Silhouettes
Travel & Photography Jess Dowson Travel & Photography Jess Dowson

Silhouettes

I have a feeling that I am going to be turning weekend photography trips to London into a thing.

I popped up yesterday with a specific theme in mind, to challenge myself, and to try and improve upon my usual “find an interesting geometric arrangement in a photo”. With that in mind, I sought to discover how the architecture of buildings is reflected in their silhouettes, especially in an urban/street context. This is partly because I do sometimes wonder whether we as architectural practitioners think about the effects of shadow aesthetics on the street setting, other than in a simple “rights of light” legality.

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Whats next?

Whats next?

I’ve not been able to prevent myself from drawing comparisons with the period of unemployment that I experienced as a university dropout, with the period of unemployment I am now experiencing as a M.Arch graduate. The former isn’t something I tend to speak of at length these days as it was bundled up with a bunch of other concerns that quite frankly are not the majority of people’s business. Why would I compare the two then? I was originally due to give a talk on my experiences as a student at Edinburgh (and subsequent life), so one thing led to another and I started to go down that particular rabbit hole, and here we are.

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Oslo Revisited
Travel & Photography Jess Dowson Travel & Photography Jess Dowson

Oslo Revisited

Last week I travelled to Oslo for an extended break, and similarly to the previous visit in 2018, I was blessed with some sunny weather (but not too hot!). During this trip, I managed to squeeze in two guided tours, a trip outside Oslo to the Kistefos Museum, a visit to a couple of galleries/museums in Oslo, along with visiting new areas of Oslo itself. At this point, I would not say that I have “completed” Oslo, but I think I’d visit Bergen & Trondheim in the future if I wanted a city break in Norway. One thing I definitely noticed during the trip - I’m not sure whether its a result of post-academic fatigue or something else - but I found it far more of a struggle to get my photographer’s eye into gear, so the photos may be of a lower quality than I’ve come to expect of myself. Despite that, I have uploaded a handful to the Oslo photography page that I feel are good enough for highlighting.

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M.Arch Project 04 - Final Crit
Architecture Masters Jess Dowson Architecture Masters Jess Dowson

M.Arch Project 04 - Final Crit

This project has been, in truth, a struggle, with issues including defining a suitable scope, let alone an anchor of interest. Despite that, we’re here, at the final critical review of the second year of the masters course, and quite possibly the last academic critical review that I’ll be facing (as a student). Frankly, if the last project of the M.Arch didn’t try to break you, as my classmates in undergrad would say (with perhaps an admittedly sardonic undertone) “are you even trying?”.

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M.Arch Project 04 - Interim Crit
Architecture Masters Jess Dowson Architecture Masters Jess Dowson

M.Arch Project 04 - Interim Crit

On Friday we had our interim crit for our final project. It may sound odd to say, but its all feeling very real at this point, that we only have 7 weeks until our final review, and we submit our portfolio the following week. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the guidance I received on Friday was incredibly helpful and helped me focus on what next steps need to be taken. Also, apologies if anyone at the pub last night was taken aback by my sudden silent departure - once my fatigue hits a certain level, my mood shifts like a circuit breaker and I just need to get the hell out.

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M.Arch Project 03 - Final Crit
Architecture Masters Jess Dowson Architecture Masters Jess Dowson

M.Arch Project 03 - Final Crit

Yesterday we had the final crit for our semester one project, and it was great to see more guest critics again, as well as several projects pinned up (concern regarding printing costs not withstanding). Fortunately, the feedback I received for the project thus far was incredibly positive, although the overriding advice at this stage was to hone in more on the micro level, the personal interactions that users of this particular infrastructure may experience at all levels (incorporating thoughts regarding greater accessibility as well).

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