OSA Magazine Volume 4 Issue 9 | December 2017 sample

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EDITORS

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Jing Zhi Tan Kate Ridgway Maria Mavrikou Maira Tzanidaki GRAPHIC EDITORS Robert Antony Cresswell Olivia Anderson Alexandra Lacatusu Katerina Katsimpra Lina Kadditi Daniel Lam EDITING TEAM Maria Christina Skiada Petya Tsokova Kerry Fox PRINTING GREENPRINT Room 1/OARC East Oxford Community Centre Princes Street OX4 1DD

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OxArch School of Architecture Student Society

editorial In our consumerist world, as well as the extension of our world virtually, where technology no longer remains a tool or reflection but a world we are learning to live in, the role of artifice is becoming an unavoidable, relevant debate. It has many different interpretation and meaning, both positive and negative, considering the acceptance of the idea. The digital age has brought the rise of the public façade, a tool to manipulate public perception and divert from the less perfect reality. In architecture we can see the rise of pastiche, a mimic of history and the crafts and values of the time. But what does this say about the world we live in? Is the modern world purely artifice or is there authenticity within this? The gazette has been divided into three parts, Terrestrial, Augmented and Virtual. All three fittingly embrace the differing perspectives our contributors have generously offered. Ranging from public entitlement to augmented space and architect’s role in virtual reality, use of automation and metaphorical coinage of architecture, to the capacity of social media, our contributors have populated the gazette with drawings such as collecting digital heritage, and photographies of the contemporary and vernacular in Dubai. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we did. This year marks yet another important progression for OSA as we have expanded our footprint to promoting sales at the RIBA Bookshop, presenting us with new challenges and opportunities for our magazine that is still experimenting and growing. We would like to thank the OSA team for their enduring dedication and passion despite their commitment to their degrees. OSA has come a long way since it was first established in 2014, and we hope that OSA will continue to be a platform where opinions, critiques, dialogues and debates amongst Brookes students, tutors and extensive contributors are heard. -The Editors


Terrestrial Plaster Pillars: Architecture / the Gold Standard Kerry Fox Dubai Diaries Daschle Pereira After Coral Emily Walsh Google Venice Christopher Delahunt Automation and the Future of Architecture Maria Christina Skiada

Augmented Augmented Vandals Jason Sayer Fake News, Real News: The Monster Under the Bed Charlotte Earnshaw Social Media: A self inflicted prison of fake reality or a source of comfort and connection? Maximilian Lewis and Maria Mavrikou Conscious in Artifice Construction Karl Kjelstrup-Johnson Robotic Humans Andy Evans

Virtual Architectural Monotony is the Artifice Owen Pearce Untitled-1.pdf Adam Barlow Studio Re-imagined Aikaterini Katsimpra World of Bios Alexandra Lacatusu #cleaneating/ poster Hannah Day



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Take a

forty minute drive out of Oxford to Buckingham, where I grew up, and you’ll find Stowe house. It’s a stately home, set in a Capability Brown landscape, with a typical eighteenth century classical facade.

Plaster Pillars: Architecture / the Gold Standard by Kerry Fox

“Houses have come full circle, from ancestral estates guaranteeing future generations’ wealth, to a shallow status symbol, and back again to an allotment of space that holds money for the rich like a bank, with rent as interest on capital.”

It is not something, however, that I had much chance to enjoy during my childhood. For years on end, Stowe House was covered in scaffolding, undergoing repairs because it was never built to last. The colonnade facade was only painted plaster, fragile and flaking, not the solid stone it seemed to be. Unlike grand country houses before it, Stowe was built purely as a symbol of status, rather than to serve as a long-term repository of wealth. It was built regardless of its propensity to decay and interestingly, was likely paid for by something else that wasn’t all it seemed. Only a few decades before Stowe’s grand renovation England’s currency system underwent a major overhaul. Up until that point, money had held an intrinsic value. The metal that made up a coin gave real weight to its claim of value. For the richest in society, however, this system was becoming inconvenient, with large sums that could not easily be carried around for trade. Instead, the rich elite would deposit their wealth in a bank and be issued with a note; a promise that the bearer could redeem the amount deposited. This note could then be passed to another; a rudimentary form of paper currency. Over subsequent years, the notes evolved into a more fixed currency. This was rooted in faith; in trust that the banks would reimburse the owner of the note with the amount written on it, rather than in the value of the paper itself.

This lack of monetary value translated into the architecture of the time. Like Stowe House, many stately homes and interior renovations used cheaper materials and paintwork to emulate what once, in these buildings, would have been real. Expert craftsmen painted marble veins onto walls, in different colours to mimic different sources of the stone. The materials that made up a building began to lose their importance; the appearance became key. Never mind that the facade would crumble over time; like the paper of the new currency, there was a transience to architecture. The UK’s next big economic change came with Gordon Brown’s sale of government-owned gold, hundreds of years later in 1999. In that move, the currency was taken away from the ‘gold standard’; the promise that a bearer of a paper note could exchange it for the same value in gold. This meant that the value of the pound was no longer linked to the value of gold (a relatively stable commodity) and was instead tied to the UK’s economy. The economy has a much more flexible value than gold and so investors, who are used to a more steady currency perhaps felt the need to anchor their wealth to something more concrete. The subsequent high level of property investment since 2000 has helped create a dramatic increase in house prices around the UK. But why turn to property? Like Stowe House, all architecture will eventually degrade, losing value over time. Perhaps, because of the fluctuations of local currency on international markets, the value of land and bricks and mortar is seen as more dependable than a list of numbers at the end of a bank account. What we know for certain is that in cities such as London, large percentages of central areas remain unpopulated, despite a high residential density. Properties are bought and sometimes rented out as a buy-to-let cash cow, sometimes abandoned as a repository of wealth. The super-rich have returned to ideas found before the eighteenth century, of property as a way to store money. Houses have come full circle, from ancestral estates guaranteeing future generations’ wealth, to a shallow status symbol, and back again to an allotment of space that holds money for the rich like a bank, with rent as interest on capital.


