Post-London post – Patrick

Well, I miss London, even if the weather wasn’t so great. I know I share that thought with others, but it is good to be home as well. Having been to London before, I wasn’t sure what to expect of this trip, but it exceeded my expectations is every way pretty much. I only spent a few days there when I went in late 2016, and didn’t get to see nearly everything I wanted to. This trip allowed me to really explore the city and the architecture, something I couldn’t focus on so much on my other visit.

London is easily one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to, maybe only rivaled by Florence. The stuff we did during the day was always good, but I also loved that we had some time to explore in the evenings, as well as on our free day. Going off the beaten path somewhat was nice, and we could immerse ourselves in a part of the cities culture that we may not have been able to experience otherwise. There are so many hidden gems throughout the city, and we could only see so many. If I lived in London (which is something I would consider) I would probably have to explore a different area every night or weekend because of how vast and diverse it is.

Overall, I really enjoyed this trip. I made some friends and saw plenty of incredible things in the city. I’ll be trying my hardest to make it out to London again soon, because it really is one of the greatest cities in the world.

Post London

I have to say London is No.1 on my list of all the cities I want to have a second trip, and I am literally planning to have a family trip to London again this summer break. I think London is a very different city, compared to all of the other cities I have ever lived in or traveled to. I love the way how it combined the old historical buildings with new modern style architecture. In this city, you don’t see the modern buildings very often, expect in few couple blocks. I think London tries its best to keep all those old buildings without letting them be replaced by the newer ones.

When I walk in the street, I can easily tell which one lives in London, and which one is not, by their outfits. I think it is very interesting that people in London tend to wear very classy and fancy. They all seem very proud, especially with their British accent :).

If I have to pick up a scene in this trip that gives me the most impressive experience, I will say it is the afternoon when we stand in front of the London Eye, and listen to the busker playing songs. I watch people walking by, and I can feel their happiness, and love. I think that is my best moment in this trip.

London Reflection – Adrian

What an amazing experience. It was everything I expected and more. Learning about the culture and, most interesting to me, the architecture, was something truly valuable and I plan to keep what I learned for a long time. This trip was honestly so inspirational for me and gave me the fuel I didn’t know I needed.

Firstly looking at some of the amazing culture I experienced were plentiful. From some of the delicious and unique food I had such as conveyor belt sushi from Yo! Sushi, to the amazing Indian food at Dishoom as well as traditional English breakfast in the morning at the hotel. In addition, the AC Milan v Arsenal match was easily an experience I can never forget. I raved on about it in one of my in-country posts so I won’t go on and on about it but it was such an incredible experience at a sport I love. Walking around the city with friends and by myself, not going to major site but experiencing some of the city life was just as intriguing and beneficial as my other amazing experiences. On my free day I went to my family’s house in London and that in it by itself was an interesting glimpse into everyday British life. My conversations with them also helped understand the cultural differences and similarities between British and the American lifestyle.

I learned a lot about the architecture styles found in London just through sketching, forcing me to understand the details that I may have otherwise missed. Studying the older gothic designs all the way to beautiful modern buildings and projects (which I especially liked). Learning from the group leaders was already informational as is but since many students on this trip had different backgrounds and/or were further in the architecture program, I was able to learn from my peers as well. I feel like I learned so much about architecture on this trip because of this one-two punch of knowledge so to speak. We had an amazing group on this trip, making learning fun and ultimately making this experience so much better.

 

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!”

One Last Time

It has been exactly a week since we left London. I feel like I had a connection to the city and it felt like home when I got there. It did not take long for my body and mind to adapt to local London time, but it took almost a week for me to get back on to Columbus time.
There were so many things that I really like about our trip, but one thing that stood out most is how we were able to walk anywhere or use public transportation system to get anywhere within a short amount of time. This stood out to me because I do not like to even walk across campus at home, but it is quite enjoyable in London. I walked a minimum of 8.5 miles daily during our stay in London. The option to utilize public transporation or walk from place to place has a very good impact our daily lives, and I think that we should start moving toward that lifestyle at home.
My favorite part of the trip was our long walk day across London. This was one of my favorite day because, I love walking around London and see how the scene, landscape, architecture as we move across the city. This was also a memorable day because my feet was in so much pain toward the end of the day because I have never walk that much in a single day, but the pain was totally worth it. I end up walking barefoot around the Princess Diana memorial to numb my feet so I can keep up with the rest of the group. Now looking back, I think I made the right decisions by walking in the cold water in order to see walk much more later that evening.

Prior to the trip, I was hoping to take the EuroStar to Paris for a day to visit some extended family and some old friends. Someone asked about this topic in class before I got to it and we were not allow to leave the country. It was a little dissapointing at first, but I got over it fast. Now that the trip is over, I am so glad that we were not allow to leave England. There are so much to explore within London alone, a trip to France is pushing for too much. I end up visiting Brighton for a few hours to see the Royal Pavillion and the coast of Britain. Then returned to London and contiuning to explore the amazing city. I felt very safe and like I was at home during my time in England, and it was a good feeling to have while abroad.
Overall, I think this trip was very successful for many reasons. First of all, the weather was very nice during our time in London. Secondly, we were able to adapt and quickly learn how to use the tube and other forms of transportation to explore the city. Lastly, and most importantly, everyone in our group was AWESOME! Hope everyone had as much fun as I did, and hope to go on at least one or two more trips with everyone!

 

Saying goodbye to London 10 hours before departure…

Capturing some art work before dinner on the last night

Reflection

Visiting “The Big Smoke” is a journey I will surely never forget. From every historical site, to museum, to architectural innovation, London was all I imagined it would be and then some. With the class being called, “London Culture & City”, not only did this trip focus on London’s history and literal physical attributes, but also the contextual attributes as well, namely culture. To be engrossed in the cosmopolitan aura of the city, it was truly mesmerizing to behold. For example, to visit the local grocers and compare products and prices to that of the US was what I would say is one of the most stark contrasts between the U.K. and home. The portions, versus the price of life were nearly the opposite of that back home. Granted this was expected, but still a shock nonetheless. Along with that, even though both countries speak English, the difference between “The Queen’s English” and “American English” was baffling. Even though it is the same language, the usage of terms, and accentuation of words was stark. However, though these differences were stark, I still found the cultural immersion within London all the worthwhile, and am thankful that I was able to partake in this amazing opportunity to study abroad in one of the worlds global capitals.

London not forgotten

London was a great experience, one that I will cherish forever. This trip was my first trip ever out of the country. I have traveled many times before but this was filled with many new experiences. My favorite thing about this trip was how I got the opportunity to form new friendships and strength existing ones. The day I enjoyed the most was our bus day. I got to see an ancient site that has stood for many years. Also seeing a magnificent landscape that was probably during one of the more beautiful days we could have visited it was amazing. I learned about Stourhead so many times but actually physically visiting and see it instead of just in pictures will be cherished forever.

Although I miss London I am glad to be back home and share all my experiencias with friends and family. I didn’t really have jet lag after returning but I do feel refreshed and ready for the last few weeks of the semester. This trip has made me want to travel the world even more and I hope that this is a start to a new addiction of going to new places and experiencing new things.

Good bye for now London…but not forever!

Back From London

I LOVE LONDON! I thought the trip was the perfect mix of education, culture and fun. I am happy to say that I was able to see/do everything that I wanted to, and cannot believe I was able to do it in such a short amount of time. I found the educational part of the trip very interesting, not only because of the architecture, but also because I experienced and understood the spaces differently than I had when we learned about them in class. I hope that the memories I have in those spaces stay with me as I continue to learn about each site in future classes.

I thought the cultural part of the trip, tea, pubs, the tube, etc., was also extremely interesting. A few of us were lucky enough to meet some British students who we talked to about the differences in our schooling systems and vocabulary. I found their schooling sequence very fascinating, and the differences in our vocabulary and slang pretty funny. This was an interesting way to learn more about the British culture and what it means to be a British student and young adult.

Lastly, the trip was a blast! I am so happy that I was able to meet and become friends with so many other students. Before the trip, I was nervous that we would not all hangout together, but I am so happy that we were able to!

Post London Reflection

Looking back at the trip to London, I cannot believe how much I saw in one short week. There were a couple things I was especially looking forward to before leaving for London. Before leaving, I was looking forward to learning how to navigate the tube system in London. The first couple times I rode the tube were a bit intimidating and confusing, but by the end of the week I could confidently plan my route using the tube map. I was also looking forward to visiting Stonehenge and St. Paul’s, both of which exceeded my expectations. I particularly enjoyed my visit to the Stonehenge visitor’s center, because the exhibit did a really good job at explaining the history and significance of the site before Stonehenge was built. However, my favorite parts of the London trip were experiences that I did not anticipate, and were total surprises. I did not anticipate going on a tour of Banksy pieces and exploring Camden Town on Thursday, but it was so much fun I decided to go back to Camden Market on my free day. I also did not anticipate how fun it would be to experience London nightlife. Even just going out to dinner in the city or trying a pub was a really fun time. I hope I have the chance to visit London again soon!

Post London

This trip was worth every penny and the memories will last a lifetime! Before the trip, I was skeptical on how much I would enjoy it because I had never been to a huge city that had so many diverse people and cultures, but I am so glad that I went. I have learned so much about the culture of London and have really expanded my horizons to further understanding of how other people from another place are so similar to us here in Columbus. I also enjoyed many of the sites we visited and was pleasantly surprised by a few like Stourhead which can be much more appreciated in person.

This was my first trip to Europe, and it did not disappoint in the least. I am excited for future travels and any time I may go back to London. While on this trip, I have grown to appreciate how other countries operate and have begun to understand how buildings and the environment affect people. London also has a vast combination of Architecture throughout the different Era’s, and it was interesting to compare how the styles changed but at the same time still addressed each other. London is a city I definitely can not wait to get back to for further exploration and discovery of the many hidden wonders it still has to offer!

Christianna’s Thoughts on London

Becoming adjusted to time in the United States has been a little difficult after trying to avoid jet lag by sleeping on the plane ride home. As I reflect back on London, I can say that I have throughly enjoyed my experience. I have traveled a lot in my past, however this London trip was definitely different and a time to remember.

When I called to pay my credit card for the charges of the money that I spent on the trip, I was surprised by how much money I spent, however every extra little thing that I did was worth it. The extra adventures to Sketch, Kinky Boots, and nights out with new friends were some of my greatest times in London and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

I think that one of the most memorable times from the trip would be our trip to Stourhead. Although there was a lot of tension due to the issues with the bus, I think that it was supposed to turn out that way in fate because of the WONDERFUL experience that we had at the landscape. In gloomy London, the sun was shining perfectly as we walked the path. It was an experience that can’t even be captured in pictures.

I am beyond thankful for the time that I had and all of the new friends that I made while on the trip.

Post London Blues

After coming back from London, my world in Columbus seems a lot smaller. The familiarity of my own city is comforting, but there is so much to be said about the unfamiliar that is so intriguing.  This trip was my first time out of the country and it really opened my eyes to how much there is to explore. Through my travels I was able to learn and adapt to a new culture, experience independence, and grow as a person. London was a great city to start with since it has such a wide variety of people and architecture. I loved how there was so much contemporary aspects to the city but it was so well blended with such a rich history. Despite the fact that I am not a Knowlton student, I feel there is so much that everyone can learn through architecture like I did. I will always remember this trip as the best week of my life. I cannot wait to expand on my travels and explore everything the world has to offer. This trip was the first step to my life as a traveler. London will always be in my heart and I know that I will see it again one day.

A Look Back at London

It has been about a week and I am still wishing I was back in London. I am so grateful to have been able to have such an amazing first study abroad experience. One of my favorite memories from this trip was standing at the top of St. Paul’s cathedral and looking out over the city. The view was well worth all the steps we had to climb to get up there. Over the course of the trip I learned a lot about various styles of architecture and the culture of London in general. From the encounters that I had the people seemed nice and while some aspects of life and activities such as eating out were slightly different and less fast paced, I didn’t mind because it allowed me to really take in my surroundings and get to know other members of the class.

 

I was a little nervous about learning to navigate the city at first but found that after catching the tube a few times it is much cleaner and easier to navigate than the subway system of New York City. This gave me a sense of freedom and allowed me to be self sufficient in a city that is much larger than my hometown. I would definitely love to go back to London because while I got a great overview of important sites in the city, there is still a lot left to explore. I am sure by the time I come back there will be a few more skyscrapers to add to London’s beautiful skyline.

Post-Travel Thoughts

While the eight days spent in London passed by very quickly, I feel as if I was able to capture an understanding of the city and its people. The fast-walking, snappy-dressing population was hidden in many spots behind the (other) masses of tourists and visitors, but the quieter areas and the transportation services allowed them to be seen. The city was like some sort of textile with both new fibers and ancient threads – a roman street runs between two motorways, new office buildings flank a church several hundred years old… The heterogeneous nature was not jarring, however, as most of the new construction seemed to pay homage to its ancestors in character or form.

Of the older sites that were visited, Salisbury Cathedral was the highlight for me. Its solidarity within the medieval setting and its relatively modest interior treatment allowed it to stand tall and silent, welcoming visitors for reflection. In terms of newer works, the observation platform of the Shard and the skyscraper walk – including the Leadenhall building, 30 St Mary Axe, and the Lloyd’s building – were exciting to me as one with an interest in structure and high-rise design. The systematic clarity and tubular motif of Rogers’ design is beginning to inform the work I am currently doing in the studio, and the detail sketches I produced helped me to understand some connections between the old and the new.

The type of work in which I became most engrossed during the trip falls into the brutalist style, of which England and especially London hold many excellent examples. Visits to the Barbican Center, the UCL Institute of Education, and certainly the St Giles Hotel inspired me to visit the major brutalist sites in the area. Some were reached in the evenings after the daily tour was complete, and my free Saturday was devoted to a jam-packed (or “chockablock” as I heard many times during my stay) route covering many brutalist buildings. I was lucky to be able to see the infamous Robin Hood Gardens housing project, which was more than halfway through demolition, and my visit to the Alexandra Road estate in the snowy weather remains one of the most memorable moments of the trip. I documented each site with several photographs of scenes or details that I found to be fitting, and I hope to compile these into a book to represent the building style and preserve the memory of those sites that may be gone very soon. I am very lucky to have seen these types of projects, and I am very lucky to have been able to participate in the travel program.

Yujia’s London Reflection

Although I already back in America, but my mind still in London. The culture and the landmarks was very memoribale there have one thing I cannot forget. It is the food in London. Before 1997, Hong Kong was still a British colony. Therefore, there have many Hong Kong’s people emigrated to London. You can see Hong Kong influence in many of the food that I ate in London. Everytime I am able to eat Cantonese cuisine, It cause me to remember my hometown Cong Hua, and how much I miss my family there. I am glad that I am in the foreign country. I feel that I am not far away from home. It goes to show you the power the food have.

While Hong Kong influence was something that i cannot forget I was amazed how delecious the local London was. Before I am coming to the London, I continous heard people say how much i need to try England breakfast. I did not have high hopes because i thought how much different can England breakfast can be compared to a regula the America breakfast. However, I was definitely wrong after I tried the England breakfast that the hotel provided. I would never concider myself is a morning person, but i would look forwark to wake up every morning, so i can enjoy the delecious Englian breakfast.

Cheers!

This trip was my first time leaving North America and it really exceeded expectations. I’m already ready to go back and explore even more of London and even the rest of the world. The city was the most incredible experience and it really allowed me to expand as a person. It is so diverse and can really teach you a lot if your open to accepting everything in the city. All of the sites and places we got to go and see really captures the intricacy of the past versus the present. Each place really made history come to life and shows how it effects the present, even after so long. I learned so much from this experience and I know I will take it with me for the rest of my life. Honestly, I really got to grow and coming back to the states I feel like I look at everything so differently. However, I really came to appreciate the experience of learning how to live in a city like London. I feel like it really gave me some more independence and allowed me to find a new since of freedom to find my own way. I know that I am definitely going to explore more study abroad options to continue my education by learning about other cultures.

Makayla’s Post-Travel Evaluation

I can genuinely say that traveling to London was the highlight of my freshman year of college. A year ago, I would have never guessed that I would be able to travel internationally, and I am incredibly grateful for this experience. This study abroad has opened up a world of possibilities for me, and I aim to travel back to London and experience many more countries in the future.

