Creative Theories: Thinking and Making

Today we visited Wymering Manor. Wymering Manor is a grade two listed building located in Cosham, and is the oldest building within Portsmouth. The manor was built in 1581, with later additions in the 18th and 19th century.  (1)  The manors history is very detailed and complex, the first known record was in 1042 when it was owned by King Edward the Confessor. The manor has a lot of folklore and legends surrounding it, there are claims that the manor is heavily haunted.  (2)   When walking around the manor, it is apparent that the manor is very run down, as seen in the photos above, parts of the manor have become warped, collapsed, and started to cave inwards. This is due to the age of the manor and the deathwatch beetles that live and eat the wooden frame of the manor. Next, we picked a room to sit in and take part in reflective writing, I picked the morning room (a green room off to the side of the main reception room) ; I enjoy the quietness of the room. I would li...

In our first studio session, we took part in a drawing workshop; We each brought an object from home that had a personal meaning to us and placed them on a table together. We then drew our objects in a chosen medium, then passed our books to the left and drew someone else's object. After a few goes of this, we then 'zoomed out' and started drawing the surrounding area to our objects; the table, chairs, windows etc. We continued to pass our drawings to the left in this process.  We then further 'zoomed back' and started photocopying and taping paper together to expand our drawings, we started drawing the rest of the studio room and the views out side the windows. At the end of the studio session, we taped up our drawings and coincidentally made a collage out of our drawings.  I found this drawing workshop very useful as it helped us to get to know each other, as well as play around with different drawing mediums and ways to draw. I also found that it was good practic...

 The video below is the film that I was the prop and set designer for. It is called Pram Night, it is about two teachers, also lifelong friends, who stayed late after Prom to clean up and end up recollecting their past together. 

After a very warm welcome back to the University of Portsmouth and to the Eldon building, we started to reflect on our practice and understanding of interior architecture and design;  In my mind map, I explored the word 'interior' and the idea if that is restricted to only the literal interiors of a building, or if it can be understood in a more metaphorical sense. For example, does the word interior also apply to a city, to moving spaces such as vehicles, or even social networks? I believe that the word interior is not restricted in definition, but we as designers and architects subconsciously, or even consciously, restrict ourselves to how we understand what an interior is. We restrict ourselves and our designs for many reasons, this may be due to a site that is a protected historical building, or a client or brief is generally restrictive in what they want us to design. Personally, I believe that although an interior may be limited in terms of it being a fixed space, this sh...