BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE HABITATION blog

2011-07-01T20:46:00.006+01:00

"Test of new format" Images from the school's end of year show - complete with a custom built bar with artist in residence Luke Nagle and Lee Farnan with a number of first year students.

2011-06-22T16:49:00.016+01:00

.

BAA Showcase @ Trove Gallery. Organised by Birmingham Architectural Association with RIBA WM and Birmingham School of Architecture. The venue is open on dates to coordinate with BAA events

Congratulations to year 1 student Razvan Pop and Anni Stockeld (not year 1, but was last year) on the combined winning scheme. Please see http://www.architecturewm.com.

2011-04-04T23:10:00.002+01:00

Final review of the term was the end of last week. An impressive display with a huge variety of drawings and models - models as drawings. Well done to everyone. The bar has been raised. Very high. Thank you to our guest crits: Stephen Hogan, Platform 5 / Tristan Wigfall, Alma-Nac. To the final submission....

2011-03-20T15:35:00.000Z

Fierce Festival / Flatpack Festival // 22.03.11 - 27.03.11
Birmingham's creative community will be involved in all sorts of weird, fun and interesting activites to celebrate art, film and the environment. Follow weblinks to view full programme. Attend, socialise, network, work with it.

www.flatpackfestival.org
www.wearefierce.org

2011-02-26T11:12:00.003Z

Parti to Plan workshop:
The objective of the workshop is to finish the studio session with a proposed sketch of a floor plan (with possible section). This will be derived from considering work so far, and following a diagrammatic process of function and character.
Process: begin with 4 layers of ideas you must respond to parti concept/site/character narrative/stage 1 work. Follow these ideas using this trail: parti> ideas> responses> activities> common activities> spaces> spatial quality> volume> arrangement> plan.

2011-02-10T20:45:00.005Z

The interim review brought the end to the first stage of the project. Lofts of various styles, scales and modelling techniques were on show for Project Pigeon to review and select a shortlist of winners. These will be announced soon. There is a great benefit of viewing all the work together to demonstrate the collective effort of everyone. Although some blades should have been sharper when cutting.
For stage 2, the meta-theme of habitation is explored through the domestic environment of the pigeon fanciers and their connection with their birds.

2011-02-06T22:42:00.003Z

A short, sharpe charette on Thursday afternoon brought humour to the studio. The brief was set to establish a double function for Burningham letters, a new identity for the city - once it has been diagnosed with a lack of self esteem.

AWARDS OF THE DAY (of the letters)
Best Organisation: Group 4
Best Overall Idea: Group 4, Alex Agnew
Award for thinking outside the box: Zubair Hussein - Eiffel Tower
Best Drawing: Diana Chirescu/Afshin Walker
Best Letters: William Hetherington / Jasjeet Bassi / Emma Ibbotson
Economic Regeneration Award: Group 4
Architect's Award: Irena's Folding 'N'

With thanks to Nicolas Henninger from EXYZT and Laura from We Are Fierce

2011-01-24T17:15:00.005Z

Blog post from 19.05.10. There is relevance for current students to refer back to. Read below...

As part of BSA Events, some students are looking at Duddeston Viaduct to image a new public space in the dense industrial district of Digbeth, without the obvious NY High Line comparisons.

The 58 arches of the Bordesley Viaduct are a major landmark of Digbeth and Deritend. Built in 1852 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, this Grade II Listed viaduct carries the Birmingham & Oxford Railway across the Rea Valley. The Bordesley Viaduct is then joined by the Duddeston Viaduct which was built in 1846 to link the Oxford and London lines with the new station being built at New Street. However, when the Great Western Railway bought the Oxford line in 1848 and Snow Hill Station was opened, access to New Street was no longer needed and work on the almost completed Duddeston Viaduct was abandoned. Only a small part of the line near Bordesley Station was ever used and that as cattle sidings which still remain high above Upper Trinity Street. Some arches over roads have been demolished but most remains.

According to Dr Peter Leather from the University of Birmingham, prior to 1846 the lines from Birmingham to London Euston, to the south, and Manchester and Liverpool, to the north, were controlled by two separate companies. Although, in theory, collaborators, they were constantly manoeuvring for the upper hand. One piece of subterfuge was an attempt to encourage a rival line from London Paddington via Oxford (a route that was eventually taken over by the GWR) – but this backfired.

The move was a ploy to force a merger which promptly came about. However, the Great Western Railway, which had been drawn in as a bargaining counter, decided to adopt a positive role. It took up the offer (hastily withdrawn, but still on record) and received parliamentary permission for a route from Oxford to Birmingham, a cross-city tunnel, a new station at Snow Hill and a further line to Wolverhampton. The, now, merged company – the London and North Western Railway – strove long and hard to buy off what was essentially its own creation. Anything which hinted at an attempt to gain access to New Street was opposed. But, the original and now bitterly regretted offer had included access to a station at Curzon Street on the LNWR line into New Street.

In order to pursue this link, the GWR built what is known as the Duddeston Viaduct, leaving its main line at Bordesley and heading for Curzon Street. The LNWR held its ground at the property boundary and the link was never completed. The viaduct has never been used but remains to this day.
Text courtesy of Jony Easterby

2011-01-22T20:25:00.003Z

DESIGN RESEARCH UNIT 1942-1972
The Design Research Unit created some of the UK’s most iconic pieces of graphic design, from London’s street signs to the British Rail logo. Their work spanned a wide range of scales from iconography to architecture extensions, launching the career of Richard Rogers. A UK touring show, which has started at London’s Cubitt Gallery, celebrates four decades of the group’s work. The exhibition is now at BCU's Bournville campus at the International Project Space until 12 February. Entry is free. Go, now.
http://www.internationalprojectspace.org/webpages/subpages/exhibitions/28_dru.html
http://www.internationalprojectspace.org/webpages/subpages/exhibitions/28_dru.html

2011-01-18T17:34:00.000Z

Sunday saw the 50th birthday of the opening of the M1, Britain's first long distance motorway. Initially just 72 miles long, it connected the West Midlands region with London and the South East improving connection times and revolutionising travel. It saw a further expansion leading it into Birmingham. Design as an infrastructural monument, it was not well conceived in terms of its long term capacity. As we discovered in the Super-Prix project, it is a question of changing the driver's behaviour as well as engineering strategy. More information available here.