On my first international flight, reality finally hit me, and it became surreal that I was so far away from the United States. It produced anxiety and excitement within me, but I am glad that I could finally kick-start a future where I aim to travel far. Upon arriving in London, I found it somewhat difficult to navigate throughout the city by bus and tube, but after a few days I had become very well acclimated the new environment. My favorite aspect of being immersed in London’s culture was the diversity among the city’s people. It was fantastic to experience life outside of the United States and directly feel and witness how London breeds such an accepting aura to people of all colors and from all parts of the world.

I loved experiencing the city and the bustling fast paced atmosphere associated with London, but my favorite part of the trip was visiting the landscapes. Stourhead and Kew Gardens were my favorites sites because they posed such a stark contrast to London. The diversity of plant life offered at Kew was incredible to see, despite not everything being in bloom yet, and it was surreal to stroll through a picturesque landscape and sketch what Stourhead had to offer. I was very captivated by London’s great architecture and how well it blends contemporary and historical architecture. Some of my favorite details to spot were how vegetation was incorporated into pockets of architecture. I occasionally found buildings lining busy streets where one building facade would be completely covered in vine and ivy, adding a dramatic pop of life to the architecture.

I am incredibly thankful that I had the chance to receive such an amazing travel opportunity. I explored and experienced everything that I wanted to see in London, but in the future, I would love to return and expand my knowledge and experiences within the city. I am grateful to have been around so many great people on this amazing trip, and I hope to travel much more in the future!

Post-Travels

I have to admit, I was a bit unsure about this trip before we left for London. I had never been outside of the country before, never been on a flight for more than two hours, and really only knew one person in the class. I had no idea what the dynamic of the group would be or if the time change would be hard for me. There were all kinds of things that I was worried about. I must say, though, the trip was well worth the money and time. The city was beautiful, and I absolutely loved getting to explore this new place. Even the smallest things like riding the tube were exciting to me. Everything was new and different. When you go on a trip like this, I think the people have just as much of an impact on your experience as the places you see. That being said, I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in the class and definitely made some great friends. I had heard good things about this trip from friends who have gone on it before, and (even though not everything worked out perfectly) I would recommend this trip without a doubt. London was quite the experience and one that I will not forget.

A pre-trip trip

This London trip for me is a totally new experience. The way we are experiencing the city is not like a normal tourist. When I travel before, it’s usually mainly around sight and really get into the details about each sights. By that, I was not paying much attention to the city itself. I walk because I shop, I was transporting from one sights to the other. However on this trip, we walk for a fresh new experience for the city. If I was alone, I will never get to see this large amount of places in just 8 days, I will never go down to the bank of Thames, I’ll never walk into the Temple area since I will consider that’s private and etc. This trip became new and excited for me since it sets up a background, a base-rock for my future trip to London or Britain. I have to admit that I was not so interested about English culture before I took this class, but here I am, wishing to go back and revisit every place I have touched, every sights we somehow missed and every sights that we mentioned. I’m full of the knowledge about their culture and city, their way of living and now I’m ready to rethink about the specific sights in a different perspective.

Jaime’s Post London Reflection

It is hard to believe that we have been back for almost a week! I had a really great time in London and I find myself slowly comparing and contrasting things in London with things here in the United States. I found the roads in the city to be slightly confusing at first, but I was able to navigate them a little better each day. Also, I think all of the mapping activities that we did before the trip were really helpful in learning the layout of the city and where the important buildings are located. One of my favorite parts of the trip was riding the tube and I definitely miss that here in Columbus.

I went on this trip to London because I wanted to experience the culture, as well as observe their methods of sustainability and historic preservation and I think I was successfully able to do all of those things. I find the amount of focus placed on St Paul’s Cathedral to be really interesting and I think it is unusual for a city to appreciate and showcase its history as much as London does. I think it is also intriguing that the city is able to incorporate sustainable ideas into everyday life. The visit to the Olympic Village helped to show that the city really considers longevity throughout its projects and is continually adapting the projects to suit the needs of the city. Even though we had the opportunity to see and do so much on this trip, there is still a lot left to explore and I hope one day I can visit the city again!

One Last Post…

Our week in London flew by! But, at the same time, by the end of the trip I was so comfortable navigating the city that it felt like we had been there for months. I think this was largely due to all the preparation we did prior to leaving. Before we even left Columbus, I knew what restaurants to eat at what tube stop to get off at. Being so well prepared enabled me to start experiencing the city right away, and not have to spend too much time getting acclimated.

One of the main reasons I decided to go to London was because I heard great things about their combination of historical and modern architecture. I was not disappointed! I think the city has done a great job blending the old with the new. The new buildings are designed to complement their neighboring historic sites.  One of the things that surprised me the most was their attention to St. Paul’s Cathedral. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of attention new buildings paid to St. Paul’s. Many buildings were situated so as to frame the view of St. Paul’s. The One New Change Mall left an opening so that when visitors ride the glass elevator, they are able to admire St. Paul’s all the way up. The “Cheese-grater” was given its famous slant so that it wouldn’t block St. Paul’s.

From Stonehenge, to the all the contemporary high-rises, the architecture I was able to experience over the course of one week was some of the best I have ever seen. This week is one that I will not soon forget!

Back in the USA

I wish I had more time in London, as I felt like I only scratched the surface of the city. There were many places I feel like I did not have the time, or funds, to do completely including some of the place we went to like Tate Modern. Despite being there for over a week, I still feel like I need to convert prices in my head roughly to US dollars despite the price being in it, or think that I can’t use my phone because I am on the move and not connected to WiFi. I do miss the ease and speed of the Tube for getting around, and I wish I took more advantage of the double decker buses. The transportation is just boring here by comparison.

London to me was organized chaos. The streets were confusing to navigate as they didn’t follow much of a pattern. Most dogs were unleashed yet always stayed close to their owner. Old and new blended together nicely throughout the city. There was not much of the same, rather many different unique elements that made up the city and surrounding area. I definitely plan to go back to add on to my great London experience.

Taylor’s Post Travel Reflection

I had such a good time in London and I am very glad that I got to participate in this trip. I was originally very apprehensive about traveling abroad and thought that it was going to be a lot more stressful than it was. I really enjoyed myself on this trip and it made me want to go to other places abroad that I have always wanted to visit.

There was not a site that I was disappointed in but, there were some that I enjoyed more than others. I really liked Kew Gardens and our day trip to Stonehenge and Stourhead. I was surprised at Kew that there were so many flowers in bloom and I liked just getting to walk around to look at all the plants. The sites that we saw on the day trip were even better in person. I feel like you cannot fully appreciate these landscapes unless you see them in person.

I really had wished that it was warmer on our free day out to Dover and Canterbury. I know that we would have got to see more if it had not been windy and snowing. I wished that we could have got into the castle because I really wanted to see some castles while in London. I like this k older architecture and think that it is really interesting to see the construction and use of materials from many centuries ago. All in all the trip was great and I got to see some interesting places that I have never been to before.

I Have Returned

I have been back in Columbus for four days now, though it feels like I never left. My time in London flew by so quickly that it’s difficult to discern what happened on each day of the trip. I am happy to be back in Columbus but I am also yearning for an even longer experience in London as I feel like I have not been able to fully experience everything the city has to offer.

The first day or two in the city felt almost surreal. I couldn’t believe that I was across the Atlantic Ocean in a foreign country. Everything felt so similar to the United States though I knew that so much was different. It was not until the second or third night of the trip that I became comfortable with being in such a large and unknown city, and once I was comfortable, I allowed myself to really branch out and try to explore my surroundings.

Overall, I am very grateful for have the opportunity to travel to a brand new country and immerse myself in their culture.  By the end of the trip I was very comfortable with navigating London on my own and I felt as if I was able to fend for myself without any kind of guidance. I really wish that I had more time to explore the city, though I was ready to come home by the end of the week. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to return to London one day and pick up where I left off.

Reflection Post – Gabe Gerstner

Visiting London was by far one of the best choice I’ve ever made, not only did I get to visit a different country, but I got to experience a culture that is different from my every day life and learn how other people live on this world, while at the same time getting to know some extraordinary people. Some of the most memorable things from the trip for me include St. Paul’s Cathedral, which left me in awe the second I walked into the door, Stourhead, and Princess Diana memorial. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed nearly every site we visited but those were just to name a few that left a lasting impact on me. My only regret for the trip was not spending enough time at the places I enjoyed and not getting to visit every site that I intended. I learned quickly how little time there really is in a day. Being a senior, this was my last spring break and it is certainly different from every other trip I’ve taken. Spending the week waking up early, and going out on tours was genuinely more enjoyable than prancing around a beach all day getting sun poisoning and I can’t thank OIA enough for allowing me that opportunity.

Go Bucks

Goodnight moon

As I sit in the airport trying to think about what I can possibly write about to sum up my time spent in London, and the many new things I learned along the way, I find it difficult to find where to start or how to even sum up my trip in a few hundred words. Experiencing a foreign culture first hand is an incredible thing that I always enjoy. Even in a country that shares the same language as us there is a different enough style and dialogue their English that is might as well be considered a different language. On my free day yesterday I spent the day with my friend that studied abroad at Ohio state for a year and I must have lost half of the days conversation as it went right over my head. It’s really interesting having to break almost every other sentence to ask “do you call it that in the states?” Or deciphering small phrases that would be lost if it weren’t for a little bit of context. Nevertheless, my first trip to London surely didn’t disappoint and I can’t wait to make it back and experience even more to this wonderful city.

Adrian’s In-Country Post 4

On this day, after our amazing Blue Badge tour of Westminster Abbey, we were free to go to any museum of choice. I decided to go to the Design Museum as it was highly recommended and seemed really interesting to me. Side note, before I did that, I experienced Yo! Sushi. That was the sushi restaurant where sushi comes around on a conveyor belt. Anyways on to the design museum, architectural the building was interesting by itself. The exterior I’ll admit was on the boring side however the inside was interesting. It’s starts you at the bottom and keeps the main museum space up on the 3rd floor. It forces you to experience the entire building and smaller exhibits before going into the main exhibit. In terms of that it had a wide array of design elements. There was a quote that read “from spoon to the city” which accurately explains the array of design elements found in the museum. I particularly liked the graphic design and typography areas, because those are fields that greatly interests me, as well as obviously the architecture sections. The museum was very inpsiring and i plan to incorporate and notice these things more in architecture and daily life.

Tower of London Post

One of the most interesting places I visited was Tower of London on this trip. I went on a tour with a Beefeater who was absolutely hysterical, yet very informative, and saw the beautiful Crown Jewels. However, the single thing I liked the most at the Tower was the White Tower housing the National Armory. The suits of armor and swords housed there were more like works of art than weapons. They even had the largest suit of armor in the world there. Another incredible sight were the Ravens. I was lucky enough to get a picture close to one, though I didn’t want to invade on its space too much. I think it is a cool tradition that Ravens are kept there, though I feel bad that they can’t do much flying.

My free day

This was my last day in London. Me and a couple others decided to start the morning off going to local thrift stores and record shops. While going through these stores I came across many us sports teams and companies. The record stores were very neat and well organized. These were all in the same area also. We decided to go to Firezza for very good pizza for our lunch. This was very filling and cheap. The other half of the day we decided to go souvenir shopping at Camden market. Unfortunately the weather was not in our favor all day and it was even worse out in Camden. It was a very cool experience, experiencing the different markets and storefronts. We ended up getting lost and turned around in the Camden lock because it was so large and so many different booths. The lock was beautiful with the canal boat sitting outside in the food area. I thought that the weather would have deterred many people from going out to the market but it didn’t and we saw many different people and it was interesting to just people watch. The entrance to the tube station was very small and it was the first time we had to wait in a queue to get in. Unfortunately we were out in the snow and wind all day and my cold decided to come back and made it worse. We decided to nap for awhile before we went out and finish shopping and got our last meal. I tried pho for the first time and wasn’t let down. We quickly finished and head to Tate again for our last visit. We wanted to see the neon sign exhibit. It didn’t disappoint and we got to swing for one last time. Our walk back was very beautiful as we walked over the snow covered Millennium bridge to the snow covered St Paul’s were I was able to finally take my first Telephone booth picture.

Westminster Abbey/Museum of my choice

The second to last day of the trip we started the day at Westminster abbey. This was very different from the previous churches we visited on the trip. Westminster was filled with famous English figures. Unlike the other two the building was actually filled floor to ceiling. I enjoyed seeing all these figures and royalty. Our guide filled our heads with a lot of knowledge that I got overloaded really quick. I decided to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum as my museum of my choice. There were many different exhibits there. Unlike the British museum I felt that the artifacts there were not taken as brutally. Unfortunately we ended the museum with the architecture exhibit and I wasn’t impressed with it. The day was a very nice day with the sun constantly shining though. A few of us decided to go visit Tate modern since it was open later. This was a different experience than when we visited previously because there was no crowd and it was calm and peaceful. The oil tanks were very cool to stand in and experience not just the exhibit that was housed there but the space it was housed in. I am finally getting over my cold from the past few days.

Parliament Tour Post

I started out my free day with a tour of the Palace of Westminster, aka Houses of Parliament. Sadly no pictures were allowed, but the interior reminded me of the grandness of Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was not the interior that was the most interesting to me; the traditions and differences in government systems. The one thing my Blue Badge guide stressed was the “non-political” sides of the government. For example, the House of Lords, although selected by an entity separate from Parliament, serves more of an advisory function. Lords are selected for their experise in a certain area. Umile senators in the States, Lords are only payed £300 each day they show up to Parliament. Attendence is only expected of Lords when there is a debate about issues they have knowledge on. There are not enough seats in both houses to sit all members, since there are so many members in Parliament, many more representatives than in the US. The lack of career politicians in one house of government with instead experts in particular areas seems like a useful element of government instead of having two different, yet similar houses of government. It would be interesting to look up how effective this style of government is compared to our federal system.

Post 6! – Emoree leaves London :( – reflection

I can’t believe I’m sitting on the bus about to leave for home. It’s such a bummer. Last night I contemplated everything we had done and wow we saw a lot! It was shocking to go back through my thousands of photos to see they were all from here. London itself is a conglomeration of hundreds of styles of buildings, and the diversity of cultures matches just as well. Most of all, besides the architecture, I loved seeing people interact with one another. There is such an amazing dynamic. But on the other hand, there are things I will be happy to see when we get back: public trash cans, water fountains, and my friends. It’s very interesting that London didn’t have any of those. Nevertheless the city was amazing and I don’t want to go Home.

Post 5! – Emoree

No one can beat the beauty that is Oxford! With its centuries old colleges and adorable streets, there is no wonder that Cambridge is jealous. I arrived in Oxford around 11am and took a tour of the alleys before heading into the Bodleian Library. The building itself was as grand as could be. It was no question of why it took 12 years to create. My favorite part about it was the Duke Humphries library. I couldn’t take any pictures because like John Soane there are specific rules, but the divinity school before it was a prime example of old school sponsoring. The ceiling was covered in insignias from people who donated money to finishing it. I loved seeing it. And I loved seeing the other colleges as well! 

Free Day!

Today we went to Buckingham Palace and Harrods. Nothing really stood out to me as far as the facade of Buckingham Palace goes. It seemed to be pretty plain and uniform from the outside but I am sure that the inside had much more detail in every aspect of the building. After taking pictures like the one shown below, we went to the Queens gallery. It was interesting to see the different paintings that and drawings that were a part of Charles II’s collection.

Our last stop was at Harrods, which is a large department store known for the type and the amount of high end name brands it carries. Nearly a block past the tube stop, I saw people walking around in brands such as Dior and Louis Vuitton  and could only imagine what the inside of Harrods would look like. It was pretty crowded today but I really enjoyed looking at all the clothing and shoes that you don’t generally see in Columbus. While I didn’t buy anything here it was fun to explore and visit other shops in the area.

Harrods Department Store

Buckingham Palace

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

Uh. Bath.

