Museums

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.