Serpentine Pavillion 2009

I went to visit the new serpentine pavilion last week with Ricardo and Beefy in a rare moment of sunshine across London town. It is designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA. By reading the information available I learnt that the intended effect of the thin aluminum sheets that forms the piece, was to blend into its surroundings - almost camouflaged. Although on first arrival you are met by an apparent airiness, as my friends pointed out, the low sheets and haphazard arrangement was somewhat imposing.

AA Summer Dazzler

The new summer pavilion is up in Bedford Square - and this year it is particularly stunning. It is a very sculptural piece that doesn't exactly provide shelter like a traditional pavilion. Instead, it creates an encapsulated space inside its undulating form. Reminiscent of Heatherwick's monocoque shell in his East Beach Cafe - the design was derived from organic forms such as driftwood. I specifically like the way the shape works around the existing lamppost on the square... although seemingly alien it manages to connect intuitively to its site.

Alcoholic Architecture

In a little shop off Carnaby street, Bompas and Parr - two predictably eccentric englishmen (pictured above) have created the first walk in cocktail! Once you arrive at your designated time slot, you are channelled into girl/boy changing rooms where you are given white jumpsuits (this in itself was very exciting to me). You proceed through the bar and down the stairs into a mirky basement where you enter a sticky room which is supposed to be like walking into a giant glass of Gin and Tonic- a solitary green light, a giant slice of lime and a big straw are within to add to the effect. The alcoholic vapour inside the room was definitely potent, though we couldn't be entirely objective as we had had some gin in liquid form a little earlier- dooogh! Although we were in an adventurous mood we didn't actually manage to stay down in the room for too long as it became quite claustrophobic and everything became sticky, which was not helped by the particularly humid weather outside. Alcoholic Architecture is really an interactive art installation that relies more on causing a stir then actual substance, however, I have to confess a weakness for a gimmick and this certainly fulfilled my sillyness quotient for a while.

(Photos provided by Fung Boy Ltd.)

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