More recently, there has been another trend in economics and in architecture. With the rise of bitcoin, another instance of investors looking for a more stable way to invest, there is a new emphasis on artificial currencies. With our increasingly globalised and virtual society, people are spending more and more time online, and they interact with virtual architecture by way of computer games. There is a new dynamic where, through online games, people buy and sell virtual property with virtual currency. These can sometimes be purchased with real money, at real exchange rates. This virtual overlap with the real world gives a

new value to what is actually only a series of electrical ones and zeros. Throughout history, architecture has gone through periods of fakery, of artifice, and of permanence. In fact, with the duality of virtual and real worlds, their simultaneous existence creates an interesting condition for architectural design. There is a place for permanence and stability alongside experimental, transient design. Through parametric design and new technologies, I look forward to seeing how these two states interact as time goes on.


DUbai diaries by Daschle Pereira

S tudent, Da schle Pereir a , takes a se cond look at hi s hometown of D uba i, di scover ing the arc hi tectural art ifi ce of thi s ci t y and the her i tage behind i t.

O rder in Chaos A lot of ro of top photography is taken on sk yscrap ers and shows the mo dern par t of Dubai. This photo was capture d on the ro of of a spice shop in the old par t of Dubai and shows another side of the fast-pa ce d cit y. Lo cation: Al Ras


T his photo essay is a chronic le de dicate d to my last summer in Dubai be fore I he a de d to Ox ford to pursue my degre e in archi te c ture. I ha d thre e months to comple te this proje c t ( I use d only an iPhone for all these photographs ), which took me all over Dubai and into some pla ces I ha d never visi te d be fore ; de spi te living there for sevente en years of my life. I focuse d on the jux taposi tion of modern, contemporar y archi te c ture in the old, tra di tional Arabian en vironment. Along the way I met several ea ger photographers and filmmakers who helpe d me wi th my proje c t and provide d a dvices I ne e de d. T his chronic le isn’t a finishe d pie ce but a work in progress ; one that will continue to grow ever y time I set foot in this beautiful ci t y.

S ymmetry It se eme d like ever y thing went wrong b efore we got to this sp ot. We got off at the wrong metro station, to ok one to o many wrong turns, forgot to take a copy of the p ermission slip and ne arly misse d this lo cation but when I ma de it and to ok this shot, it all se eme d wor th it. Lo cation: Dubai International Financial Centre


S neak- peak This photograph was taken during the unveiling of a new colle c tion by Adidas Middle East. Lo cation : Alserkal Avenue

L ook U p! What fe e ls and lo oks like an ancient Arabian house is a c tually a mo dern pie ce of archite c ture. Lo cation: Souq Al Bahar, Downtown Dubai

Phallus This photograph was taken the day af ter I finishe d my final high scho ol examinations. My friend ha d taken me along the waterfront and I was str uck by how p erfe c t the symmetr y of this tower was. Lo cation: Dubai Festival Cit y


S pli t Screen An example of how colour can make an other wise bland fa รงa de, lo ok interesting. Lo cation : Al Karama

Peeping Through The W indow A showcase of the historical par t of Dubai with some of its former landmarks in view. Lo cation: Al Se ef

Sands Of T ime Taken during a roa d trip. Lo cation: Ras Al Khaimah


N atural M irror I capture d this af ter se eing a similar photograph taken by Herald Herrera (Dubai base d photographer). Even though my snap was similar in many asp e c ts, the coloure d chairs a dd something e lse to the photograph. Lo cation: Souq Al Bahar, Downtown Dubai

T he Vani shing Point This shot was taken during the 2017 Dubai Instame et in a multi-storey car park. Lo cation : Al Ras


A hoy, Mates! The old par t of Dubai has so much hustle and bustle going on and this ship b eing loa de d up with go o ds is just one of the many things happ ening there. Lo cation : Al Ras

Water, Water Every where I came a cross this do ck yard while exploring with a couple of my friends. Lo cation: Al Ja daf Dr y do cks


O ut A nd A bout Shor tly af ter we to ok this photo, we got kicke d out of the sp ot as it was on top of an old spice shop. Lo cation: Al Ras

Jus t A nother Ques t ion Is this ar t? Is this archite c ture? Or is it just a sig nb oard? You de cide. Lo cation : Alserkal Avenue


A key takeaway from thi s p hoto essay i s that

th er e’s always mo r e t o a c i t y th an what m eets t h e e ye ; e s p e c i a l ly i n a ra p id ly de v el o p i n g c i t y l i k e D u b a i. T he se cret lies in look ing beyond the art ifi ce and seek in g real gems of c ulture and her i tage that cannot be re p licated elsewhere.

T hink Different This photo is all ab out lo oking at things from a different p ersp e c tive. On another note, my ne ck was sore b e cause I ha d to lo ok up for ne arly five minutes to get a p erfe c t shot of the hote l. Lo cation: Ra disson Blu Hote l, Dubai Deira Cre ek


After coral Emily Walsh

Anthropocene is a word first used by the scientists Crutzen and Stoermer in 2000. The literal meaning of the word is ‘the recent age of man’ (Wakefield, 2014, p.450) and it is used to describe the new geological period being created by the human impact on earth.

Since 1950, there has been an extreme change in the climate and natural environment, due to human activity. The current geological epoch is the Holocene, which is defined by the stable climate since the last ice age, lasting 12,000 years. It is argued that the Anthropocene began in 1950 and will be defined by the nuclear material found in this layer. Since 1950, there has been an extreme change in the climate and natural environment, due to human activity. Consequently, this is considered as the beginning of the new epoch. (Carrington, 2016) Ideas of the Anthropocene are quickly gaining acceptance, however there are many debates as to what this means for humanity. This geological layer will show a merging of humans with their natural environment, with human and natural history indistinguishable (Morton, 2010). Some believe that the ‘Anthropocene signifies “the end of man”- or at least sedimented definition of humanity all together’ (Yusoff, cited in Johnson and Morehouse, 2014, p.440). However, it could mean the eventual self-destruction of humanity or ‘the blurring of social and physical boundaries’ (Johnson and Morehouse, 2014, p. 440) of society and the natural world. The objective of Bleached is to understand how the Anthropocene will affect architecture and potentially the architect’s new role within it. Fiction is a way for architects to look at the extreme scenarios which could be the potential future of this new epoch.