2011-01-17T10:21:00.006Z

Last week was the launch for this term's studio project. We continue with the notion of the city as an event space - this time we focus on the character of the urban spaces and how the colourful individuals that occupy and reside in them can define these. The students undertook a walking tour of Digbeth, the project site, to observe and record the physical character of the area as a complex network of canals, viaducts, factories, rivers and railways.

Pigeons are occupants of the city just as much as us – they inhabit architectural space that suits their ecological requirements, sensitive to biological needs and for survival. Often misunderstood, the common feral pigeon thrives under urban living. However, there are those who consider the birds as a unique and fascinating species. Pigeon fancying is a sport and way of life. Rarely seen, hardly understood, usually in a man’s private space. The ‘fanciers’ are individuals fostered from normality but seen as eccentric because their unique interest.

Project Pigeon is a local art initiative looking into the world of pigeon fancying and their daily lives as well as promoting a better understanding of the sport and birds themselves. Project Pigeon seek to engage the wider community with creative work that reveals a particular aspect of an eccentric tradition contributing to the culture of the city. We shall be working with project pigeon as the students begin to develop a loft and house for animal and owner.
www.project-pigeon.co.uk

2011-01-04T15:15:00.001Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR and hopefully to be a productive one. Should you be looking for a gift on Epiphany, may I suggest whitelines. An innovative product which may help encourage more sketching. See you next week for the launch of the next project. Hint: it will include feathers.

2010-12-20T22:01:00.000Z

16.12.10
Final setup day, exhibition viewing and removal. Thank you for all the hard work this term. Winners...
Student Vote: Group 3
Tutor Vote: Group 1
Preparation, setup, design in 2 weeks. Take down in 28 minutes.

Inevitably there were similarities that ran throughout all the installations, however, some concentrated on the object/space itself while others combined the design with the narrative of the film. Group 4's film on colour separation was the key concept for their installation. They translated this with multiple screen overlays and prismatic light refractions - very difficult to define the spatial limit because of its sense of infinity and continuation. To this end, it achieved a fully immersive sensation, possibly more than any other.
The existing room layout was used (or unconsidered) in all except for Group 2. The floor area and height were challenged and played with. The material selection enhanced sound with the wind created by movement inside. The homogenous vacuum absorbed you in but its translucency comforted and softened the ambience to make it a very pleasurable experience. The design can be a very real proposal for a small cinema space.
Group 1's succes came with the experimental approach to the outcome - there was no preconceived idea or form. This opened much greater discussion on the effect of light and reflective qualities resulting in a rich and variable installation where personally, you could appreciate the ambience of the surrounding surfaces rather than the object itself.
The result of Group 3's student vote indicated the installation as the one with the most tangible, visually striking object. The layers of string enhanced the use of the film. Caution is advised with the metaphorical referencing of each of the installation components as part of the film's character. This is not apparent when viewed 'cold' and so this notion is post-rationalised and verging on the trite.

2010-12-15T17:25:00.002Z

The students are currently designing and fabricating a series of small installations within the studio in preparation for the end of the project.
Their design is to design a spatial cinematic experience to show the film-work from the previous stage. The final show is to unveiled tomorrow. No doubt there will be some last minute adjustments.
ps. check out our new embeded slideshow!!

2010-12-06T20:35:00.003Z

D4-1.1-3 Review 02.12.10
Thank you to all the guest tutors; Sophie Hamer, Caspar Rogers, David Connor and Jim Sloan.

2010-11-12T15:54:00.005Z

D4-1 Design Studio.
Workshop #2: Connecting Networks. 11.11.10

Process

1. Set up city plans on pinnable surface and highlight the cycle route.

2. Identify networks at various scales: macro, meso, micro (local, district, city).3. Identify significant buildings, infrastructure and key public nodes that interact with the proposed cycle route and existing networks.
4. Discuss existing use of public space. Propose opportunities to improve/enhance.

Key Discussions
> High concentration of schools within area, possibly due to low land value. Little supporting recreational facilities for children.
> Complex public transport networks border the vicinity but critically, not through.
> Lack of local commercial centers encourage car usage for longer travel- reduces street activity in the area
> Belgrave Middleway intersects and blocks off connective routes between the anchors of city centre and public parks eg. Canon Hill Park.

2010-11-09T14:46:00.010Z

When attending a recent short film night, we came across a film about the opening of Aston Expressway. Unfortunately we are unable to show it because of copyright but I did find this - from the same archive.

'Bev Smith report about the construction of a road tunnel linking Great Charles Street with Suffolk Street in Birmingham and looks at future plans for spaghetti junction.

He interviews Bernard Coles, the deputy city engineer and surveyor. Coles explains that the construction of the ring road began in 1957 and is expected to be completed in 1971. He then shows Smith a model of the completed road and Smith describes the planned Aston Expressway junction at Gravelly Hill which will link Birmingham with the M6, M5 and M1. He explains that the complicated design has been nick-named 'spaghetti junction' and will open in the early 1970s.'
[ATV Today: 16.10.1968: Birmingham Road Building] click to follow link

The Media Archive for Central England (MACE) is an independent company for public sector video and film of the region. Their aims are to collect, document, preserve and subsequently provide access to the moving image heritage of the East and West Midlands.

