captain planet

progressively i'm becoming more and more interested in the geometry and triangular forms used in design and more so in architecture. although now most definitely a worn out architectural cliche, i'm still fascinated by such design when used tastefully.

i started thinking... what is it about these which forms excite me in the way they do?...after i few moments of thought, i realised the answer was actually quite simple. 

bear with me while i belt this one out, oh and excuse my architectural naivety;

such architecture occurs all around us naturally, we as architects merely exploit mother nature for her creativity. natural beauty, natural forms, mother natures design- her billions of years of experience, simplified and repackaged as our own. take a moment to appreciate the natural geometry present in the rocks and crystals below. does mother nature not hold the key to amazing design? 

having always had a personal interest in the way any design (not necessarily architecture) interacts with its organic surroundings, i believe great architecture comes with a strong connection to our natural environment. 

working not to out do, but merely keep up with mother natures design. thats what i want to do. - mother nature. the worlds greatest architect.

getting sidetracked...

in the form of a hyperlink sent to me by someone rather special,  i received these images. this building proposal is a competition from nl architects for the taipei performing arts centre... although the design doesn't seem like the most practical design for such a centre (the reason why the entry did not win the competition) there is no doubt this design is very impressive.

pushing up daisies

how do you transform an industrial wasteland- an ex-stone quarry in igualada, spain into a functioning cemetery? when faced with this unique task architects enric miralles and carme pinós designed a ritualistic space like no other.

i myself was drawn to the design because of its modern take on a ritualistic architectural space and innovative use of what i interpret as vernacular materials. while researching various ways of ‘building with the land’ i stumbled across an image of the paving used on the sites floor. the seemingly random (but meticulously thought out) placement of timber boards caught my eye. little did i know i was looking at a cemetery!

ruskin once said that “all architecture proposes an effect on the human mind, not merely a service to the human frame”. the desolate beauty of the cemetery and the wide range of genuine emotions it evokes, effecting the human mind as ruskin writes, has this project regarded as one of the most poetic architectural works of the twentieth century... rightly so i say. as written by spiro kostof in his book the history of architecture “a building is shaped by ritual... it does not simply house function, it comments on it”. to me pinós and miralles have commented on the timelessness of the life cycle, they explore death as an immortal force- one that has been the basis of ritualistic events since the stone age.

the burial chambers have adapted themselves perfectly in the surrounding landscape becoming articulations of the hillside. once inside the tomb you’re led through the twists and turns of these almost cavernous chambers. purely by visual association i read these as taking inspiration from the natural architecture of caves such as the prehistoric lascaux cave in france. looking axially at the front elevation of the structure only a few walls are visible - leaving you surrounded with what seems like the excavated ruins of an urban town which has been re-inhabited by an architect turned archeologist!

above: a 4d tour of the cemetery! 

photos:

1. (top) front facade of cemetery

2.sculpture bordering the cemetery

3.an example of the 'excavated' tomb entrance

4.the 'awkward ordered clutter' which caught my eye

sympathy for the devil

by the words of the stones' very own mick jagger please allow me to introduce myself, i'm rather pleased to meet you and i hope you guess my name... what however may be puzzling you at this moment is the nature of my game. this blog that i've affectionately named 'archetecturalism' shall serve me as my own art and architecture resource- an online journal if you will. this blog will contain notes from my lectures and readings, my personal reflections and findings along with artwork and drawings all of which shall echo what i have learnt on a week by week basis.