I want to study architecture at MSA because of the eclectic mix of old and new architecture in the city and

the chance it offers

to study with students from around the world, all with their own different stylistic influences. Moreover the course’s position
in the Art school and the joint degree between UOM and MMU offers a unique exposure to varying design disciplines and
processes (such as print-making which I have grown to enjoy in art A level) and an exciting opportunity for experimentation
with media.

La Sagrada Familia’s size and ornate façade initially impressed me, however it was too much to take in from the street; the
detailed decoration was impossible to appreciate at the same time as the building’s huge scale. My admiration for the building
lies on the inside where the stained-glass windows allowed for natural light to fill the towering open space, creating the
celestial atmosphere a monumental cathedral needs. Whilst the workmanship was impressive, it was the simple geometric
shapes on the inside which struck me. This spacious interior seems even more freeing when compared to the city, where the
high buildings make the streets feel more enclosed. Indeed, the surrounding area was almost as interesting as the cathedral
itself; though a McDonald’s and Burger King looked out of place next to the building, there is, ironically, something more
honest about these consumerist food chains blatantly showing their newness, unlike the cathedral which, hosting some of the
oldest and newest construction, strives to imitate the past.

I admire Frank Lloyd Wright’s ability to draw inspiration from the environments he built in whilst not trying to recreate them.
The ‘Prairie’ school of architecture which he advocated, with its frequent use of wide stretching horizontals and low, flat roofs,
allowed his buildings to sprawl across and sink into their sites. I admire how, though Wright often used materials which
blended into, or even came from the site, he never used them to disguise the building. Whilst still maintaining the undeniable
characteristics of something manmade, with clinically straight lines and brickwork, Wright manages to design buildings which
genuinely ‘compliment’ their environments, instead of trying to hide buildings within them, celebrating both the building and
the land rather than prioritising one over the other.

I would like to visit the work of Le Corbusier in Chandigarh in person as, though the brutalist concrete buildings do not appeal
to my interest in the complementary relationship between building and site, the idea that they, and the city as a whole, are
perfectly designed for their purpose is an intriguing one. I think I can only assess how successfully Chandigarh and its
architecture functions for the individual by experiencing it myself.
Coloured pen drawing and embossment drawing from the presentation
of identity and consumerism in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
Collaged charcoal
and gouache
portrait looking at
obscured and
distorted identity.
A portrait in colour pastels on a plaster-cast wall cast using a silicon mould I made. The
slogan ‘Build a better you’ can be seen from only a side perspective, illustrating the
often hidden relationship between advertising and self-image.
Watercolour and coloured pencil drawing of sections of a
poster wall, thinking about how information is lost in the
negative space.
A mixed media collage
recreating of a section
of a public poster wall.
The wall was then re-
photographed with the
piece pasted onto it.
CMYK screen print
portraying different
levels of deception
in visual
advertising. Even
the original image
which is semi-
drawn and semi-
photographic is
deceptive in itself.
Building
details
looking
at light
and
texture.
Short project looking
at pollution of
beaches with plastics
and the relationship
between the artificial
and the natural.
Still life single
line drawings of
statues using
fine-liner,
watered-down
graphite and
markers.
Layered charcoal life drawing

Coloured pastel life drawing (15 minutes)

Playing with scale: transforming a small
object into a large charcoal drawing.
Design for a rain cover for a bench which would
allow vehicles to pass into a nearby car park
whilst fitting into the cramped surrounding area
in London.