The Modernist Filter – Fieldnotes

Illustration of South Norwood Library by Nicholas Macey

I was asked by the editor of B. B, Esq. – ‘The thinking man’s guide to the city. A resource for gentlemen with personality, style and a sense of adventure’ – to write the inaugural Fieldnotes column. The Modernist Filter describes the architecture that has been formative in my development as a Modernist. Beautifully illustrated by a former student of the Foundation course at Colchester School of Art, Nicholas Macey, this new online guide is full of promise and will be a popular addition to my browser’s bookmarks.

Filed under: Architecture

We Are Revolting: 40 Years of Queer Activism

Robert Thompson, Chair of the LAGNA committe

The Lesbian and Gay News media Archive (LAGNA), based at Bishopsgate Institute, held a free event today to acknowledge and commemorate the unsung heroes and heroines of LGBT activism, protest and cultural resistance, over the last four decades. It was a fantastic afternoon balanced with historical, critical, entertaining and sometimes humorous accounts of the gains and losses encountered by LGBT activists.

Dr Matt Cook gave a detailed talk on the history of queer protest attempting to arrive at a definition of grass-roots activism, making some interesting observations along the way. Oscar Wilde defied the Victorian trend for ‘respectable’ males to wear beards, while pointing out the present day fashion for gay men to sport facial hair. Weaving through this vast subject of activism, Cook concluded that while there is an obvious dependency on the prevailing cultural conditions to solicit certain types of activism, occasionally there are specific events that create a ground-swell of support. In 1988 Section 28 of the local government act banning ‘the promotion of homosexuality as a pretend family relationship’ was instrumental in the founding of gay rights organisations such as Stonewall and Outrage. This discriminatory, vague and ideologically naive piece of Tory legislation was repealed in England in 2003.

Performer and Activist Lindsay River gave an anecdotal talk on protests in the lesbian-feminist movement in the 1970s. Formerly director of Polari, Lindsay has recently launched a new organisation Age of Diversity to promote the issues facing older LGBT people. Ajamu X Photographer and Curator of Rukus! - Black LGBT Archive spoke and showed us a film of a panel discussion on Black LGBT activism in the 1980s and beyond. Author and activist Ian Lucas enlightened us on the politics and operations of OutRage! and Act-Up in the 1990s. Ian’s lighthearted approach saw him handing out a small purse to the audience filled with post-it notes that contained subjects for him to speak about, he called it his random question generator.

Serge Nicholson and Jason Barker spoke about Transfabulous, the organisation they founded to champion transgender arts and culture through festivals, conferences, parties and events. Introducing Serge and Jason was Royal College of Art lecturer and filmmaker Mike Wyeld. Mike showed us the trailer for his film The Lovers and Fighters Convention a live concert film covering just one night of London’s Transfabulous festival.

Completing the event was a village-hall style raffle with complementary wine and nibbles. I then went off to the Retro bar to celebrate the birthday of my dear friend and sensational illustrator Sina Evil. Altogether a fantastically queer day.

Filed under: Queer

Designs for a 21st Century Pylon

A RIBA, National Grid and Department of Energy and Climate change funded competition to design a 21st century Pylon has been won by Danish architects Bystrup with their understated ‘T-Pylon’.

‘T-Pylon’ the winning design by Danish architects Bystrup

The Pylon Design Competition launched in May this year and the six short-listed designs were exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in September as part of the 2011 London Design Festival.

The short-listed models on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum presented viewers with the scale of the design problem

Our increasing appetite for energy is resulting in the need for more pylons and underground cables. This makes sense, however, questions surrounding the need for a new pylon design were left unanswered in the exhibition, only now with the announcement of the winner, and the publication of a press release have these questions been answered, albeit vaguely.

In 1993 the Dutch graphic designer Wim Crouwel wrote: ‘These discreet constructions – neither too much or too little – with arms that elegantly support the cables and lead onwards towards the horizon, appear to determine precisely the huge movements as if they were a choreography for electricity’.

Crouwel’s commentary relates to existing variations based on the original 1928 pylon design by the American Milliken Brothers, overseen by the British architect Sir Reginald Blomfield. Equally Crouwel’s description can be applied to Bystrup’s winning design, and it appears that one Modernist solution has been reconfigured into another Modernist solution.