Rising sea temperature is causing the coral to bleach and eventually crumble. This is not a natural event, but caused by humanity’s influence of the climate


In the Anthropocene, we are always already living in the aftermath of the event. The delayed dynamics of climate change guarantee that the actions of previous generations have committed us to unavoidable environmental changes, eliminating once and for all the notion of a pristine Nature to which it might be possible to return. (Lehman and Nelson, 2014) ‘It’s not too late for coral reefs… indeed, for many other ecosystems that are facing challenges from climate change. It’s still possible to reduce the rate at which the climate is changing, and that’s within our power today.’ (Dr. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, cited in Orlowski, 07/2017)

The coral reef is an integral part of not only the ocean’s ecosystem but of our own food supply. Seafood provides 2.6 billion people with at least 20% of their average food intake (2006), and the sea is generally considered the last truly natural food source on the planet. The reef acts as a nursery for young fish and holds a disproportionate percentage of the ocean’s biodiversity. Unfortunately, coral is extremely sensitive to many man made changes in the climate. Rising sea temperature is causing the coral to bleach and eventually crumble. This is not a natural event, but caused by humanity’s influence of the climate (Orlowski, 07/2017).

‘I daresay that our grandchildren will never have the opportunity to see living coral’ (Cousteau et al, 1971, p.199)


Bleached (Speculative fiction) The sea licked my feet as I awoke. I began to look around, but my head was blurry and all I saw was the sea. Slowly I began to hear the sea and smell the salt. I was laying on the rocks covered in flotsam. I tried to remember how I had come to be laying here. I had left my home years ago in search of something to save us all. ‘Is that where I am now?’ I wondered. I suddenly felt I was being watched, so I sat up slowly. ‘Who are you?’ came a small voice from behind me. ‘I am… I am,’ I wasn’t sure who I was in this new world. I finally managed to mumble my name, but it meant nothing here. ‘I’m Miriam Lander, how did you get here?’ she asked urgently. ‘I’m not sure, because I don’t know where I am.’ ‘Good,’ she said triumphantly ‘That’s how we like it.’ She helped me to my bare feet, the dead white corals dug into my toes. There was so much to take in, but let me start with the island.

The aim of Bleached was to begin to imagine the consequences of the loss of the coral reef on humanity.


The Perchers We approached them by boat, despite it being a short journey, I felt like I had reached a new world. Perching like flamingos on spindly legs, the next community lived in the smog. Like ants, I could see tiny people carrying on with their lives above. They seem unaffected by the water below, but I would come to understand that their lives revolved around it and moved with its ever-changing tides. As we drew near, I saw a city of fish below the surface of the water. Their apocalypse home was like an underwater refugee camp, built with concrete made from the remains of the coral. This had been built by the Perchers between the legs of their homes. It enabled them to fish from high above without ever leaving their sanctuary. They were perfect to capture with nets, thrown out of the windows like curtains. The nets camouflaged much of the houses above as they blended in with the dirty smog. I travelled high above the waves and the ground below on a rope pulley system, usually used for emergencies and to haul in the heavy nets, laden with fish. The Perchers rarely came down from their ivory towers. Instead, a complex web of bridges and walkways connected the houses. The people in the perching homes had hope, they had started by raising their homes just a little bit. Each time the water got higher, they added to the legs. This made the houses wonky and precarious, but it is evidence of their hope. If they have a good winter and the water receded slightly, the houses would sneak closer to the floor again, only to be forcefully pushed back to the sky. Their hope is all that keeps the water from swallowing them up. I arrived onto one of the walkways, it felt rickety and temporary. The smog was dense up here and every person wore a mask. It made them seem inhuman. I was given a mask made of tattered clothing, once I had it on no one stared at me anymore. I walked across the bridge to one of the homes made of a white concrete. I was told it was made with the ground up remains of the coral. The concrete had no evidence of its coral origin, but it was teeming with human life like a reef of fish. ‘Everything made by man’s hand has a form, which must be either beautiful or ugly; beautiful if it is accordance to nature, and helps her; ugly if it is discordant with Nature, and thwarts her; it cannot be indifferent.’ (Morris, 1877). The aim of Bleached was to begin to imagine the consequences of the loss of the coral reef on humanity. However, with a new environment comes a new challenge for humanity to overcome. The new role of the Architect within the Anthropocene is unclear.


‘Google Venice’ by Christopher Delahunt

‘Google Venice’ by Christopher Delahunt, was completed as a thesis design project within unit 11 at the Bartlett School of Architecture for Smoutallen 16-17. It is a proposal to locate an internet physicalisation factory at the origin of a reimagined ‘Silicon Road’, a digital trade route, which collects forgotten digital cultural heritage and makes it tangible by backing the data up into physical formats. The final images of the scheme are designed as both an homage to Windows 95 era GeoCities GIFs and to specifically Venetian illuminated manuscripts of the late 15th century. Combining these distinct forms of graphic representation aimed to highlight our apathy for recent short-lived eras of art, especially the now ubiquitous graphical file-format the GIF, synonymous with long forgotten internet civilisations of the mid to late 1990s.





PEACE &


AUTOMATION AND THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE by Maria-Christina Skia da Illustration cre dits : Elliott J. G. Bishop MArch student in Bar t lett Scho ol of Archite c ture Proje c t: “ Foam Town”

ROBOTS



I

t is widely believed that automation will destroy the future of the architecture industry. We can already see how software technology has changed the role of the architect in the design process, as well as the effect technological advancements have had on the construction industry, with 3D printing becoming a more and more popular choice everyday. Like many other factors influential for the present and future of architecture, which are directly linked to issues of technology and economy, automation has both positive and negative effects for the profession. So why do we focus on the disadvantages and not on the advantages of this evolutionary change? Why do we not view it as a move towards a new era for architecture instead of a tool of its destruction? Considering this, let us take a quick journey on earth and beyond, in attempt to answer the questions and highlight some of the benefits that automation has to offer in future societies.

