These ink line drawings are part of my work studying classical art and architecture, in which I was particularly interested in the style of Piranesi. 

The column lined Rotunda was made using fineliner pens whereas the entrance to the National Gallery was completed using Indian ink and a dip pen with a brush used for the darkest shadows.

This page of my sketchbook was used to experiment with colour washes along with ink to see which looked most effective.

The ink depiction of a classically styled ruin, below, was used as the final piece in my AS Art coursework and in the same way that Piranesi created his Carceri d'Invenzione etchings, is a fictitious building that I developed through smaller experiments. This is a section of the final image which I felt had the most impact.

This model is a maquette I have recently made to experiment and test the principles of work by Marco Cianfanelli. He creates sculptures using abstract shapes that create a particular image from one vantage point by omission. My maquette is a preliminary model to be used to create a larger metal sculpture that will resemble a man’s face from a single perspective. This will be done using the negative shapes formed between the suspended strips of metal to line up in order to create a larger obscured image.

This computer model was made using Google SketchUp on my work experience. The Architect set me a personal project to complete in addition to the work I was doing with them. He asked me to design my ‘dream house’. This is the result of that project and despite it not being economically viable I still enjoyed designing it.

These pages of my sketchbook are the initial developments used to create a painting in a style that had both elements of Ben Johnson’s work as it involved steel and reflections within architecture, and elements of Brendon Neiland’s more colourful distorted reflections of buildings in windows. The above image shows my own trials at replicating their style. Below shows my working with pictures I took of the stairway in the Manchester Art Gallery on a visit there in preparation to create my own painting in this style.   

Above is a sketch of the Manhattan skyline viewed from Liberty Island, on a visit to New York in 2010.

This landscape sketch is of the Narrows Valley of Zion National Park, Utah which I visited last summer. The view is from the weeping gardens within the national park.

This sketch is of the interior of the main corridor in my school and was used as a study of quickly capturing a scene from life.

A building that I would like to visit is the British Museum. The recent addition to the 18th century building by Lord Norman Foster of a renovation of the original reading room rotunda and the new tessellated glass roof by Buro Happold, made the central courtyard within the building and internal courtyard space. This is a fantastic juxtaposition in my opinion and allows the new space to connect inside and out. This sketch is of the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court in pen to study the contrasts made both in tone between the new and old, and the simplicity of the lines and forms.

I have recently visited Antoni Gaudi’s La Pedrera in Barcelona. The building interested me due to its modernist eccentric form. The exterior is clad in stone blocks that are individually shaped to give the façade the appearance of movement. The windows, doors and Juliet balconies are intricately designed to replicate organic forms. Gaudi’s attention to all aspects of design, even in places that aren’t seen in full view from usual vantage points, is excellent. An example of this is the artistically designed chimneys which cover the rooftop terrace which cannot be seen from the street.  Using attention to detail in all aspects of design can be seen as frivolous, but I believe it ‘makes’ a building. The conventional apartment rooms demonstrate that extravagant and unusual shapes and designs within a building can still be functional.

I would probably say that Koen Olthuis is my favorite architect due to his innovative ideas involving sustainability within architecture. He has become the pioneer of floating architecture, creating the first architectural firm in the world exclusively dedicated to building on water. His work aims to reduce the environmental and social impacts a building has when it has outlived its initial purpose. By allowing buildings to be movable on water they can be added to an urban area when they are needed and then moved elsewhere when they have served their purpose. This makes living on water not only a desirable experience, but a positive financial and environmental move.

A work of architecture that I would like to experience is the Conservatory Complex at the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. The two cooled conservatories, one being the world’s largest columnless glasshouse, are a part of a sustainable project by the government to improve the quality of life for citizens by enhancing the city’s greenery. The glasshouses have self-supporting glass roofs in a natural organic curve that aim to promote the biodiversity within and collect rainwater which is channeled into a series of ‘supertrees’. These act as man-made trees by reducing emissions and creating energy, but also cool the glasshouses.

I would like to study architecture at MSA as I will be able to study a wide variety of subject matter.  In addition, MSA would allow me to explore the artistic side of architecture more than other universities. I also like the idea of the combination of the two institutions working together to allow a much wider access to resources and facilities. Living close to Manchester has enabled me to watch its architecture change whilst growing up and I love the juxtaposition of the older, industrial buildings within the city alongside the more modern designs which would be a fantastic environment to study architecture in.