2010-10-30T08:37:00.001+01:00

First review of the year including mapping strategies and data analysis of the super-prix routes. Studio included review of group work (film and model), both of which were very impressive in execution and teamwork.

2010-10-29T19:43:00.002+01:00

Group films based on the seperate study areas around the Super-Prix Route. From interviews to the ambiguous. The character of the environments were described through residents interviews, archive footage and images open to interpretation. I will provide more detailed feedback at a later date.
Group 3: sorry, I cannot upload yours because of permissions to include local people's contributions online.

2010-10-25T21:19:00.002+01:00

A few selections of maps from stage 1 and 2 of the Super Prix project. The students are using the old Super Prix street circuit route from the 1980's to investigate, explore, record and observe existing urban conditions.
Work on show explores the disorientation of the pedestrian user on Birmingham's car-centric districts. The spatial awareness is affected as the scale of infrastructure suits large objects at high speed rather than the human. This was the city's brave new world.

All images © BIAD 2010

2010-10-20T20:52:00.004+01:00

A lecture on the work of Flemish Landscape Architect Erik Dhont. Key topics discussed from his portfolio of private gardens is a process of using conspicuous consumption and intricate material detailing which constantly adds intrigued to the view because of it unorthodoxy.
The event was organised by Landscape Institute Midlands, thanks you to the sponsors Marshalls. Congratulations to those who won Portland Stone based monopoly.
www.Erik Dhont.com

2010-10-08T14:27:00.025+01:00

The workshop draws from Lynch's observational analysis of the city.

Schedule:

1. The students walked from the station to the cathedral and back without any recording material.

2. From memory, draw the route taken in a rapid diagrammatic form.

3. Identify Key urban elements which you remember (nodes, landmarks, edges, paths, districts).

4. In groups draw a collective memory map on the most common features remembered.Commonalities differed between individual and collective maps. Individual maps illustrates the path of movement each student took, whereas the collective maps focused on the physical landmarks. Major points of discussion are landmarks and nodes; what are the differences and can a structure be both? How can a defined space be classified - ie viewed as a landmark?

The workshop is an effective exercise to appreciate how much of the physical landscape we acknowledge. However, its limitations are focused around observation without developing a proposal - this must be done yourself!

Please view the group blogs to see more memory maps.

2010-10-01T15:04:00.004+01:00

Video Diary of the walking tour around the Super-Prix route. Students are required to produce a topological and topographical map based on measures around the site.

2010-09-28T10:47:00.000+01:00

DESIGN STUDIO D4-1 INTRODUCTION for Thur 30.09.10

Follow the link and read up on the background of the Super Prix as an introduction to the studio project next week

http://8w.forix.com/bsp.html

image source: www.birmingham101.com

2010-09-27T10:41:00.004+01:00

We’re back. To initiate the incoming students, they all participated in a workshop at Glenn Howells Architects. The aim was to get each one considering what their thoughts are on the study of architecture and landscape with a keen interest to see how they perceived the other discipline that they are to explore.

Discussion: in groups suggest a consensus for a definition on architecture and landscape. Each student is to then vote for a preference.

Architecture

+ The ability to form a function, mirroring the culture & a worldview through the exploration of space, mathematical principles and physics. 17%

+ Architecture is bringing imaginative and creative designs to reality whilst keeping in mind the environment and functionality. 10%

+ As the environment changes, our expectations & needs evolve. 7%

+ Taking metaphysical concepts into physical forms through use of maths, science and logics in order to personally relate with its immediate surroundings. 1%

+ Architecture is… 4%

+ Architecture is a flower. Landscape Architecture is a garden. 26%

+ Design and creation of spaces for people to be in. 1%

+ Is the imaginative blend of inspiration, art and science in the design of environment for people. 4%

+ Architecture is creating. 8%

+ The study of architecture is about creating a synergy between sustainability, functionality, innovation and aesthetics within a design. 5%

+ Architecture is manipulation of a range of materials both natural and man made to create or improve a habitat. 10%

+ Architecture provokes… 1%

+ The process of linking functionality. 2%

Discipline of function, logistics and economics moulded by aesthetics. 4%

Landscape

+ Shapes the natural world that we live in to fulfill a junction or to create an aesthetic external environment. 26%

+ Incorporation of architecture and environmental conservation acting as a base layer upon which a building can be developed. 6%

+ Joining design and environment sustainability and wellbeing to create spaces for people to be in. 1%

+ Manipulating the landscape at varying scales to create harmony between the natural environment and architecture within a cultural and ecological context. 17%

+ The link between the built form and the environment, complimenting the function of the surrounding vernacular. 5%

+ The art of design to enhance the environmental, aesthetic and social aspects of the landscape around us for beneficial purposes. 14%

+ Adapting horticulture based on environmental systems that are both sustainable and relate influx to the macro environment. 11%

+ did not vote – 20%

2010-09-08T17:26:00.002+01:00

Hidden away, deep within Digbeth district is a surprising relief from the industrial vernacular that is very apparent. The (former) St. Basil's High Anglican Church is adjoined with a profiled sheet metal clad factory with an unusual continuation of the church's roof profile. The symmetrical facade is restricted on ornamentation but adorned with intricate brickwork and using slender romanesque arched lintels. Quite uncommon but all the more beautiful for it.

2010-07-21T15:47:00.005+01:00

Our second visit to the Hayes proved useful in establishing what trees we could use for the construction of the bridge. We were lucky to have a go at splitting an already felled tree. It was a sycamore which won't give the smoothest split but demonstrated how we can use it in the design. The use of Ash trees will provide a smooth even grade for an accessible walking surface.