Space has always been the ‘final frontier’ and our ultimate goal for future expansion. However, architecture and construction could not take part in the exploration of other planets until some years ago, due to the need for a human physical presence and supervision on site. Today, architects from Foster+Partners are working on the Mars Habitat. This project concerns the construction of a modular habitat on Mars for NASA astronauts – a task which can be completed only with the help of 3D printing and robotics – new technologies which would of course require automation. Undoubtedly, the economic factors that have led up to this project cannot be neglected but neither can anyone question this achievement of architecture and what automation has to offer for the future through this practice. Back on planet Earth, Elliott Bishop, student at the Bartlett School of Architecture, presents a very interesting take on the benefits of automation in his fourth year final project, Foam Town, in Avila, Spain. The Foam Town is a complex of housing blocks, a design based on the assumption of the impending full automation of the production of building elements and the construction process. As Elliott describes it:

‘This housing complex offers low-income families a safe enclosed space in the style of a contemporary Spanish compound home developments and works by providing the local population with a digital kit of foam parts, which runs in tandem with the automated world of the near future (…) The material commodity of these blocks will act as a local currency, with its own specified value system depending on the structural function and material used.’ - Elliott Bishop


The designer’s ambition to work in parallel with the industry’s move towards automation delivers a thoughtful design that simultaneously respects the micro- and macro-scale context of a future society. It has near zero production costs and provides a handful of benefits for its end users. As demonstrated in both of these projects, technology can offer a wide range of options in the design, construction and use of buildings. While automation may have negative and positive effects on architecture, the profession - as one of the main forces shaping the environment we live in - must follow and build on the changes in our society. The intrusion of the technological advancements discussed here into architecture is unavoidable. In response, contemporary architects should make use of the innovations of this new era for the benefit of architecture – the architecture of tomorrow, where the designers, in cooperation with the investors, take advantage of automation, not only as an economic tool but as a methodology that benefits societies in both a regional and a worldwide context.

“So then why do we focus on the disadvantages and not on the advantages of this evolutionary change?”



Augmented Vandals

b y J a s o n S ay e r Illustration cre dits : Spa ce Popular Multidisciplinar y Desig n and Rese arch Proje c t: “ Kaz ymier zowsk y Reb ound ”

A v irtual Jeff Koons art work w a s va n d a l i z e d . S h o u l d w e c a r e ? The ‘hacked’ piece of va n d a l i s m r a i s e s q u e s t i o n s about the public’s right to a u g m e n t e d s pa c e Snapchat, Instagram, and Pokemon Go to name a few are applications almost everyone in the developed world will be familiar with. All three apps distort our view and understanding of the world around us by using some form of augmented reality (AR). They are capable of overlaying information onto our view of the world through our smartphone’s lens. Until very recently these applications had all been fun and games, when in October Snapchat placed Balloon Dog, a sculpture from American artist Jeff Koons, into New York’s Central Park. The sculpture in question wasn’t physical and appeared on Snapchat screens when users visited the geotagged area. There was no prior warning or user consultation. As a reaction to Koons’ Balloon Dog, Chilean artist Sebastian Errazuriz used virtual graffiti to vandalise the work. After attempting to submit his version to Snapchat and getting no response he placed the dog in the same geo-tagged location as Snapchat’s using his own app. The response gained significant traction online and it subsequently became just as important, if not more, to see the vandalised sculpture than Snapchat’s one. In doing this Errazuriz moved towards validating Snapchat’s augmented addition as belonging in the public realm. This is perhaps a sign of what is to come with technologies such as Snapchat being a social ‘must-have’; where more advertising becomes inevitable. In his book Advertising Outdoors: Watch this Space! David Bernstein comments that massive billboards are on the decline. One can hypothesize that the internet superhighway has usurped physical highways for advertising. Jean Luc Decaux, proprietor of almost all advertising billboards in Europe, has also quoted: “The three most important factors are location, location, location.”

Keiichi Matsuda Film Dire c tor Proje c t: “ Hyp er Re alit y ”



But why worry about location when there is an infinite virtual landscape at your disposal? Adverts have always been targeted, a factor that is heightened now with the advent of internet cookies. This only works when organisations choose to use services such as the dominant Google Adsense. This service implements usertracking cookies to show clients’ adverts to people that their algorithms determine are most likely to find them relevant. However, what happens when the echo chamber of social media is married with AR and virtual reality (VR) and even affects our everyday experience of reality? “The effects could be [in] the real world an amplification of what we’re seeing online,” argues architecture historian Owen Hopkins. Though media theorist Marshall McLuhan once declared “the medium is the message,” it is perhaps the printed and sign-based advertising industry where AR could be most disruptive. Today, companies cannot paint or post their adverts on any wall or billboard. Permission must be granted. With AR it is easy to see how advertisers could forgo this step and abuse their free reign. Who will have a say in this? Who will regulate the employment of AR? Indeed, this potential dark side to AR has already been explored. Japanese filmmaker Keiichi Matsuda’s Hyper-Reality in 2015 demonstrated how dangerous a dependency on AR could be, with supermarkets devoid of any meaningful physical design filled with blank spaces for AR to overlay. Likewise, AR is just as, if not more, intrusive and stressful on the street, bamboozling the protagonist of Matsuda’s short film with an overload of adverts and information.

W h o w i l l r e g u l at e t h e e m p l o y m e n t o f AR ?

Balancing communication in the architectural realm is tough. The “architecture of styles and signs is anti spatial; it is an architecture of communication over space,” noted Denise Scott-Brown and Robert Venturi in their study of Las Vegas. Today we guzzle information like never before. On average, we process the equivalent of 174 newspapers each day, more than four times the amount of information we digested 20 years ago. Another media theorist, Franco Berardi, believes such trends have “produced a saturation of human attention that has reached pathological levels.” Would we want to engage or even be able to process ARheavy spaces? “Humans have a tendency to steer clear of facts that would force their brains to work harder” remarks psychologist Daniel Kahneman.


“Do architects jus t become video game designers?”

Some aspects of AR in Matsuda’s Hyper-Reality, however, are genuinely beneficial – even life-saving. Red warning arrows indicate the path of oncoming vehicles. With this in mind, it’s easy to conceive how mapping systems, such as an advancement of Google Maps, could result in an easy-to-follow line being shown on the ground. Keeping with transport, AR could potentially aid the visually impaired too, letting them know if the right bus or train is approaching. This, however, relies on users implicitly trusting AR. Space Popular explores the positive possibilities of AR in architecture. Run by Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg from Sweden, the pair proposed what they call a “multidimensional memorial” for Cubryna Park in Warsaw, Poland. Called Kazymierzowsky Rebound, the project sees a basic steel structure act as a template for AR renditions of former and since destroyed versions of the Kazimierzowski Palace. With the steel aligned physically with recovered stone fragments of former palaces, the project, according to Hellberg, “links incredibly real to the wholly virtual.”

