Brutalist London

Here are a few shots from a series I took this weekend just gone.  I set the theme for the weekend as Brutalism and although that could have ended up as a number of eventualities, it ended up materializing in the trusty old form of Architecture!

First Stop was Erno Goldfinger's Balfron Tower in Poplar

Next Stop was The Sheraton Tower in Knightsbridge

And finally I ended up at Erno Goldfinger's other London Tower, Trellick Tower in Westbourne Park

These are just three out of a whole load of Brutalist structures that inhabit the London Skyline!  I will seek and capture more of the brutality of London in the weeks to come.

The Un_Reel

So it's finally been released! Here is the final version of 'The Un_Reel', my final project for a Masters in Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture. Enjoy!

Unit 15 Book

These are the layouts for my three double spreads in the Unit 15 Book for this year!

Un_Reel Part 01 Recap

These are a few images to refresh what your minds as to what part one of the film looked like.

Production Graphics - Chronograms of The Un_Reel

These three images are the chronograms (explanatory drawings) for The Un_Reel. which guide the viewer through the film in graphic format. This group of three includes the chronogram for part one of the film made back in December.

Production Graphics of The Un_Reel

This Image is a illustrative graphic which explains the overall concept for the film. When read from left to right is portrays the stages involved when ingesting architectural space through imagery and representation to the point where the two can not be distinguished from one another and result in a hybrid world of representation being formed. The hybrid form combines the virtual and the analogue to produce experiences of space as a state of mind that grows out of the imaginary!

The Un_Reel

The Un_Reel - London 1.0, The Simulacrum

It is finally finished! The Final edit of the film was completed for my masters in architecture hand in last week. The overall edit has combined the previous short London 1.0 with a newly produced part 02 that combine a total edit of 9minutes! The film will be premièred on the 25th June 2011 at Brixton Village as part of the launch party for the new Film and Animation Company Factory Fifteen

The following posts will be graphics from the production!

Centrepoint Vista

The overall vista of London fromt he top of the newly extruded Centrepoint means that The Man now becomes aware that this phenomenon is not only something that he is experiencing. It is a concept of experiencing space which is city wide, if not worldwide. The towers are other versions of the cubicle spaces that are working away at delivering the various spaces required for all other users of each of those towers.

Draft Synopsis

Initial Concept Visualization

These three shots are just an idea of what happens outside of the individual dwellings and imaginations. The overall cityscapes of actual London are dramatically changed as these towers spring up and litter the skyline. The towers are the physical spaces that contain the individual synthetic spaces. Within each tower there are multiple dwellings which all share the various synthetic fragments and representations of what used to be the built city of London.

Within the Tower
The City
Behind Westminster

Film Shoot

These are some shots from a production I worked on as a set designer. The film was a no budget sci fi film directed by a friend of mine. The over all concept was that biodroids have become part of society in the near future and during their integration with humans one droid in particular goes awol. This leads to a battle between the remaining biodroids and a group of rebel forces.

The film was mainly shot on location however one scene required slightly more design. This was the armoury of the biodroids. Constructed in the same location (the warehouse) I designed it on no budget and managed to produce a set as shown below. The design mainly consisted of imitation weaponary and clever use of lightling to create the millitant feel that an armoury should possess.

Sketches

These are a few sketches of the first few scenes in the film. These are in chronological order and follow the movements of the character on another day of what he sees as his mundane life.

Bedroom Scene

Stairs between bedroom and kitchen

Kitchen

The London Underground

Overview of Reconfigured London

At the halfway point in the film, there is an establishing shot. In contrast to an establishing shot being presented at the beginning of the film it is positioned half way as a sort of reveal of the 1st half and a establishing shot of what is yet to come. It portrays london a very different to how we think it may be. THis therefore sets up the rest of the sequences to follow.

Renders from the Film London 1.0

These few shots come from the 1st half of the film and show a developing strangeness in that objects and fragments from 'Jed's' mind start to appear and become4 more and more apparent to him as he visualises the places of London he thinks he knows so well.

London Land

London Land from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This is the final edit for the critique held at The Bartlett School of Architecture on 2010/12/14. This short film will form part of the overall edit that will last close to 15minutes. The following parts will explore deeper into the artifice of London and potentially into the realm of globalization and condensed geographies.

Inhabited Canyon

On 'Jed's' journey he ventures into the deep canyons created by the multiple Centre Points. As he explores further it becomes apparent to him that only what he sees is actually constructed. Finding himself to the rear of the film set unveils that all the buildings are only partially constructed.

Following his nose he ascends into the skyscrapers to find that the spaces within these high rise studio constructions are actually inhabited. The internal organs of these buildings have functions and facilitate studio upon studio that are either the remanence of past film productions or studios in full use.

Backstage

The rear of the film studio shows how the panels of Oxford Circus are simply made of timber panels with the fronts painted by matte painters. They are hung from mobile hoists which enable the production crew to fully erect the large scale matte panels.

Overall Warehouse Shot

The overall warehouse contains the constructs of the false version of Oxford Circus. The model itself involves faking facades of Oxford Circus with panels that sit in forced perspective and replicates matte painting techniques used in film making processes.

Opening Sequence Drawing

Capturing the main moments in the film, this drawing represents the moments at which the mind of Jed slips into his synthetic creations of urban landscapes induced by his consumption of film and the perceptions he builds up of filmic geographies.

Character Wide Shot

Front View Wide from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Establishing the character and his obsession of watching film.