FICTIONAL FRIDAY: SORIA MORIA CASTLE

Soria Moria Castle, by Theodor Kittelsen. Wikimedia Commons.           

Finally, time for another painting! It's been a while, and this time I've chosen one where architectural forms are just hinted at, instead of being worked out in detail. I still find it to be an alluring and beautiful picture, which evokes many images in my mind.

The fairytale of Soria Moria Castle is one of the most poular Norwegian folk tales, and has triggered the imagination of artists through generations, especially since its publication as a part of Asbørnsen and Moe's collections of folk tales in the mid-19th century. Read the entire story here.

PS. Although the story doesn't involve any dwarves, it's supposed to be the source of Tolkien's name for Moria, the dwarf-kingdom of Middle-earth. Do not trust this information.

FICTIONAL FRIDAY: ROW-THOUGH RESTAURANT

Did they have this in the olden days? Can we plase have it now? I'm making notes for the watery city I'll be building in the future, and this definitely part of it. Have a nice weekend!

FICTIONAL FRIDAY: LIFE ON MARS?

For reasons unknown, I've been listening quite a lot to this amazing song lately. However, as it has the the most boring music video in the history of the planet Earth (with no architeture whatsoever, except for a white void which I'm sure Le Corbusier would have loved), I'm throwing in a couple of pictures with designs for a Martian city, made by the brilliant visual artist Thomas Denmark:

THE FUTURE ACCORDING TO TOR

Made by a friend of mine, I like how this video suggests that things are going in the right direction, and architects may have a role in finding the way.

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. LESSMORE

Watch this amazing short film about a man and the books he meets. The quality on Vimeo is ok, but I recommend downloading it cheaply at http://morrislessmore.com/. Have yourself a very Fictional Friday!

(Fictional Friday is a series of posts on my blog, where I present fantastical and fictional architecture from books, television, films, computer games, art etc. every Friday.)


("Less is more" - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe)


("Less is a bore" - Robert Venturi) 

ROTUNDA

An impression of the year at The Rotunda in the grounds of the University of Virginia, designed by Thomas Jefferson and completed in 1826.

LIBRARY VISIT

(Soundtrack: "Kristofferson's Theme" by Alexandre Desplat)

18.55 Protagonist enters library
18.56 Protagonist returns "Where the Wild Things Are" dvd
18.57 Protagonist is completely unable to leave library emptyhanded,                  runs for the gardening and architecture sections; grabs a few                      interesting looking books and heads for the exit
18.59 Protaginst borrows

      

          "Trær - røtter i kulturhistorien" (Trees - with roots in cultural                      history) by Olav Skard

      

          "The Well-placed Weed"by Ryan Gainey

      

          "Livskraft - vitalismen som kunstnerisk impuls 1900-1930"                         (Vitality - Vitalism as an artistic impulse 1900-1930) by the                        Munch Museum

       

          "Byen - en bruksanvisning" (The city - a user's guide) by Peter                      Butenschøn

19.00 Library closes; protagonist leaves in triumph

Book reviews may follow.

QUEERS AND CAMERAS

I spent last week at a wonderful queer festival (That's new speak for gay camp) in Southern Norway. Going by the name of Jafnadhr, which is said to mean "justice" or something like it in Old Norse, it's an annual happening, organized by the organisation I'll be working for in the year to come, Skeiv ungdom (Queer youth).

All in all, it was a very nice week. The people were friendly, the shows were funny, the dinners (when there was enough food) were fabulous and the weather was fine. In between all the socializing, debates and bathing, there was also time to group up and learn about a lot of different subjects, and I joined a photography group, lead by the magnificent Mathilde Nicoline Bergersen (Check out her beautiful blog.). I own a rather simple compact camera which I bring everywhere, and use among other things to take most of the pictures of this blog, and I learned a thing or two about good techniques, composition and editing. I also took some pictures I was pleased with, including a few self portraits, group pictures and colour studies. Have a look.

Thanks to everyone at Jafnadhr 2011!

MOEBIUS SHIP

The lovely Möbius ship by artist Tim Hawkinson, the figurative cousin of the one-sided surface called the Möbius strip. Pun intended, I presume. Image is the courtesy of the artist.