I made such a correct choice of staying in Bath for one night to have a whole understanding of the entire town during day and night. I started the trip at Paddington station and rushed to my destination on a bullet train. With the beautiful sunset of Friday, I arrived, at this little town with such a uniformed architectural language. The city reveals itself as a roman town with clear Cardo and a less obvious Decumanus. The Roman Bath ruins are right at the crossing. Originally there is a temple and a forum for assembly at where now the Bath Abbey stands. The ruins shows the roman technology, glory and their sensitivity of space organization for both bathing experiences and the absolute hierarchy to the God (the temple of Claudius at Colchester).

The Bath Abbey is also astounding. I personally love it better than Westminster Abbey when comparing them both as Gothic churches. The Bath Abbey is much cleaner, purer and only designated to worshiping since it’s a pilgrimage church. With too much glory of the royal family and all the power that people want to show, Westminster Abbey give me a sense of showing off. While in Bath Abbey, with all the carving stones white or in light color, all the thanks written in words not represented in golden or colorful symbols, the devotion to Christ is fully shown.

The city itself stroke me the most with its uniformed language. It fully showed the theory that ‘if you have a good design, someone will finish it later even when you can’t finish it by yourself’. Thanks to the Woods, Bath established it’s row house language and carried one for hundreds of years. The Royal Circus is great as a self contained space, trying to establish a center, an inward facing community while the Royal Crescent made a genius move to open the circle up to views. To be honest, I was quite scornful when Jackie was talking about the how the green space in front of the Crescent and the slight change of perfect circle to half oval have brought a dramatic openness to the building and space. The shape seems simple, the green spaces seems requiring little thinking. But only until I saw the magnificent view of the city on the other side of the valley in front of the Royal Crescent, I realized that the lawn is just setting up the foreground. The view is far deeper and richer than I imagined and the slight change to oval shape have made the approaching view of the whole row houses much compelling. I was trying so hard to capture the entire view by camera but there is just no way. The breathe taking beauty of Bath is not describable and capturable. At least not by me.

By the way, I highly recommend staying in one of the Boutique hotel or some Airbnb houses in Bath so that you can get the experience of the typical row house organization.

Pulteney Bridge Night View

Bath Abbey Exterior

Amazing Breakfast included by the hotel!

Bath Abbey interior – amazing fan vaults

Roman bath in the snow

Royal Circus

Royal Crescent

Lovely Room for one night

Makayla’s Day 7

My free day was a great experience because I chose to relax and enjoy London at a much slower pace. Originally, I had planned on making a day trip out to Oxford, but I found that there are so many more things that I wanted to do in the city. London has so much to offer, and I could not miss the opportunity to hit all of my interest points.

I slept in later than normal, allowing myself to relax and remain comfortable, and then some friends and I went shopping around Soho. I had two goals in mind: find souvenirs for my parents and find record should for myself. After a bit of traveling through a snowy London, I found three wonderful record stores. Phonica and Sister Ray were my favorites, but each shop had a beautifully distinct ambiance that I loved. With extensive collections of music from the past 60 years, I looked through every CD collection and found some amazing deals. I purchased five different albums (The Cure, Beach House, The Smiths, etc.) that I love for andy around £15. It was an fantastic deal. We also did some thrift shopping and searching, but with very little success. The resale clothing stores had amazing finds, but the prices were astronomical unfortunately.

After finding no souvenirs in Soho, I decided to go to Camden Market in search of some. It was so cool to be in such a busy area with such unique shops, but the cold snow and masses of people made the small spaces overwhelming. The specially run clothing, jewelry, and food shops were extremely captivating, but I still could not find any gifts for my parents to enjoy. After a few hours of exploring this amazing market, we decided to come back the hotel area and shop at Primark. This store, because of its reasonable prices and unique clothing selection, has become my favorite shop in London. I finally found some great souvenirs there!

Day 7 was great because I got to travel and explore at my own pace and move comfortably despite a very cold day. It was so sad to prepare to leave this city, but I am glad to say that I maximized my experience while I was here. London has been a fabulous experience, and I would absolutely love to travel back here again soon!

Makayla’s Day 6

Friday was definitely one of my favorite days of the trip so far. By this time, I finally had a solid understanding of London’s underground system and what opportunities were in each district.

I was extremely excited to start the day by finally touring Westminster Abbey. Even though the outer area of the cloisters was in construction, I was still able to appreciate the history and beauty of this building. Duncan, one of the Blue Badge tour guides, truly helped me to understand the significance of the abbey and house it’s history continues to be relevant. It was amazing to see the effigies and burial sites of so many famous British rulers who died so long ago. I was most impressed by Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary. I loved that I could visualize and connect the information that I have spent so much time learning about. I have studied much of European history and having this background knowledge made Westminster Abbey a fantastic experience.

After the abbey tour, I was glad to have free time explore a museum of my choice and enjoy the city more independently. Dan and I decided to head to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see some of their unique exhibits. We strolled through at a comfortable pace, absorbing and studying some amazing historical treasures from around the world. There was even a small architecture exhibit with lots of models and diagrams that were fun to analyze. By far, I think that my favorite part of the museum was the fashion exhibit. It was so cool to see deaign’s evolution in the fashion industry, especially among Balenciaga. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the entire museum, but I still had a fantastic experience. London museums have so much to offer, and they never fail to disappoint!

Westminster Cathedral

Pavilion on the coast

I thought my free day trip to Brighton was interesting. Firstly, it wasn’t plan ahead because I changed my mind on going down there mid-week. Then I woke up on Saturday and changed my mind again and went to Waterloo and purchased my tickets and left. It took quite a bit of effort to jump from platform to platform catching three different trains to get to Brighton. The first thing I went to see in Brighton was the Royal Pavillion. I thought it was a unique building when I learned about it in Jackie’s class last year and this would be a good opportunity to examine the architecture of the building. The pavilion did not look too impressive from the outside because of the newer buildings being a bit taller hiding it’s breaking the hierarchical of me h pavilion. However, the inside made me felt so small. The dome was so grand that I felt dwarf within the space. Besides the oavulkion, I went I the pier, walked around and embraced the cold weather by the ocean.

Tower of London Experience

I visited the Tower of London with Nic and Keith on Friday and thought it was very interesting. One thing that caught my attention was the snort that are on display in the White Tower. Prior to my visit to the tower, I thought the white tower would be an an exhibit that shows the living quarter of the king when it was the royal household. It was completely different from what I thought in my head, but I was impressed by the amount of armors they were able to preserve for hundreds of years. Prior to going into the tower, I thought the tower was very ssmll, but when I actually went inside, it was a lot larger. I thought it was cool to be able to walk inside a really old castle and to be able to see some hidden doors along the way. One important thing I learn after visiting the tower is, there’s more than one crown jewel! Before that, I thought it was just one that gets pass down from one ruler to another.

Elena’s Day7

We went to Westminster this morning. The tour guide was very nice and introduced tons of stories behind the sculpture and history to us. The triforium of the church is divided into two parts. The part close to the west exit is very plain, while the other part is well-carved. The reason is that the architecture was built in two different times. I think it is a very interesting part of architecture that people can tell the history by the appearance of the architecture. Later on, we went to the Greenwich, and have a tour for the ceiling of the painting hall. It was extremely impressive, because people hardly have the chance to take such a close look at the painting on the ceiling.

Westminster

Elena‘s Day4

We went to stone henge and stourhead today. Stone henge is much smaller than I thought and stones are placed much closer together. Stourhead is amazing and it is definitely one of the most beautiful sites I’ve ever seen. It is extremely peaceful, and you can even hear the sound of the leaves when the wind blows. I like the way the architect set the lake in the middle, so that wherever you stand in the park, you can always see the water. It is mentioned that there is not much height difference between each level of the lake. There is only 4 feet high of the lake.

Stourhead

ivy’s last day

I went to brick lane market and spent all my afternoon there. I think brick land is the greatest for vintage lovers. There were thousands of vintage shops, a large underground vintage market, and few overground markets. Every shop has their own styles, like street style, royal style, classical style… People over there were dressed really nice. Although it was a fabulous place for vintage clothes, there was nothing about vintage decorations. Unlike Greenwich market which I went yesterday, Brick Lane Market has only clothes. However, Greenwich market has many strange vintage stuff which is really interesting, like glass bottles, cups, jewelry boxes, old books… And for Camden market, they have thousands of kinds of food from different countries, like Mexican, Chinese, Japanese… I think it is really interesting that London has so many markets which focus on different things. I really hope I would have more time to visit more markets because they are cheap and interesting.

I went to Painting Hall yesterday too. It was absolutely amazing. I can not imagine how could Sir James Thornhill could paint on the ceiling and use perspective skills to make the ceilings looks like a dome. The painting hall is unique because it only uses paint to create 3-dimensional interior.

From Dover Street Market to Dukes Cupboard

I have had my free day planned out for a while now, so I knew exactly what I wanted to do and where. I have a huge interest in fashion, both on the sides of streetwear type clothing like Gosha Rubchinskiy, or high end Dior or Maison Margiela couture. I find the cultural impact of these two sides of fashion colliding to be really exciting, so I wanted to try and explore both of them. There is also something very architectural about the way that some designers work or how some stores and exhibits are designed, but I didn’t end up sketching because of such a tight time frame. I started at Selfridges, exploring all sorts of brands, including that of Virgil Abloh, who studied architecture at IIT and is one of the most popular and influential high end designers at the moment. I then moved onto a store called Dukes Cupboard, a small vintage streetwear store tucked away in a busy part of Soho. The amount of development in this area is crazy, as the streets surrounding it are all under construction. It reminds me a bit of the short north, with its never ending construction and revitalization. Next door is a store called Machine-A, which is spent a lot of time in, analyzing and drooling over clothes from Craig Green, Raf Simons, Calvin Klein, and more. A sales associate and I were chatting, and he and I were both very interested in how fashion and architecture can tie together in some ways. We had a great discussion, I spent more money than I wanted to, and I was on my way to Dover Street Market. The store is south of Soho, tucked away from any busy streets, but it gets an insane amount of traffic. The store alone has nearly 400,000 Instagram followers. The footprint of the store is small, but spans four floors, split up into smaller spaces based on the designer. If it wasn’t so busy, I would have sketched in there, as each of the small exhibits were all very different, but great in their own ways. Rick Owens, for example, has a very brutal type of space in the store, but Gucci has a colorful and inviting space. Seeing around 30 differently designed spaces all congregated into one building was both overwhelming, but awesome. You can see the way that the space mimics the clothing in terms of aesthetic, or the way that DSM has arranged it all to create a flowing procession through the store. I later went up to the Camden markets, but Dover Street Market and Machine-A were highlights of my day for sure.

A quick shot of the Rick Owens part of the store, with foam added to the walls and furniture designed by him and his wife added to the space.

On Transport

Far from simply a shuttle utility, the variety of transportation types utilized throughout the trip have allowed me to experience many aspects of the city in unique ways. The most immediate advantage is a greater understanding of navigation in the city and surrounding areas. Not only did the Underground allow me to quickly move around the area and build a detailed map in my mind, it allowed me to witness the population of London up close in terms of dress, manner, and speed. The boat travel gave an unparalleled experience of the buildings lining the Thames, which could not have been filled into my mental map with the Underground alone. While the double-deck bus was a bit of a novelty for me, overland travel and foot transport provided the micro-scale of city exploration. Similarly, taking the DLR over the Tube lets the rider see the path of travel and all that is along that path.

A trip highlight for me was the bus loop to Stonehenge, Stourhead, and Salisbury. As most of our time was spent in the urban zoneduring the week, the bus let me see the nature of the highways, the countryside, and many small towns in passing. I spotted many models of cars that the United States does not receive and several supercars on the route. Leaving and exiting the city, I enjoyed spotting the buildings on the route that were too far for me to travel to during the trip, including on of Goldfinger’s brutalist towers. The ride back at night was especially enjoyable, as I listened to some of my favorite music from the UK that I felt would pair well with the night bus – and it did not disappoint. Listening to one album in particular was absolutely perfect with the atmosphere of the location, and this will be something I definitely won’t forget.

Lo-Fi: Apparition of Trellick Tower with Partial Relection Self-Portrait

UK Album Selection

Holland Park + The Design Museum

After our tour of Westminster Abbey, I had to make a decision of what museum to visit, and after considering the National Gallery, Tate Britain, and the Design Museum, I chose the latter of the three. I took the tube to Holland Park and walked south through the park on my way to the museum. I stopped for lunch at the café in the garden, and the space inside was so nice, with so much natural light, that I had to sketch it.

Looking out onto a patio at the café, I chose to not include furniture, as it would have taken away from the landscape and building itself.

The museum has an exhibit in Ferrari’s history, as it was their 70th anniversary last year. I chose to pay the £18 and see it, as I am a huge racing fan, and Ferrari fan. The exhibit included many hand drawn diagrams of the earlier Ferrari’s from the 1960’s, which was incredible to see up close. You could see the pencil marks and slight mistakes on them, but at the time, it didn’t matter, as the cars were all hand built anyway. As I made my way through the exhibit, I thought about what to sketch inside, and it hit me right at the end. I decided to try my hand at sketching something less architectural: the Ferrari F2001 driven by Michael Schumacher. Compared to its modern day counterparts, the car is aerodynamically simple, which made it easier to sketch. Getting the perspective just right was tough, but I think this is one of my favorite sketches so far. I focused less on line weight and more on working quickly, which made the sketch a little rougher, but better

A front view of the race car, this sketch only took about 10-15 minutes

Details, Pt. 2

Sketching a variety of sites and scenes throughout the entirety of the trip has helped me to become a better judge of the amount of detail for which a sketch calls. In my experience, drawings are easily ruined by too much detail, as a high degree of accuracy is typically needed for meticulous sketching. On the flip side, too little detail will render the scene unrecognizable, and therefore being present in the location will have amounted to very little in the drawing process. Perhaps the most important lesson I drew from the experience is greater insight into the necessary amount of detail required for the effect the scene is having on me at the time of drawing.

The aquatic center is such a simple and radical form that only four bold lines were needed to record the dynamic shape in the scene. Minimal detail was then added for context and very slight articulation, but the object-quality and organic shape remain the focus (hopefully, at least). A similar tactic was used for the Superflex turbine hall installation, highlighting the idea of the design while using the minimum detail for context. A sketch in contrast to these two is the outside of Westminster Abbey, a building unremarkable in form. A level of detail was required to register the building.

The detail in the Westminster sketch also allowed me to learn more about the exterior. Proportion, articulation, and rhythm become clear through the sketching process. Although done quickly and imperfectly, my understanding of the building grew. A similar experience happened with a return to the Leadenhall skyscraper, as the different sized plates and bolts in the base connection reveal the forces acting in the system.

Aquatic Center – Minimal Detail

Superflex At Tate – Minimal Detail

Westminster Abbey – Learning Through Detail

Leadenhall – Learning Through Detail

Banksy Tour

Before this trip, I really knew nothing about graffiti, street art, or anything of that nature. A couple days ago we had the option to go on a “Banksy tour” around London. It was really cool to see the different styles of art and to learn about the stories behind some of the art. The piece in the photo below is a Bambi piece showing Princess Diana as Mary Poppins. I never realized how much thought went into street art and how interesting it all is. I definitely plan on watching the documentaries about Banksy and learning more about it all. Overall, I have really loved this trip and have enjoyed myself so much more than I expected. It was awesome getting to explore a new city (and country) and make new friends.

Street Art by Bambi

Overall London

London is an exotic city filled with so much to do that it’s hard to get through everything in only a week. Going to all the normal tourist sites like Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, Big Ben and riding a double decker red bus was honestly a magical experience and allowed us a fundamental understanding of London’s history made by the teamwork of the people who live there and the people that past through. Then, going through other famous religious sites like St. Paul’s, Westminster, Salisbury Cathedral, and a few other churches really encapsulated the religious impact on the country and explained the unity of religion and country that America doesn’t possess. All of this countered with the contemporary skyscrapers that are being built really capture the modernization of London and how it’s a city that makes waves and doesn’t get left behind. However, it was amazing to go through the everyday life of the people who live here with the markets, street art, and exploration of the city when you take a wrong turn. The London Undergroud system really gives you freedom to do everything you could imagine in the city. At the end of this trip I really feel like I understand London as a city and all of these experiences have made me love the city more.

Highlights of the London Trip

Reflecting back on the past week, a couple experiences are especially salient. I really enjoyed visiting religious sites such as Stonehenge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, Temple Church, and Westminster Abbey. It’s amazing to see what people were able to accomplish architecturally so long in the past.

