Author: Loraine Alvarez Garcia

A final look of London

Coming back from London was honestly heartbreaking; I would say I did not want to come back home. London was beyond what I was expecting. It was a vibrant, diverse, and rich of history city. One thing I remember before the trip was a lot of people telling me how diverse London is, but not until you get there you get the real-life experience of how truly diverse this city is (I even meet people from the same country as me!). Living in New York for a few years and also coming from a country that allows the easy access to many forms of transportation as well as a lot of walkable space, made London instantly feel like home. I liked how a lot of places were at a walking distance, and if not you had the tube or buses to get you there in less than 20 minutes. I’m more used to a city type of living and staying in London for a week made me realized how much I do like and enjoy this lifestyle. It didn’t took me long to adapt to their way of living.

There’s no doubt that every corner you turn or every place you go not only in London but in England, is filled with history. Having to choose a favorite day from the whole trip is honestly the hardest thing someone could ever ask me because each day was just fantastic. Each day was filled with new things to see and learn. My eyes didn’t know what to see anymore because like I said earlier, every corner in this fantastic city has something unique on its own. I would say having the experience to go to local markets and go to places where tourists usually don’t visit a lot, are the places where you get the real one-on-one cultural experience; and I was luckily able to get that. I loved every minute of London and I know for a fact I’ll be back soon! Just remember “a bad day in London is still better than a good day anywhere else!”

Contemporary Architecture

The whole trip has been special to me to a whole different level, but Thursday I finally got the chance to be up-close to my favorite style of architecture; contemporary. It was fascinating to be so close to buildings that I followed throughout their whole construction process. I was so intrigued and amazed by the inside out building. It was like seeing all the architecture rules being broken in a single design. The services for the building such as ducts, stairs, and elevators are located in the exterior in order to maximize space in the interior which I found super interesting and challenging. I was so curious to see how the building looks in the inside that I searched for more pictures, and that’s when it really shocked me. The inside of this building is as fascinating as the outside is. It has multi-story escalators criss-crossing in the center on the building as well as several large concrete columns in the center.
Another of my favorite buildings I saw that day was the Gherkin. It is a building that would take your breath away. The spiral lines on the design are truly remarkable. I watched an episode of the show megastructures that was about the construction of this building and it was pretty amazing to hear how it uses energy saving methods that allows for the use of power/electricity in the building. As well as shafts on the bottom that are creating a giant double glazing effect not only to allow ventilation to the building, but also add contrast to the design. Overall, it was really nice that all of these contemporary projects were located right next to each other. It gave me different perspectives of how different designs in this style of architecture work in many ways to create something so massive and spectacular for the city.

The Gherkin

Another view of the structure

Part of the Inside-out and the Gherkin in the back

Inside out building

The spiral lines on the design of the Gherkin

Stourhead and Kew Gardens

Throughout the trip we visited many landscapes. It was very impressing to see Stourhead and then visit Kew Gardens the next day. It was a great way to compare both landscapes and see what makes them unique and what qualities they have that makes them somehow similar. Since I’m interested in pursuing landscape architecture, looking at Stourhead was fascinating. The use of sunken paths is allowing the landscape to continue, which allows the visitors the view of the whole surrounding panorama. Then the monuments are starting to be used as a frame for one another and as a “sequence” of the landscape. I feel like the use of several lakeside paths, the unarranged placed of monuments/temples, and the incorporation of grottoes starts to confuse the garden’s chronological order, which I thought was very interesting.
On the other hand, Kew Gardens is another landscape that was just a wow factor from all the places we have visited. As well as Stourhead Kew Gardens is a man-made landscape. It does not follows a chronological order for the conservatories and all of its features, which I also found really amazing. The different types of plants makes you feel like you’re going through a series of different environments all in a single place. For such a huge garden, I found that Kew Gardens didn’t have that many follys as I thought it would have, but instead it creates a different mood to see how more vegetation and conservatories serves as the spotlight of the landscape. Overall both landscapes were spectacular and beautiful!

Peacock in Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens

Palm house

Last view of Stourhead as I’m leaving

Stourhead

View out to the landscape from the grotto

Loraine’s 2nd day in London!