Ironically the V&A is currently showing Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 to 1990, could it be argued that the Pylon Design Competition is re-presenting our post- postmodern culture? T-Pylon is a mere restyling of form containing the essence of the original, this essence being a basic geometric shape – the triangle – which provides continuity between the steel lattice-work of the Blomfield variations we currently live with and the T-Pylon prototype.

To complicate matters further, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne has thrown in some adjectives that call into question the clarity of the competition brief, he says:

“This is an innovative design which is simple, classical and practical. Its ingenious structure also means that it will be much shorter and smaller than existing pylons and therefore less intrusive. This competition has been a great success in bringing forward new and creative approaches to a pylon model which has not changed since the 1920s.

We are going to need a lot more pylons over the next few years to connect new energy to our homes and businesses and it is important that we do this is in the most beautiful way possible.”

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne at the V&A with the winning T-Pylon maquette

The use of the words: innovative; simple; classical; practical; ingenious and beautiful are hazardous as they are open to interpretation. If the design objectives had simply asked for the structures to have less impact on the environment or use less material in their construction, we would have solid criteria on which to judge, aesthetics are problematic as one persons likes are another’s dislike.

This subjective dilemma is exemplified by the existence of the subcultural Pylon Appreciation Society who’s members are cheerleaders for Blomfields varients. And let’s not forget the work of German artists Bernd and Hilla Becher who’s photographic typologies of industrial buildings and structures provoke us into questioning our critical faculties in determining what is aesthetically pleasing.

In fact the competition is a reminder of a debate that raged in the graphic design profession after the publication of Steven Heller’s 1993 article The Cult of the Ugly, who’s subtitle reads: “Designers used to stand for beauty and order. Now beauty is passé and ugliness is smart. How did we get here and is there any way out?”. The ability to define and objectively articulate what makes a design visually appealing is determined by variables that warrant a critical vocabulary other than employing the ugly, beautiful dichotomy.

There’s an aggravating postmodern undercurrent to this modernist value-laden competition, where imposing man-made structures in the natural environment has political and social ramifications. T-Pylon is a step in the right direction (given that the designers were asked to ground themselves in reality), but is it an innovative or a radical departure from what we have now? Not really.

The spirit of this consciousness-raising competition can be found in the the plurality of crowning a winner: “As a result of this contest National Grid will now work with Bystrup to develop their T-Pylon design further. National Grid have also said they want to do further work with Ian Ritchie Associates on their Silhouette design, and New Town Studio’s Totem design. It appears that the judging panel are also not convinced the winning solution – at this stage – is necessarily the right solution.

Filed under: Architecture

BirdWatching’s Graphic Design Walk

The Graphic Design Walk ticket/map/directory

On 23 September BirdWatching hosted a graphic design walk as part of the 2011 London Design Festival. In ‘celebrating the work and practices of London’s female designers’ this open studio format provided an accessible window into the working practices and environments of a selection of London’s female graphic designers. Maybe next year there will be the equivalent format for males?

According to their website Birdwatching ‘is a new platform for female graphic designers, professional practice and career development. Our aim is to develop the field of graphic design as a platform for diversity and cultural democracy by offering a forum for discovery, growth and experimentation’.

More interesting is the description of their name: ‘Bird is English slang for woman. The Watching bit alludes to the visual design element of our profession but also borrows from and paraphrases organisations such as Human Rights Watch (or Neighbourhood Watch) and means that we are here to watch out for each other and our common interests’.

And this notion of ‘neighborhood watch’ comes across vividly when you enter into the ‘nests’ of these graphic design ‘birds’. I visited two studios Marion Deuchars and Camille Rousseau share a space with numerous other practitioners on the top floor of a defunct warehouse in N1. Lucienne Roberts+ (incorporating GraphicDesign&) are secreted, Ann Frank like, in the rear of a language translation company in EC1.

The entrances to both studios had supplemented the Graphic Design Walk standard-issue signs with their own bespoke information. The contrast between the signs reveals the nature of their respective practices. Marion and Camille are both illustrators who are commissioned for their expressive and subjective mark-making, Lucienne is the objective Modernist-leaning graphic designer with a social conscience.

