Blueprint art

After talking to the architect who designed the new art room, he gave me a copy of the plans for the building. I found there was something very interesting about the way the lines overlapped and the little patterns inside the blueprints so I took a section of the plan to recreate. Using water-soluble paints, I sketched out the section in reverse colours.

St. Mary's Church, Nuneaton

Me and a friend took a trip to St. Mary's church in Nuneaton. The structure is mostly Victorian built in a mixture of Gothic revival, Romanesque and modern styles. The church was built on the ruins of Nuneatons Abbey. The Abbeys ruins date back to the 1100's where the building was the cultural heart of the town. Regardless of this, the church and the ruins are neglected of there historical and architectural importance. The vicar was very happy to show me and my friend around the church and talk about its history, but I couldn't help feeling afterwards that either the church promoted the place quite badly or the majority of the town cared very little for their heritage and culture.

BJ. Formento Photography

I started looking at the fundamentals of Rembrandt lighting, when i came across the work of Formento. Him and his wife are a photography couple that seem to focus on photos of attractive women in less attractive locations. I love the contrast this gives there work but I'm more interested in the way they have used lighting.

Works of Palladio

Andrea Palladio was an architect working in Italy during the 1500's. He spent his life designing villas in the region of Venice taking influence from classical Greek and Roman architecture. He seems to base his designs around symmetry and his buildings appear imposing and powerful, like the Roman ones they are based on. Despite this they are harmonious and seem to blend into their surroundings well. What makes Palladio stand out for me, though, are the interiors of his buildings some of which were designed with grand wall paintings which fitted into the architecture like a theatre set. He also brings the classical decorations to the inside of buildings in the use of statues, doorways and columns.

Hans Holbein. Crafty chap...

I know this has little to do with architecture but I don't really care. I was looking at portrait painters, after the life drawing class and found Hans Holbein. I love his paintings for the great attention to detail and realism. What is more impressive is that it was done in the Tudor era and was far ahead of its time in terms of quality. In my opinion some contemporary artists should hang there heads in shame when there work is compared to this.

The painting below is The Ambassadors. Its one of Holbein's most famous works. I like it for the hidden skull at the bottom of the picture. At first glance it appears to be a tear or a feather of a quill but when viewed at an angle it displays an image of a skull. Very crafty.

Stockholm Library

Stockholm Library, Sweeden

Asplund Architecture Competition, 2007

JDS Architects

In my research into how architects use light in their work, I found this model of a proposed library in Stockholm. In the model, bright, fluorescent lights have been used against a white canvas around it. This is effective in highlighting the building and making appear unique in its surroundings. Although I do admire the building itself for the way it blends into the landscape around it, it's the way the model markets the idea which interests me the most. 

Notre Dame Du Haut

After seeing this mentioned in the Guardian's architecture reviews, I decided to take a closer look at the chapel of Notre Dame Du Haut. I like how its architect, Le Corbusier, has used natural light and the way the building is built with thick walls, giving it a sense of structure. I also like how its shape is unconventional in how it uses sloping and curved walls rather than most churches which are designed in a box shape and are symmetrical.