Malmo form / Design Centre
October 28, 2006
The form/ design centre is housed in the HedmanskaGarden – “Hedman Court” which was a large brick warehouse. It displays the current and best Swedish Scandinavian design. It has more than 20 exhibitions a year ranging from architecture to crafts. The centre has permanent exhibitions from some of the best companies within Swedish furniture, textiles, lighting, and arts and crafts.
One of the items displayed that I found of interest was called “Like a letter in the post”. This was a bowl made out of thin metal found in the rural areas of Sweden. The bowl could be folded up flat and sent in the post. It can then be unfolded when lightly pressed creating a pattern but has the function of a bowl. However, the bowl required a complicated mathematical equation to produce the results displayed!
The whole exhibition was worth seeing. Throughout the whole building was high quality design which informs the viewers of the high standards expected from designers. The old character of the building also provides a unique stage juxtaposed with the modern era of design.
Malmo
October 27, 2006
Malmo has a population of over 265,000 and is the third largest city in Sweden behind Stockholm and Goteborg. The population is set to increase over the next 10 years putting pressure on Malmo to expand.
For the Dare project a group of us went to Malmo, located on the south coast of Sweden.Here we were to pick a site that has been finished to of high quality and then we were to design something daring.
Bo01
This was a European exhibition of housing which ran from May 11th to September 9th 2001. It is located on the coast in the Vastra Hamnen (WesternHarbour) district of Malmo and is in walking distance of the city centre. It formed the first phase of the long term development for the western harbour. It then consisted of 800 apartments but has now grown to over 1500. The exhibition was to inform people about the ecology and sustainability of the project.
Today the apartments are still under construction as the project moves through the phases of development. The houses were designed by various architects but all have the common theme of sustainability. The area is to become a national and international example of sustainable living.
The urban district is supplied by renewable energy resources. Electricity will be produced by wind power, heating will be generated by solar panels and bio gas produced from the area’s waste. All the buildings were designed to minimise energy demands and increase energy efficiency.
Turning Torso
Located in the Vastra Hamnen district the Turning Torso forms the centre piece of the area and provides Malmo with a landmark. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava, based on the sculpture Twisting Torso. It was completed in 2005 and has the height of 190 meters which is 54 floors. The entire construction twists 90 degrees on its way up, hence its name.
Sundspromenade
Sundspromenade was designed by Jeppe Aagaard Andersen Landscape Architects. The promenade is located along the coast reconnecting Malmo to the sea, a reflection of the past. It is 300 metres long and is constructed out of wooden decking. It has large steps that lead down to the sea providing plenty of seating where you can watch the sun set behind the OrestrundBridge. The promenade sits parallel to boulders along the sea front and overlaps in places. Scattered within the boulders are some highly polished stones which is the art work called “Diamonds are everywhere”.
The construction of the promenade is of very high quality which reflects the whole of the B0o1 site. It is also shown with its various users from walkers to skaters and in the summer it becomes a vibrant place to be. Whilst you are on the promenade you feel very exposed to the elements, especially the wind, giving it more prominence and your experience of the site changes with each visit.
I really enjoyed the site but I would like to re-visit it in the future but during the summer to experience the atmosphere of the place. I have seen pictures and it looks a complete contrast to the winter where there are fewer visitors.
Dania ParkDania Park was designed by Thorbjorn Andersson and PeGe Hillinge. The park is located to the north end of Sundspromenade and forms a continuation with the link to the sea. However, Dania Park is more exposed to the sea at the north end of the park where two seas meet the Ribersborgsbucht and the North Sea. Here a bastion has been designed where you can walk out over the sea. Along the sea front there are 3 wooden decked platforms providing visitors a chance to swim in the sea.
Within Dania Park there is a grass field which people can use for recreational activities but in the summer it holds musical events. The park also provides more shelter compared to Sundspromenade. There are seating areas which resemble fortresses allowing people to find comfort out of the wind. The park still follows the linear shape, the same as Sundspromenade, but Dania Park also reaches into the sky. There are tall lamp posts which resemble construction cranes which light up most of the park at night. 
