Thom Will

Coalition Listen: It Costs To Be Austere

2011-05-04T15:24:00.003+01:00

HONG!

2011-04-02T22:42:00.001+01:00

Heygate Estate

2011-03-04T14:29:00.004Z

There is a brilliant article on the Heygate Estate and the demise of modernist social housing projects in today's Guardian (view here).

I am a big fan of architectural modernism. Although I worry about the consequences of the very middle class fascination with failed social housing projects and the patronising rhetoric of many commentators as to the reasons for their decline in popularity. I hate hearing people bang on about them as if we can't trust poor people to live together in a civilised manner. Or worse that it is a symptom of cursed design.

Ursula Stressned

2011-02-16T17:48:00.001Z

Spotted this brilliant Austrian campaign yesterday. Created by Copy_paste in Vienna as a tribute to Viennese nightlife & clubland, the video had 4/5000 hits when I looked yesterday and now has 28,000 and showing no sign of slowing down soon.

It caught my eye not only because of a few familiar faces from my time spent in Vienna in the summer (Including the lovely DJ personalities Edgar Retro & Tamara Mascara at around 0:38), but also because this is the sort of PR that I really admire (and is relevant to my dissertation currently in progress!).

The video is a remake of the track "Barbra Streisand" as you can see here:

Austrian politician and former MEP Ursula Stenzel as district chairwoman in Vienna's first district enforces a 4am curfew which effects much of the nightlife in the area. The reworking's message essentially being 'Ursula don't stress' and that Vienna does not need a curfew, but playing on both her name and the original track 'Barbra Streisand'. Clearly a lot of effort has gone into the making of it and it's paying off. A great use of visual art in the form of film in a campaign which could be used to lobby Stenzel's office on the issue of the curfew in the area.

I absolutely love Vienna. Might have to try visit again this summer.

Nice work Copy_paste!

Baptism

2011-02-08T11:08:00.001Z

The Lament for Icarus

2011-02-02T12:30:00.000Z

Herbert Draper
Oil on Canvas

I AM ELECTRIC

2011-01-31T19:26:00.003Z

‎'I am electric. I'm a computer. Don't attempt to keep no secrets from me. If you make me bored, I hit my keyboard. You'll be erased from my memory. AC/DC it's OK by me."

Form ever follows fuction

2011-01-22T23:54:00.002Z

A short but beautifully articulated quote from Louis H. Sullivan. Sullivan coined the term "form [ever] follows function" in his article 'The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered':

"Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight or the open apple blossom the toiling work horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law. Where function does not change form does not change. The granite rocks, the ever brooding hills, remain for ages; the lightning lives, comes into shape, and dies in a twinkling."

Feeling festive?

2010-12-15T13:09:00.004Z

No, me neither. Try this: my friend Chris Flatline's (Mild Peril) version of The Snowman

Mild Peril - "Snowman" by chrisflatline

http://chrisflatline.tumblr.com/

60's Bollywood

2010-12-03T16:38:00.002Z

Castle Greyskull

2010-09-26T23:35:00.011+01:00

Castle Greyskull is born, Stoke Newington. Click for high res.

Post-Endurance

2010-06-22T12:53:00.019+01:00

(Click to open full size!)

'Fish & Chips Twice Please' images

2010-06-12T22:47:00.003+01:00

Here's the images I'm exhibiting in Vienna over the next few months:

'Fish and Chips, Twice Please?!' Exhibition

2010-06-07T01:36:00.000+01:00

Had to post the amazing Austrian TV ad for the upcoming exhibition I've contributed to. The exhibition is showcasing British fashion designers and I am exhibiting a series of fashion images shot in Vienna.

Click here for what Dazed & Confused had to say

A night in London Fields

2010-06-07T00:46:00.005+01:00

Keeling House

2010-06-01T21:51:00.014+01:00

Forever an advocate of Modernism, I thought I'd post some photos of one of my favourite buildings, Keeling House. I recently wrote a paper about Keeling House and more generally the post-war British Modernist movement. Keeling House provides a striking metaphor for the transition from Modernism into Post-modernism in gentrified east London resulting from its renovations in the late 90's.

A little about the building:

Post-war Britain was financially ruined, physically exhausted, and facing a massive housing crisis. There was a need to rebuild. To British modernists, who had until then been unable to convince authorities that modernist housing schemes were the answer to the crisis, this was seen as an opportunity. Modernism offered cheaper more efficient means of satisfying a larger population and it was this utilitarian ideal that was attractive to a post-war government. Modernist housing projects began to appear across Britain distinguished by their “form follows function” design.

British modernist, Denys Lasdun, designed keeling House; a 15-storey council block in East London’s Bethnal Green in 1954. The building, which he called a ‘cluster block’, was completed in 1957 and consists of 4 residential towers connected to a central service tower. Lasdun wanted to build housing that encouraged a community spirit among its residents, something he believed was lacking in many previous modernist housing projects. The flats were built as maisonettes to reflect the form of traditional east London homes, and communal hanging gardens were provided in the hope that residents would interact with one another. Keeling house was the very first post-war modernist building listed for its architectural importance and is a good example of the brutalist style of Lasdun, which he later applied to other commissions such as the National Theatre.

