The added bonus being this suitably charming cover by none other than Gordon Cullen. As a student of the mid-nineties, surrounded at the time by all the linguistic gymnastics of post structuralist decision dodging, I’ve noticed that with age my later interests appear to be an act of rebellion and I’m becoming an arch-empiricist.  Yesterday I was into linguistics, but today I’m not Saussure.

This is a fact well recorded in years gone by with entries and even the occasional sketch on Cullen that ranged from simple explorations of sections of Townscape through to more unusual assessments involving a skunk called Pepe Le Pew.

I was unimaginably flattered then to recently receive an e-mail from a reader who likened my own sketches to the work of Cullen and even more excited to discover an opportunity to share some more of his work.

Here’s Eric Osbourne describing the history of the sketch he’s been the proud owner of for years:

I have been trying to remember the firm I shared 16 Carlisle Street, London W1 with from about 1968 to 1970, I think they were called Phillip Chandos, because they were drinking in the Chandos Pub opposite the Nurse Cavell Statue, St. Martins’ Lane when the company was conceived – drinking was important to the company ethos! They use to write, design, edit and sub-contract printing for books and leaflets on various aspects of construction and architecture. The Lead Association springs to mind. Gordon Cullen was in and out all the time and very good friends of the main man (a tall guy with a long horizontal moustache and always sporting a bow tie), who had his office on the first floor. All their names are gone now but I remember Gordon would arrive at 11.00/11.30, the office manager would go down and we would hear peals of laughter. At opening time they would either go to the ‘Bath House’ pub on the corner for a ‘quick one’ which lasted until 3.00 or the Braganza, Soho Square in which case you did not see the three of them again that day. After they moved, I do remember going to their new offices in Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden for a very quick drink, with accumulated post and the drawing which I had found amongst the serious piles of rubbish they had left behind. I was told I could keep it and I have treasured it every since – it’s the nearest thing I have to a William Blake/Picasso/Durer – a true masterpiece.

I don’t know whether it was commissioned for anything else or used in any publications so perhaps this is its first outing beyond Eric’s home. Thanks for taking to the time to share it with us Eric. I dream, literally, of being able to muster such line quality so effortlessly.

The authorities of the airport are pleased to see us, and they have arranged everything for our pleasure and interest. We can but refreshments or a full meal. For children who are not above old-fashioned means of transport, they have pony-rides and a miniature railway. There is even a sand-pit for the very young. But the great thrill is the aeroplanes; huge and graceful, immensely powerful and so beautiful to watch.

Never mind the carbon emissions and the extra runway rubbish: huge and graceful, immensely powerful and so beautiful to watch. Oof.

With thanks to Kinver Village book fair. More to come.

Includes an outrageous comment from me suggesting that my old letraset uploads were without precedent. In fact, the very opposite is true.

Patrick sent over the direct links for each of these fine collections:

store.doverpublications.com/0486273512.html

store.doverpublications.com/0486257622.html

store.doverpublications.com/048628218x.html

store.doverpublications.com/0486243419.html

Unfortunately, to my bitter disappointment, we weren’t included in this year’s paper catalogue. After a few moments of cursing and wondering whether to call it off for fear of lack of advertising I gathered my thoughts and realised I had a secret weapon: You.

Please, help me spread the word and flex my Google muscles a little. Pass it on, tell your friends, link me up – I’ve put an entry on the office web site with more details, please drop it into whatever blogging, bookmarking, digging, tumbling tools you have at your command:

Architecture Week Open Practice Day

Better yet, come and see me next week, I’d love to show you some of the work we’ve been doing. Failing that, I have a shiny new digital whiteboard to play with and if you’re lucky I’ll get some biscuits in.

Continuing in the yearly tradition, I’ve picked out a few items (after the jump) from the Architecture Week events list for the West Midlands. Work your way through as many as you can and then come and tell me about them when you visit next Friday! Last year’s podcasts and Google Earth route is still available to help you find your way to the office.

Dream Spaces

(June 20, 21, 22, 23,)
A week of screenings and talks to explore the imaginative worlds suggested by the miniature works of acclaimed US artists Jennifer and Kevin McCoy. Dream Spaces invites contributors including Sadie Plant and Kevin McCoy to explore architecture, philosophy and memory through film.

Venue: VIVID
140 Heath mill lane
birmingham
B9 4AR

Bus Routes: 4, 5, 6, 15, 17, 37,56,57,58,60,97,
Trains: Birmingham New St, Birmingham Moor St
Underground/Metro: -
Trams: -
Other: A45,A41, A38

Contact: Yasmeen Baig-clifford
VIVID

www.vivid.org.uk

City of the Immortals

(June 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,)
The City of the Immortals is based upon the Jorges Luis Borges short story ‘The Immortal’. In a narrative series of photographic images, the fictional city Borges describes is reconstructed for the camera to represent an unbuilt, literary environment. The exhibition is supported by MADE.

