PUMPKIN TUNNEL

Picture credit: Pinterest, I think

Today in outdoor architecture: A super cool tunnel made of steel and living pumpkin plants. The colour, the contrast between the geometry of the steel and the organic shapes of the plants, and the amazing filtering of the light all come together to make this an unusual and interesting space. Would love to put one of these in my garden, or even in the grounds of a school or public building.

LYNGDALIAN HOUSE

Visiting a friend of mine in Lyngdal, Southern Norway a few weeks ago, we stumbled across this weird and wonderful house and garden, lying peacefully next to the road. I doubt that an architect lives here, but the people who do, have taken their liberties in creating something unusual, adding both a small tower and miniature italianate box planting in the middle of the Norwegian agricultural landscape. I can't help but love when people take control of their surroundings in this way, often creating something unique and infinitely charming as they go along.

LEAF CEILING

This amazing ceiling made of linden trees can be found at Blindernveien in Oslo, and creates a room as good as any.

The technique is called pollarding in English, and is an excellent way of renewing trees.

FICTIONAL FRIDAY: GWEN'S CARROLLESQUE GARDEN

One of the coolest gardens I know, quite clearly inspired by Lewis Carlloll's Alice in Wonderland, a book which I was very fascinated and confused by in my childhood, and still love.

FICTIONAL FRIDAY: THE HOBBIT

For all lovers of fantasy architecture: This will be great. Get ready to return to pointed arches in Lórien, grass-covered walls and round doors in the Shire, lighweight Art Nouveau in Rivendell and heavy underground Dwarf walls of solid stone. I simply can't wait.

IAN BEGG AND THE SCOTTISH VERNACULAR

This is the Radisson BLU Hotel Edinburgh, on the famous Royal Mile in the middle of the city. It was designed by the Scottish architect Ian Begg, who has restored and built many beautiful buildings in Scotland. This hotel, which according to scottish-places.info filled anotorious gap site, was completed in 1990! It's a very traditional building, designed in a sort of local vernacular style, but it's not made to look old by applying fake ageing techniques or anything of the sort.

On the side of the main entrance, there is a plaque, inscribed with the words "AL THIS WARK WAS BEGUN DANCON ON 10-JANUARY-1989 AN ENDIT BE THEM ON 31-MARCH-1990", leaving no doubt as to the building's age. There's another plaque at the foot of the tower (covered up in the top picture, but normally visible), clearly stating the year the hotel was built "AD 1989". I did not get to see much of the interiors, but I did pay a visit to their elegant lobby, in which I found friendly staff, who unfortunately were not able to tell me the name of the architect. In my opinion, they should be informing their guests about this very special building and the architect behind it.

Ian Begg has a passion for everything Scottish, and is the architect behind many new buildings in this and related styles. On his excellent website you can read more about his work, and even see an excerpt from a series of BBC programmes on "The Scottish House" from the early 1970s (which, by the way, should be published online, on Youtube or elsewhere). An excerpt:

This very sincere and talented man is also the architect of another beautiful urban Scottish building, St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, in Glasgow.

Photo courtesy of visitscotland.com

Constructed in 1993, the building blends in with its surroundings while still retaining a character of its own. The design is intended to reflect the now lost medieval Glasgow Castle, which formerly occupied the site, but sadly was torn down at the end of the eighteenth century. Apart from exhibitions on religious life in Scotland, the building also features a Zen garden, a courtyard used for markets, festivals concerts, as well as stain More pictures of the exteriors, interiors and even a model of the building can seen at Undiscovered Scotland.

Zen garden

Playing Gamalan instruments and dancing in the courtyard

The courtyard during Merchant City Festival

This photo of St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art is courtesy of TripAdvisor


Discovering the work of Mr Begg has certainly motivated me to make more trips to Scotland, and learn more about this interesting designer and his thoughts on architecture. Wish me luck!

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.

KATY PERRY AND THE AESTHETICS OF SURREAL FANTASY

Yes, it's kitschy. Yes, it looks rather fake. But it's also imaginative and kinda cool.

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.

PINE HORIZON

You might have heard of the pines of Rome, but what about the pines of Skjeberg?

As some old readers may have noticed, I'm very much concerned with how the architecture we create, meets the sky. In nature, the horizon is never boring, but in architecture, it often is. So maybe, the next time you're out there shaping a part of your fellow citizens' horizon, in the shape of a roofline, a garden or a tree-lined street, and you think it looks too simple, maybe you should consider using a pine? They grow into all kinds of shapes and sizes, smell nice, and produce cones than are fun to play with.

