep that separate, possibly for when i start my own company (IF i start my own company).

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Since my last post a ton of things have happened. As well as not sticking to any of my new years resolutions (who keeps them anyway) my flat situation for next year has been sorted out! I will now be living with two girls from the GSA called Heather and Maeve.

Maeve is taking Visual Communications, shes a really nice girl i get on well with her and i think living with her is going to be so much fun!. Heather is taking Sculpture and Environmental art, she's probably one of the most grounded people that i have met since coming to uni, we allways have interesting conversation and shes great at thinking of things to do...infact she set me a project to do over easter because i feel lost without some kind of deadline approaching. I can't wait to find somewhere to live. It's going to be great to have a blank canvas to do things to, ive got a ton of ideas.

Last friday was the end of term 2 and the beginning of the easter holidays. I decided to go home for only one week and spend the other two weeks here, so i can look for a job and flat hunt, but i am very excited to go back to Milton Keynes to see my friends and family it feels like i havn't seen them in ages.

Yesterday i decided to go to some museums and practice some drawing. It was fun but...i really enjoy drawing things that you wouldn't normally see or things with alot of detail, bones, insects, pottery, buildings anything that captures my imagination. In the Huntarian Museum there are alot of obscure things, in particular fossils and taxidermy animals. Ive decided that i like that museum alot and im going to go as much as i can to practice my drawing and improve on my style. Here is a dinosaurs foot -



Im quite happy with this drawing and my drawing style is getting more and more refined its terribly exciting to see my skills progress...i guess ive got 4 more years of this too look forward too.

I will post some of my work that i did from last term up tommorow for your viewing pleasure. For now thats a wrap.