The Architecture of Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis'

 
Metropolis is the 1926 film by Fritz Lang and contains some of the most forward-reaching and futuristic visions of city life of its time. This imposing film has some of the most impressive scenery and visuals of any production of its time.

For me it seems to have a very strange sorts of surreal, almost Steampunk vibe about it. Albiet one closer to the high-rise horror of modern Asian cities then the Victorian romanticism we're used to.

Its inspiration seems to come mainly from the New York and Chicago skylines of its era taken to a whole other level, adding huge sun-obscuring gaints with great churning machines in its underbelly.

For those who haven't seen it yet I would thoroughly recommend it for its subversive take on the optimistic views of the future during that decade.

 

Trailer:

1000

1000 pageviews and almost 100 followers! Thanks everyone :)

Libraries!

I love a well designed library so I thought I'd share some of the best with you:

 

Stockholm Library

 

Abbey Library, Switzerland

 

Jay Walkers Private Library

 

 

 

Unusual Buildings - Teatro del Mondo

This beautiful and ethereal tower was built for the 1980 Venice Biennale and, sadly, was broken up a long time ago. The wooden tower was mounted on a raft and towed along the waterways of Venice where it could be seen weaving its way through the city's wobbly and magnificent Architecture before being moored alongside the Customs House on the Dorsoduro.

 

 

 

Surf the Web in Glorious 8 Bit!

Just found this sweet browser called Pixelfari that lets you browse the web in 8 bit, just thought I'd share it with you.

 

Get it here: http://cl.ly/2O2B2r220t2i293Y2Y2B

Before Their Time

I though I'd do a little informative blog today about some Architects who made buildings that even though they were built decades ago, still look modern and fresh today. I will be heading backwards in time to see how early the tradition of sleek modernity goes, starting very early in 1936

I have decided to begin at the logical place of Bear Run, Pennsylvania, the famous location of Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright. This Tranquil building also gains the title of one of the most photographed houses in the word, and I think it deseverves to be.

Falling Water, 1936

 Going to 1931 now, and onto another equally famous Architect Le Corbusier who created this, The Villa Savoye. This building, designed by a true giant of the Archtecture world, seems to have landed in the suburbs of Paris from space, rather then created by a man.

Villa Savoye, 1931

Back to America now, for the Lovell House, designed by Richard Neutra. This incredibly desireable building was built for Dr. Phillip Lovell for what he described as a 'demonstration helath house' and eventually featured in the film LA Confidential.

 

Lovell House, 1929

Staying in LA, its time for what I consider to be the defining building of the modern era, the Schindler House by Vienna born Rudolf Schindler. This house, built in 1923, for me, represents the birth of the modern Architectural movement.

Schindler House, 1923

Hopefully this post will widen peoples views and demontrate just how far back these creative geniuses forged thier ideas into liveable structures.

 

Apologies

Hi all, sorry about my lack of new posts recently,  I've come down with some sort of illness thats sapped my will to do anything at all. I seem to have overcome it for now so expect something new very soon. In the meantime, have a nice picture:

Farnsworth House, by Mies van der Rohe

Making People Smile

Seeing as I'm rather ill and bed-bound for today, I thought I'd do little blog about one of my friends projects. She runs a charitable group called Project S, which is dedicated to making random people smile and be happy through random and sometimes anonymous acts of kindness. She also organises well intentioned flashmob type events, designed to put a smile on peoples faces. This months secret mission, as they're called, is a Valentines themed one. The idea is to capture the lovely feeling of getting a Valentines Day card that you dont expect to get, by leaving little notes around in public places telling people that someone out there loves them.

From Facebook:

People always say that you can't make everybody happy, but what if, even just for a moment, you could?

Project:S organise secret missions and events for anyone to take part in to make everyone smile.

I think that this project has the potential to do some really nice things for people and as more join even greater things can be done. I've already been doing these secrect missions and I can definitely say that not only will it make others happy, but it makes you feel a lot better too. So if you fancy spreading some happiness and smiles to others as well as yourself, I can thouroughly reccommend joining up. Here are a few links to get you started:
http://twitter.com/#!/_ProjectS
http://kiki-likes-cupcakes.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ProjectS/162508367126049
Hope you people enjoy it!

Fabric

So, last weekend some friends and I went to visit the London superclub known as fabric and I think I'm better off for it. For those who dont know, fabric is a 1800 capacity nightclub in the north of London on Charterhouse street.

Some top-notch laser action, taken from my Blackberry.

I was very keen to go here, having heard many great things about it, plus its legendary status among London clubs. After a very short time queueing we proceeded to Room 1 and were subsequently (no pun intended) met by the full force of whats know as bodysonic. Basically, (sorry, turns out this is a minefield of puns) bodysonic consists of 400 sub bass speakers that are attached underneath the floor of the nightclub, making the entire club into one big sub. When you're in there and stand still, you can actually feel the floor warp and flex by a few inches to the music, although standing still wont be something you feel like doing very much down there. After a long night touring the various rooms and getting suitably smashed, we found a lovely area with some large bed-like sofas, which proved to be a godsend to many tired clubbers.

Some very wonky photography from the main room.

So after a fantastic, night we reluctantly decided to head home to my friends house in London and get some well deserved shut-eye. After the experience of fabric, I would highly recommend it to anyone in the London area who fancies an awesome night out.

What this blog is about

Seeing as people seem willing to actually follow me I thought I'd give everyone a brief introduction to what I intend to do with this blog. I thought I'd offer an insight into the world of a student in the UK on a creative course so that people who have never experienced any of it can get a good picture of whats its like. I will be documenting my activities and experiences with photos and written word (I'll endeavour to include as much as possible, lest it become a gloryfied photostream). Hopefully you'll all enjoy this insight into my student years in the same way I hope to enjoy them.

Brighton and Uni in the Snow

Just a few photos from when it snowed in December. 

These were all taken on my Nikon F301 film camera.

Lewes Road Area

Woods near my house

The Clocktower, Brighton City Centre

First Term

Just a few pictures from the first term.