exploring aluminum

for the catwalk i want to make the models disappear along the length of this and in places block them form view. i want to do this by putting large screens through out the catwalk which will hide the model as they walk through them. i have been looking at using aluminum to create them as it is a strong but light weight material. it is also very easy to manipulate into shapes and can have things like laser cutting done to it which would be very effective for my catwalk and definitely something i would consider.

i have put together a collection of images i have found which show things made out of aluminum and demonstrate the possibilities there are and how versatile it is as a material.

finally updated!!!

so i have been away from internet for quite a while so havent been able to update and post the blogs i have written throughout my time away but now i have returned and am back to full health i have had a mass session of uploading and am now just about up to date i hope!!

last minute inspiration...

in the taxi on the way through the airport i was driven through downtown panama city which is the heart of all the high rise buildings. i travelled to the airport alone, leaving the hostel teary eyed as i said goodbye to my brother. the journey was very reflective. this was the first time in 3 and half weeks i had truely been alone and so once again my thoughts began to turn to my project. i had been struggling with how i was going to allow the audience to move from one side of the stand to the other as there is the slight issue of 2 railway lines in between. i decided the best way would be to have a bridge over and this is also very fitting for a station site. then came this issue of how i would allow enough height to cross over and therefore the need for a staircase but with limited space i wasnt sure how i would find space for this. with all this information going through my head i gazed out the taxi window as the skyscrapers went by. and then one in particular caught my eye. it was a twisted structure which was made up of large glass like blocks stacked up at different angles to create a large structure which resembled a giant spiral staircase. there was my answer staring straight at me. i realised i could achieve the rise in height i needed by going straight up and i could so this by putting in a spiral staircase! as i the left the city i was handed the last bit of inspiration i needed to pull my design altogether!!!

time to think...

throughout my time away my project was always at the back of my mind and i feel like i was able to draw ideas for it along the away as i was constantly being inspired and influenced in the way i thought about the project through the things i was and the people i met. the endless bus journeys gave me alot of time to carefully consider the layout and multiple uses of my site and how i would go about putting it all together to create a successful site. as a designer i quite often rush into my ideas and go with the first idea i come up with but being away from my drawing board and unable to do this i have been forced to think through things alot more than i have ever done before and i am finding this challenging but i know that as a result i will have a carefully thought out and hopefully successful design, which is exciting. so once im back i just need to pull this altogether and finally get drawing.

back to the city i go...

having spent an amazing 3 and half weeks travelling around central America, my time to head home was soon approaching. i spent the last couple of days in panama city with is an urban jungle of high rise concrete structures with a back drop of the pacific coast. it is definitely not what i would think of when i imagined a city in that part of the world and it was nothing like the places i had visited over the previous weeks but it was nice to be back into what felt like civilisation, and to explore the interesting architectural creations that had sprung up.

the only historical part of the city which still remains (although in ruins) is panama viejo which means 'old Panama'. you are able to visit the site where the original city was build and wonder through the ruins of the great cathedral and other large buildings. the site is now under conservation and is being sympathetically restored to allow visitors to understand the history and make sure the past is not forgotten. i found this really interesting as they went into great detail, explaining how they went about stabilising the structure and the careful consideration that goes into preserving and restoring historical buildings. from a structural point of view this was really interesting and definitely gave me some insight and knowledge which im sure will prove useful in the future.

pura vida!!

after the incredible week i spent in nicaragua, it was time to move on again back to costa rica but this time we stopped for more than just a few hours. costa rica has everything, tropical rainforests, live volcanoes and stunning beaches. this part of the trip was alot more relaxing and so i got more time to sit and think and finally got to do some proper drawing and sketches, and doing it whilst sitting on a beautiful caribbean beach made it even more enjoyable.

in a setting like this it was hard not to enjoy drawing!

i have been playing with the layout of my design and working out where is best to put things to allow seamless movement around my site. this is proving to be challenging as there is so much to think about and consider, so i am having to do lots of quick sketches to try and visualise my ideas. to save space and save me having to repeat facilities for both sides of the track i want to try and find a way for guests to be able to move between the two seating areas. i was thinking of maybe have some form of bridge that could join the two but im not sure how would be best to get people up to the right height to cross so thats something i need to think about. 

in between sketching and thinking through my idea i have managed to fit in doing some other pretty cool stuff including swinging through the rainforest on zip wires, relaxing in volcanic natural springs, seeing a  live erupting volcano, experiencing the rastafarian lifestyle on the caribbean coast, and rafting a grade 5 river through the rainforest. have experienced some unbelievable things and was such an amazing way to see the natural beauty of the country and to absorb the culture of the country. 

costa ricans or 'ticos' as they call themselves, are very friendly and welcoming people and so it was a pleasure to be there. they have a saying which they use on a regular basis which is 'pura vida' which basically means pure life or good life and having spent a week experiencing there lifestyle i would agree and say they do have a pretty good way of life!! 

chilling with the locals in Nicaragua!

in the market.