Stonehenge

 

View inside of Salisbury Cathedral

Another one of my favorite parts of the trip was experiencing the performing arts in London. One night, I went to a standup comedy show and it was one of the best comedy shows I’ve ever seen! I also saw the musical Kinky Boots. The musical is about a struggling British family shoe manufacturer, who begin to make heels for drag queens to stay in business. The performances were amazing, and it was so fun to experience a performance in London’s theater district.

 

Christianna’s free day!

On my free day, I decided to make a trip to the Design Museum, have lunch in Portabello, and  make a trip back to Camden Market. I loved the exhibit at the Design Museum, “Designer, Maker, User”. It was really interesting to learn about the designers of everyday things that some of may not think about such as the tube map and the parking meter. On top of the museum, I really enjoyed the design of the building itself. The building was designed by John Pawson, his new design for the building was ready for the public in 2016. Just like many buildings that I’ve looked at in London, I enjoyed the different use of materials. I really enjoyed the use of light wood and white that really seemed to open up the interior. It was amazing to see the stark difference when you look up at the ceiling and see the dark cement. Of course the center didn’t fail to remind me of the big stairs at Knowlton. Overall, it was a great day and I’m dreading leaving tomorrow morning!

The Design Museum

Lunch at Mike’s Café in Portabello

Free Day

The free day was a day of markets to say the least. After taking the tube to Camden town, the Camden market as well the Stables market were overwhelming in all aspects; multiple levels of labyrinthine booths and stalls. Although I had to step back and process the situation, it was amazing to behold. Along with that, it was interesting to witness the refabrication of the spaces into a contemporary shopping place from their original paddock and dock yards design. In contrast, later that day we ventured to Portobello street in the Notting Hill neighborhood. Not only was the market itself different, but so was the neighborhood itself, which does make sense. Differing from the punk aspect of Camden, Notting Hill was evidently more a residence of the upper crust. This was reflected in the Portobello market itself. In this case the street was shut off for only pedestrian traffic for a handful of blocks with the store fronts opening into the road on the single long strip. Though both markets had the same hustle and bustle vibe, they brought them about in uniquely different ways, which I am glad to have been able to witness on this given free day.

The White Cliffs of Dover

For our free day, we traveled to the Cliffs of Dover. This particular day was cold, around 35°, windy, and snowing. To get to the Cliffs was quite the task since it is a footpath with little protection from the elements, but the view was worth the endeavor. The attached picture displays the White Cliffs covered in snow. This picture helps me to understand how on this particular day the Cliffs seem to blend the land above with the ocean below instead of separating them. The now is so white that the Cliffs appear a darker shade such plummets into the darkest hue that is the sea. On any other given day the Cliffs would’ve stood out against the sea and land as a clear divide, but it is interesting to think how just a change in weather/season could change how the whole scene is perceived.

Last Day in London

We started the day at the cute bakery next to our hotel. Next, we headed off to Buckingham Palace to visit the Queen! It was very nice to get there so early because we were able to get right up to the gate. Then we headed to Abbey Road to reenact the Beatles album cover! It was very underwhelming because there were no markers, no stop light, and lots of traffic. Nonetheless, we stopped traffic to snap a picture!

Afterwards, we headed to Camden Market and spent a good chunk of time there. We got lunch and I was able to find some goodies to bring home for my family and friends. Then, we headed to Covent Gardens and stopped for coffee in the Public Transport Museum. That museum was really cool and was organized similarly to the tube map.

Overall, the day was a blast! But, I am sad to leave London.

Abbey Road Photoshoot
Photographer: Gabriel Gerstner

Canterbury: a Closed-Off Cathedral

At all of the churches we’ve been to – St. Paul’s Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey – the city has been organized in a way that highlights the church. Modern buildings in London are built in ways that frame St. Paul’s. Salisbury Cathedral is surrounded by a large green space, allowing open views of the cathedral. At Westminster Abbey there is a large plaza in front of the church, setting the church apart from the surrounding city.

At Canterbury, however, they seemed to go to every effort to hide the cathedral. After walking for a bit, we saw the top of the spire through an alley, but then it disappeared again. We saw part of it through the gate, but couldn’t see anymore without paying. At the cathedral gift shop, there was a single window with a view of the side of the cathedral. To me, it seems the town of Canterbury is doing all they can to keep the cathedral to themselves – only allowing those who have paid to see the interior access to see the exterior. Canterbury Cathedral is like a precious jewel that is hidden inside the town.

One of the few views of the cathedral through an alley

The view of Canterbury Cathedral through the entrance gate.

The view from the gift shop window.

Free day around the city

Abbey Road

Buckingham Palace Gate

Today I woke up to find it was snowing pretty hard despite it being 56 degrees yesterday. After bundling up and grabbing breakfast at the cafe on the corner, we tubed over to Buckingham Palace. The building itself was so much bigger than I thought it would be and the gate was stunning. Next, we went up to Abbey Road. It was a little disappointing and underwhelming based on what I expected. The sign was sorta hiding and we weren’t sure if the crosswalk we saw was even it at first. We got a picture anyway and went up to Camden Market for some shopping. I bought a vintage camera from the 1930’s from one of the vendors and it was really great to have a lot of time to look through all the shops. Overall, it was fun to see a few things we wanted to before leaving to go to the hotel and pack.

Jaime’s Day Eight

For our free day, Taylor, Rachel, Keith, and I went to Canterbury and Dover. We rode a high speed train to get out to these locations and it was a really fun and unique experience! Unfortunately the weather here was cold, windy, and snowy today, which made it unpleasant to walk outside. However, it made for a really beautiful train ride! We stopped first in Canterbury and were hoping to get a free view of the cathedral, but unlike other cathedrals, it was very private and hidden behind shops and walls which meant there were very few good views of the structure. The views that we could see were covered in scaffolding due to restorations. Next we went to the White Cliffs of Dover. It was incredibly cold and snowy here and the view of the cliffs was very limited but it was still a unique experience! We also planned to go to the Dover castle, but it was closed due to high winds that limit the safety of people within the castle. Overall it was a fun trip with a lot of unique events, but it might have been more successful if we had gone on a day with better weather!

Cliffs of Dover

Sir John Soane’s Museum

Sir John Soane’s musuem was a series of tight spaces cluttered with objects of Soane’s liking. The attached sketch helps display the closeness of the space. The sketch looks through one of the many small doorways to an adjacent room that can be understood as larger with many objects held within. Throughout the museum there are many moments like the one in my sketch where people walking through catch glimpses of adjacent spaces and what may be held within them. These glimpses occur through many types such as small windows, holes through the wall, or a doorway that someone cannot pass through like the one in my sketch.

The Banksy Tour

Bambi Piece

Banksy

Grafitti art, in my opinion is truly under appreciated. Yesterday some of the group went on a quest to find several Banksy pieces throughout the Camden area.While there, I learned how to identify some of banksy’s work. One of the most notable features of his work, was that he was dedicated to creating pieces that were about making people think about social and political issues that surround them. His work is often described as protest art. Many people may not take into account the amount of preparation his pieces require and the detail that is within even his stencil pieces.

I believe that putting Banksy’s art work in a museum would defeat the intended purpose which is to create thought provoking pieces of social and political commentary in hopes to enact change. One of his pieces says “ If Graffiti changed anything it would be illegal” which seems to be a play off of the “if voting changed anything…” quote. People enact change, however Banksy’s artwork seems to be aiding in the discussion of world issues.

 

ivy’s fifth day

We went to lots of places in the morning, like the dining hall, temple church. It was really lucky that we can go into the dining hall and see those fabulous paintings and structure in the building. In the afternoon, we went to Allies and Morrison, which is an architecture firm on Southwark Street. It was my first-time visit an architecture firm, so it was totally new to me. And with no doubt, I really appreciate that I can have this chance to see a real architecture firm looks like. Although, to be honest, I did not understand what they were doing, but this visiting at least provides me some backgrounds of the firm. Moreover, the building itself is really interesting. It combines two different time period walls which I think is fit London because they are all trying to have innovation but at the same time preserving historical things very well.

At night, we went to Her Majesty’s Theater to see The Phantom of Opera. I think the installation on the stage is amazing. In the beginning, there was a bunch of glasses in the middle of the stage, which was totally a mess. And then, when the show began, those glasses magically became a huge gorgeous crystal light and rose to the ceiling. In general, it was a really great show.

Taylor’s Day 5

Kew Gardens was my favorite place we went to so far on the trip. I liked seeing also the flowers and plants. The space was designed nicely, spreading the buildings out in the space to have you walk through the landscape to get to each destination. The buildings and greenhouses were also very beautiful architecturally. I have never saw a greenhouse quite like the Plam house or Princess of Wales conservatory ever before. I think that this intricate architecture helped to add a sort of whimsical element to the space that fit nicely with the landscape. The thin white structure appeared light and blended in as to not take away from the plants and nature. I think I would have spent the whole day at Kew if time allowed just so that I could see everything.

Inside the Plam House

A pathway through Kew Garden

West-to-Wag

Today was a great day for experiencing food in London! For lunch right after visiting the Great Britain, Carrick and I took a trip Bonnington and ate at a little brunch resteraunt called the Bonnington Café. The area was very cute with an overgrown garden in the square. The café was a nice break from Café Nerro sandwiches, basically a little hole in the wall in someone’s house with only two meal choices to choose from. It was good to be at a resteraunt in London that was strictly vegetarian/ vegan, something that I haven’t been able to find. Dinner at Wagama was another good adventure and food risk to take. It was cool to eat something off of the “test” menu, I loved the tofu ramen! My mom and I have had a ramen obsession ever since a ramen food truck opened up back home. I haven’t been able to find amazing ramen in Columbus yet so it was good to get my ramen fix (in London!). Ending the day with gelato from Snowflake was exactly what I needed after a long day of walking. I got the kinder bueno flavor, something I definetly can’t find back home! All in all, today was a great day for food!

Brunch Café

Tofu Ramen at Wagamama

Gelato at Snowflake

Covent Gardens

Throughout the city there are many different levels of privacy. One specific example of this is at Covent Gardens. When you first arrive, you walk into an open, public square. This space was filled with bustling people, street performers, and plenty of families sitting around enjoying the day. On one end of the square is a market. Most of the market is under a roof and there are courtyards tucked in between the stores for people to sit and enjoy their purchases. The roof along with the courtyards help create a semi-public space, as the market is separated from the square but still accessed by many people. At the other end of the square is St. Paul’s Church. Behind the church is another square. This one, however, is much more closed off as it is hidden behind the church. I was amazed at the difference between the two squares. Once you walked behind St. Paul’s the noise of the street disappeared and the number of people drastically decreased, creating a semi-private space. Surrounding the square are many private residential houses. In just this small area of the city one can experience many different levels of privacy.

The square at Covent Gardens

Inside the market

The square behind St. Paul’s

Day 5-Carrick

After Kew Gardens I had the pleasure of visiting the Victoria & Albert Museum before the group tea. There was an exhibit on the design and legacy of ocean liners. As a child I was enthralled with the ocean liner and partaking in this exhibit was worth every pence. It was fascinating to see the correlation between the interior of these floating palaces with the architecture of their time. For example, the SS Normandie of the French Line was perhaps the greatest passenger ship ever built. Constructed at the height of the Art Deco era its interior layout and decor were crafted specifically to feel like a ship, not like a hotel as previous ships had. Along with that, her deck plans were organized exactly like a 12 story skyscraper; with public and private spaces with proper circulation oriented around  utilities in order to hide these maintenance aspects from the naked eye of every passenger to keep the clean sleek and streamlined look of the Art Deco age(as seen in the poster I cannot express my fortune for happening upon this exhibit here in Londontown, and though I gave up my dreams of being a commercial naval engineer after my childhood, after this walk down memory lane I realized my area of study now in architecture is not too far off from where my aspirations once laid.

London’s Street Art

Street Art and Graffiti are apart of all city life and having the opportunity to expand on some very famous pieces throughout the city of London was a magical experience. Banksy has been one of my favorite artists for a few years now and to get to see a few of his pieces or even a few spots he once had pieces was incredible. And I even got to find another new favorite artist in Bambi along the way. I also learned so much about street art, tagging and graffiti in general as it pertains to London. It was awesome to look at the juxtaposition of street art and the architecture it uses as a canvas. The new buildings and the old one each held an importance to the message the art had and emphasized the city life outside of what a regular tourist could ever imagine. It was also interesting to see the difference in areas the art was located in as well, from really wealthy and known areas to some unique markets. Each area gave a different purpose to the art and created one of a kind environments for it to be showcased. It was definitely a crazy way to experience art, but I found that I got to know the city of London a lot better by experiencing this.

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

Cultural Experiences in London

 

After spending time in the English countyside on Tuesday visiting Stonehenge, Stourhead, and Salisbury Cathedral, and then visiting Kew Gardens on Wednesday, I was struck by the contrast between these experiences and the tour of Camden Town, the birthplace of the British punk rock scene. The English landscapes and gardens we visited were very charming, orderly, and traditional. Camden Town, on the other hand, had a  gritty and countercultural vibe. Additionally, the street art by Banksy and Bambi we saw in Camden Town challenge traditional ideas of what constitutes art. Even though the traditional English garden and British punk rock seem like polar opposites, both are integral to British culture.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed our visit to Stourhead. When I first learned  that Stourhead was a meant to be a recreation of a painting depicting the Italian  country side depicting Aeneas’s descent into the Underworld, I was very skeptical that the execution this concept could be successful in the English  countryside. However, once I visited Stourhead I really appreciated the planning and design that went into the landscape.

View of the Palm House at Kew Gardens

 

Tate Modern

We were unable to get back into Westminster Abbey today, so a few of us went to Tate Modern to do our second sketch there. In the 3D/architecture area of the galleries, I found a piece that interested me immediately. While I love abstract art, I also find art with a clear geometric order to be intriguing. I think that’s why this piece stuck out to me. I also enjoy perspective drawings, and the boxes showed perspective well. It actually reminded me of an exercise that we did in an intro to drawing class my freshman year at OSU. We would draw a series of ovals that were thick to thin and back to thick. Shading the ovals in the right places helped you see how your perspective of something that is truly round changes based on your elevation relative to the object. This aspect of the boxes was pretty obvious, so I thought it might be a cool sketch.

Untitled 1980, Donald Judd

Day 7: Almost Over

Today was another incredible day in London. We started the day by traveling to Westminster Abbey for an in depth tour of the church. Upon arriving, I was in absolute awe of the sheer size and detail put into the different sections of the interior and the exterior facades.

Our tour guide for Westminster Abbey was very knowledgeable about every aspect of the church’s history and construction. One fact that he told us which I found very interesting was that the building did not have a very defined end for when it would be completed. Rather, Westminster Abbey has a blend of different architectural styles in addition to rather inconsistent styles of memorials.

During the tour, I learned many new facts about Westminster Abbey that I was completely unaware of. I did not know that Westminster Abbey served as a sort of mausoleum for many famous people, such as Issac Newton. I used to believe that Westminster Abbey was just a church, but now I know that it features intricate graves and memorials for many famous British people.

I think that it would be very interesting to compare Westminster Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral, seeing as they are both Gothic style buildings. I would be very interested to see what major differences they have in their floor plans and the reasoning for such differences.

A comparison: Sir John Soane’s and Isabella Stuart Gardner Museums

  1. My favorite type of museum are houses, usually mansions, that include a collection of artwork belonging to the owner. Before going to Sir John Soane’s, the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum was my favorite. The museum is one of her homes and is filled with the art and furniture she had collected over her lifetime. Each side of the house is a different color and the art and furniture coordinate with each color, and is set up to replicate the organization it must have had while she lived there. The art surrounds a large covered courtyard garden that provides most of the light for the museum. The first floor is filled with sanctuaries reflecting different cultures.

Both museums are filled with loads of art but the Gardner museum has much less sculptures and more artwork. Of course we weren’t able to go upstairs in the Sir John Soanes museum, which I’m sure is filled with more utilitarian pieces, the Gardner museum has more of a relationship between the art and the living spaces. Additionally, light plays an interesting role in both museums. The windows and skylights create odd patches of light and color which highlight certain pieces in the SJS, while the courtyard provides illuminating light on the artwork at ISG.

