Drawings and A2 mounted architectural babies

Last week the Westminster and Bartlett summer show opened and of course I managed to forget my camera - both times! Managed to get to the Westmin opening albeit two hours too late with Kyle and his motley paint splattered crew on tow. Did a mad dash through the exhibit because it was impossible to get a good look around anything with people clamouring over each other holding their plastic cups of merlot umm-ing and ahh-ing over some very impressive images.

The following day was the opening of the Bartlett's show held at the Slade School of Fine Art in UCL. Managed to get there in time to see Sir Rogers sway through his speech and congratulate yet another brilliant exhibition and comment on how London has never been this good. He was wearing a bright pink shirt of the flamingo shade variety, a beige sports jacket and a shade darker trousers with some rather fetching yellow? orange? shoes (couldn't quite see from where I was standing but K gave me the heads up-literally).

But I digress.. So there we were stood in the quad of UCL, drinking whatever they had on offer at the bar that wasn't the champagne (fancy buggers) tucking into the barbeque food, saying what a wonderful opening it was being done in such grand style. Aaand.. didn't end up seeing the exhibition. The que was about an hour long to get into the building and I didn't quite fancy standing in the rain.

AH! but not all is at loss. We went back the following day fresh and lovely with Kyle's dad, sister and Judy-judy who's come to stay with us for a few days while she's going for interview :)

With two of the five of us not being architects you'd expect them to find it excrutiatingly boring walking around an exhibition of models, drawings and whatnot. However the extensive range of media that is so beautifully executed by the Bartlett students is undeniably captivating for everyone, dentists, fashion students, architects alike. Which, is how it should be really. This high-brow architecture for architects nonsense should have been left behind along with the oversized glasses and black polo-necks.

Again, I am getting ahead of myself. On to the photos!


Kyle had three prints up for his Unit (19) Originally each of them standing about 1.5m tall, the prints were tiny in comparison but still looked incredibly detailed and beautiful. His blurb begins:

'And I object to the love of ready made images in place of images to be made.' (Paul Eluard, Comme deiux gouttes d'eau)

Moving on to Unit 20 who had won the best overall exhibition space you can see why. It looked like the CNC machine and 3D printer had got it on, had an immaculate laser-cut baby who threw up chunks on the 5m x 5m space.
The space itself was a nightmare to navigate as people jostled around the central table that left little leeway to those with larger bags/frames/cameras/appendages etc.


More drawings! we cried as we stumbled through the plethora of graphite, ink and collage. It was like going through the most lavish, filling buffet you can think of. Where you know you've got so much piled on your plate already but you keep going because you know the just round the corner is the sushi bar.


Then along comes this. Done by Tim's little sister, Emily who is in third year chops the ass off any of the final year stuff we were looking at back in Nottingham. Not to disparage the credibility of the Nottingham degree.. its just that this model has such fine ass chopping abilities.
I loved their space and found this on the wall of their facebook convos:
If you can't read that it says:

'don't even mention saturday to me. i don't want to know. i'm not even in labour. i'm not even PREGNANT YET. what if i'm infertile! i have 3 weeks to get pregnant, have the baby, dress it nicely take lots of photos and mount it on A2 sheets.

emily.. my travels on facebook led me to a one eyed girl. i'll give you details later.'

And below in large writing it says:

'GO CAPITALISM!'

On to the sushi bar..


Beautiful laser-cut card model from a girl in Unit 23. I hope she doesn't mind me publishing these photos.. it was just incredible. It should have been in the centre of the room instead of in the corner really.

Then went with Judy-judy to the Westminster exhibition the following day..

Paper cranes hovering above the exhibition space.

This drawing was my favorite one by a long way.. done by a guy called Alex Otiv in Unit 14. The unit looks at climate and architecture and one of their students last year picked up the prestigious RIBA Silver Medal. His other drawings made me want to pack my computer in and vow never to pick up my mouse ever again only to make way for pencils and paper.

Having exhibition hopping the past couple of days we ended up at Proud Galleries in Camden Market to chill out to some free live jazz. and who doesn't like free jazz, eh?


Well done to everyone who put their efforts into the shows.. they were mind-blowing, inspiring mini-worlds and cities of limitless architecture that isn't afraid to take the piss out of itself. And if that isn't a good reason to carry on the 7-year slog, I don't really know what is. xxwidarchitect