Entry signs display the visual language of their respective occupants: Marion Deuchar’s signature hand-lettering and Lucienne Roberts’ ranged-left Univers

My first visit was to Marion and Camille, I was joined by six fellow Walkers and once we climbed the ‘Dragon’s Den’ like staircase to the top floor we were greeted with a table of pastries, cakes and a large brown vitreous enamel teapot. This is a vast space divided into subsections so that each practitioner has their own designated studio space. I noted one of these sub-divisions had its own gate, the sort that parents use to stop children going upstairs (or down). Your eyes don’t know where to focus, such is the richness of visual material that adorns every horizontal and vertical surface.

Marion tells us that all of the practitioners who share the space (female and male) prefer not to work alone, they sometimes collaborate but their is no need to, they are all different, but they share the same values and work ethic, they are all common-minded. Because of the open plan situation, they have to select new occupants who work in a quiet way, she recalls the time an industrial sewing machine was brought in and mimics it’s mechanical sound. Marion knows how to work a crowd, and we are all loving the passion and energy she exudes.

Marion Deuchars speaking to the Graphic Design Walkers

A small section Marion’s desk showing top-right her new book Let’s Make Some Great Art

In an impromptu  Q&A I raise the subject of gender and the issues associated with women having to make decisions about family and career. Marion had a stop-at-home mum but unlike her mother she has managed to create a balance of work and family life. She acknowledges that it is implicit – especially in the graphic design profession – that working life in London demands long hours which ultimately favours the single male designer, as male designers tend to devote themselves in a quasi religious sense to the profession.

Camille is French and has lived in London for six years. I wasn’t surprised to hear that she regards London as THE creative capital and was encouraged to come to England by her father. Camille’s mother was a graphic designer and she remembers growing up being taken to museums and galleries with little understanding or enthusiasm. ‘This is the Louvre, oh ok. Centre Pompidou, ok yes.’ Camille makes all of us laugh with her blasé attitude to these cultural institutions, mixed with her French accent she has won us over.

Camille Rousseau speaking to a Graphic Design Walker

Camille’s Drawings on Paper Bags on the studio wall. The bags with handles were commissioned by Blueprint magazine in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics

After Camille and Marion have spoken, they invite us to walk over to their designated areas, where they have displayed some of their work and we get a chance to view their materials, equipment and the everyday ephemera that surrounds them. Basic design elements such as colour, typography, photography can be found glued, tacked and tucked away. Paint pots and pens, rubber stamps and pencils are awaiting use, but always looming in the background is the iMac and the inkjet printer, a constant reminder of the opportunities and threats afforded by digital technology. Marion recalls the hustle and bustle of days gone by, phones ringing, couriers calling and faxes growling, to be replaced with the murmur of keyboard taps and mouse-clicks, and she performs one of her characteristic mimes, a room full of clicking creatives, we all chuckle.

Two hours have elapsed with Camille and Marion (how generous, given we have allocated one hour slots) and I am conscious that I need to move on to EC1 and Lucienne Roberts. When I get to Lucienne’s front door I chat to two graphic design walkers waiting outside, one is a design student at Reading, and her fellow walker is her companion, I think of them as graphic design’s motorbike and sidecar. Interestingly the male companion has a starfish balanced on his head, but as we are speaking it crashes to the ground ‘that’s the first time it’s fallen off today’ he says sounding bitterly disappointed.

Lucienne’s sign makes clear that we are not to press any buzzers, we should wait to be collected. In the spirit of this Modernist tone, we await our instructions. There is a sizable crowd, no one from my previous group has followed me here. Perhaps the illustration/typography schism is too much for some to stomach?

We are greeted by Lucienne and make our way up another lengthy staircase and slip through some narrow doors into the office of the language translation company, then a turn to the right and there behind the partition wall we all squeeze together. There is a display of books and printed matter on a table for us to see, and on the wall there is a large yellow rectangle displaying items created for GraphicDesign& the organisation Lucienne has formed with Rebecca Wright, who is standing to the side of us.