I love both museums, and have been to a few others very similar, so it is very interesting to compare and contrast the two!!

Red Room at Sir John Soane’s Museum (From internet)

Red Room at Isabella Stuart Gardner

 

Kelly’s Thursday

Banksy piece- “If graffiti changed anything it would be illegal”

Yesterday we went on a scavenger hunt around the city for grafitti art pieces done by Banksy, Bambi and Pegasus. It was so cool to see more of these social message pieces across the city. I loved learning about why Banksy uses rats in his art because of the fact that rats spread the black plague, and he is now using them to spread social messages in his art. We saw a couple of the rats, Amy Winehouse tributes, and a piece by Bambi of Princess Diana. I also really enjoyed going to Sir John Soane’s museum as well. The amount of artwork and things around the house was more overwhelming than i anticipated. It was interesting to see how well thought out the house was in order to   create little nooks and crannies with the art and skylights.

God in the Details

Salisbury Cathedral was overwhelming, but in an unexpected sense. Where lots of churches (including other Gothic designs) make a statement through complication, excess, meticulous detail, and even opulence, Salisbury’s roar is quiet. It stands tall, but dresses simply. The exterior treatment holds a fair amount of detail and craftsman finesse, but the interior is restrained. The effect is immediately noticeable and powerful. With clean lines and surfaces, the height of the nave is able to soar uninterrupted. The church becomes about the light and space that is present, and there is little distraction from these ideas. The material qualities are also pulled forward, reinforcing the understanding that this is a built space for worship, a meeting place of the divine and the corporeal.

With the simplicity as a prevailing theme, there might be worry that the typical areas of extreme detail are relegated to uninspired utility, but that is not the case. Perhaps the best example is the collection of window patterns used in the Cathedral. They are regular and clean yet contain a richness of geometric legibility, as different shapes emerge from the tiling.

The sketches below highlight two of the fenestration patterns used in Salisbury Cathedral and are rendered orthographically to show the emergent shapes and tiling capabilities. By comparison, the window treatment of the altar glazing of St. Martin’s in the Fields utilizes a standard field condition with the introduction of variation to create a cruciform impression.

Salisbury Detail I

Salisbury Detail II

St. Martin’s Detail

Adrian’s In-Country Post 3

Today was yet another day with new experiences, starting off with an exclusive tour of Middle Temple Hall, to Sir John Soane’s museums, and to the beautiful contemporary high rises (I especially liked the Cheesegrater, a building I had a new found appreciation for after watching the PBS documentary, and St Mary Axe for the innovations in both structure and sustainability as well as its uniqueness in terms of a rounded skyscraper. However for me the créme de la créme was easily the Europa League match between AC Milan and Arsenal. Both teams have meaning for me with AC Milan being a team that I played for of their youth squad for a year and Arsenal being my mothers and some of closest friends favorite team. I’ll be honest pretending to be an Arsenal fan for 90 minutes may have been one of my toughest challenges in my life so far but it was hard not to feed off the energy of the crowd. I found myself jumping up with excitement for all three Arsenal goals. It was honestly an amazing experience and I don’t regret it for one second. In terms of architecture, HOK, the designer of this project has practically almost every major sport’s arena/stadium/park under their resume however always manages to create a unique experience at all of them. Emirate Stadium was no exception. The flowiness of the stands and roof reminded me of Zaha Hadid in a way. The roof also did a fantastic job of making the roar of the crowd even more explosive than it is. It was evident during an “Ospina” chant when you almost felt like you were being fully surrounded by a crowd of 60,000 chanting his name. I realize I’m rambling on a little as I appproach 300 words but this was truly an amazing experience and a glimpse into a scene so prevalent in many British lives.

Post 4! – Emoree

London is really the most opportunist place. I will never forget Wednesday night: From the London Eye I began wandering down Southbank and came across the OXO building where people were bustling so, like a crazy person, I followed them and landed myself in a gallery opening for the Seven Oaks art school. Then after I had been through every room I walked with another group of strangers to another art show in an abandoned warehouse-type place. I was given a glass of orange something and thirty minutes later ended up running into a hotel lobby and up to a ballroom where a gala was being held as a fundraiser for people with Alzheimer’s. Of course, I didn’t match the cocktail dresses and tuxedos but I managed to grab a snack and run out and up to the roof for a live music show! Finally after the first set I ran to Tate Modern, across Millennium Bridge, to St. Paul’s right into a group of people headed to Pizza Express. There, I met a girl named Emma who let me join in and they even paid for my meal! All in all, it was a night to remember. Columbus, Ohio isn’t remotely close to being as amazing as London, but I truly hope this is the first of many advantageous adventures to come. For right now, I’ll enjoy the wine glass souvenir I accidentally took. 

 

Day 6 – a Haiku by Gabe

Banksy rats in morn

Skyscrapers in afternoon

A day of wonder

 

Today was a good day. Starting the day with seeing a few banksy pieces was really interesting, it was a side of London I would have never experience had it not been for Troy’s guidance. Art has always had a special place in my heart and learning about the political aspects that go along with it is a new interesting take on graffiti that I am not familiar with. After our tour I got to go to Camden again and see some of the things I didn’t get to see on my visit the day prior. I really appreciate the culture that surrounds Camden. The edgy, rebellious feel is something that I have never experienced in the States and after having small conversations with as many people as I could during my time there, it is a very welcoming community that appreciates different types of culture as much as I do and that is truly amazing.

Camden Market

 

Day 6: A Day of Adventure

A view of the “Gherkin,” my favorite of the contemporary buildings.

Another view of the “Gherkin”

This morning we started a little bit earlier in order to see some different Banksy pieces around the streets and to make it up to Camden when the Horsestable Market opened. Seeing different Banksy pieces and learning about their meanings was a very awesome experience and it made me very interested in looking into more of their work. Camden was also a very interesting experience, as it was a center of counterculture. I loved being able to see a side of the city that was so different from what I’ve seen all week.

We ended the day by looking at some contemporary highrise buildings, such as the Lloyds Building and the Gherkin. These buildings were particularly interesting for me as they have very interesting structural design.  Being an engineerin student, I was intrigued by how the buildings were designed and constructed using various modern engineering techniques. Overall, today was another incredible day as I learned about many aspects of the city that were new to me.

Makayla’s Day 4

We woke up extremely early to catch the bus, but it was well worth it. Heading to Stonehenge was an absolutely fantastic experience. It was incredibly surreal to see and experience such a monumental site that has survived through so much history. I find it crazy that a massive formation of rocks can be so mystifying and confusing to humans. After Stonehenge, we had some major traveling mishaps, but I did not mind since we still got to enjoy our full stay at Stourhead. This was the most exciting part of the day for me. As a Landscape Architecture major, I find it fascinating that this entire landscape was designed and constructed after a painting and to convey the story of Virgil’s Aeneid. The garden was massive and so well designed that each of its features encapsulated my attention. I loved to see the beautiful swans and ducks and how they interacted with the beautiful vegetation existent in the park. I also thoroughly enjoyed the follies and how I could see replicas of unique buildings I have not been to. The grotto was my favorite part though. I loved the darkness of the feature and how the water made it into its own room within nature. Stourhead was my favorite destination of the day, but I also thoroughly enjoyed Salisbury. It was fascinating to see such a massive cathedral with a great historical presence and witness how it has withstood over such a long time. The town of Salisbury was also very quaint and cute to stroll through and enjoy. Overall, I really enjoy the day and how the trip provided a sharp contrast to the fast paced London life and honed in the history present outside of the city.

Stonehenge

Grotto at Stourhead

Bus Day/Kew Gardens

Bus Day

Today was our tour of the countryside and one of my favorite days. We took a bus the whole day. The day started out with us waking up earlier than usual and heading out to Stonehenge. The ride was very long and I was able to fall asleep on the way out. When I woke up I saw many roping green hills and then Stonehenge appeared. At Stonehenge I felt really calm and relaxed just admiring the stones and surrounding landscape. After we were through at Stonehenge we headed to Stourhead. Upon a few travel “hiccups” our travel lasted longer. Arriving at stout head was very nice because we traveled through the town around it and experienced it in a new way. Stourhead is one of my favorite gardens in England that I studied in my theory class. While walking through the garden it feels like it has always been there and in the back of my mind I kept reminding myself it was all constructed and made a specific way. I got lost in my sketching there and lost track of time making me hurry through the last part but still able to experience the garden. We ended our bus trip going to Salisbury and touring the cathedral and the town town around it. We then head home and a group of us went out to get authentic Pad Thai.

Kew Garden and Tube Learning

This day is another one of my favorite days thus far. We traveled out of the city again to the Royal Conservatory and Kew Gardens. I attempted to walk the whole garden and see as much as I could before we had to leave. Traveling there was very long and we had to transfer a couple times. Going back was more stressful because we got to the Kew Garden station and the Tube we needed to get on was cancelled twice. We were then saved by a mysterious District line when we were worried about what to do. While on the line we were able to figure out the multiple routes we needed to take. We still got a little frightened when that mysterious train terminated at the stop but we were able to hop on the right one right away. We were able to make it back to St Giles and on our way to the Group Tea at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.04565300-B392-4869-A3DB-FAEFC23E07ED-2lnctpx

London Olympic Site visit

A site that I was very glad to see was the Olympic Park and Zaha Hadid’s aquatic center. The aquatic center has been part of my precedent research for a few architecture projects, so to see it in person is a dream come true! I am very intrigued with curve or bending structures and the aquatic center consist all of it. To think that the roof structure is only supported on three points blows my mind because I learned that supports are very important to a successful building from structures. Another thing that was very intriguing to me was the roof structures bends in two directions. The longitudinal bend was design to bend own toward the pool to separate between the competition pool and the diving well. The side bend was design as a away to connect that allow the structure to add an additional 17,000 seats during the Olympic and the seating addition was reduce to its current form after the Olympic ended. Thinking of how 30,000 panels were imported from Brazil and was precisely put together to create the ceiling curve ceiling makes me want to experiment with wood bending for my future projects! I have learned so much about this building from research and I have learned so much more after seeing it in person! I hope you guys learned as much as I did or even more!

The ceiling dip down to divide up the two pools

The 30,000 wood panels that make up the ceiling

Nic’s Second Post

In this post I wanted to talk about something I was disappointed with and somrsomet I was impressed by. One of the places I was disappointed by was Leicester Square. The area around Leicester Square is very lively with theaters, Chinatown, restaurants, and shops. While I thought the Lego Store was interesting, and M&M World might be worth looking at to get custon candy, I felt that the square itself was very Americanized, where I would rather see something a little more traditional British or a modern derivative of that. The TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, and Burger King seem invasive on this old London square. On the flip side, I was impressed by how well preserved the Magna Carta was at Salisbury Cathedral’s Chapter House. It looked like someone only wrote it years ago instead of centuries. It makes me wonder why the Declaration of Independence and Constitution in the National Archives in Washington DC are so washed out and barely readed, less the fanciful writing. The cathedrals themselves we have visited so far have also been quite impressive given all the details that make up those places and the technology used to construct them. This makes me excited to visit Westminster Abbey later in the trip.

Stourhead

Sketch of Stourhead from Temple of Apollo

Stourhead is a beautiful landscape We visited on Tuesday, March 13. The landscape was based off a painting and has a clear forground,, middleground, and background. My sketch is from the Temple of Apollo which overlooked the rest of Stourhead from the top of a hill. From the sketch, I began to understand the formality of the wilderness laid out in Stourhead. The sketch helps me see how designers began to think about different plants and nature and how to use them to create such a picturesque landscape. The sketch also highlights how the pond is a figural void against which the rest of Stourhead is organized.

Adrian’s In-Country Post 2

Stonehenge

 

So on our fourth day, we went to what I was looking forward to the most, Stonehenge. I’ve mentioned this before but I’ve had an obsession about seeing this for no real reason. Today I finally got to go see it. After getting a sneak peak of the wonder from the highway, the visitor center was the first major building you see. It has a very modern design consisting of two buildings covered by a large metal canopy. Then we took a bus to Stonehenge. I’ll be honest, it was smaller than I thought, however it didn’t dissapoint. It was amazing to think about just how old this site was. When you think of the ancients you don’t picture the smartest individuals in the world, however the builders on this project were ahead of their time. Obviously these massive rocks had to be carried over long distances and their systems of moving them was a major advancement for this ancient civilization. Whether or not it this site was used as a calander or ritual site, the way they placed the heel stone in respect of the summer solstice is a great show of how humans understanding of life on earth grew.

Thoughts on Stonehenge

I loved Stonehenge! I thought the site, visitors center included, was done very tastefully and I think the sustainability aspect was really nice. We were so lucky to have gotten there early enough where there weren’t too many crowds. I thought the stones were beautiful and the moss and coloring/discoloring of the stones were very interesting. I was lucky enough to be standing next to a tour guide who told me about “graffiti” on the stones and how they knew they were not from this area. I thought it was specifically interesting that, before the commercialization and tourism, people from that area could go to them as one would go to a park, without knowing their importance.

Sketching the stones was very difficult but it helped me to better understand their organization and coloring.

Sketch at Stonehenge

Stonehenge.

Day 4 – Road Trip!

Today we had our day trip to Stonehenge, Stourhead and Salisbury Cathedral. Today has been one of my favorite days so far since we got to see outside of the big city. The stones at Stonehenge were shorter than I expected, but nonetheless incredible. The tour guide mentioned that Christopher Wren lived nearby and that on the stones it looks like it says “I wren” and its theorized he may have frequented here as a child. Stourhead was absolutely beautiful. The fact that the landscape was all manmade is super interesting because it looks really authentic despite things being maybe a little too perfect. Lastly, Salisbury Cathedral was one I was looking forward to as a pre-law student. It is so cool to see one of the original copies od the Magna Carta since it’s such an important document that still influences the way the world operates today. I also found out that Salisbury Cathedral had the first all female choir. I did sketches at each location and truly enjoyed understanding each through pencil & paper.

Stonehenge sketch

Stourhead bridge

Plan of Salisbury Cathedral

Thoughts on the British Museum

I chose to sketch this part of the reading room in the British Museum because I was interested in exploring the juxtaposition between the old and the new. Both the modern roof and the Roman inspired columns are very symmetrical, but in different ways. One my favorite pieces at the museum was the from the ancient Assyrian exhibit and was a carved mural depicting a lion hunt, which was a sport reserved only for royalty. I hadn’t seen much Assyrian art before, so it was really fun to see this exhibit. I think it’s interesting how we’ve seen statutes and motifs of lions around London associated with the British royalty.

Sketch of the British Museum

Day 4 – Roadtrip!

Stourhead bridge

Stonehenge sketch

Plan of Salisbury Cathedral

Today we had our day trip to Stonehenge, Stourhead and Salisbury Cathedral. Today has been one of my favorite days so far since we got to see outside of the big city. The stones at Stonehenge were shorter than I expected, but nonetheless incredible. The tour guide mentioned that Christopher Wren lived nearby and that on the stones it looks like it says “I wren” and its theorized he may have frequented here as a child. Stourhead was absolutely beautiful. The fact that the landscape was all manmade is super interesting because it looks really authentic despite things being maybe a little too perfect. Lastly, Salisbury Cathedral was one I was looking forward to as a pre-law student. It is so cool to see one of the original copies od the Magna Carta since it’s such an important document that still influences the way the world operates today. I also found out that Salisbury Cathedral had the first all female choir. I did sketches at each location and truly enjoyed understanding each through pencil & paper.

Adventure to Stourhead

Stourhead was an absolutely amazing experience. Walking through that landscape completely made me forget that everything was deliberately placed but the it also made me consider everything that I could see in many ways by remembering that the placement of things had a purpose. My absolute favorite part was the Temple of Apollo, partially for the complete magnificence  of the building and partially because it’s the location of my favorite part of my favorite movie Pride and Prejudice. It was honestly amazing to be able to experience that area myself and it allowed me to establish many perspectives of the landscape. Specifically the use of the landscape and how many purposes it serves, there is the experience of walking through as a tourist, enjoying the day in a green area, and a movie set. Each provides unique uses for the landscape and establishes many bonds for people to connect to the landscape with.