“This is good because perception of what is real and what is not facilitates a better understanding of place,” he told me. Hellberg, however, is also concerned with future architects using AR. “We will be hiring someone to amplify experiences of spaces through augmentation and most young architects will be designing virtual/ augmented enhancements,” he said. Hopkins viewed this pessimistically. “Do architects just become video game designers?” he asked during a conversation on the subject. Like Matsuda and Hopkins, Hellberg is also wary of AR’s darker prospects. “Local governments will need regulation for [AR] in the future because it will become intrusive,” Hellberg warned. “We need to create some sort of order. That will be the last phase of this digital revolution.” Errazuriz echoed this sentiment when he told the New York Times this year that the public should charge Snapchat for its use of “virtual public space.” Some may argue that Snapchat having AR autonomy isn’t a bad thing; you do choose to use the app after all. However, there is the possibility of it being bought out as Jeff Koons demonstrated. This doesn’t just pertain to advertising, it could be used for privacy as well. Say for example that you are at the Switch House’s viewing platform – the infamous Tate Modern extension that has residents in Neo-Bankside across the street complaining about nosey museum-goers peering into their homes. Who is to say Snapchat wouldn’t accept payment from those residents to add fake blinds or curtains for their apartments when Snapchatters point their lenses at them?


Building on this, it is not far-fetched to envision Privately Owned Augmented Public Spaces coming to fruition. Though only hypothetical, these are similar to Privately Owned Public Spaces, a phenomenon so common it has its own acronym: POPS. Indeed, POPS are a precedent worthwhile studying to imagine what ‘POAPS’ could be like. In New York and London, Business Improvement Districts – a form of POPS – adopt a “clean and safe” mantra. This can result in homeless people being hosed down at night to “move them on” or a ban on recreational activities such as rollerblading, skateboarding and cycling. Sometimes eating, drinking, photography, filming and political protest are banned too. Regarding the latter, Anna Minton, codirector of the University of East London’s MRes course, Reading the Neoliberal City, argues this makes the spaces undemocratic. With this in mind, the debate surrounding a right to augment gets further off the ground when we consider moving on from app-based AR which relies smartphones, to technology akin to Google Glass. Who is to say the owners of POPS will not edit out the homeless through their augmented view of the world? On a larger and more terrifying level, governments could even alter, or rather augment, the world to make it appear as if their rule is working and hide any dissident messages.

“Would we want to engage or even be able to process AR-heavy spaces?”

Thankfully, AR is not on a graphical level that means we cannot distinguish what is real and what is not, for now at least. It is this perhaps ‘faulty’ aspect that makes Space Popular’s Kazymierzowsky Rebound so effective. In a similar vein, Pokemon Go’s charm is in part down to its endearingly unrealistic graphics. With Pokemon Go, AR has been proven as a force for good as well. In an Australian study of the game, researchers found that AR added depth to player’s experience of public space, heightened their awareness of it, and encouraged exploration of urban areas. Moreover, the findings shed light on urban planning principles. Players, for example, preferred outside, well-lit, and walkable environments where they could see others around them. The researchers subsequently argued that AR games could supplement placemaking efforts and also supply frameworks for planners to observe how people move through space in real time. Taking a step back, let’s imagine AR could be so realistic it fools the human eye. Digital artist Philipp Schaerer hints at what this could be like in his Bildbauten series where he constructs fake buildings made from photographs of real buildings. The result is an array of fake buildings, essentially post-truth architecture, that are a critique on contemporary renderings that distort the relationship between image and architecture.


Belgian artist Filip Dujardin meanwhile, uses a similar technique, but creates images that are closer to the edge of plausibility. Dujardin’s surrealist explorations conjure a sense of misunderstanding. Whereas with Schaerer who we mistakenly believe, Dujardin infers a heuristic approach that relies on our knowledge of the built environment: be it established styles, conventions, and what we know or — at least what we think we know — is physically possible. If Schaerer and Dujardin tell us what a hyper-real virtual environment could look like, German artist Joseph Schulz perhaps best indicates what an AR environment could look like — with AR ‘switched off,’ or perhaps with a real life Adblocker on. Using post-production methods, Schulz essentially de-clutters and cleans up architecture, making “the real appear virtual.” For now, virtual artwork, face filters, and Pokemon are the only major forays into our augmented world. More, though, are on the horizon.

On a larger and more terrifying level, governments could even alter, or rather augment, the world to make it appear as if their rule is working and hide any dissident messages.


FAKE NEWS rEal nEws THE MONSTER UNDER THE BED by Charlotte Earnshaw


t

here is little doubt that in 50 years time, the events of 2016-17 will be written about in school history exams; students will debate and discuss [100 marks] the beliefs and values of the millions who chanted those words on the magical Brexit Bus or stood, shovels in hand, ready to build that wall. As a reflection of these turbulent times post-truth was decaled the word of the year, 2016: “post-truth (adj.): relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than emotional and personal belief.” It would unsurprising if the historians of the future dubbed this the posttruth era: a generation of brainless sheeps, gullible and naïve. But with university applications higher than ever before how can there be any fact behind this claim of ignorance? The days of switching on the radio or television set to receive the facts on the ten o’clock news are undeniably long gone; the era of the old school newspaper as a source of the indisputable truth has, too, passed. The integrity of journalists is being questioned more than ever, analysts have suggested that broadcasters and politicians are as guilty as all of us for embellishing stories, skewing facts and spreading misinformation online . Nonetheless, to declare there is no longer a thirst for the truth would be extreme. Instead, we should be asking, how it is possible for a whole generation to be so easily hoodwinked by fiction? To be led astray by big bad wolves and monsters under the bed as the stuff of fairy-tales, but who can we fault for our misconceptions of reality?

‘‘How it is possible for a wHole generation to be so easily hoodwinked by fiction? to be led astray by big bad wolves and monsters under tHe bed as tHe stuff of fairy-tales, but wHo can we fault for our misconceptions of reality?’’ A possible culprit can be the omnipresence of social media in our lives the 24 hour bombardment of news notifications and Google alerts at our fingertips. In modern day society, we are blitzed with announcements, updates and breaking news statements, with 67 percent internet users relying on Facebook and Twitter as a regular news source; we have, collectively, turned social media platforms into our main source of ‘the truth’. But how could this be possible when we are educated and we know, in the back of our minds, that social media is littered with nonsense. Yet we passively digest feeds of fake news - and somewhere along the way the lines have blurred, with the grey areas expanded and the waters muddied. The digital era has allowed for a dramatic change in the delivery of important news to occur. Over a short time span, we have become accustomed to receiving information instantly. We are no longer expected to think or analyse - and why would we, when we can simply click on the comments section and digest someone else’s opinion? However, the opinions that trend are usually the controversial ones - planted to provoke, rather than factually inform. Complicating the matter further, a recent BBC poll reveals that we do not necessarily believe every article we read, rather, we trust the opinion of our peers:


‘‘There is little doubt that in 50 years time, the events of 2016-17 will be written about in school history exams; students will debate and discuss [100 marks] the beliefs and values of the millions who chanted those words on the magical Brexit Bus or stood, shovels in hand, ready to build that wall.’’