23/5

2010-05-24T00:15:00.004+01:00

The sun was out.

Post Circus on Hackney rd.

2010-04-06T22:39:00.008+01:00

Endurance V1.3

2010-01-26T01:04:00.015Z

Shots from Endurance on Friday. Never fails. Never stop!
(Click on image to open high res version)

Friday Morning

2010-01-18T22:12:00.009Z

New Years

2010-01-17T23:56:00.011Z

Afterparty @ Annie's

2009-12-24T21:19:00.013Z

Click on the image to download the full size version!

Public Relation

2009-12-16T01:40:00.002Z

Two great loves. Public Relations & New Beat. P-P-P-P-Public-Relationnnn

Post Endurance & Trailer Trash @ Ellis'

2009-12-15T04:15:00.011Z

Inez

2009-12-14T05:19:00.002Z

I love this image <3 Found it on the net a while back, but can't remember where... Anyone know?

Post Juke Magazine Lauch

2009-12-02T01:00:00.018Z

Dom, Juliet, Tommy, Matthew, Feral, & I back at my house in Shoreditch after the Juke Magazine launch at the Proud Galleries in Camden. Funtimes! The out-takes are quite something.

Endurance!

2009-11-27T16:44:00.004Z

New Beat! Come to Endurance!

Best Before & After

2009-11-17T01:18:00.006Z

Matt, Feral & I's post-clubbing drunken dress-up. Goodtimes.

LCC Occupation

2009-11-10T18:35:00.012Z

16 Courses cut. 183 members of staff fired. With others driven to resignation.

London College of (non) Communication has failed its students, and is continuing to destroy its reputation through mismanagement and sheer incompetence. Final year student have been left without dissertation supervision, courses have no specialist provisions, and resources have been cut time and time again. After endless meeting with management failing to deliver results, student have decided to occupy the main lecture theater of the Elephant & Castle building. Currently, the second day of occupation and it is going strong.

I feel particularly strongly about these issues as I am a student on one of the worst affected courses, the BA Public Relations course. We have lost our highly respected head of course, and have today received the news that our only other specialist PR member of staff will leaving the college on the same day also.

The occupation will continue, and we hope to get some results. A lot of noise has been caused in industry about these issues and also in the mainstream media.

See the LCC Oppose blog: http://lccoppose.blogspot.com

Shalloween

2009-11-05T13:46:00.016Z

Some of my favorite people on my favorite day of the year, Halloween:

Deathlicious

2009-10-12T22:51:00.006+01:00

wowow Love this guys work. Roberlan Borges Paresqui:

(via: lovelessramblings)

Dawkins

2009-10-11T18:06:00.003+01:00

Bit of a Legend really...

Big ideas - Pub Philosophy

2009-10-01T15:16:00.005+01:00

I was introduced recently by Paul Simpson, Head of the Public Relations course at LCC, to a pub philosophy organisation known as Big Ideas. Have been along to two of their get together now and though I'd share it with you. The first debate was on the subject of rhetoric, at which Paul was the guest speaker. The the debate titled Is Rhetoric a Dirty Word? Was a fascinating exploration of the history of rhetoric, and its relevance and possible applications in the modern world.

On Tuesday night I went down to the Wheatsheaf Pub where most of their debates are held I believe, for a debate titled Are there risks we can't afford to take? Headed by Jonathan Wolff, Professor of Philosophy at University College London. This somewhat morbid debate really made me think about risk and the risks we take every day. The need to put a monetary value on these risks and the morality of this was what I found most interesting. Although through the course of the debate it became apparent that most would not pay to avoid most every day risks. I certainly wouldn't, I'd rather take my chances! In fact I more often than not spend my money on things which present more risk, its more fun that way. I'm no die hard thrill seeker however...

So, the next event is on Tuesday 27th October at 8pm @ The Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place. The title is Should All Politicians Be Utilitarians? Headed by John Pugh, Liberal Democrat MP. Highly recommend coming down for a few beers.

The Robots are Coming...

2009-09-30T16:26:00.005+01:00

As summer draws to a close I always find my slight obsession with Kraftwerk starts to resurface.

Spent a lot of time watching Kraftwerk concerts on youtube this week. In particular their gig at Manchester Velodrome in July. I don't think I've ever had such an intense feeling of missing out before! Kraftwerk in the centre of the velodrome and when they played Tour de France, four members of the men’s Olympic cycling team start cycling round the 250m illuminated track. ASIF I missed that.

Enjoy.

Shed loads of fun

2009-09-29T20:00:00.002+01:00

Wanted to post a few photos from this night out a couple of weeks ago. A few of us went down to the Batty Bass All Nighter. Pretty good night. Interesting venue, felt like a disused office more than a warehouse which is the usual for such events. The Martinez Brothers we're pretty impressive albeit not really my thing. Hannah Holland's set was pretty mint though as always.

Didn't take a vast amout of photos at Batty Bass. Got there a bit late and was past the point in the night when people are happy to be photographed. Everyone was too wasted / sweaty by this point. You can see the ones I did take here.

Went to a party in London Fields after and met some really lovely people: