So this terms project as I mentioned in my last post is about designing a gallery space in the ruins of an old mansion.  During the chilly day we spent up in Derby a few weeks ago we recorded a video of our memorial trail…..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3egPgSSFfbc

Yesterday Scott, Lisa, Corina and myself made a second trip to Sutton Scarsdale on our way to Hardwick Hall for the Cultural Context element of our project.

It was another freezing day and the fog was really heavy which was a shame as it was the first time I was using my new camera so the reduced visibility was a bit of a nuisance! 

Once we’d spent enough time in the draughty haunting ruins we hopped back into the car and went over the M1 to Hardwick Hall.  This National Trust property is the infamous home of Bess of Hardwick.  Again the fog made it difficult to take any decent shots and the dark interiors meant the only photography possible was flash photography so again the picture quality wasn’t great.

The house is famous for the amound of glass used in the construction and is often known as ‘Hardwick Hall more glass that wall’ which makes for a pretty cold house.  The property only opened to the public yesterday so we were the first visiors and it was rather cold!!  nonetheless the house was busy enough attracting plenty of half-term visitors, it was just a shame the weather wasn’t better.

I handed my portfolio in on the 11th January for assessment of our first project and am now cracking on with the second project.

On our last day of term we were each given a book form a collection of titles that were being disposed of by the university library.  We had to complete a literature review over christmas in preparation for the next project.

The project was launched when we returned to lectures on the 14th January….

“Post Contemporary Pavillion”
Module Brief

And last week we spent a very chilly day in the ruin of a magnificent Derbyshire Mansion Sutton Scarsdale completing the next stage of the project that is running in conjunction with a competition launched by the centre of attention http://www.thecentreofattention.org/

The last crit for the fourth part of our project was a review of our proposed interventions.  We had to prepare two models, one at 1:500 scale and one at 1:50, as well as a full set of plan and orthographic drawings.  I was pleased with my work and my feedback was quite positive on the whole but I do have rom for improvement.  Due to one of the lecturers being away we didn’t have Alessandro for this crit, instead we had the head of landscape and one of the 3rd year students Rory. 

Rory was surprised at the way we were dealing with the crit as we all seemed a lot calmer than he had expected but he did warn us they were going easy on us and by next year we should be prepared for some much tougher crits!

Part five of our project, the final part!  Involves yet more group work!  For the past five or six weeks, since our lectures have been back at the university, we have been walking past a wall of brown cardboard boxes.  They have been sitting quietly in the far corner of the studio without explanation, until now!!  Each tutor group has been alloted 9 boxes with which to create a fully recyclable full size pop-up structure based on one or more of our own models from part 4.  The structure must be erected in 15 minutes and deconstructed in 5, it must be able to withstand the elements as we are building it on a plot of land in the eastside of Birmingham next to millenium point and we have to demonstrate how we plan to recycle the materials we have used.  As well as the cardboard we can use any appropriated (posh word for stolen if you’re a student!!) materials and we can buy anything with our budget of £3 per head.

We have chosen to build a geodesic dome of sorts and stand this on pillars, with the majority of our material being cardboard of some sort.  We managed to appropriate some bolts and tubes for the structure and we are hoping to appropriate some more materials to make a cover for the dome, my idea being cabbage leaves from the markets in brum!!

Its been lots of fun scavenging for materials and I have been busy on various freebie websites trying to find odd and bobs that might be useful, and to this end I am off to see a man about a paddling pool this weekend and hoping to hear back about a water tank!!!

Walking back to the station with one of my fellow students the other evening we were laughing at how differently we see the world since starting this course, not only do we spend far more time looking up as we walk around the city but we also find ourselves constantly looking at skips and piles of rubbish trying to think of ways we could use the various items they contain!!

I received a very nice response to my e-mail from the chief executive inviting me to visit them one evening of the week.  That evening being last night!  So at 6:00pm I met with Chris and we chatted for around an hour and a half about the profession, my studies, and his background.  Chris is 61 and has been practicing for over 40 years.  He also studied at the Birmingham School of Architecture in 1973 and has had a very impressive career to date.

I was give a tour of the office after our chat and met one of the technicians who was busy working on his PC doing some drawings , however Chris was proudly informed me that he still prefers to do things the old-fashioned way and sure enough his office is dominated by a well used and much-loved drawing board!

Following our meeting Chris kindly invited me to keep in touch and let them know if there is anything they can do to help me so I hope to be visiting them more often!  Best buy some tea bags!

It s interesting to be around students who have come straight from A-levels to university.  I seem to have become something of a spokesperson for the tutor group, every time they want to speak the tutor about something they either ask me to do it for them or to come with them!  I actually like this as I love helping others to develop and learn so if I can help them with their confidence I’ll be more than happy to do so.

I also find that my experience and training in presentation is invaluable especially when it comes to crits and reviews.  What I still lack in my design skills I can make up for during discussions and reviews.  As my technical designs improve and my abilities develop I will feel far more confident though!

So up to now we have, notated a dance piece, created models based on the notation, and completed a site analysis and further models of the area.  We now have to produce an ‘intervention’ for the site we have been analysing and create a performance space for the dance piece using all the work we have completed so far to inform our designs.

My inital reaction was to create a space that is flexible and interactive, that will change according to the interaction of the audience, the enviroment and the time of day the performance is staged.  Thinking about the site itself there are a number of factors that will influence the design from the sun path to the traffic flow  not to mention the historical details of the area.

I have started to sketch up some initial ideas and have been looking at some designs that may inspire my own…..

After lunch some of his peers came to speak to us about a new Student Architects Society they have set up, they were looking for people to join not only the society but also the committee and since I will be leaving the Birmingham Future committee in a couple of months I have signed up to join!

This should give me a great chance to get involved in shaping the course and also developing links with students across all years of the course. I’m also going to try and get along to see some of the 2nd and 3rd year ‘crits’ which should give me an idea of the level of work I need to aim for.

The first committee meeting is on Monday so more to follow!

It can be difficult trying to plan your time around others who haven’t got the same sense of urgency as you or perhaps the same motivation, especially when you have individual work to complete as well!  But it is an interesting learing experience.  Next time we have group work I think it would be a better idea to get the group element done first so that we can concentrate on our individual work and add any  finishing touches that need to be made to the group piece later on.

It was an interesting proposal and one I have some ideas about but considering it is still my first year I decided I would be best to focus on my coursework initially and develop my knowledge and ability further before participating in competitions.

I hope to follow the progress of my fellow students who do decide to take part, so I can see how they approach the task.