For the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 67 the Geological Survey of Canada prepared a map of Canada (10 metres in width) on which Canada’s major geological formations were represented by their characteristic rocks. (Rock Map of Canada)
“The relationship between the two men was the most creative of its type in British architecture. Very quickly, Gandy understood Soane’s unique style of decoration and his experiments in space. He shared his fascination with the use of top-lighting and coloured glass, the “lumière mystérieuse” - Soane’s words - which cast a spell on the audience. After six months in the office Gandy painted a fantasy view of the Bank of England - Soane’s proudest work - in ruins. The City of London is imagined as a swampy wilderness, as desolate as the Roman Forum in the dark ages. It is the earliest example in Europe of a drawing in which an architect imagines a structure he has built as a ruin. At one level, it is a meditation on the future of the British Empire. Babylon and Memphis, Carthage, Athens, and Rome … why not London? But it also expressed Gandy’s insight into Soane’s mind.” [Guardian]
During the past 4 years, Chilean architect and photographer Francisco Ibáñez Hantke of Estudio Ibanez has put together a photo-series titled Non-Structures, which focuses on London’s urban regeneration and transformation and captures its various moments of ruins, planning, process, and eventually, complete architecture.
“I made this photo project by producing a series of imaginary pictures in which human beings are distractedly immersed in a reality that is likely to be possible, where the symbols of the modern civilization are inevitably swallowed by the spontaneous vegetation.”