Venue: MADE
122 Fazeley Street,
Birmingham
B5 5RS

Trains: Moor Street

Contact: Michelle Lord
Michelle Lord

Future Ruins

(June 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,)
Inspired by author JG Ballard’s mid-period novels, ‘Future Ruins’ connects the remaining architectural examples of Birmingham’s concrete past with Ballard’s vision of the contemporary landscape, his prophetic views on Brutalist architecture and the technological demise of the urban environment.

Venue: The Birmingham and Midland Institute
Margaret Street
Birmingham
B3 3BS

Trains: Snow Hill

Contact: Michelle Lord
Michelle Lord

Stuff and Nonsense

(June 22, 23, 24,)
A mysterious archival installation – rummage by torchlight through the darkness of our unwritten history exploring stuff and nonsense in a series of ‘Posterity Cabinets’ or delve into the ‘Chaotic Cluster’ of an absurdist database. View a short film called ‘Museum’ evoking the site’s history.

Venue: Former Sciene and Industry Museum
144 Newhall Street
Birmingham
B3

Contact: Anna Cook
Fierce Earth

Day Out at the Festival of Xtreme Building

(June 16,)
Join us as we launch Architecture Week with our friends at the Festival of Xtreme Building, with a day of events for all the family: installations, art commissions and performance events to take in. Check out www.festival-xtremebuilding.org.uk

Venue: Festival of Xtreme Building Site
Masshouse Circus
Birmingham
B5

Contact: Anna Cook
Fierce Earth

Architectural Walk of neglected buildings in Digbeth and Deritend

(June 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,)
These historic parts of the city, settled in Medieval times, hold many interesting buildings. We invite you to take a stroll down the back streets of this fascinating district, and imagine what it might be like if these tired old buildings could be rejuvinated and onces again buzzing with life.

Venue: Various

B12

Contact: Joe Holyoak
Joe Holyoak, Architects

Preview Tours of Town Hall Birmingham

(June 18, 20,)
Town Hall is currently undergoing a £35m renovation and we are hugely fortunate to be able to offer two exclusive preview tours of the new building. Be one of the first people to step inside this sublime building, set to be one of the country’s most iconic concert halls.

Venue: Town Hall Birmingham
Victoria Square
Birmingham
B1

Contact:
Birmingham Box Office

Architecture Week Lecture

(June)
Tom Bloxham is group chairman and co-founder of Urban Splash, and a pioneer of urban renewal in Manchester and Liverpool. His company Urban Splash is one of the most successful in the country, and has won many awards. Projects in the West Mids include buildings such as Fort Dunlop and The Rotunda.

Venue: CBSO Centre
Berkley Street
Birmingham
B1

Contact:
Fierce Earth

School of Architecture Summer Graduate Shows

(June 21, 22, 23,)
A chance to see the work of some of the most innovative Architecture graduates from Birmingham’s School of Architecture.

Venue: BIAD Gosta Green
Corporation Street
Birmingham
B4 7DX

Contact: Robin Dobson
New Generation Arts Festival

Stay Away From Lonely Places

(June 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,)
Ever had suspicions about what really happens behind the doors of the city? Find out with this part fact, part fantasy downloadable self-guided audio tour – from award – winning B’ham comedienne Janice Connolly, aka Mrs Barbara Nice, and NY storyteller and artist, Nicole Blackman.

Venue: Fierce TV
Fierce TV Website
Birmingham
B18 6NF

Contact: Anna Cook
Fierce Earth

BBC/RIBA Radio Debate

(June 19,)
Broadcasts to raise the profile of architecture in the region, following on from the David Dimbleby series “How We Built Britain”. The debate focuses on current projects and issues in the Birmingham area. Panellists include Glenn Howells, Professor Carl Chinn, Dr Simon Murphy and Terry Grimley.

Venue: BBC WM
The Mailbox
Birmingham
B1

Contact:
BBC Action Line

Open Practice – Sustainable housing design

(June 22,)
Visit our office and talk to us about: live, sustainable housing design projects exploring solar passive architecture techniques; regeneration using innovative online methods of community consultation; affordable suburban housing and architecture blogs! (see web site for special arch week podcast)

Venue: Axis Design Collective
Crosby Court, 28 George Street
Birmingham
B3 1QG

Bus Routes: 8A, 8C, 101
Trains: New Street, Birmingham
Trams: St Pauls or Jewellery Quarter
Contact: Rob Annable
Axis Design Collective
01212361726
www.axisdesigncollective.com

Fortunately, I visited on your behalf. ¹

A video installation at Birmingham’s MAC, it’s a white box containing 360 degree panoramic images of interiors projected on the wall. They scroll, scrape and judder past with transitions between images that feel like a fight for supremacy between the wildly different spaces depicted. Plug your headphones in to one of the sockets on the surface of the wall and the sound you hear is the mediator/referee/commentator for the fight. A random combination of field recordings of empty spaces creates a soundscape that is used to control the brightness, rotation speed and transition parameters of the photographs.

