You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September 2008.
Taking Place in Terminal 5 (Source: Goldsmiths, University of London)
Five Nobel-winning scientists have been paired with five textile designers as part of a project between Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (CSM), a college of the University of the Arts London, and the Medical Research Council. The result is ‘Nobel Textiles’, a week of exhibitions and events at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and in St James’s Park to coincide with the London Design Festival 2008.
Five greenhouses in St James’s Park have been built to contain these special collaborations. One project is by Rachel Kelly, who has been working with Tim Hunt (Nobel Prize for Medicine, 2001), to design a collection of transparent wallpapers and paper lanterns responding to his discovery of proteins which appear and disappear. Elsewhere in the Park, Shelley Fox’s collaboration with Peter Mansfield (Nobel Prize for Medicine, 2003), resulted in a fashion collection based on the mapping of the body fat of six volunteers.
Students from Goldsmiths, University of London also feature in the London Design Festival with a showcase of their creative work at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Two teams are exhibiting in the Check-In Hall including Sally Hogarth and Emma Johnson who put forward ‘Taking Place’ – a multimedia light installation with video imagery from the departure lounges of airports from all over the world.
The London Design Festival is the UK’s biggest annual celebration of design and reflects London’s status as a creative hub. In addition to CSM and Goldsmiths other London institutions such as the Royal College of Art and Brunel University are also taking part, hosting cutting edge exhibitions to showcase their students’ work.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Over two thousand members of the public are being asked to volunteer to become living statues as part of the next instalment of art on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
London's historic Trafalgar Square
The commission is the creative idea of artist and Goldsmiths, University of London alumni, Antony Gormley. Creator of the Angel of the North, Gormley enjoys sculptures that interact with their environment and vice-versa. Another recent London project, Event Horizon, populated the city with 31 life-size male bodies scattered across the tall buildings in London’s to bring an eerie, towering presence to the city.
Yinka Shonibare, another alumni from Goldsmiths has also been honoured with a Fourth Plinth commission. His piece is called Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, a replica of Nelson’s ship, HMS Victory, in a giant glass bottle with sails made of patterned textiles commonly associated with Africa.
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
London is full of stories and surprises. Just as every Londoner has their own story, so too has their city. At Study London, we are always telling you how great our city is. Now we’ve decided to let our international students do the talking, telling you why they chose to study in London.
Take a look at our student testimonial map and discover the world in one city.
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Inside the Great Court at the British Museum
To call the British Museum’s temporary exhibitions ‘blockbusters’ may seem unusual but with 850,000 people paying to see its First Emperor exhibition, which also displayed a selection of warriors from the Terracotta Army, the term rings true. It is no surprise that the British Museum should follow this up with an exhibition about another Emperor, that of Hadrian who ruled the Roman Empire for 20 years from 117 AD.
Hadrian ruled one of the greatest empires in history covering the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea as well as modern-day England and Belgium. The exhibition, entitled Hadrian, Empire and Conflict, provides fresh insight into the contradictions of Hadrian’s character and the challenges he faced during his reign while also focusing on his two great passions of architecture and Greek culture.
More than 180 objects from 31 museums around the world are being shown together for the first time with a massive bust of Hadrian, all but perfect save for some damage around the nose unearthed in Turkey in 2007, being a highlight.
The exhibition is being held in the Round Reading Room, often compared to one of Hadrian’s architectural masterpieces the Pantheon in Rome, which sits in the centre of the museum surrounded by the Great Court, enclosed by a fabulous steel and glass latticed roof designed by Norman Foster.
Visiting the museum it is easy to be overwhelmed by the richness of its collection. With seven million objects brought together from all over the world, it is one of the greatest museums on the planet and better still, entrance is free. It would take weeks to explore all the rooms in detail so I recommend focusing on a single room or historical period…and getting there early before the crowds arrive.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
The countdown to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games started with a party for 40,000 people in front of Buckingham Palace on 24 August 2008. The Mall in front of the Palace was draped with the Union Jack and 2012 flags while in Beijing the Olympic Flag was handed to the Mayor of London marking London’s role as the next Host City.