Tracey Post 2

Salisbury Cathedral

At this point in the trip we have passed several cathedrals, but none quite like Salisbury cathedral. The ornate detail in each section of this gothic style cathedral was breathtaking. At Salisbury we also had the opportunity to see the Magna Carta. The extra buttressing that was added to the cathedral was easily identifiable and the bowing out of columns underneath the center helped to support this large weight. I enjoyed the town of Salisbury as well and the more vibrant colors of the town was a nice contrast to the darker interior and exterior of the church. I was also intrigued by the modern sculptures throughout the property of the church and am curious to know the reasoning behind placing these sculptures around the cathedral.

Stonehenge

A good portion of Tuesday was spent in the bus; however, it was still a nice day. Getting to the bus by 7am was a struggle, but it was well worth it. Our first stop was at Stonehenge. While we walked up to the site, I realized that those rocks were just as massive – if not more – than I had imagined. I am not entirely sure what it is about Stonehenge that interests me so much, but I think part of it has to do with the mystery or simply unknown details behind it. While many people have their own ideas of how the stones were transported there or maybe even why that spot was specifically chosen, we really do not know all of the answers to these questions. We only had about 45 minutes to look at the stones and go through the visitor center, but I spent my entire time at the stones. Also, we took a moment to take an OHIO photo in front of the stones. A sketch was not required, but I also decided to do one of those simply because I have found that I pay much more attention to details when I do these sketches. I think the sketch and the photo help show how massive these rocks are. Thankfully it did not rain, and we quickly set out for Stourhead. I was not sure what to expect of stourhead, but it was far more beautiful than I thought. Even though it was all manmade, it still was really nice to walk through. Some of my favorite parts were the different types of trees (I love trees) and the stone walkways/rooms like the grotto and the one on the way to Apollo’s Temple. Our day ended in Salisbury where we saw the Salisbury Cathedral and walked through the town.

OHIO at Stonehenge

Views on Zaha Hadid’s “skate”

The wood panels of the walls of the Aquatic Center.

Glass seethrough doors, metal railings. Lights on stairs showing through.

A look at metal, glass, and cement working together.

One of the parts that I was most excited for on this trip was visiting the buildings in Olympic Park after learning about their sustainable factors in sustainability class with Aimée. The London Aquatic Center was definitely worth visiting. The sleek curves of the building definitely remind the viewer of an animal gliding through water ever so smoothly. After being inside, I focused on the very stark contrast of materials and how they are able to come together and work so well. The wood panels that make up the walls continue to surprise me. I have never seen rectangular pieces of wood come together to make such curves. The wood and it’s dark color looks as if it’s metal which is also another material seen around the glass of the aquatic center. The use of class is very sleek, causing doors to act more like windows and have the whole building very open and being able to see everything. I’m sure this was even further emphasized before the tinting of the windows that occurred after the building was designed. Another feature adding to the light were strips of light on the stairs going into the seating area. It draws visitors to where to step by also contributing to the abundance of light.

Elena’s Day3

In day 3, we went to The British Museum in the morning. I was very impressed by the open space. The Roman style buildings were very well connected to the modern style new buildings by the ceiling. I like the grid of the ceiling, which provide a sense of curve. The floor and the ceiling are new

built. I like the stairs around the cylinder shape building in the middle of the space. The handrail is designed in an very interesting way. It looks like saw tooth, which has a clear contrast to the smooth edge of the wall. In the museum, I saw a sculpture of Egyptian. It was my first time to see the 3-D person, instead of on paper.

british museum

british museum

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

Yujia’s Day 4

I have always wanted to experience Stonehenge as it have been one of the sites that I have been looking forward to during this trip. When I was finally able to see the site in person, I was surprise as it was much smaller than what I imagine it to be and what I saw in media and photos. Although, the site was much smaller, I really appreciated the road that was constructed for us to be able to see such an historical site closed up. It made me felt as if I was part of the era that the Stonehenge was first constructed. I am impressed that people during that age were able to come up with the concept of the Stonehenge and actually able to successfully build the site. What is more interesting is that the site can withstand so much centuries and still exists for people to experience in the modern day.

Carrick’s 2nd in city post

Visiting Salisbury Cathedral was truly a treat today. Though the journey got off to a rough start, and considering the present circumstances of the espionage retaliation between the UK and Russia that befell the town in the part few weeks, the cathedral itself offered a place of welcome and stability in the community. Specifically within the structure it was fascinating to see the continuous shades of materials, most identifiably the interchanging if the dark and light stone for the pylon bundles within the nave, most apparent inside the “quire.” These dark bundles serving for structural and aesthetic purposes did not differ in design, artistry, aesthetic image due to the rapid construction of the cathedral itself. This was almost impossible to believe considering other similar sized cathedrals construction dates incomparable ticthsy ofnSalisbury’s rapidity, and also the sheer size of the site. However, due to its presentation of interior and extortion design, the fluidity or structure and ornamentation gave warrant to the claim of rapid construction. For me this was my favorite point of the day because not only did I witness a remarkable achievement in engineeering, but also the fact that it’s impossible feats of design are physically displayed within the structure as proof of its success as a building.

Carrick’s first day (reposted)

Exploring the Barbican complex was an enlightening experience. In incorporating all aspects of architecture, landscape, and urban planning, the Barbican showcased itself as a successful development of the post World War II housing era, which was interesting to behold since such successful projects are few and far between. It was also interesting to see the brutalist style in contrast with the verdure. The green was able to bring out the natural qualities of each structures materiality, in my opinion, and present the complex as more of a community, bringing the residents out into the public spaces, specifically with the central court illustrated in the picture. Along with that, the civic purposes further added to this aspect of community, which completes the complex and make it an extraordinary place to visit to actually see a successful post war housing area utilizing architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning; one that I myself would even be up for living in!

Carrick’s predeparture (reposted)

What I am most nervous about for this upcoming trip is being able to see most of the things I want to see in London. Traveling itself rarely irks me, in particular I usually enjoy the airport, but upon arrival I fret over whether or not the plan that has been formed will be followed or not. I always appreciate a good plan and schedule so if I do not have one usually I will be more focused on the uncertainty of whatever is going to happen next rather than being satisfied with everything good surrounding me in the present moment. Now, I know for a fact that I obviously won’t get to see everything I wish to see, but there are just so many sights outside of what we are already visiting I am going to try and see such as Harrod’s, the Tate Britain Museum, and even maybe see a West End show. To do this I know I will have to use my free time wisely, get use to the tube and buses, and plan accordingly and be sure to stick to my plans, but also be flexible if problems should arise. London has so much to offer that I have always dreamed of visiting in person and now that I have the chance to do so my dreams may become reality. I am thankful for being able to partake in such an all encompassing trip, and hope all is well.

Patrick’s Posts Part II

Day 3 started us off at the British Museum, specificially the Great Court. Architecturally, it must be one of the weirdest, but also one of the nicest interior spaces I’ve ever been in.

The wide angle lens camera of my phone helps take pictures of large spaces often, and the Great Court is no exception.

The 4 large temple fronts are not something you’d expect in an interior space, especially one that’s enclosed with a Mesh-like glass dome above. The reading room breaks up the space a lot and creates some hierarchy to the space, even if it’s not open. While the glass dome above is beautiful, I found it hard to sketch from any perspective. One of my initial fascinations with architecture was column capitals and the varying styles and interpretations of them, so I decided to detail that a little more. I walked up the steps wrapping around the reading room, up to the third floor cafe, and got nice and close to one of the ionic columns. Getting the proportions just right was tough, I wish I had heard Ruth’s measuring tips a couple days earlier! This is one of my favorite sketches so far, and I think has helped me realize that I tend to be better at sketching up close, smaller details rather than a large landscape or area.

One of the many column capitals in the Great Court of the British Museum.

Finally Sunshine!

I have been to the stourhead for so many times virtually in architecture history and theory classes and now I’m finally here, bathed in sunlight with the freshest breeze. The views are absolutely fabulous and has to be seen by eyes not cameras. The Temple of Flora is at my right hand side with the side view of its temple front, while the parthenon can be clearly seen across the “lake”, calling me to move ahead. As I move along the path, the little island with the tree one it is truly the anchor of the views. The tree became companion of different buildings striking different moods. The Grotto, however, was not as great as I thought. It came up too obvious as a dark place and it ends too shortly. The grand large scale views of the lake suddenly switched to a little framed view is too abrupt. Also the single framed view is so lonely and thus became less powerful of creating a mood. The space also shows itself too clearly with no secrete or mystery in the dark space. It’s simply a dark place with in a bright appealing garden instead of a dark place that can also strikes curiosity.

The Temple of Apollo as the final touch is fabulous. The temple was hidden from the trees through out the entire journey, but since it’s the winter and the leaves are all out, I can get a glance of the overall shape. However, I was not expecting such a robust and large temple when I’m at the “lake” level. The temple reveals itself as a strong figure giving the sense of power and charm and thus became appropriate as the high peak of the story.

 

Stourhead

Grotto Entrance

Temple of Flora

Final Picture of Stourhead

Ivy’s second day

We went to British Museum in the morning. I think the structure of museum is really interesting because it combined the old building with the modern glass roof. For me, it’s a little bit strange. Also at the connection between modern roof and old building, there are a lot of lights. So even it was a rainy day, the interior still looked bright, just like the sunlight through the glass roof, but the truth is it was artificial light. I think it is really interesting that they use artificial light the mimic the natural light. I felt regret because I do not have enough time to see the entire exhibition in the museum.

Taylor’s Day 3

Hackney empire theater interior

On day 3 of our trip I along with Jaime and Rachel, decided to go see Hamlet put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The production was a contemporary twist on a classic which I think was really unique and a great way to add more modern culture but still stay true to the original. It was really interesting that the production wasn’t limited to the stage. They were able to come through the isle and create a 360 degree experience for the audience. I was not familiar with this play of Shakespeare’s but I was still able to understand the plot with the amazing acting and the set and costuming which added to the appeal.
The production took place in the Hackney Empire theater which is right off of the hackney central London overground stop. The theater had a recent renovation which enlarged some of the spaces behind the stage but they were still able to keep the original design and style. Inside the theater was ornate in its detail and the ceiling was beautiful. It was a nice rich red with murals and gold detailing all around. It seemed like a very small intimate space but was able to hold a large audience.

Jaime’s Day Three

On day three after we left the Olympic village, Taylor , Rachel, and I went to Hackney Empire theatre to see a modern rendition of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. We rode the London overground to Hackney Central and ate at a Costa cafe before the show. The theatre was built in 1901 and was really beautiful! I included a picture of part of the theatre below. I was slightly skeptical when I heard that the play was a modern version, however it was really well done! The cast was really talented and I like that they kept the original Shakespeare script within the modern production. Another feature of the play that I really enjoyed, is that the actors interacted with the audience by incorporating the aisles and levels of the theatre within the performance. I think seeing this play in person really helped me to understand the plot more and I am really glad that we went!

Hackney Empire Theatre

Of all the museums I’ve been to, none of them have been as vast as the British Museum. When I first walked in, I fell in love with the central courtyard. I think Foster did a great job combining the old and the new. As I looked at the map, I was shocked to see the number of exhibits from all parts of the world. Never before had I seen such a large collection; I was excited to go explore and rushed off to try to see as much of this expansive museum as I could.

Unfortunately, part way through the museum, I decided that having such a large collection wasn’t necessarily a good thing. About an hour into my visit I walked into a room packed full of Egyptian mummies and coffins. Cases with rows of coffins filled the space, so much so that I couldn’t even count the number they had. I worked my way through that room only to walk into another room packed full of mummies. At this point I started to feel a little uncomfortable. Earlier we had been asked the question, “What does it mean to have all these artifacts taken from their homes and places in a museum?” For all the times I’ve been in a museum before, I had never really considered this.

I think museums are really important as they help people understand past cultures. Also, without museums, many artifacts may not be around today, at least they wouldn’t be in as good of condition. That being said, I think it is important to consider how the items were acquired – were they given to the museum or did the museum “rescue” them.

While the vastness of the British Museum was incredible and it was amazing to be able to see vases from China, carvings from the Parthenon, and a capital column from the Pantheon all in one place, I think the largeness of the collection took away the value of the individual pieces. When you get to the point where you walk past a two-thousand-year-old vase because “it’s just another vase”, I think that is a sign that the collection has grown too large for a single museum. It is incredible to have so many treasures in one place. However, it’s a simple theory of supply and demand – the more items there are, the less valuable an object becomes. When you walk into a room with a single mummy, you are amazed at what you are seeing. But, when you walk through a room where one mummy is packed in a case with five others, it doesn’t seem as important. I felt proper respect couldn’t be given to each individual treasure as it was more about showing off the largeness of the collection.

Day 3 in the City

A panoramic photo I took of the Great Court at the British Museum.

Yesterday morning began with meeting the rest of the group at the British Museum and sketching in the Great Court. I had a lot of difficulty starting my sketch, as I couldn’t get the perspective right, though I eventually corrected it and was able to move on.

Some other highlights from the British Museum were the Pediment Stones from the Parthenon, the Rosetta Stone, and Egyptian columns and panels with hieroglyphics. My favorite exhibit in the museum was a temporary exhibit displaying currencies from different communist and former Soviet Union countries. I found this to be particularly interest as I am fascinated by the Cold War era of history and this exhibit gave inisight into the mindset of Soviet Union countries during that time period.

Candice’s 3rd day

The third day morning is by far my favorate. We first sketched the centeral space in the British Museum before the gallery opens. The space is a great combination of modern architecture and traditional architecture. The curve of the roof structure gives the same elegancy with the temple front on the interior facades of the galleries, and the stairs surrounding the central drum like space reminds me of Polladian villas’ stairs on the front. It brings people in, not directly, on a trip around the center. And this is definitly a conversation between modern and tradition. The display in the galleries are fabulous. But it became quite ironic to me that all the treasures around the world is now at this museum while most of them are actually taken from the original country. I am glad that I can get a grisp of all thr cultures around the world within one single museum, but the more I think about how the treasures got here, the more sad and regretful I feel.

 

In the afternoon, we did a boat tour on Thames to Greenwich. The total symmetry of thr courtyard, the Qween’s house and the Observatory, which we didn’t get a chance to see, is overwhleming. Also the paintings at the Royal Dinin Hall is also appealing but it’s an other pity that we just got one glimpse of it. Greenwich is definitly a place worth staying for longer time and I am planning on visiting back！

A good combination of old and new architecture.

Parthenon Frieze collection

Man sketching the sculpture from Parthenon

A very modern, or contemporary bridge cutting into the temple front.

Yujia’s day 3

The most attractive place for me in Britain museum is the ceiling. A clear and bright ceiling provides a good natural light inside the building. The transparent material makes the space expanded. The roof covers the whole area of the Great Court spans from the room in central to the edge of the buildings. The structure of the roof is formed by different size of triangular in a curve shape, such as a net full of triangular. This ceiling gives a strong sense of visual space. I thought I could draw the ceiling along the lines, but it wasn’t easy.

Post 3! – Emoree

Okay. So I think I get it, but I still don’t like it. Zaha fans look away.

The skate, tongue, manta ray, whatever you prefer to call the Olympic Aquatic Center, is lost potential. Don’t get me wrong, Zaha Hadid is the queen of busting architectural boundaries, but she also loses a lot of points with her materiality choices (i.e.using granite with curves).

With this center, the interior is thought provoking in good and bad ways. First, to have the big ceiling be swooping as she does really is amazing. It feels like we’re in a giant whale. But what doesn’t work for me is the kiddie pool side with a giant cement ceiling with droplet cutouts. The two styles mix in a really weird way.

The exterior, however, is another story. Yes, the project is beautiful from the Event Entrance side. The tiled curves give a lot of room for volume. The green patch on the back though…

It was a horrifying scene of dead plants and a literal patch of turf grass. May it have looked better in the beginning? Possibly. Does it look good now? No. Going along with the whale idea, it looks like the leftover brine from the whale’s teeth fronds. It feels as if Zaha thought, “How can I make this LEED certified? Oh yeah, let’s slap on some grass right here.” 

All I’m saying is that the upkeep could have been better, and the design could have been more cohesive between areas.

