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.

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!

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-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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

 

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

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.

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

 

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

 

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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