Lucienne Roberts (left) speaking to one of the Graphic Design Walkers

Lucienne delivers a modest two minute introduction, maybe she prefers to let her work speak for her? Lucienne’s passion for ethics, design education and work for the voluntary sector is evident, her mark-making is Modernist, it’s gridded; colourful and typographically playful but limited most often to Univers, she like rules, both visually and disciplinary.

Her latest book is Design Diaries, co-written with Rebecca. Design Diaries has since translated from print into the GraphicDesign& organisation as they were interested ‘in the process of design and less the end product’ says Rebecca. The impetus for the GraphicDesign& project also came from conversations that happened in the studio. Rebecca tells us that ‘each of them have their own practices and overlap, a bit like a Venn diagram’, they have worked with and for each other and she is keen to point out that it is a studio of practitioners not a studio of practice.

Rebecca Wright with examples of LucienneRoberts+ and GraphicDesign&’s work

It makes economic and social sense for designers and creative types to share space, and today’s Graphic Design Walk has highlighted some similarities and differences. Overlaps and collaboration are there, as is a keen sense of independence. Like-mindedness has to prevail, a new face has to fit. I can’t imagine Camille and Marion sharing a space with Lucienne and Rebecca. The spaces become extensions of the visual language employed by their inhabitants, facilitating their occupants individual creative needs and desires. When reflecting on the day, it isn’t gender that comes to the fore, it is the drive, energy, talent and striving for – and producing – excellence that links them all.

This reminds me of a brief conversation I had at the start of the Graphic Design Walk in Base Camp. The lady minding the bookstall said that her mother, a librarian, had once conducted an experiment where a group of children were asked to identify themselves by selecting one of two labels, fantastic and brilliant. All the girls chose fantastic and all the boys chose brilliant. We then had a brief chat about the how males can easily be labeled a genius but females rarely if at all – the Guerrilla Girls made this clear in 1988 with their Advantages of Being a Woman Artist poster. This lady (I wish I had got her name, my apologies to her) thought that genius was too limiting, ‘it narrows your field’.

1988 The Advantages of Being A Woman Artist, Guerrilla Girls

Thank you to the practitioners that I met on my Graphic Design Walk – you were brilliant.

Filed under: Visual Communication Design

Berlin vacation

On my recent vacation to the wonderful city of Berlin I visited two museums which couldn’t be more contrasting in their design and contents. First the Bauhaus Archive: Museum of Design‘ is a late work of Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus. It was planned in 1964 for Darmstadt and was built 1976-79 in modified form in Berlin’ (archive website). As a design educator and writer it was an inspiring place to spend a few hours viewing work by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and one of my favourite architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Students of art, design and architecture should visit this at least once. One minor criticism, the visual communication is inconsistent, captions for work and information panels vary in their quality and typographic detailing, this is disappointing given that the architecture and the exhibits communicate detail, consistency and potency.

Bauhaus Archive entrance

Bauhaus Archive, architect Walter Gropius. Opened 1976

The Topology of Terror museum does not suffer from any inconsistencies and is a remarkable experience. Unlike the Bauhaus archive which promotes creation, craft and optimism, the Topology of Terror documents destruction, annihilation and genocide. The museum stands on the site of the Gestapo headquarters, the Nazi’s secret state police. The site is flanked on one side by the remains of the Berlin Wall – a monument in its own right – that is accompanied by an open-air exhibition.

The museum building (housing the permanent exhibition, library and conference rooms), and the rocky landscape in which it sits, is the result of a design competition launched in 2005 and was completed in May 2010. It is functional, grey, light in structure but heavy in atmosphere. Once inside the visitor is enveloped in an experience which is a contrast between architectural delight, and an overwhelming sadness for what the building represents.

The permanent exhibition is precisely and elegantly designed by Ulm-based studio Braun Engels Gestaltung. Comprising a mixture of hanging graphic panels and interactive displays the visitor is guided through a maze-like tour in almost total silence. The climate controlled building occasionally interrupts the monastic peace with a sinister mechanical sound of the automatic opening and closing of ventilation windows.

This museum is not for the faint hearted, the photographic depiction of Nazi brutality is presented without any censorship, and like the architectural meshes, grills and glass, a sense of openness and transparency is generated by the exhibition, history laid bare and as fact, it was a sobering experience.