The local highstreet!

Looking over the town.

i have spent the last week in Nicaragua, in small village about 45 minutes from the capital. nicaragua is the poorest country in central america and it was definitely very different to panama and costa rica. the small community was in a remote location, down a dirt track and so many people had barely left the surrounding area. cut off from the world with limited electricity and very basic running water, i wasnt sure how much i would enjoy the week but surprising i learnt to loved and really enjoyed living such a simple existence. i even learnt to love eating rice and beans! but being served them 3 times a day i didnt really have much choice. 

The amazing kids!

The only way around town was by motor taxi! a very interesting experience!

this has been the most amazing week but incredibly tiring. we have spent the time working with the local community and doing outreach. i loved teaching the kids and getting to do crafts and games with them and just being able to show them a good time. this week has been a bit busy to really sit down and think and draw about my project so im hoping that now we are heading back to costa rica, i will find more time to make some progress....well thats the plan!! 

start of a long journey!

i have left panama city and driven to the north of the country where we will stay for one night before getting on a stupid amount of buses until we reach Nicaragua. we will be setting off for san jose in costa early in the morning and it will be 3 buses to even get there where we will the get on yet another bus to cross the border into nicaragua! so all in all it will be about 2 days spent on hot local buses! fun! but hopefully this will give me a good opportunity to start to think about my project and begin drawing out some of my ideas into my sketchbook to start to develop them. i am really struggling with the amount of facilities i have to include and how i am going to find the space to include everything. i also need to think about the logistics of the show and how people and models will move in and around the space so all this definitely gives me something to fill the journey time.

exploring the city

struggling already to find time to keep up with the blog but here are a few pictures of the things i have been up to and seen whilst in panama so far. really loving the city and the charm it has although feeling a little lost and overwhelmed by the never ending tower blocks, but it is a truely amazing skyline and the most beautiful setting for a city. LOVE IT!!!!

Exploring beautiful streets in the old part of the city

skyline of the city in the background, showing the incredible location of the city!!

a blog with a difference!

as you cans see from some of my posts already i am no longer in london or even england. i am currently in central america and more specifically Panama. this is the start of a 3 week trip in which i will travel from panama to nicaragua and back again stopping in costa rica. this means i will be away from my drawing board and so i am having to try and progress with my work the best i can and hopefully the things i see and do will influence my work in a positive way. obviously it is going to be very difficult to be keeping up with a blog talking about my work so i am going to make it more of a travel journal documenting my journey and how my design is developing and changing throughout my time away.

house on the pacific coast.

whilst driving along the pacific coastline of panama we stopped to take a break on one of the secluded beaches and up a slight cliff was this amazing house which i loved. i thought it was very well put together and the location was stunning. it wasnt the typical style of house i had been seeing in panama but i was amazing and really worked in the surroundings. doesnt directly relate to my project but i just loved it.

Panama Canal

I am currently in panama, just outside panama city where the famous panama canal is situated. I visited this today and was overwhelmed by the scale of it and the engineering it must have taken to make such a thing work. It was an amazing thing to see and to watch as huge cargo ships were effortless lifted up three levels.

Whilst there I noticed these screens which were used as decoration/cladding on the walls inside the main museum building. I like the way they are randomly placed and yet look organized but also the way a simple but effective image have been etched onto the metallic surface. The overall effect was very impressive and it is definitely a technique I could think about adapting for my work. 

illusion of screens

The idea of using layers and screens for my design is something I want to focus on and use for the catwalk. Ideally I would like to use them in a way that the model could disappear and reappear along the length of the catwalk so it take away from the notion of a catwalk and makes the aspect of walking equally important as the clothes themselves. I want to take the audience on a journey as they follow the route the show is taken but for all times it to be unexpected and not what people expect to happen. For this to be possible I need to think though a lot of things and consider all the logistic of it and how I would actually make it happen. The idea part is something I am finding quite easy and exciting but the reality of making it work and actually trying to put all these ideas together and design something im really struggling with. So I think I need to start thinking more practically and actually start to put ideas down on paper and hopefully it will start to flow more naturally.