2010-06-21T16:33:00.009+01:00

(not quite) 101 Things to see and do this summer //

visit: This Could Happen To You @ IKON Gallery, BHM :: from 21 July

do: Back the bid, Birmingham City of Culture 2013 :: add your view

visit: Matthew Houlding the Chemosphere @ Walsall :: until 18 July

read: This is Birmingham by Jan Bowman :: for those aged 8+

visit: The Surreal House @ The Barbican, London :: until 12 Sept

do: Submit an Idea, Project Brutal :: join the forum, celebrate Central Library

visit: 1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces @ V&A Museum, London :: until 30 Aug

visit: RA Summer Exhibition @ Royal Academy, London :: until 22 Aug

watch: Of Time and the City :: a (love) film to Liverpool by Terence Davies

do: Birmingham Back to Backs :: National Trust

explore: The River Rae Trail, Birmingham :: area of archeological and ecological importance

background image: www.janbow.com

2010-06-16T10:49:00.004+01:00

Birmingham School of Architecture Graduate Show 2010 // Private View 11.06.10

This year's theme: bubble wrap and creative furniture arrangement. Special thanks to all the students who helped at the bar and curate the show. Congratulations to all the winners, name list to follow shortly....

View more photos HERE

2010-06-05T18:54:00.005+01:00

BOOK of BOOKS, a working title for the publication of student work based on the Postcontemporary Pavilion. Models are currently being photographed and layout being designed by year 1 students. This project will be ongoing throughout the summer.

2010-05-27T13:03:00.004+01:00

Site visit to the Hayes Project @ Stone. Project brief: design a footbridge using locally sourced materials. Initial site survey complete. For more photos click HERE

2010-05-10T21:42:00.003+01:00

Last week was the launch of BSA EVENTS - a period of activities for the students across both disciplines of architecture & landscape and across all levels to collaborate on projects in preparation for the summer show with live projects throughout the summer:

1. Graduate Show

2. Catalogue/SOAP issue #3

3. SAS

4. Madin Archive/Project Brutal

5. Concrete Workshop

6. Hayes Bridge

8. Article 25

9. Films

10. Duddeston Viaduct

11. Postcontemporary Publication

Updates will follow on each event throughout the summer...

2010-05-07T17:32:00.008+01:00

The studio. A sea of black portfolios. Below: a Postcontemporary Pavilion wunderkammer. Almost.

2010-05-05T14:20:00.003+01:00

A recent trip to BIAD's library became a treasure hunt in the discarded books section. One discovery this book; Daniel Buren, Sketches For A Work In Situ. It is an exhibition catalogue by the Serpentine Gallery, 20 June - 19 July 1987.

Minimally illustrated diagrams and non-existent textual description. What struck me is the remarkable similarity of the naive sketches of the proposed intervention to some of our sketches used in studio for the Sutton Scarsdale project.

Daniel Buren is a French conceptual artist with abstract modernist tendencies, with an interest of working in situ particularly with stripes. www.danielburen.com

2010-05-03T12:20:00.003+01:00

We are officially stars of the internet screen. Watch the video composed by the Centre of Attention to promote the results of work achieved so far on the Pavilion of Post Contemporary Curating.

A curious piece where the existing ruin is frantically edited amongst love scenes from Lady Chatterley's Lover and year 1 students from the birmingham school of architecture. All to the soundtrack of Vivaldi's Flute Concerto in D. It ends on the professional submissions to the open competition launched in parallel.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Pierre Coinde and Gary O'Dwyer for their assistance in this project and to all of the visiting tutors for your hard work throughout the year. There will hopefully be a finished document to archive all the work produced related to this project.

Next up: BSA EVENTS...

2010-05-01T12:01:00.002+01:00

The final review for the Postcontemporary Pavilion project finally came. It was a very busy day, so busy I didn't take any pictures. We will upload images sometime soon(ish). Until then, I won't provide you with a commentary. Just anticipation.

2010-04-24T11:42:00.001+01:00

Dear All, it has been a while since the last post because of the Easter break and the 'expander' issue still hasn't been resolved. I think I will have to leave it as it is until the summer and try a revamp. Still it goes on.

A previous post discussed Project Brutal, an independent initiative to celebrate Birmingham Central Library before it goes. The initial meeting was successful and some tangible work will hopefully come out of it and the BSA will try to engage with their activities.

In the mean time, here is a video clip of a piece by amateur photographer Derek Fairbrother. It shows a time-lapse of Chamberlain Square between 1963-1986 and the change of the site where the Central Library stands now. Note the change in the hard landscape as well as the physical buildings, there is a lot of road infrastructure changes which isn't shown on the photographs.

2010-04-12T19:24:00.001+01:00

Blog Maintenance // UPDATE: There still seems to be certain issues* with the 'expander' function on the post which we will try rectify. We will put more post as soon as this is done.

*Does not seem applicable to all computers. Maybe it is just mine. Let me know if you also view the work expanded automatically. Thanks.

2010-03-31T20:19:00.002+01:00

We Are Eastside/Project Brutal Here at the school of architecture, we view the city as a studio for everyone to learn from. We view the city as a playground for everyone to play in. Learn by doing [play]. We Are Eastside is a creative collective in Birmingham's industrial hinterland. Project Brutal is an initiative to celebrate and capture Birmingham's Central Library before it is demolished. We intend to engage the students to be part of this. The first meeting is on April 20th. Please visit both website, they are important to learn about the cultural changes occurring in the city.

2010-03-30T15:28:00.004+01:00

Blog Maintenance // - you may have noticed the change of the blog site. The 'expandable post' feature is not working but I will try to correct it as soon as I find out how!!!