Topology of Terror, architect Ursula Wilms and landscape architect Heinz W. Hallmann

Topology of Terror, architect Ursula Wilms and landscape architect Heinz W. Hallmann

Filed under: Architecture

Masters degree graduation ceremony

Myself and my dear friend Katie Coleman

I formally graduated today from my MA in Design Writing Criticism at University of the Arts London. It was a while to wait given that I completed the degree in September 2010, but it was worth it to celebrate with my family and my dear friend and fellow graduate Katie, who was a soul mate and support to me while on the course, congratulations to her, we both worked hard and achieved distinctions.

The Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank, (commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain by Festival architect Hugh Casson and designed by architects Leslie Martin, Peter Moro and Robert Matthew) was a perfect venue for the ceremony, afterwards drinks were had on the fifth floor balcony overlooking the Thames.

A proud day that made all the hard work and commitment over two years worthwhile.

Filed under: Education

Citing Reverie at The Minories Art Gallery

Today (with a small group of foundation students from Colchester Institute) I visited Laura Jackson-Willis’ exhibition at The Minories art gallery.

‘Citing Reverie is an exhibition of two PhD students, exploring the location of imagination and contemplation within English domestic space. Both projects explore the experiential qualities imbued in such space utilizing a range of practice-based applications. Graphic Designer, Laura Jackson-Willis (Head of BA Graphic Design), examines notions of space and place in relation to East Anglia  coast beach huts, while photographer and filmmaker, Sam Vale, investigates private rooms dedicated to personal collections’ (Colchester Institute).

Practice-based Phd’s are becoming more common and this exhibition was a unique insight into more unorthodox research methodologies.

Jackson-Willis explains the focus of the Phd:

‘The Beach Hut on the East Anglia coast: A representation of space and place in the contemporary English seaside. My research examines the meanings attributed to the English beach hut during the period 1995 to 2010. I explore the purposeful, discreet and careful negotiation of the coastal landscape by different groups of people; the competitive zoning of space becomes a daily ritual between day-trippers and locals, those who own huts and those who don’t, children and adults. This critical investigation of spacial negation particularly explores the hutters experience in relation to the East Anglia coast. In addition, this research considers the economic status of the locations that form part of this study, the implications attributed to local cultural identity and the relationship of legal ownership between individual persons and local authorities.

Places of personal significance remain a constant stabilising factor in the daily routine of people’s lives – a space to relax – a space to think – the ‘place’ of the beach hut affords imaginative daydreaming. Thus, in contrast to the place of home or work, the time and space of the beach hut provides for a different kind of experience.

Akin to sensory ethnography this practice-based research examines theoretical concepts of experiential space, nostalgia as memory and imagination, meanings of home and notions of community – hence space becomes ‘place’. Generating primary observations from three geographical case study locations, I have employed a range of methods that include photography, semi-structured interviews, and personal reflectivity of experience. Citing graphic design practice as a key method to select, order and disseminate sensory data gathered, I explore whether it may be possible to make representations of the narratives revealed, for example, experiential space and place. The site and placement of works also play a vital role in the communication process.

My intention is that the work I make will evidence that visual research through graphic design practice is a valid mode of inquiry, as complementary to and informing traditional scholarly activity’ (2011).

As a graphic design practitioner and a writer I found the exhibition notable in two ways, that it led me to question the academic rigor of practice-led Phd study (Jackson-Willis has come to a preliminary conclusion that graphic design alone cannot represent space and place, therefore a written thesis is required to support these practical findings).

The second aspect was the notion of what an exhibition of this kind can deliver in terms of communicating its intention to the audience. Exhibiting graphic design has always been paradoxical (in relation to photography or fine art), however as a research method (and without captioning) the objects and graphic design outcomes made by Jackson-Willis had a life of their own and were aesthetically robust to withstand the loaded signifiers of The Minories art gallery setting.

I hope in the future to undertake doctoral study, this exhibition and its outcomes has further engaged my resolve to undertake it, and to consider if a practice-based approach is appropriate. More to come on this in later posts.

