Becca, Interior Design, Scotland, July 3, 2012

Today was a fun day! The group went on a bus tour through the south western part of the highlands.

 We started the trip off at the Rest-and-Be-Thankful Pass.

The greenery is so amazing.

 Then we made our way around the A-83 by th Loch Fyne into Inveraray to see this lovely castle which is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll.

We got to see him packing up his car to head to Holyrood to hang out with the Queen for the afternoon.

We toured the Castle but no photography was permitted.

After the Inveraray we headed up the road passed Lock Awe to Oban. But on our way we stopped in at this fantastic church called St. Conan’s Kirk.

A piece of Robert the Bruce’s thigh bone is entombed within.

We had lunch in the busy little Ferry town of Oban.

There was lots of fresh seafood to be had.

After lunch we head back the way we came and stopped in to check out the ruins of Kilchurn Castle.

The orginal structure was built in 1450 and an addition was added later in 1500.

On our way back to Glasgow we stopped to take in the sights of the Loch Lomond and it’s sleepy little town.

We returned to the School House around 8PM, it was a long wonderful day.

I leave you here tonight with

 some sheep to count in your sleep…..

Heading to bed now good night!

Day Off and Design Critique

Shelly, Glasgow: Graphic & Interior Design

On Sunday, we had a day off to explore. I went to the Kelvingrove Museum and the Riverside Museum and even rode on a “fast boat” with Kiley! It was really neat, and luckily wasn’t raining for that.

Today we heard a lecture from Dr. Bruce Peter, what a great time! He really enlightened us about the history of hotels and hospitality design. We then had a critique where we presented preliminary group projects for our boutique hotels and tea rooms. It was nice to get feedback from people who work at the Glasgow School of Art! Now we’re back to work!

Design Tours

Shelly, Glasgow: Graphic & Interior Design

For the past week, we have been going on several tours of Mackintosh buildings, museums, walking tours, and even a castle. We went as a class to Edinburgh yesterday.

On Wednesday, we heard a talk from Neil Maguire about the histories of design. It was very interesting, as he shared various rhetorical points about how design started and continues to change. After that, we toured the design firm D8.

On Thursday, we went to Queen’s Cross Church, designed by Mackintosh. Next we visited the Lighthouse museum where we saw an infusion of old and new design in the old newspaper building. To finish the day, we visited the Scotland Street School with exhibits about how the school would have functioned when it was in use.

 

 

Friday was our trip to Edinburgh, which was rainy but worthwhile. Our walking tour with Ranald MacInnes brought us to the castle and down the Royal Mile. We learned about conservation of buildings and how the debate continues about whether to remain in original or new styles. We also got to go into the Scottish Parliament building. That was interesting to see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then visited the National Museum of Scotland. We saw plenty of design inspirations where we could sketch, and they had a rooftop terrace to view Edinburgh from above!

We broke off to explore on our own, and I climbed with a few classmates to the top of the National Monument of Scotland on Calton Hill. There is a model of the Parthenon there! It was an exhausting but exciting day.

Today (Saturday), we visited House for an Art Lover in Dumbreck. This was a 1990s construction of a house designed by Mackintosh but never built while he was alive. They allowed us to sit on the furniture and even play the piano! That was amazing

Becca: Interior Design – Glasgow, Scotland, June 23-25

Hey MU,

We’ve arrived in Scotland and have had oodles of activities occurring. I am finally catching up and able to

give you all some updates.

I flew in Saturday evening, at this time only part of the group was in town. But we had a lovely Italian meal at Antipasti (http://www.antipasti.co.uk/).

The other 6 students arrived on Sunday. We started the official business on Sunday afternoon with a stroll through Glasgow.

My first impression was that this city is dirtier than Paris. The people are very friendly and surprisingly enough it wasn’t raining.

Here are a few pictures of some of the sites we passed on our walk.

Currently the GSA is in the process of constructing a new building. This is the building that we will be doing our studio work within.It’s about a 20 minute walk from our lodging.

The view down a side street neat Renfrew.

 On bridge near the intersection of Sauchiehall & Newton or North Streets.

The River Clyde.

Central Station

On Monday morning we woke up bright and early and went to the GSA building down the street. We had a brief general information meeting and  we got our student ID’s that we will use to access the two buildings.

Following we had a tour of the library facilities and services. Then we went back to the GSA for the official tour of the famous building designed by Charles Rennie MacKintosh.

The student docent that gave the tour was very informative and gave us different perspectives on the spaces that CRM designed within and some of the possible influences.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside. CRM was an amazing architect and artist. He had a unique eye and was quite ahead of his time.

Following the tour we heard a lecture on CRM in comparison to some other architects/designers/ artist of his time.

I enjoyed hearing the lecture form a local professor. You could tell he was very passionate about the subject and his accent was nice to listen too.

Sunday evening we had a group dinner at The Curler Rest in the West End (http://www.thecurlersrestglasgow.co.uk/). It was very tasty.

Here are some local fare pictures.

Cream Leeks

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Fish & Chips

 Sharing Board

I am starting to get tired and I still have sketching to do tonight. I will save the updates of Tuesdays tour for another time.

Good night.

Cheers ~ Becca

Inspiration

Shelly, Glasgow: Graphic & Interior Design

Yesterday (Monday), we toured the Glasgow School of Art building designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. No photography was allowed inside, but we were able to do some quick sketches! We will also have the opportunity to go back because it is just across the street!

We heard a lecture by Nicholas Oddy about his ideas involving Mackintosh and other designers. He presented great information about modernism and the aesthetes. Then, we walked through a tour of the library and our available resources there. They all seem so eager to help us!

We met with our groups to work on projects and the graphic designers sat down for a long night of logo design. The preliminaries are just about finished.

Today we met Joanna Martin from Graven Images. She gave us a wonderful presentation about the work they have accomplished. Beautiful interiors and graphics! We then toured a few of the hotels/bars that they have designed! This was an amazing way to see how to effectively design using local craftsmen, innovation, and careful study of the client and brand identity.

Arrival in Glasgow

Shelly, Glasgow: Graphic & Interior Design

We arrived/gathered today in Glasgow to beautiful sunshine! Moved into the Old School House building (part of the Glasgow School of Art where we are studying).

Took a walking tour of the city and looked at different inspirational buildings, including the one we will be designing as a boutique hotel and tea rooms.

Also enjoyed a lovely dinner as a group!

Becca, Interior Design, Paris June 21

Bonsoir MU,

It has been another exciting day in Paris. I went to bed early last night and still mannaged to sleep over 10 hrs. I wanted to get up at 8 ish to start my day, but that didn’t happen. However, it all worked out, I made it to the Palace of Versailles.

That’s me! Then here is another picture of the Chateau.

After standing in the line for 45 minutes to get in, here is the room that is worth the wait….

The Hall of Mirrors.  Did I mention all the people. Apparently, I was not the only one that wanted to see this place, ha.

Unfortunately, for me a storm was rolling in and they closed the gardens before I got to see them. Note to self: If you are ever here again see the gardens first in case it storms which happens a lot in Paris. This is the view of gardens that I caught from indoors.

After Versaille I headed back to Paris on the train.

I had a beverage at a restaurant facing the church I tried to show you yesterday.

What a nice surprise to find out that June 21st is the night of music in the city. Every corner or street I ventured down had a different band, and the sun did not go down til after 10PM!

I had dinner and listened to a jazz band at this place.

I ordered the duck with potatoes…yum.

I am going to go back outside and listen to the band across the street from my hotel.

My friend Sarah form class is visiting tomorrow. I think we are going to the Eiffel Tower. Au revoir for tonight.

Cheers ~ Becca