The END of Y1

So, at long last, the end is in sight! In just 66 short hours I will have presented my years worth of work and will be feeling the most relieved I ever have, I'm sure.
As I am only the second person to present I am worried that I won't know what sort of questions the reviewers will ask me... can you explain your projects? what are you doing over the summer? what architect do you find most influential in your work...? All of these being valid questions for them to ask, I still feel anxious and I know that by the time Sunday night comes I won't be able to sleep because of the nerves.

Although the deadline for having work pinned up is only 48 hours I am surprisingly relaxed, mainly because I am so excited to be finished and to get a chance to relax and enjoy the sunshine outside (no doubt the sun will be gone and the rain will be back by the time I'm finished).

Overall I am pleased with the work I have produced over the course of the year and even though I am ecstatic to be almost finished Y1, I will miss the usual Thursday night panicking, stress with the printers and difficulty carrying models into the studio through all types of weather. Only 4 months until it starts again though, so I may as well enjoy my holidays when they come!

Some finished work:

Tectonics Project

To start, the paper models were frustrating. No matter how hard I tried to manipulate the paper into the shape I wanted, it just would not work. Many times I had to start again because the paper became so mauled that it looked like my little cousin had crumpled up a piece of paper, and I had attempted to call it ‘art’. But it was the paper cuts that were the worst. Although the cut itself is tiny and nearly non-existent, it is amazing how sore they could be.
However, progressing through the project, I began to understand why making models from paper was useful for our studies of architecture. It made me really think about where things were going to go and made me question each fold and cut.

When we reached the end of the first tectonics project, we were allowed to use a needle and thread to sew parts together. This presented more problems for me and my un-coordination and my ability to hurt myself on any occasion. This, however, meant that the things we could make were more complex and detailed.

After these projects were done, we started on our pavilions. I developed an idea I had made in my tectonics 2 project, although I made it to the 1:50 scale. Making the pavilion took me a long time but I am pleased with the end result. Having to include all of the structural information about the pavilion was difficult as it meant that I had a lot more to think about than in the previous projects.

I enjoyed the tectonics module despite my constant whining. I felt that it made me think a lot more about the structure and how a building or structure would be built, and not just designing a house and expecting it to stay standing without any consideration of the structure.

Study Trip to Edinburgh

On a cold and bright Monday morning, the first year architecture students of Dundee University set off for the capital crammed on the bus. It didn’t take long for a large majority of the bus to fall asleep against one another and then before we knew it, we were in Edinburgh!

View of Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat

Architectural details of the interior of the parliament 

We were allowed to see all of the areas usually shut off to the public which meant that we were able to get a better picture of what Miralles meant in his design, yet many features are still open to interpretation due to his death before the completion of the building. Combining the old and the new, the Scottish Parliament Building is truly unique, even if it is not fully appreciated by some people.

The oldest building in the Parliament setup and the headstone from the original Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh

The trip to Edinburgh also allowed us time to walk up and down the Royal Mile looking at the comparisons between old and new architecture and getting a better idea of what architecture we liked and what we didn’t like. 

The Tun

Dynamic Earth

Royal Mile

The Museum of Scotland

The trip to Edinburgh has helped when working on the pavilion project as it allowed me to get a better idea of the best ways in which the new combines with the old and how the outer ‘skin’ of a building is key to its appreciation by society. 

Life at uni, so far!

As an architecture student with the imminent fear of reviews and deadlines, it is nice to get my mind off all the things I have on my ‘to-do’ list.

In true student style I, along with all my friends, take some nights off to ‘let our hair down’ and make the most of the night. As this topic is somewhat inappropriate for a blog set by the university, it is really quite lucky that last weekend my family came to visit me and I have something else to write about...

