Architectural Graphics

It's late and I should be in bed but my mind is teaming with ideas. Our portfolio deadline is on Friday and I have been wracking my brains to think of the best way to present my work. A3 booklet, half A1 sheets, I just can't decide! Then I came across this graphical image by the architect Kate Macintosh - who was in the film Utopia London which we saw when we first started our studies here in Manchester. I love the almost dirty colour, muted tones and simple fonts. Dan said why not set your portfolio out like an old housing brochure, it is housing I'm doing after all. Here are some great American examples. The mind keep whirring...

Image from Utopia London

Cabin Fever

A house within a home, by design and research collaborative, KatzChiao. It's called 'A Cabin in a Loft', a one-room bed and breakfast in Brooklyn, NYC.

Image from KatzChiao

Winding Souk

It's incredible how much we rely on the internet. Since moving up to Manchester we've only been able to get online here and there, but today we got connected! 

It's been a busy week since our course has started. I picked a unit where I can continue studying my interest in housing by looking at courtyard housing around the world. There'll also be a study trip to Fez in a few weeks, so I can go and discover another North African city.

Image by tkarty

Sheep Shack

I've been designing houses for people for the last year, and it's something that I am really keen on and want to do in the long term. Having watched The Secret Life of Buildings last night on C4, it got me thinking again about housing and whether what we're currently designing is up-to-scratch and how we can make it better. It's also about looking at the wider community and how we sustain ourselves. Through my web-wandering I came across this petting farm by 70f. They seem to do a few buildings for agricultural animals, and after all farming is something else I am interested in. So designing homes for creatures on all fours: this could be my calling!

Images by 70f

Flowery Home

Even though it's the Christmas break I have work to do as we have a crit for our housing designs when we go back in a few weeks. I'm happy with my design but it's just on to making the presentation colourful and enticing. This snap of housing in India is just the essence of what I'm going for in mine, a working combination of built and nature... with a vegetable plant or two as well!

image from doctorcasino's flickr

One day I will live in a...

More detail here!