Edinburgh, Enric Miralles, The World of the Others

London November 2011

We planned the trip to several cities in the United Kingdom. We traveled to Malaysia first before arrived at Stansted Airport. This airport is one of the magnificent works by Norman Foster that showed integrative architecture innovation. Foster and Partners-designed MEP structure was placed below the ground floor, so the idea opened the roof to be light and exposed. It was constructed as a modular umbrella.

This tree-like module is well integrated with the MEP system from water plumbing, HVAC, and electric piping. I saw the structure reminded me this approach of architecture over and over needs well-integrated engineering. In Indonesia, we don’t have this engineering ecosystem. Is it possible to exercise the lower technology using an empirical approach? This approach is a way to form new design thinking.

We arrived there at the nighttime, around 07.00 pm. I checked the public transport that there was no bus to the nearby hotel that We booked so we went there by black cab. We arrived at the hotel; the hotel is unique with its gable roof and modular structure. The bathroom was small but functional. We loved the linen because it’s hand-stitched. It looks like the owner put her heart into operating and designing this hotel. We were tired and slept that night. It was a good start, nice hotel, innovative airport, slept with crafty linen.

In the morning, we strolled to nearby lawns and areas and thinking of coming back for our last day in the United Kingdom. After that, we met the owner, she drove us to the nearby rail station. We commuted to London. I had booked several musical shows for Laurensia, such as Lion King, Billy Elliot, and Wicked the extraordinary green witch (the show that we always love).

We spent our day eating good food and meeting old friends. In the evening, finally I had a chance to meet with Jefferson and introduced Laurensia to him. He was my housemate in Stockwell. We were in the same group, same graduation show, same prayer group, and same house. We shared many good memories; he likes to cycle from office to studio, which I prefer walking. Sometimes he walks with me. We often had lunch together, English breakfast, chicken Tikka Masala, salad, Chinese food, junk food, or Indonesian food that I cooked for him.

Finally, he met Laurensia, and we talked about his experience in Foster and Partners. I shared some experiences in the garage studio. He was a great and passionate man in architecture. He dreamed about going back to the United States and shared his brother, who became coastal patrol. After two years, I Had not met him; he was still the same, like old Jefferson. I wish that I could visit him in his hometown, Connecticut.

We traveled to York, Durham, and Edinburgh. In York and Durham, there are many ruins, castles. I got a book by Lewis Mumford there. There are many exciting books in some old shophouses about the city and its theory and case studies. I found out that the trip was relieving and relaxing. Then we went to Edinburgh, it’s a beautiful city on hills and connected by Nelson monuments and castles on top of its hills.

There is Scottish Parliament below the hill at the corner designed by Enric Miralles. This design is entirely arbitrary; it consists of small parti like leaves flowing around the hall. It’s like forming a plan of a traditional British city. It Reminded me of vernacular shophouses in Cambridge or bath.

The massing has skylights like leaves. The space inside is bright; the design can be predicted by looking and entrances that the door connects the flow with feels like a jungle. The sequence ended in the parliament seatings. The parliament was damn beautiful with its industrial joineries; it has the craft of glue-laminated timber forming flying buttresses. The detail repeated the leaf forms. The seatings were designed with timber as based, and it’s integrated with its centrifugal setting.

I can feel the rebellion of forms in justifying flying canopy, a combination of dry and wet technique, and pattern facades like collisions of patterns. It’s interesting that somehow the pattern was disconnected, not in a predictable order. It’s actually the ability to combine stereotomic and tectonic. The tectonic is driven by multiple attempts of experimentation. And the stereotomic is about making a composition of natural form superimposed by axial lines that make specific shapes.

I can feel the rebellion of forms in justifying flying canopy, a combination of dry and wet technique, and pattern facades like collisions of patterns. It’s interesting that somehow the pattern was disconnected, not in a predictable order. It’s actually the ability to combine stereotomic and tectonic. The tectonic is driven by multiple attempts of experimentation. Meanwhile, the stereotomic is about making a form composition inspired by a natural shape. In the design, both two ways are superimposed by axial lines that make specific shapes.

I can interpret architecture from a regional point of view. It’s a combination of tangible and intangible aspects. Composition of plan that for the master plan is intangible. It’s like a work of art. But when you see the tectonic detail, how Miralles put the effort to crack down the form, space, and tectonic. It showed that this project is tangible.

I came out from this building wondering how regional, cultural, vernacular can be an inspiration for producing such avant-garde work that can symbolize Scottish.

Too bad I could not take many pictures, but here is the article was written by David Langdon. here 

Then, we came back to London. Every moment that income To London, I always checked in to British Museum. It’s a courtyard with the library at the center, covered by modular triangulate biophilic form. The unique thing is how the form flows to the channel. The water and it’s still In the module. To execute this kind of project, Foster needed to calculate the construction, details, integration to other engineers.

We came back to Stansted and stayed in the same small—hotel as on day one. We felt hungry and tried to find food, and we walked for several kilometers on foot just to explore. Finally, we found this fine dining far restaurant.

The food was excellent, the best food ever that I had tried in the United Kingdom. It reminds me of my mom’s cook in English way of cooking.

This trip really made me love Laurensia, the little details that she had. She took care of me and enjoyed the travel. We bought a scarf for our parents, some souvenirs. I bought her a flower just to show my respect and give love to her for her care. She prepared many souvenirs to give to our relatives. She would put a note and did checklists for that. She kept asking me, “What are other architecture that you want to see ?” She knew that I couldn’t bear to not explore architecture in this new place. Even though I had been to London and several cities that we went to. It’s still new, and there are many things to learn.

This trip opened up my eye that there was something that drove Miralles. I believe that the design approach from his transformational. Architect Must deal with the city, he was born, which is Barcelona, so. Next time the next journey will be about retracing the Biophilic experience in Barcelona.