Urban Walk – Second Side of the Triangle

Posted on 28/03/201824/03/2018 by Alastair

Looking at some of the patterns and features on my triangular urban walk this week, the second side of the triangle provided me with a number of everyday aspects of the city with, to me, points of visual interest. The angles and perspectives of architectural features, when looked at on their own and viewed without the context of the wider urban environment, become simply lines, shapes and patterns and can be seen as works of abstract art.

Those lines and shapes are reflected in the design of murals on the walls of the Elysium artists’ studios but opposite this is an apparent anomaly – Continue reading→

My Walk this Week – Architecture of An Urban Triangle

Posted on 26/03/201824/03/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week takes a look at and listen to a small urban triangle in Swansea, South Wales. I had been looked at the patterns of tower block scaffolding on a number of occasions in passing and thought it would be good to find the opportunity to take a closer look. So, duly prepared with my kit on a dry day I set out to explore both the scaffolding and other features of a small area that includes both the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and on the opposite side of the road, UWTSD Swansea College of Art.

There are three different eras of architectural design in this first stage (or side of the triangle) of my walk – the classical style of the Glynn Vivian and the College of Art, the more functional style of the early ’70s in the Oldway House tower block and the mixture of block and glass in the new entrance to the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.Continue reading→

What’s Left Behind – Jetsam and Ice

Posted on 09/03/201805/03/2018 by Alastair

In this my third and last post for my walk this week I am looking at some of what is left behind by both recent weather conditions and humans – the ice and jetsam scattered in the river and around the frozen woodland in a semi urban / industrial area.

The ice was not yet melting but had created strange bubble-like forms around old reeds at the river’s edge. Also at the edge of the Afon Llan was a collection of abandoned shopping trolleys tangled up with bits of wood swept downstream and caught up in their old metal mesh.Continue reading→

Alternative Details – Route Taken or Root Taken

Posted on 23/02/201819/02/2018 by Alastair

Having looked at some of the natural details on the short walk home with my niece (see previous post), we then started looking at some of the alternative details of our surroundings. The patterns created by dirt and moisture in the air and by the remains of roots on surfaces along our route.

This route took us past the dry crinkled textures of a brown beech hedge and onto a parking area where my niece said all she could see was cars and vans. So we took a closer lookContinue reading→

Still Travelling but Walking in Circles

Posted on 21/02/201819/02/2018 by Alastair

Still in York on my walk this week I found myself getting lost! I wasn’t actually lost in that I knew where I was, but I could not find the place I was looking for. I was full of a rotten cold and blame this for being unable to read the sat nav map I tried using on my phone to navigate on my walk to the required shop. I started out from the car park at Clifford’s Tower and passed by St. Mary’s church but then ended up going round and round in circles in the intricate layout of small central streets and passages.

I did a better job of finding my way to meet my niece and walk with her back to my parents’ house. While waiting I found the these gates of interest Continue reading→

Distant Horizon – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 23/12/201714/12/2017 by Alastair

In reviewing my walk this week I can see that I have posted another set of very dark images – it must be the time of year! The selected photos from my posts about this walk illustrate both the urban start in a multi-story carpark and the approaching light of dawn on the horizon in a windy Swansea Bay.

The soundscape for this week backs up the images as always but while it includes the sound of crashing waves towards the end, it does not include the noise pollution of street cleaners and leaf blowers being used at 6 AM. Continue reading→

Christmas Lights and Lights at Christmas

Posted on 20/12/201714/12/2017 by Alastair

My walk this week, being in an early morning urban landscape, remained dark almost to the end of the walk. Some of the Christmas lights of Swansea were to be seen creating abstract growth patterns against the night sky, but there were more abstract patterns than this to be seen in the lighting at this early hour.

Some long exposure and movement of the lens allowed the traffic to create light trails en route to daytime and the darkness in other areasContinue reading→

My Walk this Week – Early Bird

Posted on 18/12/201714/12/2017 by Alastair

My walk this weeks starts in a multi-storey carpark in town. By early I mean about 5.55 am, which is why I was surprised that the first sound I heard on getting out of my car in this empty urban space was an early bird chirruping away! It was still dark and I was in an environment as far from natural as possible.

It was interesting to experience the ambience and light (or lack of it) in this structure in its unusual empty state and I was able to check out the patterns revealed in the gloom. The background soundContinue reading→

Category Archives: Urban