THE LIKES, THE SHARES, THE RETWEETS - WHETHER GENUINE OR IRONIC - SPREAD THE INFORMATION FURTHER AND ADD GRAVITAS TO ARGUMENTS WE WOULD NORMALLY DISMISS AND QUESTION. “People are quicker to assume they are being lied to but less quick to assume people they agree with are lying, which is a dangerous tendency” Critics have highlighted the danger of social media in the hands of our world leaders, citing President Donald Trump’s behaviour as a prime example. Likened a child mid-“toddler tantrum”, the US President lashes and declares world-changing policies (in 140 characters or less) at the click of a button. The architecture of such platforms allows such messages to travel exponentially. The likes, the shares, the retweets - whether genuine or ironic - spread the information further and add gravitas to arguments we would normally dismiss and question. As an opinion begins to circulate and gather support, it is less likely to be challenged due to the perceived agreement from the number of interactions, thus generating further support and becoming less of an opinion and more of a fact. With that in mind, I struggle to believe that multiple populations can take tweets and throw away comments at face value without questioning the validity of the content on their screens. Not only has Trump recently declared himself the creator of the term fake news, but also used the popularisation of the term as a form of defence, suggesting that anti-Trump dispositions are fake. Former UK Prime minister, David Cameron, has retaliated to these allegations, stating that Trump has “misappropriated the term “fake news”, deflected attention away from real abuses of democracy.” This, therefore, suggests that as we become aware of the dangers of falsity in mainstream news reports, the term fake can be used as a form of defence or a weapon to discourage belief in controversial opinions, confusing the matter of truth even further.

Furthermore, politicians and journalists are not the only public figures who can sway opinions we can also analyse the behaviour of comedians and the contributing political satire to spreading “fake-ness”. Anyone who jests, challenges or ironically pulls at the facts from the common man in the pub to the comics - can be seen as a representative of an alternative public opinion. When these opinions are broadcasted and extended to large audiences they spread in the same way that “fake news” does through social avenues and word of mouth. But as with invalid news, opinions are not facts. By popularising opinions through humour, we risk adding validity to statements skewed with satire and thus, contorting personal beliefs to appear factual. Undeniably, journalist and authoritative speakers play not a small part in the spread of “fake news”, but to an equal extent, the popularisation of opinions via social media is also problematic where falsity is concerned. The issue arises when opinions are being interpreted as facts through a series of Chinese whispers, humorous remarks or blatant misinterpretations, supported by a general lack of willingness to question our peers. Regardless of truth, fact, validity or fiction, if an opinion is shared hundreds of thousands of times it will unavoidably gather an element of truth. If so many people are convinced by the realness of a statement, it is difficult to disprove - more dangerously, it is impossible to stop the momentum of such falsity gathers. Therefore, by following, re-tweeting, casually accepting and nonchalantly nodding along to opinions, we, as a society, adds realness to something altogether formed of fantasy.

We have given leeway to a monster when we should have known better: after all, monsters are fake!


Social Media: A self inflicted prison of fake reality or a source of comfort and connection? A debate between MArchD student, Maximilian Lewis and our own Social Media Editor, Maria Mavrikou Maximilian Lewis:

The greatest self of all exists in everyone every day. In today’s world it is an exasperated being, expressed falsely through social media, driven either to the point of madness or monotonous, melancholy state of being content. For all men, no matter how extravert, are all prisoners in their own skin, lacking the ability to truly express inner feelings. Stuck in that awkward place between thought and speech, ever wishing to break out and reveal oneself. The answer to this is love. Love, true love - how I understand it, is not selfless regard for someone other than yourself, but is the connection you have with an entity (normally and hopefully a human being) that can see through your false façade, into the inner you and agree joyously. This process exists without love or what you thought was love until something ugly is revealed. But anyway, back to the topic on hand; the barrier that exists between that point behind your eyes, where you are you, and where the rain hits, hides and conceals so much, and will do your entire life. The greatest self of all. ‘There I stood 200 pounds of bronze, whipcord and steel. I jack-knifed, dove, surfaced and thought of you…’ these words my father would send back to my mother and friends when on holiday. A false but inspiring statement of the bronze but slightly overweight man with his younger days behind him. Gone are the days of postcards painting mental pictures when we all now have social media instantly updating our global location and the level of happiness/interest we are engaged with. Don’t get me wrong - I love it, as I’m sure you do. The ability to share your experiences not just with the person next to you but with the world instantly gives you a sense of euphoria, a natural high which is, apart from maybe crack or smack (not that I know), the most addictive thing on the planet. I must know at least 5 massive addicts, as I’m sure you will or are yourself. The idea of turning the phone off actually produces some deep sense of nausea. Worst still is when you think you’ve lost it, unable to feel it in your jeans - instinctively you start to panic, grasping yourself, which in public places can get rather embarrassing.

Maria Mavrikou:

Social media is part of our daily lives whether we accept it or not. Although it is not without its issues, in my opinion it has always offered a source of comfort and connection, becoming a part of who I am as a person. I am blessed to have lived in three different countries before I was 20, but moving meant that I have left behind family and friends in three different countries. With friends now all over the world, social media helps me keep these relationships alive and current, a way to be personal and spontaneous. We have the luxury of staying connected to people and information from all over the world. It is not only easy to text anytime of the day but you can share any information you want within seconds and personally, facetime is my lifesaver - I cannot go a day without speaking to my family.


M.L:

M.M:

What’s more worrying is that other people just accept it as you start frantically feeling yourself, as this is now the normal response. So why is this? Apart from the obvious fact the device is expensive, the emotional response is the loss of connection. The isolation of being by yourself, just you against the world - sounds a little overdramatic? Probably, but there is definitely something to be said about this phenomenon, that you don’t feel quite yourself until you get the device back or replaced.

A fascinating study by the New York Times Consumer Insight Group has revealed the main reasons people share information on social media, including a desire to share valuable and entertaining content with others; to define themselves; to grow and nourish relationships and to get the word out about brands and causes they like or support. Social media is being used in ways that shape politics, business, world culture, education, careers, innovation, and more.

