Some more of Claire Morgan’s work that I really wanted to share.
See my original post on Claire’s amazing work here..
The Beauty Of Rotting Fruit And A Taxidermied Crow
The Beauty Of Rotting Fruit And A Taxidermied Crow
Claire Morgan originally from Belfast got a first class degree in Sculpture from Ulster and Northumbria University.
Claire has made her career as a visual artist, with exhibits across the UK as well as internationally. She developed an interest in the organic, in natural processes, and in the bodily connotations of natural materials.
It is this fascnination that makes the foundation for her sculptural taxidermy installations.
The following installation, fluid for Northumbria University in an exhibition called Building With Colour uses hundreds of strawberries and a taxidermied crow.
Morgan’s sculptural material is ordinary, familiar and everyday, but is transfigured through the rigor of formal composition into becoming resonant with a mysterious melancholic power that allows it to be unfamiliar to us again.”
(Darren Ambrose, Lecturer in Art Theory, Birmingham City University, 2007)
The Philology ‘Brain’ Library
Foster and Partners are the architects behind the Philology Library of the Free University in Berlin.
The Free university is one of the city’s most important symbols of education and also one of the leading institutions in Germany. With more than 39,000 students it is by far the largest of Berlin’s three universities. The project included the restoration of the uni’s Modernist buildings and also the design of a new library for the Philology faculty.
The site for the library links six of the university’s courtyards. It has four floors all of which are contained within a naturally ventilated bubble-like skin. The Skin is clad in aluminium and glazed panels are supported on steel frames with a radial geometry.
The inner ‘membrane’ is made from translucent glass fibers and is used to filter the daylight, creating an atmosphere of concentration with also scattered transparent opening allowing for momentary views of the sky and glimpses of sunlight.
The book stacks are located and structured in an ordered manner in the centre of each floor, with reading desks placed along the perimeter of the floors. The serpentine profile of the floors creates an edge pattern in which each floor swells or recedes with respect to the one above or below it. (Creating a similar pattern to a brain MRI.)
“Amusingly, the library’s cranial form has already earned it a nickname, ‘The Berlin Brain’
Tauba Auerbach
Words fail me when trying to describe the amazing work of mixed-media artist Tauba Auerbach. I came across Auerbach’s work recently at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she exhibited works as a 2008 recipient of the SECA (Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art) Awards.
The SECA Awards program summarises Auerbach’s work by stating that ‘Auerbach investigates the logic of representational systems in series of drawings, prints, painting and mixed-media works that isolate symbols drawn from a range of communicative forms, including the Latin alphabet, Morse code, and even the patterns of television static.’
Auerbach explores the visual by-products of digital and analogue broadcasting in her work.
She often uses typographic or numerical symbols, words and figures to create meaning, such as the anagrams below.
The intent behind Auerbach’s work is quite fascinating – that is, to almost repurpose existing symbols of communication. In an interview published in the 2008 SECA catalogue, Auerbach says: ‘Initially, I valued being a kind of Luddite and doing everything by hand. Craft is dying and this is really upsetting to me. I blamed technology, but I’ve changed my mind about that now… these things are not mutually exclusive… In looking at the material of what is behind anything digitized — ones and zeros, or a signal and then the absence of a signal — I’ve come to feel that the system is prohibitively absolute. It’s a simple idea of something being there or not being there, and that’s what continues to fascinate me.’
Do check out taubaauerbach.com for more of Tauba’s beautiful work (and some very cool web design to boot).
What is Eco-design?
It’s not easy being green, Kermit once sang, but in terms of design, it’s the way to go these days. In spirit of saving the earth through innovative design, What is Eco-design? is an online resource established by Design Victoria aimed at providing a “solid grounding in eco-design principles and practice”.
In a nutshell, the website is designed to provide a myriad of resources to designers which is relevant, timely and, most importantly, practical. Developed by the Centre for Design at RMIT University, WSP Environmental in collaboration with industry experts, the resources featured come in a variety of formats filled with all the information an earth-conscious designer could want. There are quick reference guides, dozens and dozens of useful links as well as quick tips, advice from industry professionals and vodcasts of “Design Victoria’s sell-out eco-design seminar and workshop series including introduction to eco-design; life cycle analysis and eco-labeling”
The most important selling point of the initiative is that it is by no means suggested that function, practicality and design are not to be compromised by doing things in a more eco-friendly manner. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; the resources here are able to demonstrate that our design and building practices can be enhanced by this move towards a greener world.
“It is important to emphasise that eco-design is not about dismissing the fundamental principles of design simply in favour of environmental gains. Positive environmental outcomes can be achieved during the design stage to ensure the best performance or result can be delivered over the long term without compromising form or function.”
If you’re an aspiring architect, designer, builder or artist, there is an abundance of insightful information here just waiting to be put into practice – definitely one for the faves.
See for yourself – read more info about the initiative here, or skip straight to the What is Eco-Design? Website!
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Connector
It’s quite a basic algorithm – more people equals more traffic, more traffic equals more noise. Whilst the noise itself may be inevitable, it can be muffled these days by innovative, unique and groundbreaking design concepts.
The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway at Brooklyn Bridge Park generates an overwhelming hum of traffic on a daily basis. In response, architect Donald Rattner in collaboration with Hage Engineering have “created a proposal intended to ameliorate traffic noise, provide more usable park area than has been possible to date, and enhance the public realm with a work of civic art.”
The design proposes to enclose the expressway, trapping the noise and preventing it from disturbing the visitors to the park. The expressway is set to undergo repairs from 2018 and the project could easily be factored in to the repairs. Rattner explains –
“There is a practical need to deal with the vehicular noise that emanates from the BQE. Regardless of what is ultimately built on the waterfront – housing, restaurants, ball fields, passive recreation areas – visitors to the open space and surrounding structures will be subject to relentless, unpleasant, potentially deafening noise – at 85 decibels, the equivalent of standing next to an operating lawnmower. But there is also an aesthetic dimension that needs to be addressed. Our proposal seeks to provide a pragmatic solution to the problem and simultaneously to offer those on both sides of the river an attractive piece of public sculpture to appreciate.”
The structure also aims to utilise innovative green architecture concepts; the exterior of The Connector will use photovoltaic cells designed to absorb solar energy.It’s the clever mixing of a traditional park with modern and highly practical design which makes the proposal so intriguing.
http://www.brooklynbridgeconnector.net/
For more information, have a read of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Connector e-book.