Downland Gridshell - 10 years

The Downland Gridshell at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum is 10 years old this year. 'Cluster' an exhibition at Fabrica and a special report edition of Unstructured, celebrate the anniversary of the Gridshell.

Fabrica is Brighton's leading contemporary Art Gallery and 'Cluster' is an exhibition of woven forms by artist and basket maker, Annemarie O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan's organic forms take inspiration from the Downland Gridshell and are made from the engineered Sweet Chestnut material pioneered by the Flimwell Woodland Enterprise Centre, also celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Unstructured, the web-magazine portal of Fourth Door, features articles making the connection between the woven forms of the two gridshells, traditional basketry and the emerging field of art-related basket makers, and a number of land artists, whose work focuses on woven, basket-like 'wild' structures made in and on the land. Highlights include:

The Downland Gridshell ten years on - Project Architect Steve Johnson has written an extensive overview of the building's genesis

Cluster overview and Annemarie O'Sullivan feature - these complementary pieces outline the connections and overlaps between the projects different elements

Cullinan's timber path after the Downland Gridshell - how Edward Cullinan Architects have continued with timber architecture since the Downland Gridshell, culminating (so far) in the recent John Hope Gateway at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

Learning from schools

Last Tuesday As part of our Sustainability Series, Carol Costello (Cullinans), Andrew Cripps (AECOM) and Roderic Bunn (BSRIA) gave 3 excellent short presentations. During the subsequent discussion 11 headline messages emerged:

• Clients need to consider the energy consumption of their appliances and computers as part of their building's performance
• Schools are rightly used for many different activities and lie at the heart of many communities, Mr Gove!
• Isnt it time our energy modelling was realistic not predective?
• There is an art to energy calculations as well as a science
• Legibility is key to a school's success
• We need to recognise the importance of the caretaker
• Most existing schools have value to their community beyond their mere fabric
• Controls must be simply designed for pupils and staff and located so they are encouraged to use them
• Busy people though they are Headteachers must know more about energy
• Choosing the right procurement is essential - D&B can easily undermine an integrated design
• We know orientation is key so why don't we pay it sufficient attention?

For a slightly fuller write up see today's AJ Footprint: http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/footprint/footprint-blog/edward-cullinan-architects-top-ten-tips-for-sustainable-school-design/8633095.article


--

Mirrors of Awareness

Myself and two friends - Rebecca Gregory (Metropolitan Workshop) & Eddie Blake (Studio Weave) were given the unique opportunity of filling an exhibition space in 14-16 Cowcross Street, with no particular brief.  It was exactly the opportunity we were looking for to explore our common areas of interest and have a bit of fun! 

We were interested in exploring the interaction between the individual and their urban environment.  One’s everyday life can cause their physical surroundings to be assumed and then invisible due to the repetitive nature of social practice.  We developed a scheme to transform 14-16 Cowcross Street, aiming to facilitate a moment of self-realisation for the many daily inhabitants of Farringdon; not by interrupting a social practice per se but by holding up a ‘mirror’.  The architecture would be re-instated and used as a tool to reflect & comprehend one's position in the urban environment.

'We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things & ourselves … Soon after we can see, we are aware that we can also be seen.  The eye of the other combines with our own eye to make it fully credible that we are part of the visible world'

(Taken from ‘Ways of Seeing’, by John Berger)

Inspired by Berger, our installation encourages visual & physical connections in order to playfully animate one’s social & spatial awareness in the city context.  The art of perspective projection was utilised, the geometries of which become perfectly legible from one vantage point only.  Move from this point, and the message will distort into abstract forms, dissolving the individual back into their everyday experience.

interaction with the installation on the opening night

image projected on the facade: highlighting the window composition and the plan of the individual's interaction on the street

The installation started as the first line was drawn (22/06/12) and endured until the last line was removed (11/07/12).  The creation of the installation itself was deemed to be an event, as significant as the completed piece itself. 

creation of the installation

Throughout the creation of the installation, we engaged with many passers-by, developing relationships with some of the inhabitants that form Farringdon - from the local 'hoodies', Network Rail construction workers, the local drug dealer, commuters, the ABA caretaker, tourists - the list goes on.  It was a privilege to engage in a community who all actively appreciated and engaged with the installation we were creating.

interaction of the passer-by

write up: http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/8632054.article