Walkie Scorchie

Do you see that thing looming over the river? Does it get bigger as you look up? That's 20 Fenchurch Street the only skyscraper in London that does not block sunlight off the streets but reflects it back on several times brighter. Get your sunglasses. 

Designed by Rafael Viñoly, its unique shape stands out amongst the new breed of high rise that are sprouting over the City of London financial area. Apart from concerns raised by heritage groups about its visual impact on nearby historical sites it has also drawn mockery and been renamed the Walkie Talkie because of its distinctive shape. Some people even call it The Pint which I find even more appropriate.

But last summer the situation escalated when a car was found damaged in nearby street Eastcheap. Investigations followed and it was found that the reflection of sunlight on the Walkie Talkie's concave facade was generating a beam of light capable of frying an egg or even melting parts of a car's bodywork. This beam is 6 times brighter than direct sunlight shining onto the streets beneath! The media immediately came up with new names for the building, the most successful being 'Walkie Scorchie' or even better... 'Fryscraper'. Apparently, a building in Las Vegas by the same architect has a similar reflection problem and locals have dubbed it the 'Death Ray Hotel'. 

After reading the article in The Guardian, I could only see the Walkie Scorchie as a laser-equipped robot on a barbecue mission roasting cars and turning them into sausages. A bit like the War of the Worlds meets Bad Taste. However, there's more to that after what Viñoly himself saif after being questioned about the building's burning impulses. 

 "When I first came to London years ago, it wasn't like this. Now you have all these sunny days. So you should blame this thing on global warming too, right?"

Environmentalists have pointed out that the Walkie Scorchie's problem demonstrates the principles of solar power tower technology and would make a useful power source. Is the Walkie Scorchie in an environmental crusade for zapping cars off London streets then? After news like this, it definitely should. 

MediaCityUK

This is a collaboration I did a while ago for Soho-based animation studio Seed for a project proposal for MediaCityUK, a media village built on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal that hosts organisations like BBC or ITV. 

Originally part of the former Manchester Docks, MediaCityUK site Salford Quays became one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the UK after the dockyards closure in 1982. In a bold decentralisation move the BBC chose to relocate facilities from London to Northern England. This is only a small part of the ambitious Atlantic Gateway project that by 2030 sees Manchester and Liverpool linked in a strong 50 mile long trade corridor along the Ship Canal. 

For this job I was asked to produce a few quick visualisations of the site brought to life by the 'spirit of the city', imaginative and dynamic. Working straight onto image references I was given, I came up with an array of 'architectural fauna' born out of urban elements and buildings imbued with personality. These were to inspire 2D animations that would be combined with CG in the final product. 

These illustrations draw a great deal from Ralph Bakshi's work and Disney's Silly Symphonies. 

Tate Modern

Who does not remember the first visit to the renowned modern art museum standing at London's Bankside? Going into Tate Modern's turbine hall fills one with an awe similar to entering an ancient cathedral. In these places people once expressed deep unexplainable emotions towards God. But for the modern day man they have lost much of their original meaning. In a similar way, that's what I think when I go into the old Bankside Power Station, that is a symbol of a bygone age of industry and power. 

Times change. I become very aware of that when looking at buildings. And I love the idea of transforming architecture rather than destroying and rebuilding over it. An art gallery out of an oil-fired power station? Oh yes. Originally born out of the drawing board of Giles Gilbert Scott to supply London with electricity in 1952, the building mutated in the hands of architects firm Herzog & de Meuron and in 2000 became the iconic South London landmark we see today. 

This illustration carries on with the series of architectural creatures unleashed over London with dubious intentions. Once more I dwell on the relationship between this building and its opposite counterpart St Paul's Cathedral, one that highlights like any other the urban tension between North and South London. After polluting London for nearly thirty years, Tate Modern now goes 'action painting' actoss the Thames. The hipster looks because it's modern after all...

Website Redesign

I have redesigned my website to make it a bit more graphic and –hopefully– appealing. The major change is that I have stressed the difference between my architecture illustration work and commercial illustration commissions –like storyboards– by creating two distinct sections.

For the main menu illustration I wanted to make fun of this dichotomy by juxtaposing the old quarter of a city with the more modern sky-high financial districts that are blooming in European towns. They lie beyond the mountains at the opposite ends of one long and winding road. Here's the roll-over illustration.

The about page sees a house character powered by a human being running on a mechanism/hamster wheel. Better insulation makes it a lot hotter in the summer.

For the contact page I thought it could be fun literally putting in touch the unmistakable communication antennas seen in London and Barcelona; the BT Tower and Torre de Collserola respectively talking over an old-fashioned device such as two plastic cups linked by a cord.

The redesign is not over yet. There are still a couple of things I want to do –for example an illustrated commercial illustration menu page. But will get that done when I have more time.

In the index page there is Homie once again welcoming you.

See it all in action HERE

AOI Illustration Awards 2013 Shortlist

Good news! My work in Mark Magazine has been shortlisted for the 2013 AOI Illustration Awards in the Editorial – New Talent category. Luckily the creature didn't set his paw on Somerset House!

Title - The Circle!

Client - Frame Publishers

Published in Mark Magazine #39