Christianna’s Visit to Tate

One of my favorite visits on day two of the trip was to be able to visit the Tate Modern museum. While at the museum I was able to go to the third floor to see some of the galleries and also go down to the first floor to see some of the swings and the pendulum. I definitely plan to go back to the museum (currently planning on Friday) to see some more of the artwork and also more of the building. One thing that I hope to analyze when I return to the site is the use of materials, especially with the influence of the fact that the building is a brownfield site. When traveling before, I was told to pay close attention to the use of handrails in buildings, and in fact this also is important in Tate. Many do not use the stairs but instead use the escalator. However, the stairwell had stairs that there is light near the handrail to emphasize to visitors where to grab. The contrast of black and gray colors make it looks as if there is a different use of materials and as if the black part is metal, however it is all wood. I like how this color contrast fools the visitors at first glance. I hope to sketch or take a picture of these handrails once I return on Friday.

Makayla’s Day 1 Sketches

After a long day of traveling, I had a wonderful first day in country. I enjoyed wandering, getting lost, and experiencing the culture that London offers. I also enjoyed seeing Barbican. It was really unique to see this space that so greatly contrast the area around it. I was very surprised to see how the designers approached Brutalism. I like their ability to soften the architectural presence through vegetation and water. I had a great experience there, but my favorite part of the day was traveling to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was a painful and tiring experience to climb to the top of the dome, but it was worth every second. I loved that view of London. I also greatly enjoyed just sitting down and sketching in the space. Dan and I accidentally spent an hour on just one sketch, but it turned out fantastic. I used pens to draw an angled view of the church’s nave. I tried to not put too much ink on the page, but I could not stop my obsession with details to show through. After spending way too much time on this sketch, I made second pencil sketch of a window and wall with angels guarding a door. I really like this sketch, and how I used lighter strokes to expose the forms of the angels and the architecture around them.

Pen sketch in St. Paul’s Cathedral

Pencil sketch in St. Paul’s Cathedral

Day 1 (Patrick)

DAY 1

I was expecting St. Paul’s cathedral to be my highlight of Day 1, but the Barbican Centre surprised me with its alluring landscape and incredible architecture. I didn’t know much about Barbican before, but after walking into the area, it felt like a whole new world to me. The loud sounds of the city were drowned out with the sounds of water splashing, and the eclectic styles that previously surrounded us turned into a tight knit group of brutalist buildings. After learning about failed affordable housing communities in the US, seeing a similar type of community (though not necessarily low income housing) was inspiring, and exciting.

A facade of one of the many apartment buildings in Barbican, highlighting both the greenery and concrete and the way the building sits on the site.

A view of the major area of congregation in Barbican.

Most in our group left shortly after we split up, but myself (and a few others) stuck around and explored most of the area. Even not having seen what an apartment looks like, I would live there in a heartbeat.

Brut Force

Controversial yet powerful, sometimes a success yet often a failure, brutalism is a style of design that commands attention. Although related to the work of Le Corbusier in his housing projects or in a work like La Tourette, the style’s name was brought to critical attention by Banham in his discussion of the work of the Smithsons; therefore I consider the style to be distinctly English in origin. The style may not have the prominence it once had in new design, yet it brings attention to contemporary questions about monumentality, shadow, and urban housing. I hope to visit major sites of brutalist architecture around the London area to see what can be drawn from both loved and hated projects.

Lunchtime, Barbican, 3/10

Lunchtime, National Theater, 3/11

Post 2! – Emoree

Today was the day to see how far we stretch across London in one day. It may have felt like the Oregon trail, but it was probably an inch in the grand scheme of things. Isn’t it fascinating all the things you can see and do in such a short period of time? I think I underestimated London. This place is huge. Today alone was exhausting, but I’m glad we had the chance to see what we saw. We went through squares and circles, coasts and crowds, and ate like it was the last meal! I also made a new friend, Carmen! She’s been traveling around with us since yesterday and loves the city too!!! Continue reading Post 2! – Emoree →

Londoners

Much like New York or Chicago, visiting the major sites in the city on the first day felt a bit strange as an American. I was different from the majority of the people with whom I congregated, yet I did not feel like an American among Londoners. Although London’s population is significantly diverse, I could understand that the people around me were visitors as well, speaking different languages and enjoying the tourist activities. Every so often someone whom I could guess to be a London resident would walk by me, speaking in an accent, and the employees on location were clearly residents, yet they were outnumbered. I figured that there would be a good number of Londoners in the Barbican complex, yet the grounds were relatively deserted (which was strangely nice in its own right for photographs and a sketch). At One New Change, it was difficult to tell who was a resident.

The architecture we saw was excellent, yet the daytime activities led me to the Soho area in the evening in an effort to see some more typical London activity. I visited a handful of record stores and saw many Londoners in the walks among them, yelling funny phrases to each other and having a good time on the weekend. I got to hear some great breakbeat and garage music in the shops, and I got to see some records I have never found before in the States with the help of the people in the stores. I also saw some supercars in the area like a Lamborghini, Mclaren and GTR. I got to see some student activity and hear some music at the SOAS University of London and ended at Rogers’ Central St. Giles, which had amazing noise attenuation in its courtyard, muffling the loud exhaust notes that Londoners seem to love. I now have a much better understanding of the population as well as a greater appreciation for some major architectural works.

Days 1 and 2

National Theatre

The Barbican

Our first few days here we put our way finding activities into practice. After a short walk around the hotel to get adjusted to the new setting, we began our site visits. Throughout the past few days, we have managed to visit several sites including the Barbican which I was perplexed about at first. Upon entering the Barbican, I wasn’t really sure what made that particular area stand out from an architectural standpoint. When we got inside the Barbican I learned that this area was not just a housing complex but somewhat of a mini city.The Barbican houses a school, theater, library, restaurants and waterways surrounded by an array of flowers plants and other greenery.

On the second day, we made a brief stop at the National Theater, which also falls under the brutalist architecture category. This one looked much different than the Barbican in that it was lighter and had no real green space. The theatre also seemed to be structured in such a way that the focus was on the pillars as a vertical unit, rather than most of them laying horizontal like in the Barbican.

St. Paul’s Sketches

Sketch of St Paul’s

St. Paul’s Layout

One the first things I noticed when I walked into St. Paul’s Cathedral was how my eyes were subconsciously drawn upwards to the dome. It seemed the whole design of the building was working in unison to draw visitors’ attention to Christopher Wren’s crowning achievement of the dome. I set out to sketch a section of the cathedral below the dome to explore how this affect was achieved. Each feature draws attention to the feature above it, causing the eye to be drawn up to the dome. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by how much detail there was just in this small section. However, I soon realized that there many patterns repeating themselves over and over in different features. For  example, the two smaller arches on each side are flanked by two columns, with a band of repeating squares, or coffers, inside the arch. This same pattern is repeated in the large half dome that frames the mosaic depicting what I presumed to be the figures of Jesus and angels. Even though St. Paul’s is a Christian church, ancient Roman influences are evident in the use of columns, coffers, and even mosaics. I included my interpretation of the layout of St. Paul’s with an * marking my vantage point to give context to my sketch.

St. Paul (Day 1)

St. Paul’s Cathedral: Crypt Entrance(Sketch)

Going to Saint Paul’s cathedral was the perfect way to start off the trip. I enjoyed the building because that was the second time ever I had been inside a Catholic Church. Being an orthodox Christian I thought it was interesting to see how others practice Christianity and what their churches look like inside. I really like the inside because of how symmetrical it was in many places. As seen in my sketch I picked a very symmetrical wall right before the entrance to the crypt. The part that made my sketch difficult was the view. The view was a hybrid of a three point and two point perspective. I enjoyed sketching it because every time I looked up at I noticed a new detail. One thing I need to work on during the trip is my time management while doing a sketch.

Jaime’s Day Two

I think our big walking tour was really helpful in getting me oriented within the city and I feel like I have a better grasp of where things are located, which will be beneficial in the future! I was also really looking forward to riding the tube and I am so happy we got to do that today too! I think the most impactful events from today were walking across Tower bridge and seeing the Princess Diana Memorial in Hyde Park. Tower bridge is such an iconic part of London and it was just really exciting to get to see it up close, let alone walk across it. I also really enjoyed Hyde Park and thought it was really beautiful. The memorial was probably my favorite part of the day just because it was so serene. I thought the movements of the water were really captivating and the sounds of the water were relaxing. I think the memorial is a really great tribute to Princess Diana and I am glad we were able to visit it with the water running!

Tower Bridge

Princess Diana Memorial

Candice’s Second Day

Today is really tiring. It’s the long walking tour from Tower of London along the south bank to Trafalgra square and through Hyde Park to our Pub for dinner at Bayswater. It is a great walking tour that introduced me to the history or architecture in London. The first building that stroke me is actually the New Court building by OMA. I totally agree that this building is not like typical OMA buildings but I still see a valuable effort of making a frame out of architecture for the arts, the spaces and the landscape (the courtyard with cathedral view) under the canopy. The view beyond, I believe, is picked deliberately. It’s almost present itself as a landscape painting as things comes in layers with unorganized elements. Almost like English romantic gardens. One other thing that I noticed is their treatment to the roof on the underside of the canopy. The Stone veneer is so nicely done that it shows little details about how they come together. Instead of exposing the detail, OMA choose to hide the detail with a careful finish of the surface. It’s quite amazing that this building that we just walked by interested me the most.

View from the outside to the Courtyard

The Princess Diana Memorial Visit Experience!

Everyone thinks that my favorite place we have visit so far is the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by Zaha Hadid, but surprisingly its not! My favorite place we have visit so far is the Princess Diana Memorial. It is my favorite place so far because it uses water as a representation of the different stages of her life.

The water from where I was standing started out very smooth and relaxing. This stage of the water is suppose to be a representation of her life when everything was calm and peaceful and show the happiest time of her life. As I move around the shape of the monument gets more narrow and the water got rough. This shows the rougher times in her life. For example, when she was struggling to maintain her marriage to Prince Charles. Next, water got very intense showing and it was meant to represent the time she got divorced and leading to her death. It actually hurts when you put your hands or feet near the faucet. Lastly, the water got soft, smooth and slow again and I believe it is meant to show people that she is now resting in peace now and will always be love by the people.

Princess Diana Memorial

The Rough Part of the Memorial

The slower, smoother part of her life.

Icing of the feet

Jaime’s Day One

I think my favorite place that we went on day one was St Paul’s cathedral. I have been in several large cathedrals in France, but St Paul’s was definitely my favorite. I think the white walls and the gold accents made the cathedral very bright and welcoming and just the huge scale of the structure was really amazing. The picture that I have included was from the top of the golden gallery. The view was incredible, but the see-through stairs on the way up were a little scary to walk on! One thing that I found to be really interesting is that even though the cathedral is a prominent religious building, to me, the priests seemed to be out of place. It felt like another tourist destination rather than a major religious structure. I am really glad we had the opportunity to go in St Paul’s and especially to the top and I wish we were allowed to take pictures, so I could remember all the details in the future!

View from Golden gallery of St Paul’s Cathedral

Post 1! – Emoree

Less than three days in London and I am still excited! We have seen so much in such a short amount of time and still have much more to go. Something that I noticed, and really enjoyed, was the 50/50 mix of modern and historical architecture. I’m not one to mix and match so distinctly, but the way this city has managed to accomplish this balance is beyond compare. For instance, with the church we visited today, we saw a Starbucks attached right under it. It’s amazing how well spun business was with religion, and how extremely ironic. On that same note; Saint Paul’s is another version of this mix. The fact that the crypt was now used as a store and cafe was frustratingly hilarious. Who knew what was to come of this spectacular place of worship back in its early stages of building?

Taylor’s Day 2

Today on our big walking tour I got to see some iconic pieces of the city. I walked across Tower Bridge with the Tower of London on one side and the contemporary architecture on the opposite. I thought this was a cool contrast, the old across the Thames from the new. It was nice to see the city appreciate both aspects giving them their own place without imposing the two.

One of the last parts of our walk was through Hyde Park. I liked this piece of the city because it was its own space within the context of London. London is very dense and this one spot that is not. Once we were in the park, the city seemed to disappear in a way that emphasized the park space and it’s importance to the city. There was a large walking path through the center which, in my opinion, was nice to move large volumes of people through and seemed more public than other parts off of the path. The Princess Diana Memorial was a nice element in the park. I was really amused with the flow of the water and this is where I spent most of my time in the park. The memorial seemed one with the park and sat nicely in the landscape. Pictures I don’t think, do it justice, so I am glad that I got the opportunity to go there and see it in person.

View from Tower Bridge

Princess Diana Memorial

Secrets of St. Paul’s

The first day in London brought us to the grand St. Paul’s Cathedral. As I was walking through and exploring the cathedral my intrigue was exploited when I got to the back of the apse. They had dedicated that area with a inscription to the American soldiers that lost their lives fighting in WWII. As an American, I was shocked that I didn’t know that our soldiers had this honor, especially with St. Paul’s being a very famous cathedral. It was really moving to find this and I decided to sketch the inscription so I would remember this secret about St. Paul’s as I look back on this experience.

The inscription at the back of the Apse

First Post in Country!

First day in London was so fun! My favorite part was St. Paul’s Cathedral. I thought the interior was beautiful and specifically enjoyed going up to the top. I was interested in the space between the two domes and was wondering what the structure system was before it was reinforced with modern systems.

I stopped to sketch at the whispering gallery and was surprised by the amount of people taking pictures, standing on benches, and standing right in front of students sketching. The guards were constantly telling people to not take pictures, yet people continued. I thought that was interesting because the guards weren’t enforcing it very harschly, and the visitors even though they knew it was not allowed, continued to take pictures.

Very excited for the rest of the trip!

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Taylor’s Day 1

Among many things that we did on the first day in London, I found Barbican quite interesting. The brutalist style of architecture usually comes off to me as very heavy and bold, but the way it was used at Barbican made it seem softer and more subtle. I think this had to to with the strong presence of landscape that was woven into the project. The large green spaces that line the plaza space and the plants on the building help to distract the eye from the large concrete mass that makes up the residential buildings. I also think that this development was a great way to incorporate residential areas in the city that have a since of privacy. Overall I think it was a unique project and I think that incorporating plants within the architecture is a unique element that helps blend architecture into the natural environment.

Barbacan

St. Paul’s Cathedral Sketch

St. Paul’s Cathedral was one of the most beautiful buildings I had ever been. There were so many intricate details everywhere. I felt overloaded at times with all the detail. What stuck out to me right a way were the pair of crosses made in such a unique style. I could instantly read from the crosses that they were representing some kind of destruction. Upon further reading of the description, I learned the one I sketched was a way of commemorating World War I. I definitely thought this was something I’d want to sketch, but I wanted to think a bit beyond what I physically saw. This translated into the curved lines, seen coming from the projecting structured I interpreted as bombed buildings, as the fire and smoke that could be seen soon after the structure was bombed. I think the crosses themselves do not go with all the “old” of the cathedral, much like how war should not go with religion.

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

St. Paul’s Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral – 3/10/18

We visited St. Paul’s Cathedral on our first day in London. To the right is a sketch of the Quire seating leading to the baldacchino in the apse of the church. From this sketch, I began to understand how the baldacchino sits within the space of the church; it is incredibly tall compared to the rest of the furniture and is wide as well. The baldacchino sits within a domed space and could be understood as a figural object within a voided space, as well as a focal point for the church since the quire is leading up to it. The baldacchino itself also has a heavier presence near the top and a lighter presence at the ground level with more open space passing through.

Yujia’s day 2

Today I saw a very interesting exhibition at the History of Tate Modern. The second floor of exhibition is related to color. Although the display on the video has failed, which should show the yellow and purple shadows in the front and back of the circle, I still feel very cool. I can understand the principle of light refraction, but what I am curious about is how the designer turns all the people’s shadows into yellow. If this idea is considered part of the landscape design, it should be very interesting.

Day 2 in London!