Filed under: Visual Communication Design

Almost: From presumptions of design to products of design

Allan Chochinov's ten steps for sustainable design, image courtesy of Treehugger

Tonight I attended a ‘Ravensbourne Late – ‘a new series of industry events exploring future digital media technology development and the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in all business sectors’ (Ravensbourne) – tonights talk was by Allan Chochinov.

‘Allan Chochinov from Core 77 will be speaking about the role of the designer, education and design paradoxes. He will also be discussing Autism Connects, a competition run in partnership between Core 77 and Autism Speaks encouraging design students to produce innovative technology solutions for people with autism. From myriad near-misses in intent, execution, and promised value, to an examination of the new imperatives of the outputs of design, this talk will offer an alternative in how we view the practice and the pedagogy of design and artifacts’ (Ravensbourne).

This was a fascinating lecture about ‘Products of Design’ (coincidentally this is the name for ‘a new graduate design MFA program in Products of Design at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City, focusing on the purposeful, systemic role of artefacts and design offerings in multidisciplinary contexts’ Ravensbourne. The programme is due to launch in Autumn 2012.). However, as I look back through my notes I don’t appear to have written the word autism once (maybe his synopsis to Ravensbourne was an earlier draft), but that grumble aside, intellectually it was a challenging and perceptive navigation through the world of design pedagogy.

Chochinov’s thoughts on ‘what happens if we get it right’ (as opposed to how much designers are told we are getting it wrong (note Victor Papaneck’s Design For The Real World), reminded me of John Thackara’s In The Bubble ‘if we can design our way into difficulty, then we can design our way out’.

Chochinov is a tour de force in discussions of design strategy and innovation, (Ravensbourne are keen to have his input no doubt). With the spotlight on A C Grayling’s New College of the Humanities mission to usurp the coalition government’s funding dearth for the humanities, (Grayling wants to promote the importance of critical thinking and the value of training minds), the SVA has pulled a master stroke in becoming the provider for Chochinov’s new programme.

Chochinov’s ten steps for sustainable design can be found on Treehugger.

Filed under: Education

GraphicDesign& / the Design Museum / Wim Crouwel

‘GraphicDesign& is a new social enterprise celebrating the connectedness of graphic design with all areas of the wider world. Set up by Lucienne Roberts and Rebecca Wright, GraphicDesign& will publish books and papers, host events and use its online presence to explore how graphic design is always inextricably partnered with something else’ (GraphicDesign&).

Tonight I attended  GraphicDesign&’s inaugural event at the Design Museum coinciding with A Graphic Odyssey, a retrospective of the work of dutch graphic designer Wim Crouwel. The programme for the evening went like this:

Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton explained why the classification of knowledge matters, saying that ‘the greatest difficulty of writing is the classifying of ideas…the right classification brings material to life…modern politics is about classifying people…and meritocracy is the grandest system of classification’. Botton concluded that ‘we don’t know where people belong, people defy classification’.

Anthony Burrill

Graphic designer Anthony Burrill told us, among other things, that he grew up on a farm in The Pennines.

Collaborative double-sided poster by Alain de Botton and Anthony Burrill

Burrill collaborated with Alain de Botton creating a poster that ‘addresses stereotypical perceptions of seemingly opposing approaches to life’ (GraphicDesign&).

Vanda Broughton's 'Rabbits in a landscape'

The framework that underpins GraphicDesign&’s projects is the Bliss Classification system. Vanda Broughton, Honorary Secretary of the Bliss Classification Association, introduced us to the system and used the analogy of rabbits in a landscape to demonstrate labeling and tagging. Broughton explained that Henry E. Bliss (1870-1955) who gave his name to the system, was a scholar who started to formulate a theory of classification. Bliss was an atheist who sang in a church choir, and he didn’t believe in private ownership of land, so he would often take groups of children on picnics in the grounds of private estates.

Modelling the information domain using facets

Bliss Bibliographic classification system

GraphicDesign& stickers

Just before the interval we were asked by GraphicDesign&’s founders Lucienne Roberts and Rebecca Wright to classify ourselves by applying stickers to ourselves. We then took in the delightful view of Tower Bridge from the Design Museum balcony.