But anyway that was just to skim the surface of the modern day human condition. Being children of the millennial generation we have been brought up with the idea that you can do anything you put your mind to - ‘if there’s a will there’s a way’, as my father used to say. However, this also has given us a sense of entitlement and a numbing to emotional

A new study from Pew Research recently claims that 67 percent of people get their news from social media. Thanks to the internet, each person with marginal views can see that they are not alone. Like minded people can find each other, creating memes, publications, campaigns and virtual worlds. Without social media, social, ethical, environmental and political flaw would have minimal visibility.


M.L: values and conditions of the generation before. As we have all become connected virtually, have we lost physical connection? It really irritates me how online dating has taken off; no longer do people need the guts and gumption to go up to the cute market stall girl and ask for her number, they can sit there on the sofa with their cup of tea, swiping left and right, marking their star rating in society. Watch Black Mirror (S3E1) to fully understand the direction online dating might be headed. The flawed, fake flambunctious frame of reality we post of ourselves only aids this downwards spiral. The ability to instantly access people’s personal information. LinkedIn, which as an architecture student I can still get away with not having - thank god, is just step 1. Is it so ludicrous to say that soon this could be turned into a rating that, like a credit check before a loan at the bank, dictates what and where you are entitled to do and go in the urban realm… just a terrifying thought to those of us who live in organised mess. The most terrifying matter is that what we display about ourselves is bull-crap anyway. For all the people out there who have looked someone up online and then met them in person… has it ever been bang on the money? Have they ever been just like you imagined they would be? A resounding “No”, I’m sure, unless you’re a mystic or some sort of wizard. And even more than that is the person that is portrayed online just like that person underneath their skin, the actual fakeness being just what is displayed and performed face-to-face with other people because they believe this is the right way to behave as they move through life rather than just being themselves. How do you even gauge that on the narcissistic spectrum? Is it simpler just to say there are three versions of everyone; the virtual you, your projected personality and the inner you? The mind boggles. But so what - this realisation doesn’t help you understand life, no more than getting stoned, staring up at the stars and asking yourself “Why?” I guess the only reason is to reach that higher understanding; that the world is bigger than you and whatever bubble you have created.


M.M: Increased visibility of issues has shifted the balance of power from the hands of a few to the masses. By being in charge of social media for OSA magazine, I have had the opportunity and the magnitude of sharing information online. We are able to present to the world what our university has been producing and to connect with other architecture students around the world that have shown an interest in us. I have had the opportunity to talk to many of our guest lecturers, who have also engaged with our magazine and capitalised on our Instagram and blog as a way of expressing architectural opinions. Social media has offered a new medium to expand our magazine beyond the physical form. However, as presented, there are two sides to every story and the overuse or abuse of this media, but where do you set that boundary? When is it considered too much? Is the boundary same for everyone? For me posting about your private life should be for yourself and only for people you want to share this information with. It should be a way of free expression in a forum you choose, with no judgement. Social media is often viewed as a negative thing; however, we are in the 21st century and technology has been evolving and creating these new frontiers which are not disappearing anytime soon. With the typing of one word in a search engine, we are able to uncover a multitude of information on any topic we desire instantly. In Google Maps, we can literally be anywhere in the world through street view. Of course, it is not the same as reality, but just imagine life before it. As a young architect who frequently needs to do site analysis, not being able to access all these information with a click of a button would have been difficult and time consuming. We would have to travel and record all information on site and spend hours in a library. But now we are able to find any information within seconds.


Conscious in Artifice Construction by Karl Kje lstr up- J ohnson

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

S en s es do

not de ceive, only our p erception , our mental manifestation , our world cre ation . Scan b ey ond the surfa ce for tr ue refle c tion , into the de e p waters of conscious thought, b ey ond the rhetoric of ex p er t taught. Obser ve the glimpse of tr ue se lf sought.

Deve lop y our schema of understanding. Craf t the contours of this ar tifice ma p pi n g . A vehicle for communication a conscious notation , with inherit deformation and biase d manipulation . Implicit for orientation , awareness of the situation . Fo cus, bre ath , me ditate, a n a lys e b ey ond the sup erficial state. Investig ate, evaluate, harness fa culties to ag greg ate. Data, information the nex t generation re alit y by te. De cide what is ne cessar y to illustrate insight. 20/ 20 vision sate llite. There is no tr uth, only interpretation . Reference light with its quantum-par ticle refra c tion . Ac t b e critical , f o r mu l at e y our p osition . Le arning through rep etition . Question this complex system, b e Conscious in Ar tifice Constr uc tion . //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


T utor K arl Kjels trup-Johnson contem pl ates the sensory ba s i s of the DS 6 S tudio and the art ifi ce of percept ion.

Mind -Spa ce ( Kar l K je lstr up - J ohnson , 2002, Mind-Spa ce, Pen and Ink hand drawing)


Robotic Humans

b y A n d y E va n s

“With the advent of social media, we now have the ability to curate and publicize our own lives.”

With the advent of social media, we now have the ability to curate and publicize our own lives. Individuals experience their peers’ successes alone, channelled through Instagram filters. These images act as a comment on the artifice of this expression, the pursuit of a facade of perfection and the calculation that lies beneath. Is it futile to chase after this image of happiness?



“Is it futile to chase after this image of happiness?�



Architectural Monotony is the Artifice By Owen Pearce

Human Life is Interaction Human life is interaction, for which architecture has long set the stage. The city remains the arrangement for realising this element of human nature. Membership of a social network has been imperative and essential for survival throughout human evolution. Architects provide the physical environment for the social interactions that comprise these networks. However, today, information technology allows people to interact remotely, asynchronously, and indirectly. This has created a new virtual place, superseding the idea of a traditional physical interaction. These two modes of interaction overlap, as many of our virtual friends are also real friends, however the time and effort we put into our virtual worlds limit the time to connect, and in particular the time available to communicate on a deeper level within our real world. A recent study found that while empathy can be expressed in the virtual world, it is only one-sixth as effective in making the recipient feel socially supported compared with empathy proffered in the real world. A Hug means six times more than an emoji. This is the Economy of Presence.

The Economy of Presence is a scale comparing the quality of interaction versus the cost. At the top, a physical meeting offers the highest quality of interaction but also costs the most in terms of money, time and space. At the low end, a text message offers the lowest quality of interaction but is also the cheapest (a text message produced 0.014 grams of Co2e compared to an email of 4g Co2e or 50 Co2e if it has a large attachment, a 1-minute mobile to mobile call produces 57g of Co2e. Lee,M (2010)). The various forms of digital communication are grouped in the lower percentile of the scale, with a large gap between physical interaction and video calling. This gap needs to be bridged to allow residents and workers to maintain far-flung relationships more effectively.