Watch the video courtesy of London 2012 – www.London2012.com.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
The view from a Wetland Centre lookout
Visiting the London Wetland Centre, huddled in the bend of the River Thames, it is no surprise that around 30% of London is made up of parks and green spaces. This 42 hectare site is an urban oasis and home to some rare and beautiful wildlife.
The Centre was created by naturalist and artist, the late Sir Peter Scott, who set up the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and established nine centers across the UK. These centers, including the London Wetland Centre, create and restore wetland ecosystems and work to save threatened wildlife. They provide vital habitats for wildlife including swans, geese, ducks, flamingos, otters, beavers, water voles, dragonflies, frogs and rare plant life. The WWT plays a vital role researching the behaviour, health and populations of thousands of wetland species while its Species Conservation programmes focus on the most threatened species and on the threats they face from changes in land use, climate change and disease.
The London Wetland Centre is vast. It is one of the most extensive havens for birds and wildlife in Europe and walking around the different ponds takes a few hours. Each pond represents a different habitat teeming with ducks and other wildlife. The meandering paths between the ponds make it a peaceful and relaxing day of bird-watching. If you want to experience something different, the doors of the Centre open at 4am in spring so you can hear the dawn chorus, where resident birdsong competes with those of migrating birds. Specially built hides, or lookouts, have been built in strategic positions allowing you to get close to the birds.
The Centre is a great way to feel connected to the natural world only a short distance from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
British Library (Source: Visit London)
One of the great attractions of studying in London is the sheer wealth of information available at your fingertips.
Google is great when you need to find quick answers, facts or quotes but at some point during your studies, you’ll need to conduct in-depth research at a library. In London there are over 150 academic libraries for you too choose from, with their shelves bulging beneath more than 21 million books.
One haven for research is the Senate House Library, a classic art-deco library located in Senate House, a formidable 1930’s building thought to be the inspiration for the Ministry of Truth building in George Orwell’s famous novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Not far away, you can join some of the world’s most renowned intellectuals at the British Library, one of the greatest libraries with 18 million books and a massive 150 million items.
Senate House, once London's tallest building
Specialist libraries are dotted all over London. For example, if you are an art student, why not visit the Colour Reference Library at the Royal College of Art, which is devoted to all aspects of colour, from colour psychology to interior design. Or perhaps you are studying healthcare and need to mine the vaults of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s library with 80,000 books and pamphlets and over 4,000 journal titles in the field of international public health and tropical medicine.
What ever your subject, London’s libraries are the perfect resource to improve your research skills and knowledge. Click here to find out more about London’s libraries.
Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Exploring Chinese Architecture
Most of the world has been watching the amazing Olympic Games in Beijing and admiring the stunning modern architecture of the Birds Nest stadium and the Water Cube aquatics centre. In London, I visited the Modernism in China exhibition at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), itself a modernist masterpiece.
The exhibition started with an exploration of Chinese architectural traditions that stretch back thousands of years. The focus soon shifts to the early 20th century when China entered a period of modernisation that transformed almost every aspect of society including architecture. The basic principles of Chinese architecture were challenged by new materials, new construction techniques, a demand for novel building types and rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.
It was in the period 1910-20 that the first generation of trained Chinese architects returned to China from their training overseas. Amongst this group was Huang Xi Lin, an architect who trained at University College London. In 1921, he established one of China’s first architecture practices, the South-Eastern Architecture and Engineering Company and went on to design a number of iconic modernist buildings.
The Modernism in China exhibition examines the architectural developments that transformed China’s urban landscape in the early 20th century with its most famous examples sited on the Bund in Shanghai. Modernist buildings were built across China and can be viewed as the link between China’s ancient architectural traditions and those of the high rise glass-clad skyscrapers of modern China. This is a timely exhibition as the world focuses on China and helps deepen our understanding of Chinese history through its architectural heritage.
Kevin
Study London – www.studylondon.ac.uk
“London is a city where different cultures and thoughts meet. Living in this city, I never feel bored.