Princess Diana Memorial + Sunset

Tower Bridge via Southbank

I absolutely LOVED our walking tour today and seeing how my understanding of the map actually came to life while exploring the city. My favorite parts of today were seeing & crossing Tower Bridge which was so much more colorful than I thought. Tate modern was another favorite of mine today. Not only did we get to go on swings, but it was really cool to know the purpose of the swings- that the more people that combine effort, the more work gets done. Lastly, the Princess Diana memorial was stunning as well. I loved how the movement of water was used to depict her life.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Yesterday was day one in London. The day consisted of various things like passing out Oyster cards, visiting Building Centre, walking through the Museum of London, and more. One of the buildings I was most excited to see was St. Paul’s Cathedral; and, let me tell ya, it did not disappoint. The building itself was just beautiful. Also, the first thing I did after walking in was climb the countless flights of stairs to the whispering gallery, the stone gallery, and the golden gallery. It was really interesting to get to see St. Paul’s from the various levels. For example, taking a moment at the whispering gallery to pause and look down gave a new perspective of the space. The whole experience of climbing between the two domes and seeing the view was incredible – not to mention tiring. While I did love getting to sketch and explore the space, it saddens me a bit that a place that used to once be a place solely for religious purposes has now turned into a tourist attraction. I cannot comment on this much more because I do not know the logistics of it all, but this thought crossed my mind a few times while we were there. Overall, it was a wonderful first day!

St. Paul’s

In-Country Blog Posts (Day 1)

Our first day in London started the trip with a bang and did not disapoint. The sketches below I drew at St. Paul’s Catherdral. The first sketch was one of the main dome of St Cathedrals and the pendentives and arches that help support it. I ignored the ground mostly because up is honestly the best direction to look in this massive cathedral. The intricate details of the dome and arches was what I wanted to focus on and capture. The dome is what your eyes is drawn to. My second drawing actually wasn’t too far from my first one, it was maybe 30 feet away. I chose a different angle and captured  really interesting angle. The large window and dome behind the arch really caught my eye and I knew it was something I wanted to capture. All in all this site had incredible detail in every nook and cranny and reallys adds to the grand nature of St Paul’s. It makes you understand why the Brit’s tried so hard to protect it during WW2.

On somewhat of a separate note, Jean Nouvel’s mall across the street had an interesting design, it was clear to see it was built with St Paul’s in mind especially on the west entrance where you are provided with a great view of St Paul’s.

St. Paul’s Central Dome Sketch

St. Paul’s Cathedral Side Sketch

 

Horse Selfie Diaries

Day 2 in London was one for the books. We trekked over 10 miles and saw too many things to count. My personal favorite thing that I got to see today was the Princess Diana memorial. The changes in water movement throughout the piece was incredible to look at as I walked along the outside of the memorial. It was an amazing tribute to her life and I am glad that so many people get to go there and experience something so special made in her honor. Another big aspect of the day was when we made it to Whitehall in time to witness the changing of the guard, where I got to meet my new friend, a beautiful, elegant symbol of historic London as he stood guard at the previous home of British monarchs.

Me and my best friend

Exploring the Barbican complex was an enlightening experience. In incorporating all aspects of architecture, landscape, and urban planning, the Barbican showcased itself as a successful development of the post World War II housing era, which was interesting to behold since such successful projects are few and far between. It was also interesting to see the brutalist style in contrast with the verdure. The green was able to bring out the natural qualities of each structures materiality, in my opinion, and present the complex as more of a community, bringing the residents out into the public spaces, specifically with the central court illustrated in the picture. Along with that, the civic purposes further added to this aspect of community, which completes the complex and make it an extraordinary place to visit to actually see a successful post war housing area utilizing architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning; one that I myself would even be up for living in!

Rachel’s First Day

 

St. Paul’s Cathedral dome and nave

I chose to do this sketch of St. Paul’s Cathedral because I wanted to capture a moment that couldn’t be captured by a photo (partially because cameras weren’t allowed). Also, because of the height of the ceiling it would be impossible to capture the top of the dome as well as the floor in a single image. This sketch allowed me to examine the ways in which the floor, columns, and domes are all related – rather than looking at just the dome.

Details of St. Paul’s Cathedral

I also chose to sketch details found throughout the cathedral because while walking through, I noticed that even the simplest of items, such as the floor grates had an intricate amount of details to them. I think the combination of these many small details is what makes St. Paul’s such a breathe-taking piece of architecture.

It’s only the end of day 1 and part of me feels like I’ve been here for a few days because we’ve been so busy! The other part of me hasn’t even come to the realization that I’m actually in London!

Elena’s Day1

 

In St.Paul’s Cathedral

We went to Barbican this morning, which is a neighbourhood with different functions, residence, theater, school, and etc. The circulation is very interesting. Even though it seems very organized, it is still hard for people to find the way out. Then we went to the museum of london. I love the spiralstairs at the entrance a lot, and took a great picture of it. Great Fire is shown visually in the museum. After having Japanese Udon for lunch, which tastes somehow very sour by the way, we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and I did the sketch there. It’s my first time to use pen do draw such a complicated perspective of an architecture. I found it would be easier to use pencil for the general position and circles at beginning. For dinner, I went to Chinatown for hot pot, and chilled for a while. Today was a great day!

Ivy’s first day

I would definitely say that London is now my favorite city!!!  It is just so beautiful. Every single street, every single plot, even every single shop are just soooo beautiful!

We went to Barbican neighborhood, Museum of London, St. Paul, which is absolutely fantastic, and rooftop bar where we saw the fabulous dome part of St. Paul. Before I came to London, I only heard that St. Paul is really huge. Although I looked at pictures of the scale, I never understand until I really experienced it. It is amazing. Also, the photo is taken from the dome, and it is so cool to have the dome like this, enabling people to have a view of the whole city and outside architecture.

 

Yujia’s Day 1

What a long and exciting first day it was in the city of London. As I am sitting on my hotel bed, I finally realized how exhausted I actually am from the first day of London exploration. We did not get to the hotel until late last night, therefore, after unpacking and getting ready to get to bed, there was not much time left for me to rest for today. However, even with jetlag and less than 6 hours of sleep, I still made myself wake up and used the minimum energy I still had left to get ready to meet with the other OSU London explorers. Starting with what I presumed as a traditional English breakfast at the hotel prepared me as we start our journey at the city of London. The breakfast was delicious, but it did not energize me as I thought it would. However, that all changed as I took my first step out of the St. Giles London Hotel. Suddenly, a rush of energy took over my body as the buildings and cultures that was surrounding me amazed me. This is the London that I dreamt about and I was ready to experience the sites that had scheduled for us.

Out of the London sites we visited, I was most excited about the St. Paul’s Cathedral as I heard from many friends and classmates that London’s cathedrals are the most astonishing compared to other countries. It definitely did not disappoint as I am could not control my excitement as I admire the details within the St. Paul’s Cathedral and I am about to experience something that I used to only see in movies and television. I attempted to keep a memory of the St Paul through a sketch, so I will be able to admire as we finish this trip in the city of London.

Candice’s First Day

I’m not trying to exaggerate but everything in London is the best. This is the first day in London and we started it by a fresh morning walking around the city. The Bedford Square is the first place that introduced me to London as a tightly designed city with architecture, streets and landscape organized harmoniously together. As we make our way to the Barbican, the views on the double deck bus totally overwhelmed me. The streets remain a simple Beige and Grayish tone while all the red bus and people with fancy dressing light up the whole picture. The Barbican is also amazing, as it flipped my cognition about typical Brutalism buildings. The solid, dark concrete still remain depressing, but the landscape and green vegetation are so welly blended in, so that the whole place gives a sacred sense. Later on, we visited St. Paul’s. The entire cathedral is decorative with exquisite details and the cathedral reveals itself in a totally symmetrical way. I did two sketches in St. Paul’s. One for the details and one for the amazing light and shadow in the crypt. However, no matter how much I tried, the beauty of St. Paul’s can not be recorded. The most exciting thing is visiting the chinatown in the evening and had some legit Chinese food. It’s unbelievable to find the feeling of returning home in a country that I’ve never been in. The weather is humid but it’s just like my hometown. All in all, London is the best!

Pre departure

What a crazy week this has been as I attempt to pull myself through all the midterms and projects that I have to complete before I head out for my first study abroad experience. I have been waiting for this moment ever since I signed up for this class this semester. As I attended each lecture for the class, it has gotten me more and more excited about being able to go to London and experience the cultural city that I have always wanted to and always dreamt about. However, now that I have survived all the midterms and projects and will be heading out to the airport soon, I am more nervous than excited. Moreover, I am also extremely exhausted with a minimum of sleep this week.

As I am going through my packed luggage one last time, I am freaking out as I don’t know if I packed everything I need and if my luggage has passed the acceptable weight for the airline. Also, I have been told by some of my friends in London that it has been cold the last couple of weeks, so I am nervous that I did not pack enough clothes and accessories to keep me warm as I explore one of my dream city with my fellow OSU friends and classmates.

Nervous or not, ready or not, London here I come for you!

ivy’s pre-departure

Now is only about 12 hours to arrive London, and I am really excited about it. I just finished packing, and hope my baggage is not too heavy. I bring the biggest suit I have and get it almost full. It is not easy for packing things for 9 days, and I always bad at packing. Hope this time I do bring everything I need.

I try to think if there is anything that I forget to bring. I double checked my i20 and passport. I am thinking about the bad weather in London, that’ s the only thing I really worry about. I am getting used to traveling internationally, so I am not nervous at all. But is my first time to go to London, and I really look forward that. In addition, I am a little bit nervous about drawing in London. I think it is really strange for a bunch of people sit there and do drawings.

I experienced several times of short connecting time flight, and I know it is going be really hurry. I also went through several times that because the connecting time is short, and my last flight was delayed, then I did not get the next flight. It was really complex and wasting time. Hope this time, we can get our next flight successfully.

 

Gabe’s First Day

With the first day wrapping up as a group I sit in my room looking back on the day and already can’t wait to see more tomorrow. I started off with one of the best hotel breakfasts I’ve ever had, so that set the tone for the rest of the day to be a great one. Afterwards the group went to the a building center near our hotel and got to explore a little bit about the different styles of building not only in London but all around the world. Then we all left as a group to go and see the Barbican Centre, which I found particularly interesting because of the style that consisted of concrete buildings raised from the ground. It is one of the more controversial styles but I found the use of concrete especially fascinating. Once we were free to roam around by ourselves a bit I made my way to the museum of London where I took the most interest in the Great Fire exhibit. It had so many stories about different people trying to help out with the effort of putting out the fire, one person I found particularly interesting that helped with the effort was King Charles II. Once we reconvened as a group we went into St. Paul’s cathedral, it was by far the most awe inspiring chapel I have ever been inside. Before arriving the church I thought to compare it to in regards to size and history was the National Cathedral and St. Paul’s absolutely blew it out of the water. Now that the day is all wrapped up for group tours a few students and myself are planning on getting a bite to eat and exploring more of the city

Day One: Done

Me at Barbican Centre, my favorite part of the day.

I just got back to the hotel to unwind a little after a long day of walking around London. We stopped at the Building Center first, which displayed some new and ongoing projects that utilize modern engineering technology. Next we took a double decker bus to Barbican Centre. I thought that everything about Barbican Centere was incredible, especially the brutalist architecture style.

After Barbican, we took a break for lunch and to look at the Museum of London. Unfortunately I had to cut my time short at the museum, so I did not get to look at everything I wanted to see. Maybe I’ll go back when I have some more free time. Next, our group walked over to St. Paul’s Cathedral which was absolutely breathtaking. The most amazing part of the cathedral was the view from the top of the dome which required a grueling trek up many flights of stairs. One other aspect of the cathedral that had me in awe the entire time we were visiting was the attention to detail on all of the surfaces, such as near the altar or in the crypt. Overall, today was incredible to say the least. I’m exhausted after walking all day though I’m extremely excited to see what the rest of the trip us in store.

Makayla’s Pre-Departure Post

It’s 2 AM, and I am extremely nervous to be traveling so soon! I have been waiting for this day for so long, and now it’s finally time to go to London!

I just finished packing (and unpacking and packing again) after 3 hours. I have a tendency to bring too many things when I am traveling, so I really hope that my luggage isn’t too heavy. I tried to condense everything in an organized manner and only take essentials. Honestly, it was nearly impossible to figure out what is essential and what is not.

I have had an extremely stressful week trying to prepare for this trip and keep up with my classes. I had to do a lot of Amazon shopping in preparation for this trip, and I have been so busy that I barely had time to study this week. I had to pull a few late nights (like right now), but it will all be worth it in the end.  I definitely will not be getting any sleep within the next few hours either, but I don’t mind.

Honestly, I am extremely nervous to fly. I have been on a plane before, but never outside of the US. There is so much to keep track of in the airport that it is starting to stress me out a bit. I’m more nervous for managing the airport rather than the actual flight itself. I’m just glad that we are traveling in a large group though. Being surrounded by people that I know will make this process much easier.

I know that everything will run smoothly for the trip. I am exceedingly excited for the next 9 days, and I can’t wait to have an amazing trip!

Jenna’s Pre-Departure Post

I’m writing this post trying to stay awake so I make it to the bus on time, but I’m also just too excited to sleep! I have been looking forward to this trip since I registered for the class, so it’s surreal that I will be leaving for London in a few short hours. I’m really looking forward to spending a whole week focusing on learning about London’s architecture and learning my way around the city, without having to worry about homework or midterms. Growing up in Ohio, I don’t have much experience navigating public transportation systems, so initially the prospect of taking the tube around London was very intimidating. However, after doing the way-finding exercises in class, I’m excited to learn how ride the tube.

In London, I am most excited to visit St. Paul’s Cathedral, Stonehenge, the Natural History Museum, and Regent’s Park. I also hope I can see a play while I’m in London. I am excited to continue to work on my sketching skills during the trip. I think my sketchbook will be a really cool keepsake to remember the trip by. I’ve learned a lot about sketching by seeing other people’s sketches and I think it will be really cool to see how we all interpret the same places in London differently.

Pre-Departure

I’m going to be in three different countries today. If we’re being completely honest, I am pretty nervous about this trip. Don’t get me wrong, I have been insanely excited for so long; however, I have never flown outside of the country before. This is new for me. I cannot wait to finally get to see, experience, photograph, and sketch the architecture in London.

Of the few architecture classes I have taken so far, it all has really inspired me. When learning about many of these spaces or buildings, I always thought it would be amazing to have the opportunity to actually experience those places first-hand. Last year at this time, I would never have thought I would be getting ready to head out for London for 10 days. I think that the way the trip is set up will really help each of us get the most out of the trip. I like how we have set days and times that we will be visiting major pieces of architecture; on the other hand, we also have a large amount of free time to visit museums during the days, try new restaurants in the evenings, and get to travel outside of London on our final day.

London, here we come!

London 2018 – Thoughts

This week has been very rough with midterms, studio mid-review and the cold weather. I was very concern and worry to whether I will be able to finish everything and pin up prior to departure. Being fairly new to GIS, I struggled quite a bit to understand the program in order to produce my work. I managed to finish my work ahead of schedule and now the stress is out and the excitements are in! It Even though it has been a rough, tough, stressful week, but knowing that I will end the week in another country makes it totally worth it!

I am looking forward to being in a plane and traveling again. I am looking forward to the trip and being able to experience a week of learning, studying and enjoying my time in London. I am looking forward to visiting Stourhead, St Paul’s and many important site in United Kingdom. This will be my first time traveling abroad with my classmates and friends, so I am excited for this experience! I am looking forward to getting to know everyone on the trip and learn a bit about every single person on the trip. My final thought is whether I should stay up all night and get use to London time, or sleep a little and get some rest. Anyways, I am very excited to final be abroad and the sleeping will happen at some point! Looking forward to traveling from Columbus to London with everyone!

Elena’s Pre-Departure Post

It is midnight now and there are only three hours before we leave. I’m so excited now, but very stressful as well. I have a quiz and an assignment due this Sunday night, and I need to finish my physics homework at the end of the trip. Hopefully I can make it on the flight or during the trip. I bought a “day pass plan” for this going abroad trip, which provides me data and unlimited call and texts when I am in London. Having access to network definitely makes me feel safer if I need to going to a place by our own. It’s my first time going to London. I finally have the honor to experience the rainy days (LOL). I am very looking forward to learn another culture. I’d love to see British manner and how British gentleman behaves. Historical architecture always attracts me a lot. I can’t wait to see St Paul’s Cathedral. In this trip, we will sketch a lot, and hopefully my sketching skills can be improved. I think it will be a challenge for me to do quick sketch. I will remember “PODS”. In the next couple days, I hope we can know each other better and have a wonderful time together!

P.S. I will stay awake tonight..