About

The CITA BIM Gathering



This is especially for the viewers from Ireland! (Or whoever can travel to Ireland for the specific event)

I received an invite from the CITA BIM Group from twitter regarding the event they are hosting of an integrated 2 day BIM Conference Leveraging Building Information Modelling to Create Cultural and Lean Transformation of the AEC Sector as part of the Irish Government's 2013 Gathering Initiative on the 14th and the 15th of November


For more information regarding the gathering and how you can register if you are interested to attend visit their website: http://gathering.cita.ie



The Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Roher

The Barcelona Pavilion, originally named as the German Pavilion, was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as the face of Germany for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition. The pavilion was designed to represent the German section and would host King Alphonso XIII of Spain along with the German authorities.

The Barcelona Pavilion (reconstructed)
In Mies’ eyes, the pavilion was nothing more than a building, it wouldn’t host art or any sculptures inside it. The pavilion would be a place to escape from the exposition transforming the pavilion into a sculpture itself.

After the International Exhibition has closed, the pavilion was brought down in 1930. The Barcelona Pavilion has set a milestone not only for Mies’ career but also for the 20th century architecture.

Because of the significance of the Pavilion they decided to reconstruct the building. The pavilion was reconstructed in 1980 by Oriol Bohigas, the head of the Urban Planning Department at the Barcelona City Council. Architects Ignasi de Solá-Morales, Cristian Cirici and Fernando Ramos researched, designed and supervised the reconstruction of the pavilion. In 1986 the pavilion was finished and open in the same site as it was originally constructed. For the reconstruction of the pavilion there was used the exactly same materials that were originally used for the pavilion in 1929.

The pavilion’s design is based on a formulaic grid system developed by Mies that serves both as the patterning of the travertine pavers and also as an underlying framework that the wall systems work. The Barcelona Pavilion has a low horizontal orientation, which is established from the low flat roof that appears to cover both the interior as well as the exterior of the pavilion.

The low height of the building can be said that forces the visitors to focus their vision to adjust to the views framed by Mies. The walls that are offset inside of the pavilion encourages the movement of the visitors enabling them to walk through the pavilion at take them from the small openings to open spaces.

There are two pools in garden of the pavilion, one small and one bigger pool. Both of the pools are establishing the reflection of the light throughout the pavilion. The small pool is located in the rare side of the interior space, which helps the light to reflect inside the pavilion and illuminate on the marble. The larger pool stretches across the rest of the plinth, which compliments the volume.


The materials used for the pavilion are glass, chrome, steel and four different kind of marble: Roman travertine, green Alpine marble, ancient green marble from Greece and golden onyx from the Atlas Mountains.

A 3D model of the internal space of the Barcelona Pavilion showing the materials used for the pavilion including the marbles.


For more detailed information about the Barcelona Pavilion and Mies van der Rohe himself visit http://goo.gl/BiWL8p

London Development: The Pinnacle

The Pinnacle, or else called The Bishopsgate Tower, is a brand new development in central London and its construction continues until today, more specifically it's currently on hold. The architect of the project is Kohn Pedersen Fox and the developer is Real Estate AG, which is a fund management company.


It is located at 22-24 Bishopsgate in London (closest tube station: Aldgate). Its construction started in 2008 but since March 2012 it has been on hold to the point where only the concrete core of the first seven floors is completed, there is still a long way to go if you ask me, considering there will be 64 floors for this building.

Even though it is unknown when the construction of the building is going to be complete, The Pinnacle will be the tallest building in the area of Central London and the second tallest building in the UK and the EU with a height of 288 metres (tallest building will still be the London Shard with height of 310 metres).

Comparison of the high-rise buildings of London (From tallest to shortest)
As referred above, the Pinnacle is currently on hold. That is because of lack of additional funding and letting commitments. The current state of the building leaves its future in doubt and the project will be re-designed.

The names of the building kept changing from time to time. The original name of it is 'The Bishopsgate Tower', then they nicknamed the building to 'The Helter Sketler' because of its twisting design of its roof and the curling patterns in the façade. The building was later renamed to 'The Pinnacle' because in 2007 it was confirmed that it has been purchased Arab Investments

EC Harris Employment Event

On Tuesday, 8th of October there is going to be an event lecture taking place in London about construction careers for graduates. 

From this year EC Harris Employment started employing a lot of students who graduated with an Architectural Technology degree giving them an opportunity to get into the construction industry.

Kerry Snodden, Graduate Recruitment Coordinator for EC Harris, and Alex Roffery, will outline their Graduate, Year Out and Summer Placement Schemes, as well as providing guidance on the application and recruitment process.

The event will take place at London South Bank University, VG06, K2, Keyworth str., SE1 London.



It is a great opportunity for graduates and students who are looking for internship, like myself.

To attend the event you need to register online from the link provided below.
https://echarrisevent.eventbrite.co.uk/