There's been some great work going on around studio this week, with the hit of inspiration from international field trips across the year groups. We're loving the energy that's in studio right now!
Unit D's Trip to Athens // Viviana Roberti
As part of our "Exclusion | Inclusion" brief, Unit D set for a deep exploration of the city of Athens, where our main project is set. This brief includes us (the designers) and challenges us to become activists to enable the Greek community to overcome austerity and economic crisis conflicts through our designs.
Besides visiting high-end landmarks and areas of interest, we were asked to conduct an analysis not only of the place but of the people that inhabit the various spaces, which was achieved extraordinarily by interviewing residents of Athens and even joining a communist protest! (No one was harmed in the process.)
As we departed the Greek territory, we were asked to create an 'Emotive Response', a piece of art that represented what we felt and how we understood the city of Athens, allowing us to dispute and confront what the true essence of our site is to each of us, and what will drive our main design project in a more engaging cultural aspect.
Selection of Emotive Responses:
Size A3, Mixed Media
Unit G's visit to Portugal - Lisbon and Porto
What's On
With Christmas on the horizon, us architects need to get present planning early to find the perfect, beautifully designed, gifts! With that in mind, Oxford's Etsy group are hosting an Etsy Made Local fair at the Examination Schools from 10-4 on Sunday - a great way to find presents for that person who you have no idea what to get!
Student of the Week
We're looking at first year masters this week. AAD have just had a 'Show and Tell' presentation, and Luisa Pereira Pires was nominated for student of the week. She says of her work:
'The intention was to simultaneously take the baroque forward to a futuristic state and back to a primordial state. The first was achieved by attempting to create a new sort of materiality that utilizes man made mixed materials such as nail polish and make up powder (courtesy of primark and superdrug) in a concrete mix. The second was by sculpting the embraced casting failures into asteroid - looking pieces. Strands of hair define the asteroid's path as it diverts and alters sound waves passing through. In some way these can be seen as sensorial impulse enhancers, sound enhancers, connected to your skull via hair filaments. Sculpting gave the outlook new properties, such as a stone/ marbled look as the Dremel sander burnt the nail polish bits in the cast . The smell was an interesting outcome, it hinted at domesticity and femininity.'
