The Glory Years Of British Rock - Harry Goodwin Photography

On New Year's Day 1964 Top Of The Pops was first aired on the BBC & became the longest running TV show in British history. Harry Goodwin was the in house photographer from 1964 to 1973, photographing such artists as The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendricks, Bob Dylan, The Who & many many more.

I am a huge fan of this era of music, anything from the 50's to the 70's. So when the V&A released an exhibition of Harry Goodwin's photography whilst at Top Of The Pops, I had to go take a look!

John Lennon

Jimi Hendricks

Elton John, Marc Bolan & Rod Stewart

David Bowie

The Who

The Who

The Hollies

Elephant Parade London 2010

When visiting the V&A I came across a brightly coloured painted elephant. After looking into it I found out that this elephant was one of a series spread out across London for the period of May to July. They are are in aid of a conservation campaign that want to make people aware of the crisis faced by the already endangered Asian elephant. There are over 250 elephants across London, all decorated by different celebrities or artists. There aim is to raise £2 million for the Asian Elephant. All of the elephants are up for auction, and miniature versions are available to buy.

The first image of the blue elephant I spotted in St. Christopher's Place, just off Oxford Street, and the other two were outside the V&A

The elephants are really beautiful & add so much colour to quite a dull city landscape. I hope that they do raise awareness as the Asian elephants are amazing animals. I am going to buy one of the miniature versions, possibly like the elephant in the image above with the Hindu Om symbol.

Princess Diana Memorial, Hyde Park

Although having lived in London now for 2 years I had yet to visit Hyde Park.....until now! I have heard so much about the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain but had never seen it myself, so I went & saw it...I think that it is an interesting installation, it is a very beautiful structure. The flowing water & fluid shape makes it a very relaxing place to sit alone, or with friends, or to interact with, as you often see children doing. Considering the time it has been in situ I think it still looked really good, very new & clean. There was no sign of vandalism or litter, which always improves an opinion of a site (I believe). All in all I think it is definately worth a visit if you have not been, & I can see myself going back there to sit & relax one day if I happen to be in the area.

Grand Designs Live 2010

I went to the Grand Designs Live in London's Exel. The event is mainly for people to find inspiration for their homes & gardens, so there is a lot of showroom-type displays of kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. The event promotes sustainable, eco-friendly, new cutting-edge design products. There are many sections including; interiors, building, gardens, technology & bathrooms. I was slightly disappointed by the exhibition, before going I was under the impression there would be much larger displays, perhaps of new eco-friendly homes or gardens, however there was very little like this. Here are some images of the aspects of the exhibition that I was interested in (some of my own images, & some taken from www.granddesignslive.com/)

Recycled garden shed - made from recycled wellie boots, mobile phones, & unused paints

Here are a couple of short clips of some 3d modeling of gardens & homes:
Grand Show Gardens sponsored by Cuprinol
Bee Garden

Materiality - Under Your Feet

Whilst walking around the streets I noticed the extensive variety of materials are used beneath our feet. If you are not paying much attention then you wouldn't notice the changing materials, but if you do then you will realise how many different materials can be & are used. From simple concrete to stone, grass, wooden decking, glass, metal, rubber. Almost any material can be used to pave an area.

Since completing my portfolio this week I have decided I want to improve on my drawing skills. Instead of going for something boring, technical, I have started with designing tattoos!! I have a particular style & I think it is conveyed really well through tattoo designs. Still today there is such a lot of stigma behind tattoos, even though a large proportion of people now have them. If you have ever watched programmes like Miami or LA Ink you will understand how incredible these tattoo artists are, & that the work that they do really is art.
Here are of the some designs I have drawn (colour has been added to some of the sketches, this was done in photoshop) :

ASLA 2010 Professional Awards

On the 27th April 2010 ASLA announced the winners of the 2010 Professional Awards. These awards represent the best landscape architecture from all over the world, divided into a number of categories, including; general design, residential design, analysis & planning, & research & communication. Below are some of the award winners that I particularly like.

General Design Award of Excellence - Shanghai Houtan Park: Landscape as a Living System
Designers: Turenscape (China) & Peking University Graduate School of Landscape Architecture

Project Statement: "Built on a brownfield of a former industrial site, Houtan Park is a regenerative living landscape on Shanghai's Huangpu riverfront. The park's constructed wetland, ecological flood control, reclaimed industrial structures and materials, and urban agriculture are integral components of an overall restorative design strategy to treat polluted river water and recover the degraded waterfront in an aesthetically pleasing way." (taken from http://www.asla.org/2010awards/006.html)

This project was particularly interesting to me & attracted my attention immediately as it is similar to a project I did in the 1st year, in which I designed an ecological wetland landscape & habitat along the coastline of New Brighton, Liverpool. This project & mine both used wooden decking & naturally wild growing plants to create this type of natural but man-made landscape.


General Design Honor Award - The High Line, Section 1, New York City
Designer: Field Operations (New York)



Project Statement: "The High Line is a precedent urban park that reclaims a former elevated railroad for new use, promoting timely principles of ecological sustainability, urban regeneration and adaptive reuse. Preservation and innovation come together to establish an urban corridor for habitat, wildlife and people. In addition to providing valuable open space for New York City, the High Line has become an economic generator for the neighborhood, attracting investment toward new cultural institutions, commercial and residential development." (taken from http://www.asla.org/2010awards/173.html)

Interview with Kathryn Gustafson

The following link is to the ALSA (American Society of Landscape Architects) website where they have put up an interview they did with Kathyrn Gustafson (of Gustafson Porter). The interview is based on her Civic & Cultural Spaces, the start is about policies & is all a little serious, but then she talks about how landscape architects view their surrounding environments, how people utilise different aspects of a townscape, the details of Gustafson Porter's new commission to design the landscape architectural aspects of the Smithsonian African American Museum of History & Culture, collaborations with Norman Foster & many more interesting topics.
I found the article very interesting, particularly as I have just done an analytical & theoretical report on Gustasfon Porter's Swiss Cottage Park project.

http://www.asla.org/ContentDetail.aspx?id=26846

Tree Hotel - Tham & Videgård Arkitekter

The architects have designed light-weight aluminium structures that hang around tree trunks. The cabins are 4x4x4 meters & are clad in mirrored glass. The glass reflects the surrounding environment, creating a camouflaged hide-out, reducing the visual impact in the surrounding natural landscape.

The interior is made entirely of plywood & is big enough to house two people; with a large bed, a small kitchenette, bathroom, living room & roof terrace area. The windows allow 360 degree views out of the cabin.

I am a real fan of this project. It is a very interesting way of creating living space in a natural environment, but without affecting the aesthetic look of the forest. I think this could be the new way of creating hotel space in the future.

Sao Paulo's Graffiti Storm Drains

Street Art duo 6EMEIA started painting storm drains in the Barra Funda neighbourhood of Sao Paulo with an aim to transform everyday life by bringing a smile to people's faces. Storm drains are not exactly an attractive part of a street scene, so these designs bring a lighthearted, more attractive look to them. I really love these, I think that although there is still stigma surrounding graffiti, this kind of art does not impose in an ugly or displeasing way, instead it adds colour & humour to an otherwise bland & dull landscape.