2010-03-29T13:56:00.000+01:00

Julian Harrap was invited to the Birmingham School of Architecture to talk to first years about the design process undertaken on the Neues Museum, Berlin. The project acted as a good case study with strong similarities to the student's current project at Sutton Scarsdale Hall. Harrap occupies a distinctive position with his practice and is described to have an entirely unsentimental but deeply reverential relationship with elderly buildings.

The lecture focused on the distinction, treatment, and meaning of materials during restoration at the Neues Museum. The project was built on the complex layered history of the materials that remain and designing an architectural framework that brings back order to the whole, as well as meaning and significance to the fragments. Every fragment, whether restored or repaired, was considered to give a route to a conclusion of its history. Amusingly, this also included vandalising existing areas even more, prior to restoring.

LITTLEFIELD, D. (2007) Architectural Voices, Wiley, p.198

2010-03-19T17:00:00.006Z

This week was Conference Week at the Birmingham School of Architecture. All students on the undergraduate programme presented work on an environmental experiment and a cultural case study.

Below are samples of work exploring the effective reduction of heat gain using various glazed films and the conductive properties of different paint colours.

All images © BCU 2010.

2010-03-17T14:40:00.005Z

The current student competition takes inspiration from an open competition organised by independent curators, The Centre of Attention. Their competition was open to all creative disciplines and have also taken a keen interest in what our students are producing. They have now uploaded a selection of the entries on their website.

Inevitably varied in nature, the proposals had very unique methods in their physical treatment of the ruins including my favourite, sealing the entire structure in amber resin (see image below). However, the conceptual standing of many of the entrants omit the view of the structure as a ruin eroded to the point where its material quality allows it to be perceived as part of the rural landscape. Instead, it is still treated as a building proper - retrofit with architectural elements to achieve its new function. Either sensitively or destructive, the contrast is emphasised by added material rather than defining the sense of space that already exists.

View the shortlist in full HERE.

image © Reset 2010

2010-03-12T13:56:00.003Z

Studio workshop for Year 1 students at the Birmingham School of Architecture. The workshop was aimed to support their proposal for Sutton Scarsdale. They investigated various structural elements from a primary material; timber/metal/masonry, prior t drawing them out at a 1:1 scale.

2010-03-10T13:14:00.001Z

MADE* Talking Cities Lecture Series MADE is the regional architecture centre in the West Midlands, supporting and promoting excellence in the designed built environement. The Talking Cities series is a thought provoking programme of lectures open to the public to engage the city on many issues affecting us today. Tickets available to buy on their website here.

+Building Futures - Learning Cities / Prof John Worthington, Building Futures / Thurs 15 April 6.30pm / Birmingham Conservatoire

+Quality streets are for sharing / Phil Jones, Phil Jones Associates / Thursday 13 May 5.45pm / School of Jewellery

+Designing for a knowledge economy / Dominic Papa, S333 Architects / Thurs 17 June 5.45pm / Birmingham Conservatoire

+Retrofitting Old Cities / Peter Head, Arup / Thur 15 July 5.45pm / Birmingham Conservatoire

2010-03-05T18:47:00.002Z

The students have finished the stage 3 of the Postcontemporary Pavilion project which involved the first 3 levels of containment, the final being a chapel space dedicated to their initial book memorial. There were some quirky interventions that played strongly on unique environment of the ruins with some mature and meticulous material studies as exhibited in the photos below.

The students now undertake the final stage of the project to design the Postcontemporary in full.

View more photographs HERE

2010-02-21T16:52:00.003Z

On the very first studio day, the students used a video projection to experiment with traces of The Collection dance with some impressive results (see post D4-1.1 project launch). An odd introduction to architecture but it encouraged impulsive drawing based on anatomical movement. I have finally uploaded all the photos because I think they are worth viewing. Again.

2010-02-16T21:32:00.010Z

Here are video samples from students during their expedition to Sutton Scarsdale Hall. The films demonstrate their memory trails which will form part of their analysis of the ruin. We will kepp you posted on their findings shortly.

2010-02-15T14:17:00.000Z

For this post I have documented a material analysis of the photographic evidence from the site expedition. The knowledge of common construction techniques and assumptions from physical traces, provide an opportunity to reveal the working of the building as it once stood.

Feel free to add comments on your interpretation or if you know of other information.

2010-02-12T09:28:00.008Z

John Ruskin states a good building should talks to us, as well as provide shelter. How can a ruin talk if it doesn't even comply with its fundamental purpose of shelter? Ruins have forever inspired our imaginations, even us architects who should be in despair by the poor state our designed efforts have succumb to. Sutton Scarsdale Hall is typical in its Georgian language but its remains do not express the symmetry, the rigidity of the facade's grid, the proportional relationship of mass and openings - yet it still speaks of beauty.

The stone's decay is representative of our fragile morality in a disturbingly poetic manner. Many have exploited this in the name of political nostalgia to destroy and plunder as a purposeful act but more interestingly is how we are drawn to preserve them afterwards.

The preservation of identity is paramount to a race but what does Sutton Scarsdale Hall speak to us about how we relate our society back to Georgian England? Maybe not at all, and this is where the notion of the picturesque emerges.

Christopher Woodward argues the value of picturesque decay in his book In Ruins. Sometimes it's not what a structure means but how it makes us appreciate a sense of beauty in the literal. An artist paints crumbling stone which resonates the depiction of colour and texture in connection to its setting. It refers to the actual formation of the decay and organic growth as poetic rather than what it may metaphorically mean. If we reflect upon the case of Sutton Scarsdale Hall, what captivate us are the physical remains of the structure as part of the rural landscape as opposed to acknowledging the residency of former aristocracy. We observe the stonework as interesting protrusions from the ground, the traces of texture that have been accidently formed from its plunder, revealing elements of construction not normally seen, the wide variety of texture and colour in the exposed solid stone.

