East Beach Cafe

We went to this new beach side cafe in littlehampton today for lunch. It is designed by Thomas Heatherwick who is one of my favourite architects/designers at the moment. The cool sculptural shape (which has been likened to drift wood washed up by the shore) is made out of a rusted mild steel monocoque shell. Having looked at many photos of the building prior to the visit I was really surprised at its slender size, but my adoration of the design was not altered, plus - they have really good fish and chips which is always a nice bonus!

An Atlas of Fabrication @ AA

The current exhibition at my school shows the work of the Barkow Leibinger Architecture firm which is based in Berlin. It demonstrates the experimental nature of contemporary practices who spend a lot of time researching structure through materiality. The small exhibition reads like a catalogue of textures, rather than the integrated design of spaces - still, quite an interesting little show to fill up my lunch break today.

Portraiture . . . Aaaaargh!

I did this a couple of weeks ago and decided originally not to blog it, however, in the spirit of transparency and remembering that this is the year of trying I have decided to let you - my lovely 10 :( followers - to feast your eyes upon the archaic stiffness of portraiture.

Le Corbusier @ the Barbican

Until June a retrospective of the architect known as the father of modern Architecture is being held at the Barbican, which according to my tutor is a "truly atrocious space". Whilst trying my best to ignore the vulgar surroundings I observed his vast canon of work. I have nothing really to criticize about his actual buildings, not only because this would be blasphemous to any architect, but simply because they embody a theory that is still deeply engrained in the architecture of today. What struck me most poignantly was how his work encompasses so many different fields from poetry, writing, painting, photography through to furniture design. I love the idea that an architect must absorb themselves as much as possible in the culture and arts to understand the society that they are designing for.

"I am an acrobat of forms

 creator of forms, player with forms.

 Forms means to express all plastic emotion.

 Form, expression and style of the mind."

- Le Corbusier