As for the picture, it looked better the way it was taken, a bit tilted, and depicts me and my friend Freja-Lina in between all the pines.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF FRIENDS

My friends Terry and Maurice are currently visiting from Kenya, and on Tuesday our friend Heidi joined us for a day of hanging out in my hometown Drammen, having fun, eating food, taking pictures and looking at cool architecture.

This rather fabulous picture was taken in the garden of Gulskogen Manor, a wooden summer residence built for the Arbo family at the end of the 18th century. Designed to resemble European stone architecture and painted in a sand-beige colour, the house is set in a magnificent garden, with rows of trees, big lawns, duck ponds, small canals with bridges, granite stairs, herb gardens, a maze and dozens of birds, including peacocks.

Last image by Heidi Leona Norum.

JOHANNE AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS

"Look at that! How incredibly beautiful! Oh my! I'm not that used to having cherry trees around, you know." - Johanne, ecstatically discovering the blossoming cherry trees at St. Olavs plass, Oslo. I love spring.

UNKNOWN TREE

While we were staying in Mombasa, there was a tree growing outside the gates to our hostel. It had lots of  orange flowers and green blobs that might have been either fruits or buds.

I find the shapes of these flowers to be very interesting. I think it might be the unfolding that makes them look so cool, maybe because there seems to be so much movement in a things that's more or less standing still. I blame the nice curves.

Oh, and I have no idea what the tree is called, so if you do, please tell me.

KENYA ETC.

Finally! I have arrived in Kenya! After a hectic month (without blogging; sorry) I'm starting the work here. Although based in Nairobi, my colleagues and I will be travelling around a lot, and we've already been for a week-long holiday in Mombasa. I promised my teachers I would draw a lot here, but I'll also be taking a lot of pictures of interesting architecture (and some times other things), and will have things to blog about, no worries.

I was walking along the Indian Ocean on Diani Beach on South Coast near Mombasa, and passed this wonderful wavy wall. Constructed in the coral stone typical of the region, it creates both warm, sunny spots and shaded areas, and protrusions out into the beach with earth for the coconut palms to grow in.

In its natural form, the coral rock forms big cliffs, and by the sea it will often be covered in plants, with a dark surface and weathered by the waves like this one. It's chopped up into box shapes that are sold at 25 ksh each and used everywhere in the coastal areas, also in new construction, where is actually often is smoothed over with cement plaster. Here's a new building with walls made of coral stone, presumably covered up to look like concrete:

A whitewashed coral stone wall:

A worn coral stone wall. Note how it's white at the bottom, probably due to being worn from water running down during the two rain seasons in Coastal Kenya:

Finally, a picture of yours truly by the Indian Ocean, just to prove it's all true. Oh, and the horizon is horizontal in Kenya as well, I just haven't gotten any proper graphics software for my new computer yet.

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.

LOVE AND SLATE

I found this outside the Deichman library the other day while looking at poplars with my sister. I guess there's someone out there who really loves slate. Or maybe it's just a happy person.

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.

NEW PARK AT TULLINLOKKA

In the middle of Oslo there's a parking space called Tullinløkka. (An interesting and elaborate article about Tullinløkka, unfortunately in Norwegian, can be found here.) A former playground for children and other sports enthusiasts, bicycle riding ground, gatherings pace for demonstrations, the city council has been trying to get something built there for more than a hundred years, but to no success. However, after what seems like a hundred competitions, suggesting among others museums with green spaces on their roofs, classicistic buildings with columns and multi-storey car parks, someone has suddenly made a decision to build a "temporary" park at Tullinløkka. There are also rumours that a 22nd July memorial will be placed in time. The picture shows small parts of the National Gallery to the left, the Historical Museum to the right and the main building of the University of Oslo in the middle.  As of now, I'm following the building of the park from my living room window, and will probably be updating with more pictures after a while.

PS. The temporary petrol station at Tullinløkka stayed there for 56 years.

THE GRUMPIEST ELF

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Taken in my parents' garden (designed by yours truly) with a self timer this afternoon.

CLASSICISM WITH DANCING HIPPOPOTAMUSES

If this doesn't cheer you up a bit...

The brilliant version of Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours from Disney's 1940 film Fantasia. Notice the slightly absurd, very formal pieces of architecture and lanscaping. And watch it in fullscreen mode. ("Hippopotamuses"!  How I love the English language.)

Edit 8th May 2012: Had to find the video somewhere else on Youtube, as the one I posted originally has been removed. Please ignore the voice speaking (in what sounds like a slavonic language) during the first twenty seconds; it disappears quickly.

CHERRY TREE ALLÉ/WORKS EVERY TIME

Walking form the local train station to my parents' house, I pass through a part of this cherry tree allé. Works every time.