Trees have developed a unique way of attracting walking dogs to pee on them. Using a dog-eye filter on my compact camera, we can now see what dogs see. My research hasn’t answered why this phenomenon occurs so if you want a more satisfying explanation you’d have to contact a botanist who is interested in this type of thing. Or a vet.
I have been asked to design a building for a very narrow block in a busy city. This didn’t take long at all, and the terraced nature of the design has presented the opportunity for green zones for the tenants so they never have to use the dirty pavements when they want exercise. I have eradicated the need to draw lots of time consuming cars by establishing a no parking area straight outside the building and this helps the environment too. A lot of work went into the windows on this building because windows are the eyes of a building and people need to look out of them to see what’s going on. This building came in on budget and can accommodate hundreds of families and their pets.
In case of emergency, make your way to the top floor where there is an escape tower which will carry you clear of the building at unbelievably high speed.
Visiting London? Then you may find yourself in the Trafalgar Square vicinity. In which case, bypass the big lions and check out some fine lines at the British Council’s Drawing Words Illustration Exhibition. Curated by Lauren Child, the exhibition shows selected contemporary British children’s book illustrators. And it’s nice and warm in there too.
Lauren Child and Phil Perry visit the show at the British Council.
I have been asked by the Mayor of a major city to design an apartment block on a very small square block on the corner of Mary Street. I sat down at my desk and in no time – before I knew it – I had designed a whole apartment block. By defining the entire street area around the building ‘no parking’ I was able to save a huge amount of design time on drawing cars and buses and that kind of thing. This building uses the latest building materials including bricks and steel joists and glass. It offers accommodation for approximately four complete families. This building came in well under budget and is close to the 29 bus.
Residents off-street parking not shown.
The Lauren Child Poetry Illustration Prize was celebrated at the House of Illustration in London last night. The prize is for illustrations of poems that are part of the Betjeman Poetry Prize for young poets. The entries were from all over the world and so only some of the finalists could be there in person last night. It was still standing room only and it was fantastic to hear some of the poets reading their work, and seeing the winning illustrations projected wall-size.
Poet and prize judge Imtiaz Dharker reads one of her own poems.
Poet Opefoluwa Sarah Adegbite reads her poem Oh! And What Inspired You To Write It?
Illustrator James Bailey receives his award from Children’s Laureate Lauren Child.
I recently designed this bold (some say radical) residential apartment block. I saved a lot of time by putting a No Parking zone directly outside of the building which meant no time spent drawing a lot of unnecessary cars. Notable features of Bella Vista Apartments are the cantilevered living zones which overhang the curbside lane on Mary Street and the aeroponic roofgarden which covers the entire structure. The indoor swimming zone is not visible, another cost saving feature of this remarkable design which brought the whole project in under-budget and three months ahead of schedule.
34 Mary Street (Bella Vista Apartments for The Urbane).
The printer ELSE in Rome sent me a copy of Armin Greder’s new limited edition, hand-printed book Noi e Loro (Orecchio Acerbo). It’s beautiful, savage and thought-provoking, which is not unusual for Armin. The screen printing is ideal for the inky drawings. See how the other halves live. Thanks Armin.
Us & Them. Orecchio Acerbo ELSE, 2018.
Illustrations © Armin Greder.
This Tuesday The Lauren Child Poetry Illustration Prize 2018 will have its celebratory prize giving at the House of Illustration. The catalogues including all the winning illustrations and poems faithfully reproduced on very nice paper, have just arrived. You can’t miss them.
Everything in excess is opposed to nature. Hippocrates
I once worked for a company that designed buildings. I don’t think it’s that difficult. Why, I designed this building in about fifteen minutes, and it didn’t cost me much either. Quantity surveying is an important part of any major construction project and I helped the budget by drawing the design on this used envelope. The rear sides of this building (not shown) are identical to the ones visible in the drawing, so I will save cost again by saying to the construction foreperson: ‘Just do the same on the other sides’. So far, I’m well under budget and I haven’t even planned the interior design, which will be mostly chairs and tables, fire extinguishers and green exit signs. This stage is exceptionally simple and I will do that when I have a moment. Then they just paint it.
The space within becomes the reality of the building. Frank Lloyd Wright