As we did our grand tour of the city of London during the second day, there was so many beautiful sites to see, but the one place that was very special to me was the Princess Diana Memorial at Hyde Park. After a long walk through the city of London, having the Princess Diana Memorial as the last place to visit during our walk was like having a cold glass of water after a great workout. It was such a peaceful moment just to seat down and admire the landscape and the design of the fountain as water flows from two high points giving you the feeling of cascades, after a long day of being in the city. The fresh air, the sunset, and the people just enjoying the view made it all feel so enjoyable and relaxing. As far as the design of the fountain, I noticed that the water swirls and bubbles before meeting at the end in a calm pool with the engraving of Princess Diana’s name alongside the back of the fountain. I also enjoyed the view it gives you facing towards the serpentine river. This memorial really symbolizes Diana’s power and vulnerability with the incorporation of 3 small bridges that gives you access to the center of the oval fountain. I felt all the bridges gave a sense of interaction so visitors can connect or have a more personal contact with the landscape; something that Princess Diana did as she interacted in such an incredible way with the people of England and all around the world. Truly an incredible memorial that represents Princess Diana’s life!

View of the landscape around (the fountain becomes the thin line)

The pool at the bottom of the fountain with the name of Princess Diana engraved in the back

View to Serpentine river from princess Diana memorial

1st day in London!

Our first day in London has honestly been speechless, this city is truly monumental. As we started our Saturday morning, it was just amazing to walk through the streets of London and finally see and physically experience how beautiful this city is. Around noon we arrived to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which has been my #1 favorite spot throughout the trip. Just walking through the front entrance of the church was indescribable, just to think that many years ago important figures of England, like kings, walked through the same path was unbelievable. When I finally got inside my eyes didn’t know were to look because of all the details the church has. Beautiful paintings, a tremendous large space, and most important all the galleries it has inside. As I stood in the center of the church looking up towards the dome and James Thornhill’s painting, just made realized the time and effort it them to make all these details to perfection. It was truly a special moment to stand in the middle and look up for 5 minutes and understand how art and architecture are implemented in this church. Also not to forget all the stairs I had to go up, to get the best view of London (it was not fun going up the stairs but it was TOTALLY worth it). The picture below is my favorite picture of St. Paul’s Cathedral. As the sun goes down you get this beautiful side view of the church, a historical marker that still stands high and strong in the city of London. I’m 100% sure I’ll be back here before we go home!

View to St. Paul’s Cathedral from One New Change shopping center

Loraine’s Pre-Departure post

I still cannot believe that in less than 24 hours I’ll be in London, England! it is so hard to believe how hard these days went by. Two months ago this day seem like forever and now we’re just hours away to be in another country. These past week has been so stressful with studio assignments and other classes, but luckily I managed to get through the storm. Having review, midterms, and also research papers to get done this week, took me away from thinking about packing. I can say I’m now 98 percent ready for the trip, I already called both my bank and phone company to get everything set up. I started packing last night and I can say I’m proud of myself for only packing the essentials and not going overboard like I usually do.

I hope that our flight goes as smoothly as possible and that hopefully we don’t come across any delays. I’ve never been in a plane for so long, usually when I travel I’m not in a plane for more than 4 hours so hopefully time would go by pretty quick. Anyways, the day has finally arrived! I’m so excited, nervous, happy, filled with so many emotions. I’m looking forward to knowing new places, learning new things,  and most important sharing an amazing experience with other students that I would never forget. So let’s get this trip started and let’s get sketchbooks fill with many adventures!!

Loraine Alvarez’s Bio

Hello everyone! My name is Loraine Alvarez and I’m currently a second-year student majoring in Landscape architecture. I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, but moved to the United States when I was eight years old. After moving to the U.S. I lived in the Bronx, New York for about a year and then moved to Lorain, Ohio which has been my hometown for the past ten years. Lorain is a small town approximately 20 minutes from Cleveland.

Since an early age, my parents took me to a lot of places here in the U.S. and in my native country, so I became very curious in one day having the opportunity to travel abroad and be able to explore all the amazing places this world offers us. Last semester I became interested in the London and Culture spring trip because since 11th grade I’ve been fascinated by England’s architecture and famous landmarks. London is a city rich in history and diversity and being able to experience that and see their multiple architectural wonders in real life is just amazing!

Besides being excited to learn about their incredible architectural history, I’m also excited to be able to experience a new culture. It’s so interesting to visit a city such as London and be able to see how diversity plays such a big role throughout many important places around the world.

Me at Baldwin Wallace University