Sue Timney Exhibition

For my project I want to turn south Bermondsey station into a temporary venue for fashion shows. I was undecided of what designer I wanted it to be used for and wasn’t sure how I was going to relate it to the area, because that’s what I wanted it to do. I wanted it to have meaning and there be a reason why the event was taking place there.

I did a bit of research and found that the fashion and textiles museum is locate in the area, not far from London Bridge. This is a small museum that exhibits different designers work both textile and fashion. So I decided to visit this as it might give me a idea if I could use the designers who have there work displayed here as the reason for doing my show. I could maybe use it as a venue to have a show before the work is put on display?!?

I really enjoyed the exhibition and did find it very helpful for my project. The work she created was designed for both fashion and interiors and I liked the way she overlapped the two and made them flow together. She showed she was an all round designer and didn’t limit herself by the types of design that existed but rather let her talent and creativity depict what she produced. This mean there was a seemly transition throughout her work and this is something I would like to model in my design.

Coming from a textile background I really enjoyed her work and the way she used printing and pattern to create texture and depth on the fabric. The use of black and white and the overlaying of pattern gave the illusion of depth and made things look 3D. I like the idea of using optical illusion and I think this is showing I could play on when creating the set for my show. It would add to the experience but also make it very unexpected so would shock and amaze the audience.

I did like her use of black and white and I think this is something I will continue through into my design. Her use of patterns and texture is also some thing I will strongly consider using to bring her design through into my work. The main thing I took away from the exhibition was the effect of creating depth through illusion and layering so this is definitely something I am going to carry on looking into and see what would be the best way to bring this into my work.

But overall it was a very inspirational exhibition and so is going to make a strong foundation for my work and I begin to start designing myself. 

susan hiller exhibition

At Chelsea we are fortunate enough to be located right next door to Tate Britain and have the opportunity to visit the exhibitions for free! which is something i dont feel i have taken enough advantage of and so i decided to visit the Susan Hiller exhibition and see what it was all about.
Hiller uses a wide range of medias to create her performance based work which take the form of installations, film, photography etc.
i found the exhibition fascinating and although it wasnt my kind of art, i did find it amazing how she was able to engage and interact with the viewer and so many of the installations really drew me in by making me curious and uncomfortable. 
my favourite piece in the exhibition was the one shown below. it was situated in a dark room so when you enter you are suddenly struck by the mutter of hundreds of voices all taking over eachother. as you enter further and begin to interact with it you realise that each ear piece is playing a different recording and they are all in different languages. it was very unnerving and when stood in the middle you felt mixed up in so many conversations. a very interesting piece.

my site

the site i have chosen for this project is south bermondsey station. although this isnt technically a forgotten space, i feel like it is somewhere people would pass through without taking any particular interest in. there is also alot of waste land either side of the track that could be put to a much better use.

this i an image taken from the platform showing the site and the wasteland either side.

'performance space'

this is the title of our current project and so what i am working on at the moment. we have been given the task of designing a performance space along the railway viaduct between south bermondsey and london bridge.
although i really like the brief and am excited at the fact that the work we are doing now is alot more spacial, i am over whelmed by the endless possibilities the project allows and the more i begin to research and think about an idea, the more i realise that almost everything that happens around us could be considered a performance. already i have started looking at things differently and opening my mind to the various ideas and forms performance can take. this is exciting as concepts and ideas i would have never initially considered are coming to mind and i feel like i am exploring things alot more as a designer.
so lets see what i can come up with!

Blogging?!?

ok so we have been asked to keep a blog throughout this project and beyond to reflect on the work we are doing but also so we can communicate with fellow students and interact with eachothers work. for me the idea of blogging seems really unnatural and constantly reviewing and commenting on my work in such a public way isnt something i find easy or would normally do so starting this blogg is something i am really struggling with. 
how to start it?!? what to include?! what to write?!? i have no idea! i think this is mainly because i dont understand the concept of blogging and why anyone would want to do it?!? it just doesnt make sense to me! and so i have goggled it in the hope that if i understand blogs a little bit more then i might find writing mine a little easier! 

Wikipedia says.....'A blog (a blend of the term web log)^[1] is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites'

so basically a blog is an online diary or journal and for the purpose of my course it will be a place for me to pull together the different things that inspire me from websites to galleries, and to constantly review and reflect on the work i am doing in a open and public way! 

so here goes.......