The materials used for the park were wood and walls and barriers were constructed out of granite. The choice of these materials was for their sustainable nature, the granite can be re-used at a later date if the park was to change. The construction is of good quality, the same as the rest of the area. I enjoyed the park more compared to Sundspromenade. It offered more variation with the different materials. The park also had planting adding to the quality of the area.
The encounter with the sea is also more dominant here. There are diving platforms and steps going into the sea connecting the sea and city. I also like the idea of the bastion; it gives the park a focal point and was clearly a favourite with visitors. The sheltered seating also allows people to stay in the park longer during the winter because it’s more comfortable. However, I don’t think the park worked particularly well at night. Most of the lighting fixtures were broken and therefore not lighting up the park very well which needs to be addressed. www.malmo.se
Copenhagen Design Museum
October 18, 2006
Whilst in Copenhagen I went to the Design Museum. One of the main features was a display which had a supermarket layout but the products on sale were things bottled up such as pause, inner calmness, obesity dissolvers etc.
Overall the museum was disappointing. The objects were poorly displayed and the layout was bad. I don’t think the museum showed the best designs and I didn’t find visiting it that useful.
Architecture Museum
October 18, 2006
The museum sits on the river front in Copenhagen. I went to an exhibition in the museum which showed some of the design for the Beijing 2008 Olympics and had the quote “From Made in China to Made by China”.
The exhibition also showed the percentage of the world’s population that lives in China. It also showed how the population is getting wealthier and that the Chinese are now looking to go abroad for holidays and that the western population should now make china their main market because there is a lot of money to be made from them. The exhibition also showed the knock on effect of the changes such as pollution.
River Front Architecture
October 18, 2006
Bathing Area
October 18, 2006
This is a bathing area in Copenhagan. It was designed by Plot and was opened in 2002. The harbour was cleaned from all of its heavy industrial pollution and the bathing area was designed to provide a recreation area.
Nick’s Lecture
October 17, 2006
On Tuesday I went to the lecture Nick did titled The Language of Landscape – Words used to describe the materials used to make a created landscape. This was useful for me to go to, to learn the proper language which can then be applied to the projects.
Perspective drawing at Bushy Park
October 17, 2006
On Monday David came in to give us a lesson on perspective drawing. My aim for this session was to be able to draw good perspective sketches. This is to help when I go on site visits as you get something different from sketches compared to just having photographs.
We spent the morning in the studio going over the rules of doing perspective drawings. We started off doing very quick perspective sketches of in a room and then we moved on to doing sketches outside.
In the afternoon we went to Bushy Park to do perspective sketches of the chestnut avenue. This session I found the most useful as we had one on one tutorials and David showed me where I was going wrong and where improvement needed to be made.
On Thursday we used the measurements that we took of Chestnut Avenue, the distance between the trees, and drew a plan of the avenue. This gave a different angle to look at the avenue we had been drawing on Monday. David gave a quick lesson on doing axonometric drawings which we then applied to the plan of the avenue.
Broadgate Square
October 17, 2006
It formed part of a program to maintain Broadgate’s premier position in the city, British
Land embarked on an ambitious program to enhance the public spaces of the development. This included a new signature layout and lighting seen here.
Paddington Basin
October 16, 2006
Phase one of the site has been completed, now phase two has begun. It will feature extensive landscaping and water features, providing “a pedestrian- friendly and relaxed atmosphere complementing that created in phase one”.
Phase two will consist of over 56,000m² of high quality office space in two buildings of 37,000m² and 23,000m² designed by architects Kohn Pedersen Fox and Sheppard Robson. They are positioned either side of the central boulevard.
The site has a number of footbridges over the waterways to improve pedestrian linkage and a sense of place. These include Station Bridge by Langland and Bell and Atelier One, linking to the station.
