St. Paul’s | London '16 Culture & City

My grand English tour.

March 18 2016March 19, 2016

All great architects throughout history have taken grand tours of Europe. From Jefferson to Soane they have left during their studies to see the buildings and gardens that have influenced and taught them. This idea of experiencing architecture from history first hand is one of the very reasons that I came on this trip. By allowing myself to walk through and understand these buildings I believe I will be a better architect.

From St. Paul’s to Salisbury and Westminster this trip has shown me many incredible buildings from history allowing me to strengthen my foundation of classic architecture. I believe part of the grand tours architects have taken throughout history is seeing these sites back to back. By seeing them in very close time it allowed them to compare and contrast the way the buildings and sites function and exist. This is very true for my trip as well, by comparing Salisbury to Westminster and St. Paul’s in a very short week it allowed me to see what I liked and what worked in these buildings and what did not. Salisbury was the most successful at provoking the sublime emotion and harassed context of site impeccably. Where Westminster was a site that defiantly relied on the principle more is more. St. Paul’s cathedral was a soft building set into a beautiful intersect and carries a presence in this city that no other building has modern or historical. Overall this grand tour of mine has been eye opening and will help me be a better architect and landscape architect in my schooling and career. No structure is built without a foundation, and mine is being set.

London Day 1

March 13 2016

Wow, what a great first day in London! We visited some great sites! My favorite was by far St. Paul’s Cathedral. The detail in the facade was something to really admire.

Perspective facade

the interior spaces were also something to really observe.. The detail in the embellishments up the walls and ceilings were phenomenal in every way. I attempted to sketch some of this when I say and observed The Middlesex Chapel

Middlesex Chapel

The real excitement was of course the progression up to the top of the dome of the cathedral. First I stopped at the Whipsering Gallery to try and sketch St. Paul’s ground floor from above which was actually quite challenging. Then of course I continued on to the Stone Gallery and then onto (with burning shaking legs) to the tippy top Golden Gallery for the best view of the city!

Blurred view from the Stone Gallery

I also really enjoyed visiting the Barbican earlier in the day. I really appreciate water features so the water was a real treat! I got some great pictures. I also really liked how the greenery and plants were

Greenery at The Barbican

mixed in with the concrete facade on all of their back patio spaces.

The Barbican water feature

To end the evening Rachel, Cori, Trace and I went out to find a quaint British pub where we ate dinner and enjoyed each other’s company. The pub was called “The Court” and wasn’t too far from the hotel.

The Court

Overall, it was a fabulous day and a fantastic way to start to get to know London.

Overall stats from day one

Overall stats

First Day in London!

March 13 2016March 13, 2016

It was very exciting to be in London for the first time, because there is so much history throughout the city. We started our day off with a short walk near our hotel, which included seeing the AA (Architecture Association). Later during the evening and a visiting student who is friends with CeCe gave us a tour of the studios. Seeing the AA was really exciting for me, because I had spent the first part of this semester doing research about it during its prime under Boyarsky.

We took the bus over towards St. Paul’s cathedral, but before going in we walked over towards the Barbican Center. I was so impressed with how well the center was layed out and how pleasent it was to be in the courtyards. I have always know brutalist buildings to be slightly heavy and uninviting, but this complex was a complete gem. It really further deepened my appreciation for brutalism, although I have always been a fan.

On the way toback towards St. Paul’s we saw some parts of the old Roman walls. It helped as a reminder of just how old this city really is and how impressive it’s structures have always been.

Finally we made it to St. Pauls, which was extremely impressive. The sheer size of the cathedral is overwhelming and is by far the largest I have been inside. What was really amazing was that you could climb all the way to the top and get a glorious view of the city’s skyline. The engineering involved in creating the domes is phenomenal amd it was great to see it up close. Although, I do think I preferred the crypts, partially becau

se there were less stairs and partially because they were simply elegent. The ornate decorations of the cathedral are toned down, letting the bones of the architecture speak for itself.

Day 1: St. Paul’s

March 13 2016

The first day being in London has seriously been fabulous! I loved that I was able to get a perspective of the scale of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was so beautiful and big. I enjoyed going to the top (although I had a hard time getting myself up and down). The view was spectacular and it really showed how big St. Paul’s Cathedral really is. I loved getting closer with the classmates and feel like this trip will definitely make my relationships with everyone grow.

I enjoyed the bottom of St. Paul’s because I got to look up to the double dome. I loved the sculptures, paintings, and even the tombs. The tombs kind of freaked me out but the experience was breathtaking. I really thought that the structural part of the double dome was fabulous too because you got to see the way he made it all. I thought that the first day was definitely a great way to start off our week because it showed us so much in a small amount. I enjoyed the first day so much! I loved the brochures that we got from that little abstract place. It was a great first day!

