The Good, the Urban, and the Suburban

London truly lives up to its reputation as a global city. Every day I have another glimpse of "British" culture at its best.

Within the past week, my friends and I have danced (Neville Staples from the Specials @ the famous Jazz Cafe), walked (all over London-- first with our studio professors, and secondly on our own as we've discovered routes to school, parks, markets, and our new favorite pubs), eaten (delicious curry at the Regent Street Indian Festival and fantastic cheese and olives at the Borough Market), ascended (up into the sky via the London Eye), purchased (flowers shaped like cabbages from a local vendor), hiked (in a random field surrounding Stonehenge), and run (to the Mac Store, after my computer died and I decided it was Powerbook or bust!)



At this point in our trip, architecture is something to be lived rather than studied. Every day provides an inevitable encounter with the architecture of past and present. While last Friday at Stonehenge was spent jumping chicken wire, dodging traffic, viewing burial hills, and avoiding tempermental sheep (all in the company of our fearless leader Jeremy, pictured above) today I was amazed to find Foster's iconic Gherkin poking its head between two eighteenth-century buildings and a multitude of market clothing racks boasting rugby accessories and polyester.

Thus far in studio, our professors have exposed us to a range of London's architecture and possibilities. While Professor Boyarsky's studio is examining potential "rooms" in and around the diverse Brick Lane neighborood of Eastern London, my studio has been asked to research and improve various stations along London's "Goblin Line"-- a branch of overground trains that provide access to and from many of London's ethnically diverse suburbs.



On my first solo site visit to my station assignment, Woodgrange Park, I was surprised to find that the main attraction adjacent to my site was a huge cemetery. Further investigation near Romford Road revealed a dismal strip of furniture vendors, beauty salons, ethnic restaurats, liberally discarded tv monitors, and rowhouses. After one additional day of stalking (or "documenting") and other architectural espionage, we will see what next week brings. I have big hopes.

All I can say is that it's week three and life in London is comfortable and in full swing. This is all the more apparent at a quick glance at our current home life: as I write this at 11 on a Sunday night, James continues to giggle (or should I say, creepily laugh) from behind his alienware-workstation we once called a dining room. Our refrigerator is stocked with goodies from the London Borough Market, including Mary's addition of crumpets and jam. Casey has managed to balance his new-found love for rugby with his ability to continue to stream American football via the internet. Chris has actively researched and devised a strategic calendar of live music events we could possibly attend during our time here.

And me... well, I am just happy I have a working computer so that I can write this blog.