Bombs & Flowers

Let me start by saying that London was three days of purely intensed discoveries. Every time a group of friends and I walk into an interior, we begin to strip it bit by bit. I’ve come to learn a lot about materials, furniture and lighting, which exactly what I needed.

We started off with a pub that is owned by a theatre adding some high standards to it:

The Young Vic:

Do keep in mind that this theatrical bar was a slaughter house (thanks for the info, Digger). You can pin point some of hints here and there. Brick wall, concrete floor, high ceilings, oddly, I can imagine it as a slaughter house.

I cannot say I did not enjoy the ambiance of the pub. The lighting was spectacular.

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They acted just as a guide would, showing off the best parts of the pub. Especially the wall seen on the picture above. If there is anything I absolutely admire, it is a wall coming to life. It certainly adds a sense of originality into the pub. Transitional furniture is what they went for, which blends in perfectly with the theme colors of the pub. (light brown, red, grey, dark brown) 

However, what doesn’t impress me much is that I do feel like I’ve seen it before. As a foreigner, I can certainly say that United Kingdom in general shares this taste in most of its pubs. I’ve visited Kent, Edinburgh, London and live in Glasgow. Most of the pubs I’ve been to in all four cities/towns, this organic atmosphere does seem to pop up almost everywhere. Although this can be an advantage and feel the entire country seem connected, in a sense…it would stop to surprise me or impress me when it comes to visiting a pub similar to Young Vic.

(Images above taken from www.architecture.com )

Onwards to Citizen M:

I absolutely adore the brick-looking structure on the wall, I did examine it further and asked around, the material I believe (and guess) is plastic, its not concrete because it wasn’t hard enough. Regardless of what it is, i love it. Truly. 

The staircase above I believe is their signature staircase, it is found in almost all the branches (Longon, Glasgow and Amsterdam)

This brilliant design hotel won countless awards as anew aspiring hotel. As a designer, I enjoy when there are three or two primary colors that are used instead of hundreds. The more the colors the less the interest (in my case). Fortunately, Citizen M did support my bold idea. 

Red

Black

Brown

Theme: Leading-edge. 

And finally, the cherry on top:

The keynote about this room is the mirror. Above most of the cafes and restaurants I’ve been to, all the ones that placed a mirror on the wall, this has been the best and easiest to admire. Its not just a simple angle-change, it is the whole process, the thought of it. Imagine the room above with a simple, ordinary, mirror planted on the wall. It wouldn’t be the same, I can garauntee it, even with all the fancy furinture in the world. it would never be the same. smart, creative and very innovative.

Posted at 9:47am.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry (and again sorry). I’ve completely pushed you aside from my life. It is for a good cause, I’ve been working step by step with my new project and although I did warn myself to start updating a post about an update soon, I’ve completely lost track of time and here we are, almost a week and no new updates…Better sooner than later though right? so here we go…

This Bookshop has been twirling in my mind, eating me away bit by bit. I’m still stressed, over not wowing myself with my ideas. I dont feel like I lack the creativity, I feel like I lack the knowledge, the color palette, and that has been driving me crazy. This is probably occuring by the neccasity of looking through my classmates’ projects and wondering how they have no limiations whereas, I do (or at least like I feel like I do). I’m pretty sure I’ve confused you because I just confused myself. Let me back up a bit…

A few days ago I caught a glimpse on a classmate’s of mine’s project, It was a quick enough glimpse to make my heart jump. I do overstress, and I do overworry, but it is all because of the lack of knowledge, how can I walk outside the box when I can’t even see the box? How can you write a 1000 word essay on a foreign language you’ve been learning for a week now? (unless you write an essay based on a repitition of the words you do know) 

Now, the answer to the question “How” is hidden and tucked away in a place we both know we dont want to play around with, but desperate calls for desperate measures. Books.I’ll have to read more about Interiors and whatnot. Wish me luck. 

Also, pictures will be posted soon (promise).

Posted at 4:02pm.

I’ve given this a long debate in my head until I came to my decision. Do keep an open mind, I might disappoint you. Regardless, in the history of design, or better yet, in history in general it has always come between constraints and freedom, you can always go safe and say the middle ground between both battlefields is the best solution, but there is no fun in that. So here goes.

Both extremes do have pros and cons, lets start off with freedom. You can do whatever you like, however you like, with whatever you like added to it. To me, this is how freedom looks like through the eyes of an interior designer:

Missoni Hotel Edinburgh:

Sketch Bar, London:

With freedom you get innovative ideas, you clear your mind from the traditional thought of interior design. You are more abstract, throwing ideas and mashing them together. 

Similar to the Pallock’s. 

The heavy side of freedom is the risk of the client. Will he/she like it? will the public? and you’re most likely to get stuck on ideas on the way the outcome. Personally, freedom blurs up my thinking completely. I worry and I would feel like I am doing everything wrong, just because I don’t have any sense of direction. Just like driving along a foggy road. 

Constraints, well it looks more like this:

ME luxury hotel, London

Ultramodern, no doubt in that, but bold and direct. You know what the client wants, you bring it to life and you run away from dissapointments. Constraints can stop you from doing most of things that you like preferrably, but it does help with knowing what the client needs from you.

Burgundy Restaurant, Lebanon:

Vermeer style of thinking (but in a little more up-to-date style)

My preferred field? Constraints. I loathe the awkward feel of not knowing where you are heading, it puts me in an awkward position (and although that can bring out a lot of new creativity that I didn’t know I had in me, I would much rather go with the known rather than the unknown). Its direct, and thats what I go for. Bullet pointed thoughts. 

Posted at 12:00am.

Just to put you in the mood, lets say you are a skilled florist. You plant seeds to see your beauties blume in the spring. You enjoy it, its a trait (and a skill) that defines a little bit of who you are. Now, you were asked to travel around for some meetings associated with whatever it is that you do (you are a florist by heart, not by career). After months of hopping from one contenant to the other, you finally return home, tired and a tiny bit foriegn. Your flowers now lay dead on the floor, fainted with color and thirsty for water. You tell yourself its okay, and that you’ll plant more soon. Ha ha. Why am I laughing? Because in reality, if you were to go back to that little hobby of yours after months of putting that relationship on hold, your skill shrinks in size and migrates to the back of your head, where all the rest of your unwanted memories lie. 

Unfortunately for me, I do share the same problem. Oh no, not with planting (that would be a tad out of context wouldnt it?) But with drawing. Drawing, sketching, shading and any artsy word that comes to mind that involves washing your hands after it…All shrunk.

I’ll cut the blah blah blah and get to the point. Yesterday I began with my project, my forty nine quest. I cut seven pieces of paper according to the size asked and laid out all my media in front of me to choose. I held a pencil on my right hand, placed one of the pieces of paper in front of me and finally began to draw. It was as if a constant earthquake were to happen every time the led of the pencil were to touch the paper. My sketching skills went back six years! No wait, I’m sorry, I was probably better then. It angers me. By the end of the night I had six drawings, one better than the one before it (I know improvement is so inspiring! Its cool as well….to see how one drawing is better than the one before it) Nevertheless, looks like I need to put my skill back to its place….

Aaaaaaaahh

Posted at 12:53pm.