Alternative Olympic 2012 Logos by Daniel Eatock. Both alternative logos are a composite of two icons: the Olympic Rings, created in 1913 by Pierre de Coubertin and the RAF Roundel, associated with British pop art of the 1960s, appearing in paintings by Jasper Johns and Peter Blake.
The first alternative logo features equal sized rings and the second alternative logo features the five colored rings and the white space that separates them all with the same surface area.
Four years ago Gordon Brown wants to demolish Robin Hood Gardens – the brutalist council housing designed by Alison and Peter Smithson. Even a successful design competition could not spare its fate. Londonist updates us on the status of Robin Hood Gardens:
Opened in 1972, the estate, formed of two long concrete blocks designed by husband and wife team Alison and Peter Smithson (also responsible for the Economist building in Piccadilly) had become a cause célèbre in recent years, ever since tearing it down was first proposed in 2008. Architects Zaha Hadid and Richard Rogers, and former Guardian architecture critic Jonathan Glancey, joined a campaign by Building Design magazine to save the estate, and it was the subject of an exhibition. However, the decision not to award it listed status sounded the death knell.
Soon we will only have a Flickr set of photos to remember this strange, and alienating building.
Robin Hood 05.jpg, originally uploaded by joseph beuys hat
The top entries in BD and the Architecture Foundation’s ideas competition for Robin Hood Gardens show that inspired refurbishment of the estate can give it a new vibrancy while reaching the required density levels.
Check out Zoran Radivojevic’s design for Robin Hood Gardens in depth and the rest of the competition finalists and an interesting proposal from Super Spatial involving kinetic parasitic structures.
See Also:
Robin Hood Gardens, originally uploaded by Doilum
Apparently, Gordon Brown wants to demolish Robin Hood Gardens designed by Alison and Peter Smithson. Luckily, Building Design Magazine is rallying to its defense. For an excellent contextual explanation of Robin Hood Gardens, check out this rather long post by Dan Hill, Robin Hood Gardens is not the same as a digital model of Robin Hood Gardens.
London Heathrow’s Air traffic Control Center, originally uploaded by bigdave92289
For most of us just getting around the major subway systems of the world is difficult enough. What would a transit system look like if you were disabled or in a wheelchair? I became very curious in this and started to collect maps of different transit systems around the world.
Accessible Transit – London Underground Detail
And then it occurred to me: if maps virtually represent life, through convenient fictions, then why are there no maps for those who are disabled or require additional accessibility? Wouldn’t the mother with newborn in stroller need a different map then those without the need to lug all the accoutrement’s of childhood? Equally, those in a wheelchair require a map different then one which the walking can use. I decided to rectify the situation by editing the maps of major metropolitan transportation systems, in order to create a map for those who are not represented on the official map.
My first Accessible Transit Map was the London Underground map, which can be downloaded in the following versions:
As you can see from the detail below, those of you needing better accessibility have limited options; the DLR and the Jubilee Line are your best choices.
I realize that Transport for London has been making great strides in retrofitting many stations in order to comply with DDA requirements. TfL is doing what they can with hundreds of years old infrastructure and have an extensive transport accessibility system including Dial-a-Ride, which will pick up a disabled person and transport them. They are installing tactile warning surfaces on stairs and at the platform edge, and I’ve noticed the staff is generally helpful to those with disabilities.
But all of this doesn’t change the fact that maps have an intrinsic reality; a reality which those of us with proper ambulatory functions take for granted. Of course Transport for London won’t issue this map as an official Underground map because the map looks really, really bad (not to mention this would be really confusing for the Yank tourists). Not even half of the system’s tube stations – I count 82 out of 275 stations – are accessible.
Lest my reader believes I am picking on the fair city of London, be still. The New York City Subway maps is coming soon; it took longer because the graphics file is horrendously large and difficult to work with.
