Tudor House

In my weeks holiday I had a bit of free time to finally go and visit some of my friends at other universities. I took a visit to Southampton, which is the first time I've ever been there. I persuaded my friend to take me to see some Southampton Architecture, which he claimed there was very little. However I saw lots of really cool buildings but my favorite had to be the Tutor House Museum (see top picture) just because of the wall detail. It is a Timber framed house with large, exposed timber stud (architectural term for the vertical bits of timber) and a brick infill (see the bottom hand sketch I did). The infill however has a Chevron pattern which is just beautiful especially as the bricks are different shades of reds and browns. I love details in building, something special in a building which makes it stand out. I think quite a lot of modern buildings forget these small details because of cost. This has made many modern buildings similar and dull.

Here's my solution to the last project. This site plan shows I have three housing types. The public square on the left hand side are home worker housing which have office space at the front and a family house behind. The large red block in the centre of the square is a public information centre / cafe and museum. Leading off the public sqaure is the couples and family housing, couples at the top of the hill and family housing at the bottom. These houses are based around squares tumbling down the slope and are is a similar style to existing buildings in the village.

I had a huge problem getting this image in this blog so I hope you like it.

No more exams

Yiphee, i have a weeks holiday.

I thought i'd write this posting while waiting to play badminton (part of the post christmas exercise routine which has been hampered by the exam period) then going out in town to celebrate the end of the exams with a few mates from the course. Its been a busy few weeks which is why i'm looking forward to having some spare time to write a few architcectural things on this blog. (I have lots of ideas just have not had the time to write them down.)

I thought I'll tell you about the last studio project I had to complete as I'm sure it will be mentioned in some of the later ramblings.

our last project was to design a housing development for a village near where I study. the site was a on a south facing slope however it was very exposed and the village was quite historical so it was very important to study the village in context and make sure it fitted in, both socially and environmentally. It was very interesting as it was only about the third time since starting the course that we've had a real site to explore. We also spent also of time at the start of the project analysing the village, its growth and characteristics. I feel often in modern architecture that we don't think about how buildings should fit into our environment. Instead we aim more and more for buildings which stand out and shock people (the Selfridges building in Birmingham, uk is a prime example, a building which I quite like but it has no thought for it's surroundings.)

My thought for the day

Venturi said in "Learning from Las Vegas" to look at the "ugly" and the "ordinary" buildings, the everyday run of the mill buildings. Wacky is good but some times it pays to be a bit more respectful of the surroundings we build in. This last project has been an example of that. I promise tomoro to show you what I did.

off to badders now. laters

Lack of Posting

I have to apologise for the lack posting over the last week. This mainly due to exams getting on top of me. I promise I'll write more in the next few weeks because i've just handed the two bits of evil coursework in, very relieved.

write soon

Back to Work!

SO two days into the new term reality has dawned. I have 4 bits of coursework to do, 2 exams and a Portfolio review all happerning in the next three weeks. DARN. For those of you not familar with the phase "Portfolio review" i'll explain:

Architects do projects. While at uni we tend to get 2 - 3 projects per term. (although last term we only had one real project but it was in two parts.) Anyway, at the end of the semester we have to present all our work in a big folder for the examiners to mark. Over the years this folder gets bigger and bigger until at the end of the course you have a record of all the projects you've done at uni. You then can take this to interviews and stuff to impress (hopefully) a big, cool, and exciting company that they want you.

Anyway my big black A1 portfolio is looking very empty at the moment so it maybe an idea to get back to work.

Disclaimer

The Views expressed in this Blog are my opinions on the topic at the time of writing and are prone to change. They are my views only and are not (in the main) to be taken too seriously. All names have been changed however I will make reference to real buildings and architects.

block

I thought it may be useful to explain where my blog name came from. When I first decided to set up a blog I thought it would be a good idea to write under a pseudonym of block short for building blocks. The earliest experience of architecture for me was the crude wooden blocks which I use to build high towers with until they came crashing down. I as started studying to be an architect I figured I’m still aiming to build the tallest tower the only change being that I’m learning how to keep them standing up.

A New Year, A New Blog

Hello to the Internet world of Blogging,

So this is my brand new, shiny, newly unwrapped blog just waiting to be written in.

It's my new year resolution to do this properly as all my last attempts have been pitiful.

so what's this blog about

Well let me explain

I'm an Architecture Student from the UK who basically whats a place to air my views about the world of architecture and any other things I feel the need to blog about.

So I hope you like the blog. (once i've got around to putting some interesting stuff up here)