Yunak Evleri

Yunak Evleri is a 5star hotel, located in an ancient village in Ugrup, Turkey, is build into the side of a cave. Each room has power for lights, plumbing, a spa and Wi-Fi access. They have also been decorated with antiques from the 1900s, and each ground floor room comes with it's own patio. Although I wouldn't choose to stay here, I still think it's pretty amazing.

Turner Prize 2011

In my extremely honest opinion... it was utter rubbish. This so-called 'art' is not art at all. And the fact everyone reads into it as if it has some kind of deeper meaning is also just as bad. But if people are stupid enough to pay for it, who am I to question it.. right? All I'd like to say was I thought it was a waste if time and I'm glad it's back to its original home next year in London. Unfortunately photos were 'not permitted' with any of the exhibitions for some strange reason, although I did get a few sneaky shots in. Please don't sue.

Regine Ramseier's Dandelions

Regine Ramseier sprayed each dandelion she picked with adhesive, before attaching them upside down to a whiteboard suspended from the ceiling. Although I'm sure this took a very long time, I don't class this as 'art', but the look of the dandelions did remind me of light bulbs and gave me an idea for lighting. Just replace each Dandelion with different sized light bulbs hanging at different heights.

Cooper Union

Cooper Union college is located in the East village on the island of Manhattan, New York, and is a relatively new building. First glance may give the impression of a glass box, but closer inspection shows very bold and complex twists and distortions and I personally think it is a great design for an Arts college. The beauty of New York is that, although buildings around this contemporary structure are not the same architectural style, neither builds look out of place because New York is full of all kinds of styles. This building was designed by the Architectural company 'Morphosis'.

Twins

William O'Brian Jr, the Architect and a teacher at MIT's School of Architecture, designed these dual holiday homes for two twin brothers. The clever thing is that each building is created with the same 5 shapes, but because they're fitted together in a different pattern, both buildings are different overall forms. I think O'Brian is a brilliant Architect, and the his brain works is, not only in a creative way, but as you can tell by this project, he can work with complex mathematical designs. The buildings have big glass curtains, which not only give great views of the scenery around, but also let in a lot of lighting. The interior, like the exterior is extremely sleek, minimalistic and beautiful, just like the snowy landscapes it's situated.

Action Plan

After finishing my first year on the Interior Architecture course, I think I have become a lot more aware as to what being an interior architect will be like. In total we had 9 projects throughout the year, and I think I preferred the more architectural side to them, rather than the interior part. I also like designing my own furniture and objects, which could also be another possible career to consider. I’d have to say that my favourite projects would be ‘Castles in the Sand’ or ‘Park Hill Flats’. Although I did enjoy our last one, The Church Renovation project, I don’t feel like I achieved my full potential.

When I first started this course, I was quite familiar with Photoshop, and had used Illustrator a few times before but was not fully confident with it, but now I feel like I have a good knowledge of both of these programs and have definitely improved my skills on both. I was very confident with Google Sketchup before I started this year, as I had used it in my last course, and at school before that, as well as using it at home to create things. One thing I wasn’t confident with at all was AutoCAD. I had used it years ago in school, although the AutoCAD I had used was to create 3D Models, and was very complicated to use, whereas this one, although still quite complicated, was for drawing floor plans neatly, and accurately. I can use this more now and have found easier ways of drawing floor plans will experimenting at home, but I think there is still room for improvement next year.

I feel as though my overall visual presentations on boards have improved since the start of the year, as well as my ability to explain my work to either a client or my tutor. I still find it difficult to present in front of large groups of people though, especially when I have to stand up in front of everyone. I feel more comfortable with a relaxed presentation, like the one with Simon Gregory. My SWOT analyses have helped me understand my weaknesses, giving me an opportunity to improve on them, or find ways around them, as well as seeing my strengths and maybe gearing my work towards my strong points.

My goals for next year would have to be to really push myself on projects, because I don’t want to just skate by another year, I want to be able to see what I’m really capable of and achieve something better than average. I want to be able to improve my time keeping, set certain hours aside in the day to focus on college work, and become generally more organized. I want to improve on my writing skills as well. English is not one of my strong points so I will find this difficult to accomplish, but as long as I work on it, I’m sure I will improve.

I think that overall I am happy with what I have learned over the year, but I’m not as happy as I’d like to be with the quality of work I have produced, and next year I’d like to really push myself and see what I can really do when I put my mind to it.

Wow..^Essay much!?

Renault Factory

A Renault factory in Boulogne, France, is being renovated into a 'Green' School and Gymnasium. It's roofing, which slopes down towards the entrance, is covered in grass and trees, which not only helps plantation to re-grow, but it also helps house wildlife. This kind of architecture could be the future, while still looking great, it has an environmentally friendly function.

The Changing Cupboard

I found an unusual piece of furniture today, designed by the Swedish company 'FRONT'. Each 'pixelated' square changes shade every few seconds. Although it isn't my kind of taste, and I wouldn't have it in my home, I still though it was a very interesting design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-UDc0g2LZI&feature=player_embedded

Puerta Umbria

This is a new high speed train station which will be build in Huelva, Spain, and will connect to Madrid.
It was designed by architect Rafael de La-Hoz, and he says he started from a 'blank slate'. The roof is perforated, meaning it lowers the sunlight's intensity, making the station shady.
I like the plans for this building as it's very modern and completely unusual to any other train station designs. I think it has been well thought out, because, although it is made from a lot of glass, it will still be cool even in the hottest time of the year.

'Xuan'

More from 'Jovana Chris Lei' with a ceiling light named 'Xuan' (旋). All of their designs seem to incorporate environmentally friendly materials, as well as keeping the main colour white. This lamp was created using bamboo and being finely sliced, and curved to give this cool effect.

Paper Chairs

I found these paper chairs, 'Piao' online, designed by Jovana Bogdanovic, Christoph John and Zhang Lei, where they showed them off in the 'Salone Satellite Show' at the Milan Furniture Show (2011). Their collection was inspired by Chinese umbrellas and although the chairs look as though they are frail, 'Jovana Chris Lei' says that they are built to be strong and resistant. I think these chairs are amazing, and I really admire the general aesthetics of them.

The Aerohotel

This strange and quirky design was thought up by Alexander Asadov. It has boating docks, and also a landing strip for zeppelins, and because it's floating above water level, it  preserves whatever is underneath, unlike ground based architecture, which destroys things in the way. It's very futuristic, and unusual, it almost looks 'alien'.