Celebrating 150 years of London Underground /
As of next year £2 coins will be proudly showing off our Underground trains. The coin has been designed by British studio, BarberOsgerby (the people who designed the Olympic torch) and depicts a train emerging from a tunnel, as well as an edge detail inspired by the tube map.
The question is, after 150 years is London Underground still a service we can be proud of?
Yo!Home - Yo!Dear /
Simon Woodroffe, the man behind YO!Sushi and YO!tel, has unveiled his latest venture: YO!Home. He promises a ‘pioneering and intuitive living space’ that will ‘revolutionise contemporary homes’.
Anyone else notice the technical mishap with the floor/table not retracting properly? And was I the only one waiting for him to show a wardrobe full of silver jump suits?
Golf Club - Farum, Denmark /
Henning Larsen to Extend Club La Santa /
imby3 at Club La Santa /
There is no doubt the Danes know how to do a sports complex - and with their rich Danish history of considered design you would be forgiven for thinking this Danish owned resort was another example of their natural boldness and confidence in architecture. However, this resort was not designed by a Dane - this place is the handiwork of a Spaniard, Mr Juan Manuel Ruiz of Madrid.
La Santa is situated on the north west shore of Lanzarote, about as far away as possible from the tourist hot spots of Puerto Del Carmen and Costa Teguise, far away in fact from almost everything. There is a remoteness to La Santa - which, with the barren, rocky landscape can have an almost lunar feel to it. For that reason it is fitting that it has an architectural aesthetic in contrast to any of the other buildings on the island - and its surrounding environment, as if an alien hacienda has landed from outer space. However, where many others would have produced garish or ill conceived concepts in trying to design something original and unique to the island, Ruiz managed to create a piece of real holiday magic.
On approach the off-white turrets of the complex sparkle on the horizon like a mirage in the distance, the clean, orthoganal form of the building sitting comfortably in its rugged, rocky surroundings. Getting closer the scale of the complex becomes apparent - large but not dominating, sizeable yet modest.
Once in the complex the architecture and layout begin to resemble a small town; the Square (like a town centre) placed, naturally in the middle with the shops, restaurants and amphitheatre providing the focal point. The walls are high and the apartments tightly stacked on top of one another, and as you pass through there are glimpses of blue, teasing through gaps in the buildings.
The energy is different in the Square, shaded from the sun and away from the activities it can provide a break from the sports and heat - a calm and refreshing space. As you move away from the centre in any direction there are fewer apartments, allowing more openings in the walls and the natural light from the blue sky above to shine through. This is when the the full effect of the contrasting sky and buildings is revealed - bright blue and even brighter white.
Ruiz also uses the buildings to frame the views out from the complex, concentrating your gaze onto specific parts of the larger picture - my favourite being the view whilst walking from the square to our apartment, where the corridor opens at the end to allow a tall, portrait slither of a vista of the volcanic cliff-face further to the north, meeting the rugged coastline.
I have been visiting Club La Santa regularly for as long as I can remember - so much so that this alien architecture feels just as much like home to me as West London suburbia does.
And on arriving at Stansted Airport on a cold November evening after a week-long stay I very much wish this was my home.
Next year...
Ouch! /
Thank You Bivouac /
Tranquility, nature, the best on site cafe (with locally brewed ales) and all the quirk of the farm.
This is a great spot in North Yorkshire if you want to escape from all things London. Check out The Bivouac and book now for 2013...
Zaha Hadid's Venice Biennale Installation (First Glimpse) /
You just need to add Mickey Mouse and some dancing broomsticks.... In all seriousness this is looking very interesting and we're looking forward to seeing it come to fruition. The project is led by Hadid and Patrick Schumacher and is an investigation in tensile structures, using pleated metal.
They said this:
“The more our design research and work evolved on the basis of algorithmic form generation, the more we learned to appreciate the work of pioneers like Frei Otto who had achieved the most elegant designs on the basis of material-structural form-finding processes.”
imby3 at The Bivouac /
We have just finalised our trip to visit our good friends at The Bivouac next week, the best 'glamping' site in the UK. I'm sure much inspiration will be found. Photos and thoughts to follow....
The Best Material Library in the World? /
The Loneliest Seat in the World /
The Loneliest Seat in the World - Guildhall School of Music and DramaWas it the inconveniently placed, apple green back rest, the aggressive florescent strip lighting, or maybe it was the place table installed at just over knee height?
Either way, whilst waiting to watch my brother in law perform in the Cheek By Jowl production of 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore' at the Barbican Centre I suddenly became very aware of my own lonesome existence.
This is in the canteen at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, one of the most renowned schools in the World for churning out talented performers. As I sat I wondered how many aspiring young actors and musicians have sat in this very seat over the years, filled with the anxiety of pre-performance nerves and eating a soggy tuna melt, whilst poring over their lines or lecture notes. Did Ewan McGregor ever sit here and feel as lonely as me?
Maybe there's an argument for such confinement actually inspiring the students at the Guidhall, instilling a 'British grit' in them that other, more comfortable surroundings wouldn't. If that's the case the end of year play at the Miami County Jail must produce incredible theatre.
imby3 website on it's way.... /
Architecture, freedomBOX and design online and public.
Our new website is currently under construction, awaiting images, content and finishing touches. The aim of the new website will be to showcase imby3 designs in residential architecture, allow the viewer to see what freedomBOX is all about, explain some of the technical benefites of freedomBOX and give useful advice for owners of garden offices etc.
The unfinished website is still available to use, however a lot of the pages will be empty!
Any comments on the finished article will, of course, be welcome.