This averaged out soundscape becomes the lowest common denominator between physical space everywhere. A Normandy tool shed takes on Grand Central Station by projecting itself with noise. Environments previously imagined to be incomparable are not only held up against each other; the boundary between them is utterly destroyed as we glitch fade through the liminal space filled with the sound of the world banging into, whooshing past and running over itself.

It’s rather good.

Depending on which side of the Wigley line you stand on, this is either:

a) analogous to the Deleuze and Guattari refrain, explored through Proust and his descriptions of “…Vinteuil’s little phrases: they do not refer to a landscape; they carry and develop within themselves landscapes that do not exist on the outside.” ²;

or

b) the jaw clenching, cheek wobbling moment of brute force space/time bending that everybody’s favourite Hero, Hiro, goes through in an effort to chart his way clumsily through every single point in the universe simultaneously and travel mistakenly to a Normandy tool shed instead of Grand Central Station. ³

If you could see the look on my face right now you’d know which one I prefer.

Consider this part Deleuzian, part sci-fi influenced entry as a small offering to the crowds currently gathering at Storefront in New York for the Postopolis! event. Wish I was there!

Notes:
1. tip o’ the hat to D’log for pointing it out to me. D’log also notes that you can hear Schaefer talk about the project and see an example of the footage on this video: 10Mb mov)
2. A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari – Continuum Publishing 2004 – page 352
3. Hiro image via: OmarC

A special issue of the AJ from December 1986 called Drawing the Line – Hugh Cullum, Louis Hellman, Eric Parry, Richard Reid and John Winter talk about their favourite pencils:

(If I’m not mistaken, Hugh Cullum, having discovered the secret to eternal youth, has now swapped his pencil for a guitar and is currently touring the world under the name of Willy Mason)

Serra is on video in a little cinema in Gehry’s museum, talking about how he loathes architects. But surely you must be grateful to Gehry, objects the interviewer. “Oh, yeah! I should be grateful!” says Serra. He goes on to assert that he draws better than Gehry – “and Frank would agree” – and to argue that architects are just plagiarists who cannibalise sculpture.

Jones carefully weaves his way through the tension between artist and architect, sculpture and building. Ending with a confidence that I dream of seeing more often in architecture criticism.

This is as good as it gets. If you don’t like this, you don’t like modern art. If you do, you must revere Serra.

As you might expect, I like the power behind the seemingly simple put down about drawing better than Gehry, and along the way he draws in comparisons with Borromini and Bernini. I was reminded of some other notes I’ve been meaning to move off the piece of scrap paper in my back pocket:

Quotes from Simon Schama’s immensely enjoyable series on BBC4 a few months ago, The Power of Art, taken from the episode on Rembrandt (chosen because they fit nicely over the landscape of entries I’ve been making about drawing and sketching over the last few years).

Here too, in his drawings, just a few summary lines here and there, that manage to conjure up an entire scene. It’s a huge compliment don’t you think? Making us his partner in completion. Giving us the benefit of the doubt that we wouldn’t want anything so boring as the literal details.

…

And just look at the sketchiness of the whole thing. He doesn’t care about finish any more. In fact, Rembrandt’s in the process of doing something which horrified academicians – he’s abolishing the difference between a sketch and a painting, and he does it for the subjects he cares most about.

Serra, Gehry, Rembrandt – just a few summary lines here and there.

Elsewhere in an entry about the impending MoMA Serra exhibition, Adam Greenfield talks about where those summary lines meet:

Torqued Ellipse even manages something I didn’t think anything or -one could pull off: it redeems the single most wretched thing on Manhattan’s skyline, the Chippendale crenelation on the pediment of Philip Johnson’s atrocious AT&T Building. When you stand just so in Ellipse, in the hour before dusk, the two circles rhyme, the enclosing curve of the sculpture coming neatly into alignment with the egregious Johnson. It’s a moment of grace that I very much doubt is accidental.

Check the comments for further links to images and a fascinating anecdote about the tension between Mies van der Rohe and Henry Moore.

As for me; I spent my morning drawing summary lines through a presentation that moved from drainage proposals, through circulation, to car parking, around planning law, past environmental physics, into self-sufficiency from office to garden, touching on renewable technology, arguing the current market conditions, imagining various future societal conditions, exploring funding recycling and the balance between scientific post occupancy research and anecdotal quality of life dividends. Ultimately demonstrating that after all that you could still swing a cat.

For someone who just cannibalises sculpture, I sure do make a meal of it.