Serpentine Pavilion

As a part of my induction week at De Montfort University for Interior Design we went on a trip to London to the Serpentine Pavilion at Kensington Gardens.

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The first out door structure we visited was created by Frida Escobedo. It consisted of a large structure made out of grey roofing tiles, ordered in a 'woven tapestry' like effect. On the first look at this empowering structure, it makes the viewer feel slightly confused but also oppressed due to the overwhelming amount of grey roof tiles used to make this structure.

However, the oppressive feeling instantly vanishes as you walk into the building. You are faced with a mirror ceiling which gives an optical illusion effect turning the building upside down as you look through the mirror.

A part of the sculpture was roofless, which could be seen as ironic since the whole structure was made out of roofing tiles. Therefore, whenever it rained the water would be collected in a section of the inside of the building and continue with the mirror effect as you looked down into the water.

This sculpture was also open to the public as a communal cafe space, with a cafe and several sets of tables and chairs.  I like how this building has been built with angles in mind, because each point you view the sculpture from it looks different in turn.

The roof that covered the rest of the building was made out of some sort of reflective metal, so when you looked up at it, it would flip the reflection of the trees outside of the sculpture.

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The next public cafe space we visited was just down the road and this was The Magazine Restaurant designed by Zaha Hadid. The Magazine Restaurant is an extension built onto the Serpentine Sackler Museum. 

When you first look at the large white dome structure it resembles a space ship due to the bright white material and overpowering shape of the restaurant.

The space ship theme does not stop on the exterior. When you walk into the restaurant you are faced with these peculiar portals coming from the ceiling that bring in a light source into the building. 

The exterior and interior has an overall Organic design look due to the use of simple, modern colours and shape. I like Zaha Hadid's design work of this public space because the use of light and windows has made the interior spacious but also gives the public that element of wow-factor on the outside as well as the inside.

https://www.dezeen.com/2018/06/11/frida-escobedo-serpentine-pavilion-2018-woven-tapestry-concrete-tiles/

https://www.dezeen.com/2013/11/01/the-magazine-restaurant-at-the-serpentine-sackler-gallery-extension-by-zaha-hadid/

DMU Summer Project: Inspiration and Role Models

In the summer the Interior Design department in De Montfort University, the department in which I will be studying, set my course a summer project based on inspiration and role models. It has been suggested that we make a short presentation in a format of our choice based on which role models and inspiration have contributed to our passion for the field of interior design and beyond. Therefore, the format in which I have chosen to do this project is my blog which I have been writing for about two years.

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Damien Hirst

My first role model and artist from whom I have taken inspiration is the sculptor Damien Hirst.  I visited one of his open air exhibitions at Houghton Hall in Norfolk on holiday in the summer and since then I have been inspired by his work as an artist. I find the great designs that Hirst produces inspirational, as well as his style of art, and how his pieces produce a startled yet humorous response from his audience.

Damien Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. On researching some of his past, I found Hirst appeared to be a rebellious child, which could be seen through his quirky style of work and showed him potentially rebelling against a conformist society during his childhood in the
1960s and 1970s. Even though he achieved a surprising grade E in Art, the fact that his work is now acclaimed world wide has inspired me since it shows how his abstract style and individuality has been accepted into the modern world regardless of changing views in Art and Design.

The exhibition that I visited consisted of grand sculptures with obscure meanings, some of the pieces being over 10 metres tall. The exhibition appears to concentrate on portraying a more conventional image to the human eye, but through dissecting the layers in the objects shows the true form, meaning and art of the pieces. Death and human anatomy appears to be a central theme in Hirst's work. In this exhibition, he seems to prefer to concentrate on the vibrant art of the organs inside human and animal bodies and how they work in contrast to the plain and muted colours of the exterior.

"Myth"

Outside the magnificent building of Houghton Hall were placed the sculptures called "Myth and Legend". They are horses that have had features added to them - a unicorn horn and wings - in order to portray these unusual images coming together from fantasy into real life. However, the representation of the horn and wings seems to come second place to the striking artwork of the musculature inside the creatures.

"Legend"

Hirst inspires me in the field of interior design in the way that he concentrates on the inside of human/animal bodies, almost an indication that the superior art of an object is on the inside instead of the outside, a bit like interior design. Yes, you can have the wonderful building on the outside; however, it is the interior that contains the art and the attraction, plus the functionality, and draws the observer in to have a further look.

"The Virgin Mother"

This piece also concentrates on the art of the internal organs of the human body and the beauty of a mother creating a child. This sculpture was one of the largest pieces and is very striking. Again the colours of the organs contrast with the pale skin tones of the external body showing the conflicting nature between interiors and exteriors. 

From this exhibition I feel inspired by the work of Damien Hirst due to his unusual interest in art and human/animal bodies. His work has made me realise that the beauty of art can be on the inside of objects and thus not always immediately apparent along with a greater appreciation of the different ways this beauty can be produced.

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Jonathan Adams

Jonathan Adams is a Welsh architect who designed the iconic building called the Millennium Centre in my home city of Cardiff. Adams' work particularly interests and inspires me because of his use of materials and shape to create the outside and inside of the building. The building, affectionately known as "The Armadillo", is one of Cardiff's major attractions, appealing to many people like myself due to its magnificent dome structure made out of local Welsh materials such as: slate, metal, wood and glass.


