Gordy's Life

74: Transfer to website From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (288 days old)

Please redirect to: www.willofmemory.comSaturday 20 June 2009The transfer to www.willofmemory.com is complete. Thursday 11th June, 2009The transfer to the website, at www.willofmemory.com, is nearing… more

73: Model From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (493 days old)

The following is a model summarising a chronology of the pathological course of post-traumatic stress disorder as applied to the aftermath of the First World War. … more

72: Additions From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (554 days old)

5 May 2008 I will be updating the entries over the coming months with some extra material, and will note these additions here. Entry 66: Image of Mies' black slab from 1919 added. 15 May Entry 2… more

71: Summary of contents From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (565 days old)

23 April 2008: To help navigate round the blogsite (particularly since it appears in reverse order), I am adding a short table of contents here. Blog number 1           Foreword 2           Ma… more

reversing blogs From willofmemory ^Pro in Help (578 days old)

I've entered 70 blogs in 'willofmemory' by now, and it's all gone very well. Except that now I'd like to have them in reverse order! Does anyone know how to do this? Thanks Rory… more

70: Concluding comments From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (629 days old)

Tuesday 19 February 2008 I have now uploaded the basic structure of the argument concerning the First World War and Sixties architecture and a broad selection of the supporting material. I will be … more

69: Echoes of war From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (634 days old)

Boomboom, Boomboom, Boomboom (1) Boom, Boom, Boom (2) Boom, boom, boom, boom Boom, boom, boom Boom, boom, boom, boom Boom, boom, boom (3) (1) Tristan Tzara, Dadaist manifesto, 1918 (Dada w… more

68: The rebirth of history From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (648 days old)

In 1931, Salvador Dali produced The Persistence of Memory in which slithery clocks drape themselves over surrealist forms. In the chronology I have suggested, this marks the moment of subduction, when… more

67: The death of memory From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (651 days old)

If the popularity of the black slab represents the last phase of the Modern Movement, a final, mournful expression to follow the catharsis of new brutalism, it follows that memory as motivation should… more

66: The will to accept From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (655 days old)

The sequence of phases that followed the armistice of 1918 is summarised below. It uses six sub-divisions of psychological states based on a simplified version of the phases of post-traumatic stress d… more

65: They think it's all over From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (658 days old)

The need to project the Western Front as memory-made-real across the London landscape seems to have reached a climax in the first half of the 1960s. The evidence of the five examples in the preceding … more

64: Unreal City From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (661 days old)

The preceding entries are the sum of the evidence as I have recorded, collated and structured  it up to now in terms of establishing a link between the British experience of the First World War a… more

63: Landscapes of war 5 - Gloucester, Kings Square From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (663 days old)

I have concentrated so far on sites in London, but I would briefly like to show that perceiving projected memories of the Western Front in the brutalist architecture of the Sixties need not be confine… more

62: Landscapes of war 4 - Lillington Gardens 3 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (665 days old)

As with the previous two examples, the Lillington Gardens estate in Pimlico has an evocative similarity with a trench map: Thiepval trench system, Somme       … more

61: Landscapes of war 4 - Lillington Gardens 2 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (667 days old)

The Lillington Gardens estate in Pimlico feels like a caveman's troglodyte world, full of dark passageways and tunnels leading round unknowable corners.A, particularly neat, German trench  &… more

60: Landscapes of war 4 - Lillington Gardens 1 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (668 days old)

The Lillington Gardens estate in Pimlico is a dense, cloistered development that, for me, resonates with the quasi-mythical landscape of the Western Front of 50 years previously. It was designed by… more

59: Landscapes of war 3 - Park Lane 3 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (670 days old)

As with the example of the Robin Hood Gardens estate in previous entries, perceiving the Park Lane traffic system as a projection of memory-images from 1914-18 can be suggested by using graphic rather… more

58: Landscapes of war 3 - Park Lane 2 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (672 days old)

A series of double images helps to suggest why memory-images of the First World War seem to be implicated in the Park Lane landscape (here restricted to images taken at Marble Arch as later renovation… more

57: Landscapes of war 3 - Park Lane traffic system From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (673 days old)

The Park Lane traffic system runs from Marble Arch in the north along Park Lane to Hyde Park Corner in the south. The need to record such a feature now is important here because Hyde Park Corner has a… more

56: Landscapes of war 2 - Robin Hood Gardens 5 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (675 days old)

By changing the form in which we perceive the Robin Hood Gardens estate, from photographic images to graphic illustration, an uncanny convergence becomes perceptible with one of the iconic battles of … more

55: Landscapes of war 2 - Robin Hood Gardens 4 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (676 days old)

More recent photographs of the Robin Hood Gardens estate in Poplar indicate its air of other-worldliness.From outside, the outer walls rear up with astonishing aggression (on first approaching the est… more

54: Landscapes of war 2 - Robin Hood Gardens 3 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (677 days old)

The decayed GLC map for visitors to the Robin Hood Gardens estate in Poplar summarises my thoughts on the site. Looking at the patterns made on the metal sign, it seems that the no-man's-land between … more

53: Landscapes of war 2 - Robin Hood Gardens 2 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (680 days old)

The Smithsons' Robin Hood Gardens estate in Poplar finally opened in 1972 and, despite praise from the architectural profession, it soon attracted criticism. Its reception wasn't helped by a shift in … more

52: Landscapes of war 2 - Robin Hood Gardens 1 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (682 days old)

[This section on Robin Hood Gardens will be presented over three entries. The first covers the plans and ideals behind  the estate. Then I will present the criticial reaction. Finally, I will sug… more

51: Landscapes of war 1 - Alexandra Road estate From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (694 days old)

Dating from the late 1960s, the Alexandra Road estate is the latest of the group of five sites I have chosen and was designed by the Architect's Department of Camden Borough. It places pedestrians at … more

50: A pause - synopsis From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (697 days old)

From the examples so far, it can be suggested that the layer of landscape laid down in the late Fifties and early Sixties, especially in terms of projects that achieved iconic architectural status, re… more

49: Mirror Images 17 - Blockhouses 2 From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (700 days old)

Goumier Farm blockhouse, Ypres                           &nbs… more

47: Mirror Images 15 - Bunkers From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (703 days old)

Fortified bunkers, often underground, provided protection for officers' quarters, stores and local headquarters.Bunker at Pontavert, near Reims         National… more

46: Mirror Images 14 - Duckboards From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (703 days old)

In wet weather, duckboards were essential for soldiers to cross battlefields, particularly at Passchendaele where regular, torrential downpours turned the Flanders clay into a quagmire. The mud on eit… more

45: Mirror Images 13 - Strategic Outcrops From willofmemory ^Pro in willofmemory (705 days old)

At some points along the Western Front small hillocks stood out, offering advantage to forces that held them. Such eminences became a crux of conflict, and a particularly prominent focus when battle c… more