With deadlines starting to set in, this week on the blog we'd like to remind everyone to enjoy yourselves and try not to stress out too much. We're hoping that you'll get excited with our review of the DS2 visit to Heatherwick studios!
DS2 Visit to Heatherwick Studios / Kerry Fox
At Heatherwick studios, we were excited to see models and prototypes of well-known projects, as well as some that we can’t tell you about as they’re live projects! At each stage our tutor, Michael Kloihofer, made clear the iterative process that went into the design. The office is filled with objects, books and old models - anything to excite the creative process. In the studios, there are no stupid answers - but plenty of wrong ones! Inspiration can fall from looking at an ordinary object at a different scale, or thinking about a process, or working with fabricators. In the studio, there is a large workshop where ideas are trialled in three dimensions - when working with complex forms, screenshots of CAD models are really not enough to fully understand the space. There is the opportunity for design charrettes amongst the team, and then works are criticised within the office, leading to better, more robust designs. Ideas then follow a long process of refinement through drawing and model making, leading towards a finished idea. For example, the compression table, which was featured in the 2012 book Making, is still being tinkered with.
DS4 Visual Presentation bringing awareness of Issues in Macedonia
This installation explored the Roman, Ottoman and Brutalist timelines of Skopje, and how they interacted and layered over each other to form the city's identity. Three fragmented archways alluded to these time periods, and the destruction caused by earthquakes on the site.
Student of the Week
This week we're featuring Isaac Sherriff - we love his collages and drawings about his current project - a radio station and community space in Monasteraki Square, Athens. The purpose of the images was to explore spatial requirements for the activist pod, and investigate the character of the site.
What's On
This Friday, the Ashmolean's Spellbound live evening looks to be an early Halloween treat!