With my sister’s flight from London arriving late, it was nearly midnight before I was reunited with the fam and safe and sound in our wee St Andrews house. It was a very leisurely weekend with no work to ruin it, and no rain either! The most surprising thing about St Andrews that weekend was that when we went to the beach, there was NO beach. In all the time I have been going to the East Sands, I have never once not been able to see any sand, and either had my dad, in his 40 years of visiting St Andrews. However, it was remarkable and the frothy, white waves were so expansive that they looked like moving snow. Surfers were taking advantage of the sea conditions and were black dots among the waves. 

Although I had a very relaxed weekend, there was something missing. It was not the same without my twin sister, Louise, who was unable to come home for the weekend. I’ve been hearing all about her life of luxury down in Cambridge, and she was just too busy celeb spotting, (she’s seen Bill Nighy, Giles Coren and Emma Thomson in the past month, and is on the same course as supermodel Lily Cole…) going to balls and going punting along the River Cam to even come and visit her only twin. Truly heartbroken, but it sounds better than Dundee I have to admit…

London

Recently i visited London for the weekend. It was my first trip to the capital since coming to Dundee and, even though I’ve only been studying as an Architecture student for a little while, the difference these few months have made on how I view the world is incredible.

Contrast of old and new

On previous stays in London, and even when I lived there as a child, I never fully appreciated or really noticed the architecture. In contrast to these times, I was able to take in all of the unnoticed and small details of the buildings therefore making it a more exciting experience than ever before. 

The old Leadenhall Market

An ever developing London

The contrast of the old buildings and the new buildings in around the centre of London is quite extreme with the old churches and new modernist architecture such as the Lloyd’s Building designed by Richard Rogers, and the Gherkin designed by Norman Foster. Both the materials and the shapes in the buildings are different and this allows all aspects of London’s history to be seen in the famous London skyline. Typical stone and brickwork is traded for large amounts of glass panelling and stainless steel which adds a modern feel to the city, and in keeping with its high status in society. 

Hospitalfield

It was a brisk and chilly morning the day we visited Hospitalfield House. The weather was ideal for looking at the site, with the light jumping through the breaks in the tree branches and showing the true extent of the site. My initial impression of the site was that it was incredibly open and inviting. With the trees lining 3 sites of the site, the privacy levels are high which makes it the ideal places to create a semi-private and secluded building. While wandering about and attempting to draw (when really it was so cold my hands were hardly functioning...) I was aware of the history of the site, and the effect it had on me, even after I left Hosipitalfield House. 

With the history on the site having been there for over 150 years, the many uses of the site and the Hospitalfield House range greatly, from educational purposes, to being Scotland’s first school of fine art and now, a place where artists can go for long periods of time to paint and make art. As the site was so inspiring, with all the different tangible and intangible elements within it, this has allowed me to gain a lot of ideas for my design by looking at these elements. 

A trip to Italy…

My mum has always been interested in the architecture of the world, for as long as I can remember. (I suppose it is what influenced my decision to study architecture at university!) Although I found these trips boring when I was younger, I began to appreciate them more as I grew up and now would love to go back to all the places (Rome, Vienna…) that I sat on a bench unappreciative, and unaware, of the outstanding architecture around me.

Recently my family and I have been to various places in Italy. Some of my favourites…

Verona, the birthplace of Leonardo Da Vinci and Catullus, and was Julius Caesar’s choice holiday destination. As well as this, it is also the home of Romeo and Juliet and Juliet’s balcony. Juliet’s most famous line, “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” was spoken from the balcony, making it a highly popular place for people to visit and leave letters to loved ones in the hope that they will be answered by Juliet.

Another famous feature in Verona is the Roman theatre, dating back to the late 1^st century BC. These days, only remains of the edifice remain intact but rebuilding has taken place making the theatre seem like it would in the time of the Romans.

 Venice has to be my favourite place in Italy. Full of amazing architecture and built across 117 small islands in the Venetian Lagoon, Venice is like something I have never seen before.  The gondolas and architecture, such as the Rialto Bridge, help to make Venice famous all over the world and add to its character and charm.

The distinct lack of cars is surprising yet enjoyed (I’m not very good at crossing roads, still!) and Venice is definitely a place I would visit again as everything I saw I was amazed by.