The student's preliminary investigations reveal little of the historical development of the estate - because very little documentation exists. As such, their response is driven by the physical, tectonic formation and capturing that difficult thing called poetic harmony. Their response is to the 'picturesque' as Woodward would say.

2010-02-09T22:02:00.002Z

S.O.A.P. issue #2 available now SOAP is the Students Open Architecture Press. Conceived and created by students from all levels at BSA. It is about all thing architecture, all things Birmingham, all things interestingly in-between. All contributions are from students. Future contributions welcome. Not available at all good book shops. Just the HUB. Cost £2.

Coming soon soapmagazine.blogspot.com

2010-02-03T21:30:00.004Z

The Postcontemporary project began with a book and transformed it into a memorial. The students will exhibit their memorial in Sutton Scarsdale Hall. They are working at incrementing scales of spaces. The next stage will deal with a space to contain the said memorial. Prior to this, the students undertook a site analysis performing 2 tasks.

TASK 1 - Cubic Survey

i. select a location within the grounds to position your memorial

ii. demarcate a boundary of 2m in all directions from your memorial

iii. complete a structural survey, photographic study, material survey, climatic analysis with this boundary

TASK 2 - Memorial Trail

i. Define a path connecting 6 different cubic surveys (task 1)

ii. demarcate a 2m wide trail along this path

iii. complete a survey and analysis as in task 1

View more photographs HERE

2010-01-15T15:59:00.004Z

The students continue their exploration of the theme of habitation this term with a rather different emphasis.

Term 1: THE COLLECTION was set in the post-industrial urban landscape of Digbeth using choreographic movement as a driver.

Term 2: POSTCONTEMPORARY PAVILION is set in the 18th Century ruin of Sutton Scarsdale Hall amongst the rural Derbyshire countryside.

A discarded library book begins the sequential scale studies. The project is a matruska.

Process

i. book to memorial; research, analysis, language, literature

ii. memorial to cabinet; craft, style, detail

iii. cabinet to chapel; occupation, curation, exhibition, environment

iv. chapel to pavilion; context, landscape, tectonics, function, form

2010-01-10T18:09:00.005Z

One of the participants of the 11-11-11 physchogeographical was Nikki Pugh, a BIAD graduate. She seems obsessed with gps mapping and Digbeth. Follow the link to view some beautiful and intriguing vector drawings of the industrial area. Its never looked so good.

www.npugh.co.uk

2010-01-05T16:39:00.013Z

The previous post 'Rescue Digbeth' provoked a regained interest in the study of psychogeography. More specifically, the psycheographical study of Birmingham. It appears Digbeth inspires many to exercise their observation and critique of everyday urbanism. Jon Bounds, author of 'Birmingham Its Not Shit' blog, had a vision to establish an annual event on the 11th November. Dubbed 11-11-11, it involves the documentation of the 11c route along the outer circle route around Birmingham. The focus was not on the route, bus, nor the passengers, but on the connection of places and people the bus created. The collection data is of psycheographical content. They are of individual's views on the behavioral response to the physical environment. From the 11c bus. The route is planned as utilitarian, with passengers boarding for the purpose of arriving to a destination. The passengers remove control of their spatial experience to the transporting machine. Their experience now becomes distorted with speed and time elapse. They alight, they engage with the city again, however, the bus keeps going round.

It is an intriguing idea and could be potentially interesting if for an improved arrangement of results. However, it is representative of the blogging community that organised, attended and concluded this event.

Excerpt from the 2008 event:

'Bournville seems the most suburban suburb of them all, but really it’s an estate. Suburbs need more than the endless, not straight for some reason, roads with heavy foliage and cars, they need focal points. Bournville’s focal point is leaving it. I’ve never been to Bournville in the same way I’ve never been to the past, it wouldn’t be right. It looks focused on being itself, it has an insular industriousness. An order; factory, play, road, out, continue.'

Further reading:

Crimson, M; Architecture, Art or Profession; 1994 (online preview)

AR, 107, June 1950: pg 371

AJ, 157, 25 April 1973: pg 956

A&BN, 219, 22 February 1961: pg 257-63

2009-12-10T10:34:00.002Z

Group Installation Blogs // Follow these blogs to see how the students are getting on. It is also used to communicate amongst the students themselves.

http://bsagroup3.blogspot.com/

http://popupgroup5.blogspot.com/

2009-12-10T08:14:00.021Z

Process

PART 5: Installation / 03.12.09 - 17.12.09 / TermWeek 11+12

AIM: To realise a proposed design as a 'pop-up' installation on the Digbeth site.

METHOD: Each group is to select one of the students schemes to develop further. Using cardboard as a base material, they are allowed to appropriate other materials for use. There are several constraints to follow including a 15 minute limit to assembling the installation on site. And all materials need to be recycled of course. Assembly day is Thursday 17th December, rain or shine.

2009-12-09T08:39:00.019Z

Process

PART 4: Extending The Movement / 19.11.09 - 03.11.09 / TermWeek 9-10

AIM: Use work explored in previous stages to inform your design for an architectural installation that will inhabit the Digbeth landscape.

Imagine your intervention as a 'stage' where the dancer explores the open landscape and its characteristics through the choreography performed in The Collection.

METHOD: Use the methodology developed in pt.1+2 to translate creative movement into physical form on the site analysed in pt.3, in essence liberating the dance into the open and thus altering the relationship between the space and the occupier.

The most surprising designs incorporated principles of neo-classical gardens clashing with contemporary organic landscapes. Even a Doric-capital colonnade made an appearance. An inevitable influence of Curzon Street Station.

2009-11-29T22:37:00.040Z

The British Film Institute's architecture season, Of Dreams & Cities, runs this month at BFI Southbank as part of the RIBA's 175th anniversary celebrations.

