mid night rumblings

i always seem to work on my portfolios in the middle of the night.





blehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

also, byron burger is amazing. almost as good as:





just kidding, in and out is way overrated.

Day 27: AA Orientation and Such!

This posting will eventually be filled, before my alzheimer's-like memory begins to fade. Here are some random photos that might spark my memory (gracias a Alvaro para allowing me to steal some of his photos). Met a lot of ridiculously beautiful and intelligent people in the last week... I am humbled beyond belief. Tuesday will be the presentation for all Intermediate studios, with interviews for our top three choices on the day after. I have a strong hunch that my minimalist portfolio will need a gigantic overhaul, since my 2nd year formatting probably won't be as design-sexy as some of the work i've seen so far.... I was able to tour FAT Studios and Richard Rogers Studios during orientation. More on that later.

I threw a little party (OK- little by American standards, although the flat is partially flooded... 25-30ish people can be quite a bit) last Saturday, which turned out to be quite fun.

I'm off to Bologna, Italy on Saturday with my room mate Mond to visit Gabriela and company- I should be back on Sunday. I'm looking forward to show off my fluent Italian hand gestures.










Also, music video of the now... Bombay by El Guincho. Warning: there are surreal boobies in it. But god, the beat, the video... CANT STOP PLAYING IT

EL GUINCHO | Bombay from MGdM | Marc Gómez del Moral on Vimeo.

Day 14: Bethnal Green

So I am finally situated in my home for the next nine to twelve months. I live at 256A Bethnal Green Road in East London, nearby the famed Brick Lane. Brick Lane is home to some of the best Indian food in the UK, excellent clubs such at 93 Feet East (occupying an old brewery), and plenty of street vendors. Every single day, there is fresh produce right outside my door, so I literally do not need to move outside a blocks radius besides to get to school!

I have three room mates:

Mond (Australian)



Richard (from Hong Kong)




and Arnou (French, picture to be added soon).

On Saturday, we celebrated by going to this great Chinese food restaurant in China Town (Leicester Square) called Four Seasons. The roasted duck was absolutely delicious, and nearly dissolved before I even put it in my mouth. It was a well deserved treat, after a week of frantic flat searching and constant switching of room mates.

We explored Bethnal Green a bit on Sunday, and got some bagels (or rather, Beigels) at the oldest bagel shop in the UK, which is down the street from us. Only 80 pence for a bagel with cream cheese, beat that Noah's!








The area also has a lot of work by famous UK based graffiti artists, such as Bansky. I'll make sure to take a couple of photos when it is not so cloudy outside.

Saturday night, we went to Fabric, a popular Euro-house club in London. I heard around 20+ different languages being spoke out of around 1,000 clubbers, so international! It's also amazing that I have only met two other Americans so far, from what Tulane told me, it is very difficult to meet non-Americans in London. So much for that!


Monday is my first day of orientation at the AA. We have around ten to fifteen different tours we can go on, such as visting FAT Architects, Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers... or doing museum tours of the like. Hopefully I can book a spot to see Zaha Hadid's firm, apparently she is an interesting character.

Day 11: All moved in!

More details soon!

Day 6: Homelessness Continues!

So today Jorn and I continued our flat hunting, to a some what more successful end. We started the day at the Architectural Association, where we visited the accommodations department. It was quite helpful in focusing our efforts, and luckily we have several viewings booked for tomorrow. The Georgian architecture in Bedford Square, where the AA is located, really gave a regal feel to the whole school. I'm glad that this is where my studio will be for the next year!We went to Old Street and Bethnal Green today, where we literally went to over 15 letting agencies (crooks, the lot of them). Barbora, unfortunately, jumped ship as she was able to land a one bedroom in Camden. We will probably have two Australians living with us, as most of the flats we are looking at are 3-4 bedrooms. Jorn and I had an interesting cultural exchange via chicken burgers today...

Yes, that is mayo and chili sauce. It's not bad, actually. Although Jorn says "maybe why you don't have mayo on fries in the US is because your people are already fat..." touche.

In other news, the NY times had an interesting article about the East London area, where I hope to be living. Basically, all I have to say is....

LATFH.

Day 3 in London

So i'm terrible at this whole blogging thing, but i'm going to try my best to marginally chronicle my adventures here in the UK. I arrived September 1st, complete with two 50 pound bags and...

this 20 pound "mobile" desktop computer. It is liquid cooled (read: it has a radiator in it), so I wasn't too sure if TSA would let it on the plane. I got looks from everyone, and at least five or so witty remarks ("you know they have laptops nowadays..." "what the f*&$ is that?"). At SFO, the TSA agent pulled me aside and did a couple of tests on it (mostly swiping it with a cotton swab?). Sure enough, the computer made it on the plane, but that wasn't the end of it! Right before takeoff, several of the flight attendants pulled me aside and wanted me to explain what it was... and they were worried that it would turn on mid flight ("uh it needs a power supply"). All in all, the computer made it in one piece, but I haven't tried turning it on yet.

I flew Virgin Atlantic, quite possibly the most comfortable flight i've ever been on, but i'm used to Southwest so that's not saying too much. Nine hours later, I arrived in London!

I met a fellow Californian- Elizabeth- in the airport. She is studying abroad with Loyola Marymount and we had a beer at the O-Lounge while analyzing cultural differences (mostly about how everything in this country is 2x smaller, and apparently American accents are hard to decipher).

I'm currently in the process of trying to find a flat, which is proving to be difficult. Apparently, most land lords/letting agencies prefer that you have a UK bank account. Easy, right? Not when you need a permanent address to open a bank account. Luckily, I have two room mates, Jorn and Barbora, who are in the same boat. Barbora is a seasoned Londonite, and is spear heading the effort to find a flat in Camden that won't destroy our savings. We went to upwards of fifteen letting agencies, called 30+ numbers off gumtree, and wandered around Camden to no luck! In the end, we might have to forgo our fantasy of living in Camden in favor of somewhere in the East. It's a difficult choice!

I start school at the AA on the 20th, and I should be swamped with work afterwards. Hopefully this will be my longest submission, and most of my posts afterwards will be images (i'm too lazy right now to upload the 3-4 I have...)

EDIT: A photo with me, Jorn (the O in his name is actually crossed out), and some of his Aussie friends. I accidentally ordered a half pint at the Camden Head- this is apparently sacrilegious in London.

A typical club scene in London.