Christmas

Once again the festive period is nearing, but in my experience it's comletely different from what I've been used to over the years. For one thing, there isn't much time for getting yourself into the festive spirit, with all the deadlines and what not. However I should not complain - with the portfolio reviews being cancelled due to Univeristy closure over heavy snowfall - I have plenty of time to get everything done.

Another thing that has changed is the christmas present list - nope, no new shoes or clothes vouchers and heaps of chocolate. The top of my wish list this year is taken up by a new digital camera ( my old one barely works) so I can record my work as the course progresses. Number one spot is followed by a new clutch pencil and a roll of detail paper - these are quite pricey so I've been waiting for the perfect excuse for someone else to pay for them (Christmas).

I'm just quietly hoping that we won't have much homework over the winter break, as I'm planning to work the whole time to actually have money to live off - it turns out that university life is much more expensive than I anticipated. So roll on Christmas, and let's hope that Santa is good to me.

Architecture - BArch.

Nearing the end of my first semester as an architecture student I often watch in wonder the people who seem to be doing this just for the hell of it. When I first started on this course I didn't quite expect the hectic schedule and vast expenses. So just to forewarn the people who aspire to study architecture - don't do it unless you truly enjoy it and are sure that this is what you want. If your in it for the money, then sorry, you are going to be penniless for a very long time, stretching your last couple of quid between materials, equipment, printing and many drunken nights to relieve your stress levels.

 If your thinking that it would be a good choice to go for when you don't know what you want, but you just want to go to university with everyone else - your wrong. The university experience an architecture student has is completely different to your average student - even there are no exams, your work is revieved ona constant basis, with deadlines piling up as you pull out your hair and live on coffee and energy drinks. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm actually one of these people that enjoy what we do in our course, I would have probably gone mad by now.

With such a high demand on university places to study architecture with ratios as high as 10 people to one place, it seems a true waste when people that aren't truly engaged with the subject are offered to be a part of the course. So, just a wordof advice to these who are thinking of aplying - do you actually want to be an architect?

Design.

As first year architecture students at University of Dundee we are now facing our first design project. With no limitations in budget, topography and creativity we can all (technically) astound teachers and students with our ideas. Unfortunately, the one major disadvantage is our lack of knowledge and experience, which drags out the design process and stubs our imagination. The issues of impracticality and regulations cause our tutors to direct us towards changing our concepts, making it difficult to remain within a clear sight of who yourself are as a designer. Over the last four weeks I myself have gone a long way from my initial ideas that catered for an artictic family that liked to party - in my head a house inspired on the gothic revival movement (fig.1) was a brilliant way to go.

Fig.1

However, after discussing the matter with my tutor and friends, I had realised that all the requirements and issues I had overlooked placed my 'dream house' on the extreme side within its concept. From there, my thought pattern made a 180 degree twist, and I became interested in the works of Shigeru Ban (Fig.2) and Mario Botta.

Fig.2

As my design evolved, I had to address many other issues, such as meterage, positioning and sizes of windows etc., to make the house a true landmark within its landscape. With a couple more weeks of hard work on the project, I hope it all works out.

Precedent Study

Many of the modern architects get criticized for wasteful use of materials and unnecessary extravagance in shape and space management. After closely studying the Flatz House by Baumschlager & Eberle, I came to realise that there are often logical and complex reasons for such extravagance. The Flatz House appears quite uninviting and hostile at first glance, with its cantilevers, rotated floors and unfinished concrete exterior, but after having studied it on spacial and structural and practical level, it perfectly fulfills the clients needs and requirements.

Its clean-cut, angular and minimalistic style ideally suits the profession of the client, a doctor, and as the house incorporates his office, it provides a professional, calm environment for the patients. The spaces themselves are also very functional, despite the curious shape of the Flatz House. The basement, partially hidden underground, contains a guest apartment, which can be accessed both from the open space living are situated on the ground floor and the outside. The two following floors are significantly smaller in size and contain badrooms. The arechitects' clever use of the counterlever separates the private space of the parents from this of the children, who have a separate floor to themselves.

Overall, the design of the Flatz House, questioned by many to be fanciful and extravagant, is actually very functional and suits the client perfectly, which is the main aim of the project.

Santorini

For some reason the architecture of the beautiful Greek island Santorini is universally fascinating, even to those who don't hold any interest in the subject whatsoever. It might be the vivid contrast between the white painted walls of the buildings and the lagoon blue skies, or the geometric shapes that inspire so many in their simplicity.

The views itself on the island are terrific. A rectangular lagoon surrounded by steep cliffs creates a post volcanic environment that takes your breath away. However, when one thinks of Santorini, it is the whitewashed, blue-domed houses and churches that come to mind. These are probably the "trademark" of the island, attracting hundreds of tourist every year.

To make it even more fascinating, the history of Santorini's human inhabitation reaches as far back as the Bonze Age (3000 B.C.) and the island is still hides many of the secrets buried deep under the layers of volcanic rock that contributed to their destruction. Overall, Santorini is a fascinating place to visit, no matter if you're an architecture connoisseur, or just enjoy being surrounded by beauty and peace that the island holds within.

Barcelona

Having visied Santa Susanna on the spanish coast in the summer, it would've been a sin not to stop by Barcelona. So one hot morning, I set off to admire the architecture of this magnificent city. Even the two hour train ride or the blistering 40 degree heat didn't stop me from fidning my way to the most famous buildings in the city - the works of Gaudi. Seeing as most people would choose to get a bus between these, it would be a stupid idea to walk, but I did anyway. Having pried a tourist map off of one of the tourist bus agencies, I set off ( all the time sweating like mad) to see the first building on my path: Casa Batllo. There is no words to describe this work of at, perched in between convential and traditional buildings, it seems like something taken out of a fairytale - with its irregular but fluid shapes and lines of window bays and little balconies. The Art Noveau decorations of the walls alone are breathtaking.

Casa Batllo

The next stop on my journey was the pride of Barcelona: Gaudi's greatest, unfinished masterpiece that is Sagrada Familia. The Cathedral is one of a kind - a mixture of great architecture and amazing sculptures - and there is not a single bit of repetition in it. Whichever side of the building you admire, it's never the same, always surprising with a breathtaking set-up of turrets, sculptures and staircases.



Sagrada Familia

Gaudi is an inspiring architect, who pushes the boundaries of from and shape, and I find him especially interesting as he proves to me the fact that there's no limits to your imagination when it comes to architecture, and everything is possible, you just have to find the way to do it. But anyhow, on with my trek through Barcelona, there was only one place more fascinating than Sagrada Familia I could head to - so I started my hour long, up-hill torture to get to Parc Guell - the place where Gaudi lived and created for a number of years. The place itself is magical - an enourmous garden full of new, poetic creations lurking in every corner. There are numerous buildings created by the architect right on site of this beautiful place, and yet again they seem like they've been taken out of a completely different world. The Art Noveau sculptures and squares filled with brilliantly decorated benches make the place more than worth the trek.



Parc Guell

Entrance to Parc Guell