mat-zine brick

some festive reading: mat.zine

Siza Sings

Siza sings | Film by Fernando Guerra from últimas reportagens on Vimeo.

Thurs 16 Dec - Christmas drinks and Madrid Meeting

Christmas chill time with a glass of wine and talks about the trip to Madrid in January, after a good day of the 3rd Year Cross-crits. Cheers!

Interesting Pattern Emerging

0809 Unit A Site: Blackfriars... [SUPERBLOG] 2011 AJ Article
0910 Unit A Site: Deptford.... [SUPERBLOG] 2011 BD Article
1011 Unit A Site: Whitechapel... [PUBLICATION]... article in the pipeline...

Wed 6 Dec - interim crit at Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus

I travelled to Cottbus / BTU (Brandenburg University of Technology) this Wednesday to review work of the BTU master students for the Mount Pleasant site. They have been busy developing individual strategies and concepts of regeneration, that are now tested and spatialised on site. Here are a few impressions from the crit-session, their working environments and the campus library designed by Herzog deMeuron.

Thu 15 Dec - Unit A Xmas Gathering 5pm

In the studio space at 5pm - we will also chat about Madrid.

Portfolio Cross Crits week 12

Year 2  - Mon 12 Dec
Critic panel: Sara Shafiei (Unit J) & Colin Priest

Year 3  - Thu 15 Dec
Critic panel: Caspar Rodgers (Unit C) & Carsten Jungfer

Roaming critics: Jane Anderson, Matt Gaskin (tbc), John Stevenson (tbc)


start 10.00 (if you are using the screen - please upload your presentation before 10.00)
end 16.00

remember to bring any useful supporting information with you - e.g. key models - the syndicated material / working- and site models, etc.

tips:
-sleep the night before your presentation (essential!)
-prepare & structure what you are going to say. Be clear and professional. It's about the process, design development, your observations, your critical position and your final designs. Do a dry run before. (8-10 min max)
-make sure your presentation displays well on the screen and is in the right order. test this beforehand. Careful of pixellation! (Acrobat Pro can combine single pdfs/jpegs into a single multi-page pdf) Refer also to relevant section in the student handbook for preparing a digital submission.
- the pdfs for submission (on USB stick) should be at manageable file size (20-100Mb) max. and not in the Gb region!

What's this all about?

Some sort of Fischli & Weiss installation?

Technology

Exploded axos can be useful to explain the multi-layered qualities of your proposal - especially for technology showing it's performance in terms of occupation,  interaction with environment, construction, structure, phasing, sustainability, components, etc.

drawing: Tamim Negm - outdoor venue

Mon 5 Dec - Urban Massing Charrette

Workshop / charrette (definition) on Monday 5 Dec is a full day event in the studio between 10.00 and 17.00. Please bring the following things with you:

- print out of your proposal in plan, scale 1:1000 (A3 sheet)
- A3 sized cardboard (can be a leftover) for base of model

Solid soft material (in sufficient quantity to make 5 different mass models for the project site), either:
A: polystyrene foam (that blue or yellow stuff)
or
B: a few large soaps (as cheap as you can get - £1.00 range, white or opaque is best + as rectangular as possible; you may even get one in a colour - for highlighting special areas, something like this?  LINK MUJI )

Tools:
cutter, glue, tape, ruler / scale ruler, camera, coloured pens, etc...

Postal Archive Information

Information gathered by the two teams doing research at the Postal Archive are now uploaded to the dropbox. >>>02_site information >>>postal archive

Note: This info should be used for your personal mapping / portfolio only - and should not leak into the public domain.

Debate #1: The Technological Architect - Digital Tools

ESSENTIAL FOR UNIT A - 00:/ in particular

Debate #1: The Technological Architect - Digital Tools
THURSDAY 24.11.2011

Matt Shaw (scanLAB 3D Scanning)

Alastair Parvin (Architecture 00:/) Wikihouse.cc

Dr Shrikesh Sharma (Buro Happold Smart Solutions)

Chaired by Toby Shew

The first of three panel discussion events to end the successful Future Architects lecture series for this semester. We will be given three engaging presentations on 3D scanning, Open Source Design and Live Analysis Tools followed by a discussion on the role of digital tools in future practice. Wondering what skills you need as a graduate or how can you push representation to be more useful? This is the place to see new technology and ideas for digital design and fabrication.

6.00PM 2ND FLOOR OF THE ABERCROMBIE BUILDING IN THE STUDENT HUB

£3 Non-Members/£5 Membership on the door (+ free entry)

Free wine and beer afterwards.

Thu 17 Nov Tutorials + Tech

Technology focus for Thursday:

It is time to be more strategic & practical about how your technological / environmental / constructional considerations are finding their way onto your drawings, informing your proposals along the design process.

This needs to happen now in from of details / diagrams / precise material precedents / scientific testing (e.g.lighting) This also includes aspects from last weeks tech sessions - refer earlier posts. We need to see these things drawn / put to paper,  then Nicola can give feed-back.

Remember to bring in all your drawings from the crit.

Interim Crit Mon 14 Nov

Panel of guest critics:
Jane Anderson
Greg Andrews (Unit A alumnus 2008/09)
Robert Helmholz (architect / urbanist based in Paris)
Norbert Kling (architect / assistant professor BTU Brandenburg)
Nick Simcik-Arese (anthropologist / architect / DPhil researcher Oxford University)

Feed-back

Your feedback sheets of today are in the envelope in our studio space. (not e-mailed).