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In Sequence 3, I observed how people’s social distance and size of personal bubble/buffer zone changes depend on the space they are in. In Burgess Park, people tend to have larger social distance and bubble. This is people’s reaction to true nature, where they feel free and relieved. Physically, people are anticipated to freely move around hence larger social distance. In another words, real nature feels wide and free, so the range of moveable is wide too. It is the result of interaction between man and nature, just me and nature. What if to create a space that puts the user in the situation just him/herself and the nature? Something similar to James Turrell’s space, but instead of play with lights, try to magnify one element of nature in that space.

Wind Veil by Ned Kahn also an example of what I could explore going forward. To play with wind, one of nature elements. The design does not utilise any plants, but allows the audiences to feel the true nature when looking at wind blows onto the veil, at the same time the audiences feel the breeze themselves too.

The aim of the MA research is to bring nature into urban city without much of man-made and interference. Leaving nature the way it is and be real. At the same time, allow the design to benefit the public and eliminate exclusivity.

During the gallery visit trip to Kyōsai Kawanabe exhibition in RA. I got to know Daruma in his ink painting. Daruma is Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism.

Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century AD. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Zen to China. There’s a legend saying he meditated in India for 9 years, before he had epiphany. During the 9-year, in order to avoid himself falling asleep again. It is said that becauses he mediated to too long, that his arms and legs fell off.

The interesting thing is, how people nowadays converted the legend and his characristics into Daruma doll. A tumbler doll that could never fall down (asleep). It is a interesting way to convert a characteristic into design.

Our class visited an exhibition of Kawanabe Kyōsai in Royal Academy today. Below shows my observation on how the exhibition is curated and audience reactions to the arrangement.

It’s interesting that people browsing the gallery in a route that the Signage 2set out, right after entering the introduction pathway (where Signage 1 is at). Then naturally start browsing the exhibition in clockwise orders.

Such browsing habit (in clockwise order) carries on from East Gallery, all the way to Central Gallery and West Gallery.

Look at the location of Signage 3. Most people tend to miss this signation as they naturally follows the habit from last gallery room (East Gallery). Hence the curation failed to introduce the theme of Central Gallery to the audience right from the start.

The gallery rooms are painted in black background. Looks like ink strokes. This matchs with Kyōsai’s work where most of them are mainly black ink on white papers. Some of his works are shown below.

Poul Henningsen was a Danish author, critic, architect, designer and also made a film.

His most well known design is a lamp named after his intials, PH lamps.

Henningsen believes that lighting should cover large areas of glare emitted directly from the light source in order to create a beautiful, soft shadow effect.

The design characteristics of PH luminaires are:

(1) all light is reflected at least once before reaching the surface to obtain soft and even illumination

(2) the light source is not visible from any angle so as not to irritate the eyes with glare

(3) Compensate the incandescent light spectrum to obtain a suitable light colour

(4) Diminish the brightness at the edges of the lampshade and allow some light to spill over to avoid excessive contrast in the interior lighting.

William Arthur Benson set up his business W. A. S. Benson and Co in 1880 at North End Road, West Kensington, London. Working within the English Arts and Crafts Movement, his firm’s reputation for fine metalwork soon grew. Benson’s designs for lighting and table ware in copper, brass and silver plate have become increasingly collectable as his work has become more widely appreciated. Benson and Co. moved to larger premises in Hammersmith and continued until 1920 when he went into retirement.

This piano candlesticks was also designed to be carried in the hand and placed down safely.

Benson designed hundreds of items for modern living in an age of social change and catered to modern clients who were now living in their homes without staff, cleaning and cooking for themselves in an informal manner. With these clients in mind, Benson created a lacquer for brass and copper to stop tarnishing which was a huge success in the modern home. Something that set Benson apart from other Arts and Crafts designers was his passion for industry and machinery. His workshop was full of machines and chemicals that he used in his creation process and this showed in his work through interesting mechanisms, joints and visible wires.

Some of other designs by William Arthur Smith Benson:

W.A.S. Benson: furnishing and lighting the Arts & Crafts interior

Richard is an English war artist, who has participated in WWI. His work are considered to be Futurism, fasinated by the idea of ‘simultaneity’. This is shown here in his attempt to capture in one composition the many views and movements in a single moment.

Futurism is a type of art that captures a moving object. It advocate movement, energy, momentum, speed, brave, fighting, patriotism.

Interesting enough how art, literature and all aspects of life are heavily influenced by and reflect the era that people lived in. In the case of Modernism, it is The Industrial Revolution, WWI, WWII and politics that influenced everything.

Wonder how the era that I live in influences our lives and output, movie, literature, art, architecture? Wonder how people would name our movement (if we have one) 100 years down the road? An era of information explosion, which caused reflection of less is more hence Minimalism occured? An era of privacy protection is key? Cutting of the internet.

I think the purpose of writing a blog is to get my interest in Art & Design going. Some of my team member said, the frequency of writing on daily basis it’s too much, which I agree.

If writing beomes an obligation, it may kill the interest after all. However the break in between shouldn’t be too long so that I get my thoughts going. Perhaps 3-5 times per weeks is a good number.

Blog may be stream of consciousness at the beginning, like murmuring. Once get things going, and get used to writing. It may become a more academic writing as I get deeper than the previous writings. At the end, it may be a journal to look back. I may see my own development.

This is a photo I’ve taken in Guangzhou, China two years ago in 2020.

Sit in a moving car, glancing the architectures that passed by, and cement silos on a piece of construction site caught into my eyes. Didn’t know why I find it stands out and where the surge of beauty was from. Until I read Le Corbusier’s book Towards An Architecture. In chapter Three reminders to architects: I. Mass.

In the chapter it says the simple geometric forms and primary masses are the most disctint, tangible and powerful. That can be clearly understood and appreciated by people. I was very glad that this book solve my question why I wanted to take a random picture on silos (it’s not even a proper designed architecture, just tools). Almost thought I had a bad taste.

Before putting my head into figuring out what architecture/interior designs are, and the relationship and balance between outdoor and indoor (nature vs man-made landscape), I began this journey of exploring the work of this artist, Ned Kahn.

Ned Kahn is an environmental artist and sculptor. His works usually intend to capture an invisible aspect of nature and make it visible. Some examples of Kahn’s work to capture the invisible include building facades that move in waves in response to wind; indoor tornadoes and vortices made of fog, steam, or fire.

I read one of Ned Kahn’s interviews, he said something that roughly says “I am not an artist and not the artist of my work, the nature enviroment is.”

Before discovering Ned Kahn’s art work, I could never imagined experiencing nature without trees and greenery. It is more touching and sensational by merely looking at greens. His work magnifies the nature environment by using aluminum. He simply achieved it by using construction materials that has no relevance to the environment and whatsoever.

Inserting trees in tall buildings looks nice at first glance. In fact, I hate it that I think the designers could do better than imprison the trees in concrete buildings. The purpose of the design was to immerse the users in nature, however I felt exactly opposite. Trees in concrete building was a reminder to me that I live in a city that short of land and landscape, hence people had no choice but plant trees in the building, why can we just enjoy a proper nature landscape? Trees do not belong there. The surrounding skyscrapers in this CBD area brings out this feeling even strong. Not to mention this design requires high maintenance and it cost users millions to use this space.

Ned Kahn’s work inspires me to design in a way that adds a finishing touch to existing beauty of world, instead gild the lily. Think deeper when solving a designer problem and try different angle, rather than too directly and literally design a space to meet client’s requirement.