The season is complemented by a selection of films available at the BFI Mediatheque including The Ten Year Plan (1945), which features Carry On actor Charles Hewtrey promoting post-war prefab housing - the HG Wells scripted Things To Come. RIBA president and school colleague Ruth Reed, introduced a screening of Peter Greenaway's The Belly Of An Architect. Essential viewing!

2009-11-26T22:09:00.001Z

Studio is now back at Gosta Green, home of the Birmingham School of Architecture. Our stint in a rented space at Glenn Howells Architects was a useful experience. Located in Digbeth, its locale was a base to launch Year 1 and Year 3 projects in the vicinity (see Year 3 blog).

We reflected on the viability for a new model on the role of the City Laboratory and the supporting infrastructure required to overcome the physical distance of a remote studio. An academic paper is to be presented at CEBE Studio Culture 6 conference this week based on Supporting the Remote Studio in response to the School's agenda on progressing new teaching methods in Architecture.

If you would like a copy of the paper abstract please email alessandro.columbano@bcu.ac.uk

www.cebe.heacademy.ac.uk/news/events/sc6/

2009-11-24T16:39:00.016Z

Site explored through language narrates the physical character. Expressed through descriptive or experiential styles - words state the visual and non-visual elements. Precedent given as inspiration include Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and Traffic In Towns, The Buchanan Report.

The narratives are free for all to enjoy on the Year 1 forum blog. Here is an example from one student:

The Brownfield site at Curzon Street is an empty anomaly within the context of the surrounding land, acting as a dichotomy between the urbanised site to the north and the industrial area to the south. The super modern architecture at millennium point and Albert Street insists impatiently upon the sites boundary alluding possibly to the aesthetics of its future occupation. Walking north from the railway line, which performs as an exit portal from the senior industrial architecture, the high rise accommodation offers an outstretched arm that ushers away from the menacing site behind. The austere atmosphere could be the fault of the southern industrial land with its many morbid warehouses and plumes of smoke emitting directly into the atmosphere. Curzon Street Station has been successfully ostracized from the railway line to the south of the site, leaving it standing untenable and solitary whilst still retaining it’s architectural significance. The sites current employment is simply a passage way into the heart of the city, an occupation that is confirmed by the contour of the land. Curzon street station acts as a marker for the lowest contour, and Birmingham Moor Street Station as the highest; in exploiting the land as a passage way into the city centre it is clear that height of the contours accelerates as you walk between the two. This height increase acts as a mechanism of hierarchy, placing the most occupationally dense land at the top exerting the pressure of development on the naked land below. Aesthetically the pallet of the site is made up of browns, greys, and dull brick reds; a bland almost monochrome area excited only by the new materials of the Albert street buildings, that speak of the modern development to come. Considering the desolate nature of the sight there seems to be an omnipresent background buzzing, perhaps the result of building or industrial works. Ubiquitously it is perhaps one of the minimal reminders that the sight is not as inanimate as it first alludes, acting as a narrative about its key existence within Eastside.

2009-11-20T15:59:00.005Z

Each group undertook an explorative site analysis under the three headings; environment, grid, and occupation. Their group work serves as a point to assemble vast amounts of information to take and respond individually before developing an alternative dance space for The Collection.

Interesting point to emerge:

Dereliction emerging from the dissolution of Curzon Street Station // The site part of a deer park in the early Victorian period // consecrated burial ground on Bartholomew Street // Curzon Street station as the world's oldest surviving rail building

Any more to add? Let us know.

2009-11-06T14:12:00.002Z

The Birmingham School of Architecture was invited to participate in an ideas competition for the regeneration of High Wycombe Station. Student groups across year groups will submit a proposal to Chiltern Railway with a prize money for the winners.

High Wycombe began as a passenger station in 1854 for eight years until converted to a standard gauge goods station in 1870. The station transferred to the London Midland Rail region in the 1970s prior to its privatisation in the 90s by Chiltern Railways.

The station structure was designed by the engineer Brunel with several additions to its frame over the century and is Grade II listed. The competition brief concentrates on an imaginative re-use of the goods warehouse and devise a strategy for transportation links and pedestrian connection.

Submissions due 6th February 2010. Watch this space.

2009-11-05T19:10:00.010Z

HABITION: FORUM/n

The purpose of this blog was to create an ongoing and online dialogue of work generated by the first year students. Blogging, if used effectively, can become a useful resource for transferring information. Its 2.0 technology allows interactivity, through an accessible and adjustable interface - all of which we are not exploiting on this blog. We recognised this blog has become merely an online archive. Attractive but static. Consequently we have adjusted the blog to allow comments on all the posts. Could they be in response to the success of the student's work on show? Or to suggest your own views on the idea of habitation. More importantly, we have created a sister site - the HABITATION: FORUM see the link above.

Here the students have freedom to upload their own posts or resource to pass on to fellow students to promote peer discussion and taking initiative in setting their work in the context of our web connected world. Now you have double the viewing pleasure.

2009-11-04T09:49:00.007Z

View the films here from Part 1 of the project. The student's explored the notion of habitation defined in Habitation Exploration during induction week (see previous post).

SW1

DC1

KF1

MW1

KF2

2009-11-03T08:56:00.001Z

The students were encouraged to be resourceful when creating their film. Some adopted mobile technology for a personal perspective, others used a more technological approach. Group 5a were able to use the visual communication facilities here at BIAD.

The Hollywood standard MILO unit is one of only two owned by universities in Europe and is the same technology used by Aardman Animations - makers of Wallace & Gromit.

More information here

2009-11-02T10:18:00.004Z

Process

PART 3: An Alternative (dance)Space / 29.10.09 - 19.11.09 / TermWeek 5-8

AIM: Consider the qualities of an external performance space with a detailed and experiential analysis.

