Barbican Art Gallery 24th March 2011

Myself and Andy Laird, a friend from Aberdeen went to the Barbican Art Gallery to see an exhibition of Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown, Gordon Matta-Clark's work. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of the exhibition though examples of the artists work can be explored as follows, in particular that of Gordon Matta Clark who seemed to gain the most amount of appreciation from myself given his architectural and surrealist background.

Gordon Matta Clark - Profile and Work

Gordon Matta Clark is an American Born qualified architect in which he studied at Cornell University, though afterwards he decided not to embark on a conventional architecture career. He came from a artists background, his brother was also an artist. After he graduated from University he developed a style of architecture called Anarchitecture which was heavily influenced by art and surrealism.

He is widely recognised among the art and architecture society for his 'building cutting' approach. He used ranging types of media to communicate his work such as photography, filming, video and even typography. The examples of his famous work shown below are both incredibly sincere, experimental and distinctive. The building cuts show fragmentation and disfigurement of buildings that are so used to being seen as untouched and structurally integral, bringing forward mixed emotions about the structure itself and its immediate surrounding context. (images from google images)

Trisha Brown

Trisha Brown is an American born postmodernist choreographer and dancer. Much of her acts are designed specifically for the site in which her acts are performed. The images below show one of her projects that I find most stunning and unexpected. A woman strapped to a harness walking down steep slanted steps elegantly, giving the illusion that she is gracefully defying gravity. (images from google images)

Ecobuild 20th - 22nd March 2011 and Personal Trajectory

The main purpose behind my visit to ecobuild this year was to explore new innovative green technology suitable for my major end of year studio project based in Lower River Dee region, Aberdeen. I came across many fascinating technologies, some of which were not appropriate for application to areas of my site but nevertheless they grabbed my attention. The key innovative technology that interested me most was "Boddington's Grass and Ground Reinforcement Solutions" (For more information see www.grass-reinforcement.com). It is highly appropriate for similar application to certain infrastructure found in my proposed plan, of which car parking facilities should remain low in visual impact, hold excellent sustainable drainage systems and withstand heavy vehicular pressure in its seemingly natural state ("Grass Protecta (Heavy Grade" is essentially a protector which encourages grass growth whilst minimizes the effects that vehicular and pedestrian weight can cause towards ground rutting). (edited 20th April 2011)

Other useful company product guides that I took home with me include:

• Atlas Concorde: PLAN, outdoor design
• Frosts: VERTISCAPES
• Sempergreen: Vegetation Blankets for Roof and Ground Covering
• Sempergreen: Vertical Systems
• Safetytread: Slip-Resistant Treds, Stair Nosings and Inserts
• DeltaLight: The Lighting Bible 8

In my final major studio project I am also proposing a site which shall be used for creating renewable energy (high river current velocity in particular site). Such technology was not found

at ecobuild though the event definitely encouraged me to introduce innovative green technology as a key component in my studio project. (edited 20th April 2011)

(Precedent/Innovative Technology Research for part of my Final Major Studio Project)

I want to be a landscape architect, ExCell Centre, East London 23/11/10

On 23rd November (Tuesday) I had the opportunity to represent Kingston University at Landscape Institute's stand no.45. The objective from 10:00 - 15:00 was to encourage any interested people to find out more about the subject in general, from typical entry requirements for Universities around the U.K, what the subject entails to employability and prospects.

It was a very fun day, always kept busy talking to my colleagues Steve and Matt, and of course the people that were considering landscape architecture as their first choice subject in higher education.

It was definitely worth the long journey out to East London.