“A Hug means six times more than an emoji. This is the Economy of presence�

Current virtual interaction is far removed from the physical and there is a need for a more embodied virtual reality. The virtual environment wouldn’t replace physical interaction but given an evermore digital world and concerns of efficiency, there will be a need to design a virtual world that would satisfies deep human needs. A possibility is for a new virtual reality network interwoven with the physical city, linking individuals to improve the reading of body language in a digital conversation. A digital platform that can portray the complexity of human interaction, as well as a physical meeting, will reduce the Co2e emissions currently inherent in communicating.

A Need for a New Reality The homophly of humans will group individuals of similar interests, forming interaction communities, and these communities form a place for architectural experimentation and mental stimulation. The new digital inhabitants meander through the subdivisions of the network seeking new experiences and ambiences. They have the power to act upon the world, to transform it, recreate it. Without the passivity of tourists, and fully aware of their influence in doing this, they can make the desired changes without delay. Just like the artist, who with a handful of colours can create an infinite multiplicity of forms, contrasts and styles, the new digital residents can endlessly vary their environment, renew and adapt it by using their technical implements. This offers an opportunity to endlessly explore an ever-changing environment unlike any physical architecture. The physical built environment has become a place of inevitability, but will not be replaced entirely by the virtual.


The role of architects in the new virtual reality An emphasis on productivity and rationality within the building industry maximises efficiency, in the production of buildings as objects that become assembled from objects. The building of objects from objects approach is undeniably the cheapest and most efficient way to build physical buildings, but is this architecture that needs architects? Developers regularly choose to fall back on what’s safe, free market architecture principles push for the cheapest route, not necessarily the best. Globalisation and global wealth has come at a palpable cost to local value. The proliferating realms of the global economy appear built to serve capital before people. The cultural identities that we hope were once the ultimate ends of human endeavour have now been reduced to raw materials for the increase of abstract capital.

The efficiencies required by the building industry and the government are manifesting themselves as BIM requirements and policy, pushing the industry to save materials, cost and time during the construction of buildings. These improvements will help reduce the impact of the industry on the environment which must be seen as a positive. However, as standardisation becomes ever more widespread, the role of the majority of architects becomes questionable. Individuals of such high and lengthy training become little more the component assemblers. Developers will soon realise they are no longer needed and the middle ground consisting of architects will no longer be required. There will still be a place for the craftsman and the starchitect designing one-off commissions, but the main role will not be as we now know it.


The standardisation of the urban fabric may lead to the inhabitants searching for a new city-wide escapism. The woven virtual network that allows unprecedented ability to control and alter one’s environment could be the answer. Collaborations in the virtual world could bring together physical communities. But in the end, the design of technology cannot leave us as spectators and consumers, but must let us actively practice something, however humble.

Architects could be best placed to help facilitate this new realm. The company Improbable’s Server SpatialOS allows digital environments of previously unprecedented scale to be created. The design of them is an open opportunity for redundant architects in the physical world to design and build endlessly changing horizons and abandoned their inclination for monotonous security and adopt a creative lifestyle which may at first seem crazy, but once accustomed to such a life they will see its full meaning and beauty.


Untitled-1.pdf By Adam Barlow Type: architectural collage: Search. Delete: drawing. Type: section: Search. Scroll. Select image. Exit. Scroll. Delete. Select: conceptual (tab). Scroll. Click Backwards. Scroll. Scroll. Scroll. Scroll. Select image. View image. Right click. Save image as. Enter. Enter. Repeat and vary 16 times.


New. L.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ctrl+C. New. Crtl+V. L. Nudge. Repeat. New. Snaps off. 8>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Export Image File.


studio space re-imagined by Aikaterini Katsimpra Illustration cre dits : Aikaterini Katsimpra MArch student in Oxford Bro okes Scho ol of Archite c ture Proje c t : “ Studio Spa ce Re-imagine d ”

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his image was produced when asked to re-imagine how our studio space should or could be. In the drawing, the solid rectangular space begins to melt and transforms into something softer; now it begins to accommodate and respond to students’ emotions. The friendly robotic tentacles provide students assistance while they step in, to reassure their safety. There is a furry ball present that you can hug when you are feeling tender and loving, another ball to kick when you are feeling angry and a third ball to play with if feeling joyous. For the stressful times, there is a relaxation tree, present for meditative purposes, and last but not least, the furry box of shame for you to hide in if the tutorial didn’t work out that well that week.



WORLD OF BIOS alexandra lacatusu the architectural collage

A glimpse into the post-singularity future: the merge of humans, machines, architecture and intelligent biological matter.


#cleaneating

b y h a n n a h d ay

Instagram is the se lf- he lp b o ok for the mo dern age, the ultimate g uide to aspirational living. It ’s ke eping up with the J oneses with a ‘J ones’ filter. Ever y thing y ou se e b ey ond the bla ck mirror is a surgically curate d snapshot of exp erience, whether in the enviably se lf- assure d nihilism of a se lf-depricating se lfie, or the smug ness b ehind the ‘F YI’ of a strategically pla ce d # takemeba ck or # fromwherey oudratherb e.

The fa c t of the matter is– just like y ou – most p e ople are just tr y ing their b est. Tr y ing their b est to override the millions of messages, images, a ds and vide o we re ceive we ekly te lling us how we can con venient ly make ourse lves b etter p e ople. B ehind ever y # motivationmonday, # c le ane ating, valencia - tinde d smo othie b owl is an e qually fragile human b eing tr y ing their b est to navig ate this so cial standard he ll .

We are convince d that the world around us is pulsing with swathes of our p e ers having the time of their lives, a chieving their goals and ticking off their bucket lists we ekly, one bullet journal ge l p en sha de - in at a time.

So, do y ourse lf a favour and remind y ourse lf as of ten as p ossible that y our ‘b est se lf ’ is just who ever y ou are –swe ats, fails and all . Let y our finsta b e come y our rinsta, and if y ou have no ide a what that me ans then congratulations, y ou’re to o old for this s* * * to o.




CONTACT f i: t: w: e:

@OSAbrookes @OSAbrookes @OSA_Mag www.osamag.co.uk osazine@gmail.com

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