The contrast between the copper oxide coated sheet steel cladding used to make the dome in the centre and the Welsh slate for the rest of the structure highlights the uniqueness of this building. The use of these boldly contrasting materials is another way that Adams inspires me as a designer because this demonstrates that he has thought of how to make the building look intriguing to the public and thus draw them in so that they can then appreciate its use for public entertainment, such as musical performances.

The overwhelming design of the Millennium Centre does not stop at the exterior. Adams continues his unique design of blending and contrasting materials together within the interior of the building. The interior is illuminated by individual small spot lights, almost foreshadowing the use of the stage in the building, but also the combination of wood, glass and copper oxide coated sheet cladding along with unusual forms and shapes continues the awe-inspiring feeling one experiences when walking into and through the centre itself.

I also really like the way that Adams has incorporated large open spaces and light into the interior of the centre. The use of a large entrance, even though it may initially seem overwhelming,  and the use of light and big glass windows  allows one to take in the large expanse of the centre without feeling trapped inside. This element of Adams' design in my opinion is well thought out because the use of large windows also acts as a barrier from the busy Cardiff scene outside and therefore brings an element of tranquility into the building. 

I also really like the design work of the stairs and how they curve and make almost a maze pattern through the layers of wood, creating the stair cases leading up to the seats of the main theatre.

Another way that Adams has inspired me as a designer is how he designed the Millennium Centre with the people of Wales in mind. When the centre was being built, a section of the building where the slate design was taking place was open to the public to "Adopt a Slate". This meant that a piece of the building, even though tiny, belonged to each individual who part took in the project. My parents, back in 2000 just after I was born, adopted a piece of slate for me so technically I am a part of the Millennium Centre as well. This whole concept I find inspirational, since it makes the people of Wales feel like a part of such an important building within its capital.

My slate dedication made by my parents

The inscription of the bronze dome has both the Welsh and English language written on it. In Welsh it says "CREU GWIR FEL GWYDR O FFWRNAIS AWEN" meaning, "Creating truth like glass from inspiration's furnace", and in English it says; "IN THESE STONES HORIZONS SING". These words add a literary as well as further artistic dimension to the building. They are lit up throughout the day and are particularly prominent at night, showing another element of Adams' design in terms of how the use of light and angles are important to the outside and inside composition of a building.

Adams, after building the Millennium Centre, has now become a set designer and taken his experience of architecture to help develop his knowledge of stage production. This shows how he has been able to channel the knowledge and skills acquired in creating one fantastic piece into further developing the importance of interiors in the form of set design in theatre.

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In conclusion, these two artists/designers are role models who have inspired me in the field of interior design and beyond and will therefore help to motivate me throughout my studies on this course.

Damien Hirst image: https://www.theartstory.org/artist-hirst-damien.htm
Jonathan Adams image: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/clear-valleys-im-saying-nothing-8909165

Richard Long Exhibition

It has been a while since I have used this blog due to a busy year of A Levels and University preparation. However, with that aside I have now come back to using this blog as a way to show recent places that I have visited and pieces of work that I have created (upcoming blog posts to come). This post is from when I visited Houghton Hall in Norfolk in the Summer of 2017 to explore the work of Turner Prize winner, Richard Long in his "Earth and Sky" exhibition. 

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This exhibition was especially fascinating due to the different medias Richard Long used to create his conceptual land art. His sculptures contain a variety of materials of local carr stone, flint and trees from the Estate and Cornish slate.

This sculpture is known as the "Houghton Cross" made out of jagged slates in the shape of a cross. The display of slate almost looks effortlessly, but on a second look you can see how Long has meticulously placed the slate in order to create such a breath-taking piece of art.

These abstract paintings are placed outside the hall itself. Long used scaffolding to set himself at the height he wanted before pouring white paint onto a black background. The concept of these pieces, even though they look like just paint splatters, also gives an abstract outlook to Art itself and therefore showing that Art is what the artist makes it to be.

This piece is known as the "Line in Norfolk". Again, another cleverly thought out piece of Long's, since from wherever you stand you get the impression that the sculpture extends or stretches towards the Hall's neoclassical Western facade architecture. This sculpture is eighty-four metres in length and is made from densely packed chunks of Norfolk carrstone, a sedimetary sandstone. The colour of the carrstone elevates the sculpture from the emerald grounds giving it a more of a 3D effect.

As well as sculptures surrounding the grounds of Houghton Hall, there were also sculptures and paintings inside the hall. The picture above shows another stone cross which precisely marks the North South East West, which is also the title of this sculpture. Enclosed in the circle of rugged local flint, portrays a compass cross which sits on the elegant floors of the hall. The use of flint and stone creates a contrast which emphasises the compass in the centre of the piece.

This next collection of Long's pieces were also inside the hall. They consist of his primeval fascination with nature and mark making, created on various shaped backgrounds.

The regular patterns created by finger and hand prints, gives off the impression of a unified society through the representation of fingerprints. The use of human features gives a more personal touch to his work, yet still continuing to convey his abstract style.

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Visting and observing the work of Richard Long at Houghton Hall has inspired me greatly to explore more abstract styles of Art work and medias. Even though the exhibition was last year, some of his pieces are still around the grounds of Houghton Hall and definitely worth taking a look at, as well as visiting the fantastic grounds surrounding the hall.