When entering the Design Museum we were asked to complete a GraphicDesign& questionnaire. As we were sitting through the first part of the event, social scientist Nikandre Kopcke and graphic designer David Shaw were behind the scenes interpreting the data from the questionnaires. They presented their findings to us, albeit briefly as they had not had time to fully interpret the data. Kopcke summed up the complexities of statistics and surveys by quoting Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) ‘the only completely consistent people are the dead’.

To conclude the evening Design Museum curator Margaret Cubbage explained the process of curating A Graphic Odyssey and the importance of Wim Crouwel’s work. We then had a chance to view the exhibition, however the event had overrun and visitors to the exhibition need more than ten minutes to walk around and see the exhibits in any detail.

GraphicDesign&’s basic premise is a case of ‘the emperors new clothes’. Graphic design is a profession that is historically and logically service-based, facilitating the dissemination of clients’ messages. Clients are usually in sectors other than design. So in order to make GraphicDesign&’s proposition credible, it has adopted the Bliss Classification System to provide a framework for exploration and investigation. The system in itself is a refreshing departure from Dewy, and lends itself well to GraphicDesign&’s cause, but for the project to be credible it will need collaborators who have the capacity to challenge conventional thought. Those who have the caliber of Alain de Botton will serve to not only ‘celebrate the connectedness of graphic design with the wider world’ but will negotiate, as yet, unexplored territory.

Filed under: Visual Communication Design

James Stirling: Notes from the Archive

Today I met Sarah Handleman at Tate Britain. Sarah wanted to interview me about my zine ‘The Everyday Experiment‘. Before the interview we wandered around the James Sterling exhibition, this description from Tate’s website sets the scene:

‘It is eighteen years since James Stirling’s death, and he is long due a retrospective exhibition. Given his close association with Tate, in the form of the Clore Gallery and Tate Liverpool, Tate Britain is an especially appropriate place to review his work. This exhibition, curated by the renowned architectural writer Anthony Vidler, draws on the Stirling archive held at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. It will be presented in the Clore Gallery, designed by Stirling and opened in 1987. Unfashionable at the time, it, like its designer, is the subject of renewed interest and appreciation. The exhibition will cover the whole of Stirling’s career, from the iconic Engineering Building of 1959 at Leicester University through to the late 1990s, including built and unbuilt projects, drawings, photographs and furniture.’

Sarah and I were inspired by Sterling’s plans, models and drawings and photographs. The muted colour scheme supporting the exhibits allowed them to breathe and provided a sense of calm and thoughtful contemplation. The small but constant amount of visitors were mostly male, suited and generally over 40 years old, suggesting that the academic nature of the collection was never going to bring in a family audience.

James Stirling, A House From The Architect. Photo: Canadian Centre for Architecture

Impressive as his work is, I am not a fan of his later post-modern work, in fact it was Sterling’s student projects that particularly appealed to Sarah and I. One of my favourite pieces in the show was A House From The Architect (above), probably because it is raised on Le Corbusier style piloties.

The first time I was introduced to Sterling’s work was via Geoff White who told me an anecdote about the building of the ‘old’ Ravensbourne College in Chislehurst:

Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, Chislehurst, 1976. Architect: Robert Matthews under the direction of Bromley Borough Architect, Aneurin John. Photo: Andrew Slatter, 2005

Architect Robert Matthews used red brick to fill in the spaces between the steel columns and the glazing. This followed the style of Sterling’s Engineering Faculty building at the University of Leicester:

Engineering Faculty building, University of Leicester, 1963 (with James Gowan). Photo: Quintin Lake.

The head of the graphic design department at Ravensbourne in the 1970s was Peter Werner. Geoff told me that Peter was not convinced that the red brick was suitable and would stand out too much, so he suggested to Matthews that he use grey brick. Werner’s request was refused, Geoff says that Matthews was adamant that red brick be used. When you compare Matthews’ and Sterling’s buildings you can see the way the sunlight renders the red brick luminescent, and I recall this effect when I first visited Ravensbourne in April 1993, and it created a lasting impression.

I departed this retrospective exhibition with mixed feelings, maybe because I was enamored by the beauty of the drawings, and execution of the models, but the buildings themselves polarise, they can be applauded for their inventiveness and tendency towards being maverick, however Sterling’s post modern pursuits will always leave me bereft of enthusiasm.

Filed under: Architecture