Method

To define the relationship of the space described in the plan though physical modelling and a written narrative.

To analyse a site in preparation for inhabitation with your evolving design inspired The Collection under three headings: environment, urban grid, occupation.

2009-11-01T12:08:00.011Z

Pushed for time and daylight saving (GMT), the Year 1 studio visited the site for the next stage of the project under the cover of darkness.

As they begin their first site analysis, it was an interesting proposition to experience a place for the first time - with your main visual sense diminished. The physical characteristic remains but with altered perceptions; can the analysis change direction under these conditions?

Perhaps nocturnal layers of information reveal the landscape to have a surprisingly different dynamic. Does the bland open lawn become an illicit hub or a natural habitat as wildlife emerges from the burrows? As we confront the incoming winter nights, I think we whould be having more tutorials in the dark. Just need to be aware of the wolves.

2009-10-30T10:34:00.001Z

Extrusions of the dance notation was less literal than predicted. The prescription of various materials allowed experimentation in the physical representation that developed away from their previous work. One model was even made from chocolate!

View more work here

2009-10-20T15:33:00.009+01:00

Influence/Inspiration // Kirsten Flemming

A subject that greatly interests me is the pleasure of movement through a space rather than standing in front of it. This is the environment not as a calculated viewpoint, but simply as it is experienced, intentional or otherwise. This is the enjoyment of the journey rather than the destination, because it brings with it the pleasure of confusion and choice, and possibility, and the anticipation of change and the proximity of the accidental. And the route, whether it’s a motorway or a staircase or a shipping lane, is the vehicle for connection, transition, and communication. It’s a transitional period between two states of being, neither in one place or another. This is the space in between.

This is the appeal also of skeletal structures, where the world is re-framed at every step you take. So the static object creates a moving image.

And the map is the ultimate symbol of movement. It is the connection between a mental understanding of space, and a physical reality. It can describe distances or depths or times or speeds. It can describe trends or statistics or directional flows. In fact it can describe almost anything you choose because it is simply an interpretation of physicality to be read subjectively by each user depending on their needs. But ultimately the map is a tool for navigation through. It’s the starting point for a journey and the purveyor of chance and possibility. And this is ultimately achieved through movement between.

2009-10-16T21:20:00.003+01:00

Process

PART 2: Physical representation of The Collection / 15.10.09 - 29.10.09 / TermWeek 3 & 4

AIM: Transform your graphical work to a physical mode through various modelling techniques.

Studio Session

You are equipped with a single floor plan and basic modelling materials. You are to construct a model based on the information you can deduce from the drawing. Aim to develop the model further to represent a floor below and above the plan given.

This task hints at a similar process you are required to explore in Part 2. You are encouraged to be expressive and imaginative in your representation of space and topography.

View photographs HERE

2009-10-15T20:18:00.000+01:00

The students approach to the brief was varied and exploratory. Common techniques include overlays and video stills in sequence.

Their investigation into notation informed complex, abstract and mathematical methods to record and systemise physical movement. It involves the trace of anatomical parts; the negative/positive space around the dancer; area framed by protruding limbs; the relationship of the duet.

The student's initial response allowed reflection on fluid movement 'contained' within space as a vehicle to explore inhabitation.

2009-10-01T21:27:00.033+01:00

This Autumn, Siobhan Davies Dance and Ikon Gallery exhibit their collaborative project, The Collection. The piece looks at the interface between contemporary art & dance in a dynamic, responsive space. This work adds to a great cultural heritage of dance and ballet Birmingham is renowned for. The project uses The Collection as a vehicle to explore the theme of habitation, analysing the movement of the dancer as a reactive occupation within a confined (interior) space, prior to exploring its potential when extended onto an (external) landscape.

Process
PART 1: Introducing The Collection / 01.10.0.09 - 15.10.09 / TermWeek 1 & 2
AIM: To explore the movement of the dancer within the inhabited art space through a series of graphical and filmic activities.

Afternoon Studio Session
1. Experiment drawing dance movement with screen projectors
2. In WORK groups follow the task described in Dancing SCORE
3. Devise a system to document the movement of a fellow student as they perform task 2. This will introduce you to the idea of dance notation.
4. (Site visit) Practise live observational drawings of the dancer at Ikon Eastside.

View more photos/work here

2009-09-26T18:36:00.046+01:00

The definition of habitation was explored in a workshop designed to generate discussion amongst the students.

The discussion was facilitated with them talking about objects they brought in as representation of habitation. Working in smaller groups, various and far-reaching ideas on the subject were brought up but when they were summed up on the whole as a year group, clusters of linked themes began to emerge.

The main topics to emerge were:

1. Adaptability

2. Security & Familiarity

3. Cultural Developments

4. Natural & Artificial Environments

5. Functional Requirements

View a selection of the students photos on the task here

2009-09-12T18:02:00.020+01:00

Dear students, welcome to the Birmingham School of Architecture. This blog will become a useful resource related to your design studio. We begin your education through a series of projects designed to introduce to you a number of skills that are essential to develop as thoughtful and accomplished designers.

Projects this year will follow the meta-theme of habitation. The Oxford English Dictionary defines habitation as: /n. 1. inhabiting (fit for habitation). 2. house or home

Your preliminary task prior to commencing the first design studio is to consider the definition of the meta-theme beyond its conventional meaning.

For Thurs 01.10.09

1. Bring an object that you think defines the meaning of habitation

2. Take an original photograph of an environment that explores the idea of habitation.

3. Write a short statement describing your choice.

Submit your photograph and statement to the email address above for publishing on the blog. We will be discussing your selections on the day.

2009-09-11T18:51:00.006+01:00

Post Test for new blog