Photos of missing residents for final collage sheet

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List of missing residents from Grenfell

I took my exploaration further by photogprhing my ballon experiment again a light and creating interesting pattern/ print ideas.

Balloon Experimentation

Whilst observing the tactile qualities among the memorial where 
I visited on Sunday, I noticed the photos that were printed on canvas that were left have been completely destroyed by the outside exposure and weather damage. This made the photos have a cracked printed effect, which reminded me of cracked paint. I wanted to use this idea of damage I had found in the memorial in my sample experimentation by testing the effect of cracked paint on different surfaces. First I tested on some cardboard, painting a thick layer and allowing it to dry long enough for me to manually crack the paint by handling it brutally.

I realised that this wasn't giving the effect I wanted so I decided to test on another surface. Looking at my research images, I noticed some deflated balloons that were also cracking due to water damage and decided to test the paint crack sample idea on a balloon. I found this to be highly successful as I found that when I deflated the balloon the cracks in the paint manifested themselves more effectively and  prominently. I would like to develop this balloon experimentation further in my last collection of sample making.

PRIMARY RESERCH - Grenfell Memorial

  • WATER DAMAGE
  • WEATHER DAMAGE
  • CANDLE MELTING
  • PAINT CRACKING

PRIMARY RESERCH - Grenfell Memorial

BRAINSTORMING MY IDEAS

On Site - at THE BARBICAN

Here I have photographed my group's 'Environmental Collage' capturing our 3D sample alongside the structure of the Barbican. This photo captures the idea of showing our final outcome with the environment it was inspired by.

On Site - at THE BARBICAN

I have chosen to look at artist Stéphane Couturiers work to inspire me for this week's project, as their work are highly inspired by construction sites and urban themes; which is a similar direction in which I am looking at with Brutalist Architecture. I am inspired by this particular manipulated image piece that portrays a strong sense of composition and colour. I am struck by their use of colour, pattern and illustration to make a once drab looking Brutalist Building into new, unique and exciting one. This idea of transforming an almost bereaving looking building into an loud, extravagant one with their layering manipulation is interesting to me. From my observations of this image I can see that they have used layering of images and illustrations over the photo of the building structure. I would like this explore this used of image layering in my sample making process as I feel like this will be a strong way of communicating my ideas of the Brutal Architecture of the Grenfell Tower remains with the tactile qualities of the memorial.

Stéphane Couturier - CHANDIGARH REPLAY SERIES, 2007

Thinking of Sample Processes

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PRIMARY RESERCH - Driving past the Grenfell Tower

Thinking of Sample Processes

PRIMARY RESERCH - Grenfell Memorial

PRIMARY RESERCH - Grenfell Memorial

On Site - at THE BARBICAN

  • Lots of repetative shapes
  • Rows and orders of shapes
  • Sqaures and Rectangles
  • Repetitive 3D cubes
  • Windows letting light through
  • Stained concrete
  • unpainted, rough, unfinished, raw
  • Raw materials such as metals and concrete

Robin Hood Gardens in Poplar, East London. Photographer Joe Newman has focused on social housing in the capital - and this particular development may not be around for much longer - with plans in place to demolish it to make way for new homes

"How Brutalist Arcitecture Scarred London"

"The Bauhaus was revered for decades by the English chattering classes. Bauhaus was radical, it was obscure, and it lent god-like status to architects. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the inspiration for a new architectural movement, brutalism. This produced some fine, well-functioning London buildings, but, in hundreds of cases, it caused the sort of fundamental misery depicted in JG Ballard’s 1975 novel High Rise. In the novel, Ballard’s arrogant architect ends up setting dogs on to the disgruntled residents of his London tower block."

 

(https://londonist.com/london/books-and-poetry/brutalismisoverrated)

Student Housing, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1966

Brutalist architecture

Brutalist architecture flourished from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, descending from the modernist architectural movement of the early 20th century. The term originates from the French word for "raw".

Béton brut (raw concrete) is a smooth architectural surface made out of concrete. The concrete is left unfinished or roughly-finished after casting and it remains exposed visually. The use of béton brut was pioneered by Auguste Perret and other modern architects. It flourished as a part of the brutalist architecture of the 1960s and 70s.

 

BRUTALISM: The term was borrowed from pioneering French architects and refers to 'unfinished' or 'roughly finished'

 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture)

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9ton_brut)

(https://londonist.com/2012/05/londons-top-brutalist-buildings)

Alexandra Road - housing estate, London

I find this image of a Brutalist estate in London interesting because of hardcore textures of the concrete on the side slabs. This brutal look of the arcitecture contrasts with the fact that this building is in fact a place where people would call their home.

It is interesting to think someone would call this kind of a building home, as I myself live in a house that the outside is covered in pretty terracotta red and dark yellow bricks which I would say has more of a cosy approach to the outside of the house in comparison to a hard, stained, grey 'unfinnished' outside. This interest has inspired me to play around with the idea of Brutalist architecture in the realm of peoples homes. From this I want to explore further ideas of 'brutalist living' and the community of unusual social housing.