This was a goofy picture that I thought people would enjoy of Cori and me getting ready on the first day!

This was one of my favorite moments because the water was so fabulous. I liked the angle of this shot and the architecture behind it. It shows the landscape and architecture with beautiful lighting.

This was the first time we were taking the bus and Trace and I were both so excited that that we kept taking pictures. The views from up on top of the bus were great. I loved that you could see so much of the city just from going on the second story.

Here is the stereotypical picture of the St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s seriously so beautiful.

Our first day was a success!!

First Day Impressions

March 13 2016

My first day in London was absolutely incredible. I thought I knew what I was going to see in the city but there was so much I never expected. I loved that the architects blended the new buildings right in with the old. In a lot of cities, such as Rome, there is the old section and the new section, but not here.

(I know this is from today but I thought it really illustrated my point.)

I also really enjoyed seeing the projects from The Building Centre. Almost every project I saw I want to incorporate into my studio projects in some way.

(Said project I want to incorporate into a studio project.)

St. Paul’s was also incredibly beautiful. It was much larger than I originally thought it was. It was a sublime moment when you first turned the corner and caught a glimpse of the dome. Then from multiple alleyways you could see a great view of the dome and see just how large the building was.

The view from the top of St. Paul’s was absolutely breathtaking. Once you made it past the whispering gallery and, finally, made it to the top there was such a rewarding view of the London skyline. It felt like you were on top of the world. (But then you were falling down from the worst stair stepper leg day ever.)

(Panorama from the top of St. Paul’s.)

Day 1. “Sublime”

March 13 2016March 13, 2016

My first day in London was nothing short of impressionable. The beginning of the day was quite nice and slow walking around our neighborhood, but quickly picked up pace when we arrived at St. Paul’s cathedral. This first glimpse of St. Paul’s was an incredible peak into history as we turned a corner by a small coffee kiosk and saw the double dome hovering above the city way off in the distance. As we moved closer it was obvious that the scale of this building was sublime. Situated within a plaza reminding me much of the piazzas of Italy this ornate structure seemed to encapsulate the entire area around it. The details of the facade seemed to come to life as I moved closer seeing the faces and figures covering the walls.

After we spent some time around the building it was time to go in. Waking into St Pauls was like walking back into history, and completely awe inspiring. Overall I was amazed as we moved through the double dome to the roof and then back down that the entire time every corner of the building had something new to offer my senses.

St. Paul’s didn’t disappoint at all, and has been a wonderful first look into London. Oh and I forgot to mention that our fearless leaders looked pretty “fly” today as well.

(And last but not least a peak inside the crypt)

Day 1: “Feed the Birds”

March 12 2016March 23, 2016

London is a commemorative city. With such a rich history, I love how the city exists as a collection of monuments; honoring, referencing and paying tribute to the past. What has most impressed me on my first day here is its cleanliness and the effort of its people to respect and maintain its charm. London has offered such a pleasant nostalgia, from walking to Bedford Square to taking the bus to St. Paul’s Cathedral. As I expected, St. Paul’s floored me. To experience St. Paul’s Cathedral is to experience a feat of human creation. St. Paul’s provides us with a truly marvelous epitome of what is the monumental. But what is monumental?

Personally, cathedrals always have their way of humbling me. Walking into this space, the presence of my own body within this space becomes visceral; the day to day subconscious awareness of my body immediately becomes starkly conscious. The vastness of its size tangibly minimizes me. Its breadth shrinks me as its otherworldly presence of the human ability to create dumbfounds me. It becomes a world and not a room. I become a piece and not a whole. I realize my tiny part of humanity. I can’t help but to imagine this space as a moment of convergence of all the slices of time; the hundreds of years of reverence, devotion and worship.

For me, that is the definition of monumentality. Not just its large size or its ability to commemorate a time, people or place. It’s monumentality exists within its ability to transcend time and space for its contemporary viewer. St. Paul’s is rich for its powerful ability to stir within visitors a wondrous moment of humble self-reflection.

It is in this moment that I am reminded of Julie Andrews. Random, yes, but her famous tune “Feed the Birds” in Mary Poppins famously incorporated St. Paul’s into pop culture. In this song, she sings to the Banks children about the Bird Woman who sells bird feed-“feed the birds, tuppence a bag.” Not only is this a beautiful song that captures the essence of the cathedral, with its whimsical references to the sculptures of the saints and the steps, but it represents a monumentality of the outside space. The steps of one of the most famous and revered monuments in London can house a beggar woman. I love this example of humanity’s relationship with the cathedral.

*But beware, the feeding of the birds is prohibited

Day 1: 200 seconds = 200 words

March 12 2016March 12, 2016