Raphael Petit, a Facades Architect from RFR with whom Expedition worked with on the San Paolo Tower, Turin, joined us for the day to give us an introduction to the world of facades. Raphael presented an interesting history of facades in the 20^th Century - from The Great Exhibition to the Bauhaus.  We discussed how facades are used and what they are for – the skin of the building, used to control light, temperature, appearance. We learnt a little about the manufacturing process and considered why some designs are restricted by the manufacturing process and what currently constrains façade design.  We asked the question ‘Who takes the lead in façade design and why?’ Environmental responsibilities require designers to push for innovative facades and expert knowledge. Heated discussion ensued about responsibility in design and how the lead consultant should look to façade designers for guidance and the responsibility of designers to push for the right thing environmentally.
After lunch, wrapped up warm, we headed out to the city to view facades in action…

The tour started at St Pauls, where on one side we had brutalist concrete structures and shiny new office buildings with coloured facades being installed. On the other side we saw the recently finished Paternoster Square design with materials sympathetic to the 17^th Century buildings. The St Pauls information centre by Make Architects drew our attention and we discussed the merits of its materials. Next we were headed towards the Millennium Bridge, passed the Salvation Army which gave us the opportunity to see and discuss the benefits and technicalities of double skinned facades.

Over the bridge, with icicles hanging off our noses, we continued discussions at the top floor of the Tate Modern with hot chocolate in front of the city panorama. Before we got too comfortable we were off again to explore the massive black hole in the turbine hall.
We headed back over the old wobbly bridge as the Thames Path was closed to the west of the museum and down The Strand to the 1930s Daily Express Building. Julia attempted to get us in but alas not a chance, so we had a good ogle and tried to peak through the odd curtains they had behind the curved glass. We sauntered back up to Holborn, discussing more buildings as we went, and finished at the big glass Sainsbury’s building. 

This day certainly opened our eyes even further to the world of facades and got ourselves questioning design responsibilities and interaction between designers on a team.    

It turns out that to film in Primrose Hill is a covert activity requiring the camouflage ability of a chameleon.  I missed Ruth filming her piece about perspective as it was deemed wise to split the group to avoid attracting the attention of the park warden who may have tried to charge us hundreds of pounds an hour if he had spotted our tripod.  As a result Marissa and I spent half an hour trying not to look suspicious while we practiced her lines on a park bench.  This proved to be a vital part of my role, throughout the day I would practice lines with people before they had their half hour in the limelight.  What have I learnt from this? Firstly to be grateful it wasn’t me in front of the lens!  I’ve never seen talking seem so complicated (then again I have never made a film suitable for anything other than youtube).

Following the session on Google, Microsoft and Apple at last week’s thinkup I thought it might be appropriate to post this. The author(s) are trying to second-guess the next move of the industry’s key players. Quite interesting if you are into that sort of thing.

It was a grey Monday in London when Expedition set out on a trip to Shrewton in Wiltshire.  Georgina von Etzdorf, renowned fabric designer, had kindly invited us to her home for a day to gain an insight into the use of colour.  Towards the end of our coach journey we passed Stonehenge and arrived at a wonderful converted Chapel.  We walked into an enormous space with high ceilings and large arched windows to a warm welcome and a warm drink.We had all been asked to wear a colourful item of clothing, to take along an item from home and a picture of a building using colour that we liked. Having put down our items from home on tables we perused what everyone else had brought.  To name a few… a couple of Rubik’s cubes, a bright yellow chopping board, favourite children’s paintings, a ring, a green feathery fan and a rather large stainless steel kitchen knife!  We were then distracted while all the objects were removed.  “I would now like you to remember as many of the objects as you can” said Georgina “and the colour of the background they were on.”  (Great if only you’d told us before!)  Top marks went to a score of 23 out of 29.  This exercise demonstrated that girls are better than boys.
  Presented with a large Mexican hat filled full of our names we each took one.  “Now I would like you to pick a colour (from the extensive array of swatches) that describes that person.”  Various shades of green and yellow were the most common response with the odd wildcard (bright Orange you know who you are!)  Descriptions were, quite predictably, mostly polite and positive.
 We moved into a smaller side room for a cosy fire side chat.  The fire was lit and the smell of smoke filled the room (ahhh the joys of country living.)  The debate revolved around our influence as engineers on colour in projects we work on, the use of colour in our fabricated environment and the part colour played in our education.
  A colourful and delicious lunch was provided.  Bright red peppers with aubergine, a choice of pea & ham or beetroot soup with a swirl of white cream washed down with wine or homebrew, followed by orange and date slices seasoned with mint and rosewater.  (A bit different to the usual Monday lunch BLT overloaded with mayonnaise and a pack of crisps.)
 After lunch Georgina, and her colleague Ali, presented examples of different fabrics colour combinations and patterns from their collections.  The scarf/wrap samples were coveted by the female side of the room while the 1980’s velvet jackets and dressing gowns were being modelled enthusiastically by men more used to jeans and sweat shirts.
 

Our final task of the day was to put together a number of colours (no less than 5) to be used for a swimming pool.  One set of colours for a pool at night and one for the daytime.  20 minutes later our efforts were pinned to the wall for scrutiny by the professionals.  Comments were few and when made edged towards the complimentary.  (No doubt about it, our skill and keen eye for contrast, harmony and mood in our use of colours had left Georgina and Ali dumbstruck!)
  Having said a big “Thank you” to Georgina and her friends we got back on the bus and after a brief stop to look through a wire fence at some grey stones we travelled back to Regent Street.
 After today’s excursion it is clear that engineer’s do have an opinion on colour we just don’t show it… perhaps we should.
                                                

 

Today’s session was a follow-up to last week’s when we decided on topics for future ThinkUp Mondays. The intention was to give people the time to start planning their sessions and get some dates in the diary; however, in response to the ongoing discussion in the office following last week’s session, that majority of the time was dedicated to talking about how we feel we can improve on the format of the Monday sessions and what we hope to get out of them. At the end of the discussion I summarised the main points as follows:-   Group size  Talking in a large group is not always productive. People seem to learn better working small groups. Nevertheless, most people agreed that being able to hold a discussion as a group is a useful and necessary skill, especially for decision making on Useful Simple Trust matters.  

 

I ran today’s Expedition ThinkUp session in an effort to jump-start the programme, which, despite two beneficiary-run sessions over August, seemed to be stalling. In the past I have felt that people have been shy in coming forward with ideas for future sessions because they are unsure of the aims of the sessions, or they are afraid of being shot down when they make their suggestions. I therefore intended this session to be a positive environment for suggestions to come forward; one in which individuals are encouraged to take the time to develop their ideas.   The intended outcome from the session was a series of ideas for future sessions, together with a list of volunteers to explore each of these ideas. The list is as follows: