Walk #2

Considering we have chained a few days of hot summery weather I would like to resume the conversation about walks.

This is my second documented walk in London. It happened about a year ago at a time of self doubt and thoughts about the past. Starting at Highbury & Islington station with the idea of exploring Holloway road and fuelled by nostalgia I sought for places I had been to on my first visit around that area in autumn 2008.

Wandering about the Emirates Stadium I discovered Gillespie park, a very special little park which is also a nature reserve, right next to the train tracks. It stretches out from Arsenal station to Finsbury park and is divided in different areas including an Ecology centre, a little pond and a wind turbine.

The journey included some amateur train spotting at Drayton Park station, walking under a pedestrian only railway arch, and crossing the always comforting Highbury Fields finally ending up where it started.

The Circle's on Fire!

Last entry about the Barbican inspired works. This time it's the Circle, and he's hot! Yeah, because he's eaten a very spicy chilli and needs to drink water from the Thames to cool himself down. People at the Southbank must be freaking out to see such a massive creature looming over right across Waterloo bridge. Let's hope he won't have a nap anywhere near!

This set of works are done by combining photos and digital drawing.

Birds in the Attic

After chaos and destruction there comes the calm and where once was an aggressive building now there is good Shakespeare tower, happy and relaxed while singing to birds nested in the attic. To have birds in one's head is a Spanish saying referring to someone being dreamy, immature or mad. 

This is the second instalment of building creatures inspired by The Barbican Estate and plays around with the idea of an environmentally friendly architecture. Quite literally.

THE BARBICAN!

Back to drawing buildings. My friends know that for a long time I have wanted to do something on The Barbican, not quite finding out the way of being true to this fascinating building complex. After my first visit in autumn 2008, when I had recently arrived in London, it made me think of a sci-fi set up in which it was the only civilised remnant in a dystopian future London, like a sort of a Noah's ark of culture among devastation.

However, like the Transformers there's so much more than meets the eye, and so massive it is the Barbican is full of secrets, hidden spots and nooks, a bit of a metaphor of London itself. So after many times wandering around the estate in my spare time, I went back to basics and, drawing inspiration from early works, resumed with the idea of giant straight forward Modernist creatures, something in between monsters and robots wreaking havoc on London. No hidden meaning, just postmodernist fun.

THE BARBICAN! is one in a set of three postcards, with one of the towers portrayed as some sort of Brutalist Godzilla with a dangerous aversion to Classic architecture.

Secret London

I'm glad that last week I managed to submit my entry to the Secret London competition run by Serco and the AOI. Illustrating hidden aspects of the capital immediately appealed me and spent long time thinking about which part of London to focus on, finally deciding to do it on an area I know well, the East End.

An aspect of London that keeps surprising me is the amazing streets and squares that remain tucked away off main roads, that seem to be only for the locals' pleasure as someone non-familiar with the area would hardly venture off the high street unless I imagine to see a friend... In my case, a bike opened me this world that makes quite a contrast with my hometown Barcelona, where shops and bars are scattered about so it's easy to find oneself looking around deep parts of the district.

This illustration is a mind map of the East End as it is in my head after 3 years living and cycling about in Tower Hamlets. Stepney then, is in the centre of the map and around it different aspects of life in the area, covering past and present and focusing on culture, people and food. The colours in the background are those of the Underground lines that serve the area, mainly the Overground, DLR and the District and Central lines. Blue in the middle shows the area of influence of a bike with which one can go anywhere and is the healthier and greener way to enjoy the hidden gems of this rich and not so much known part of London.