Saturday 27 March 2010

A Defensive Architecture


A little late but I thought I'd post the winning entry from the 2009 RIBA presidents medals, all entries for the Bronze and Silver medals can be found at the RIBA's Presidents Medals Website it showcases a lot of really good student architecture work and has work dating back to 1998.

This is Nicholas Szczepaniak's winning entry from the University of Westminster London, UK. He has some sumptuous drawings, here is his tutors brief outline of the project.

All the images submitted for the Presidents Medals can be found here In his project, entitled 'A Defensive Architecture', Nick Szczepaniak has proposed an intense and thought-provoking piece of work that is a reflection of and response to the effects of climate change. The work is deliberately allegorical and provocative.

Set in the Blackwater Estuary, he imagines a set of austere and stark coastal defence towers that have multiple functions. Not only do the towers act as an environmental protection device that serves as a warning to mankind of the dangers that lies ahead, but they are also repositories of knowledge, housing a major collection of books, much like the British Library. These 'arks' are exquisitely explored in great detail through drawings and experimental models. The scheme is handled in a sensitive and thoughtful manner throughout.

Nick is an exceptionally talented and thoughtful student; he has finished the course at Westminster with a distinction in both design and dissertation, the latter written on the archaeological history of an abandoned Northern steelworks. All of his knowledge and talent comes together in this dramatic and superbly designed project.



Small Family House in Scotland


Gorgon from pushpullbar has finally completed his small family house in Edinburgh, Scotland, there is a fantastic thread on pushpullbar which takes you through the entire design process it is inspiring reading for any architect wishing to build their own house, lots of helpful advice and critique from fellow forum members, the whole thread can be found here


Tuesday 9 March 2010

Pushpullbar Relaunches

One of the best websites/forums for architecture and sketchup Pushpullbar has relaunched with a swanky new layout which is looking very slick.