The Architecture of the Guggenheim

I just came across some of my photographs from a trip to New York and I thought I would share :-). The two photographs seen here are taken at the Guggenheim Museum. It is such a beautiful building both aesthetically and functionally...

From its very beginnings the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has been a hub for new art and new ideas. The museum was designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to house an innovative collection of works in a unique environment. Today, the museum continues to be a landmark destination that attracts visitors from around the world. www.guggenheim.org/new-york

For photography usage - contact siobhan@siobhandoran.com

'The design of TOOTOOMOO'

I recently captured the newly opened and first Tootoomoo restaurant in Crouch end, London for architects JENNINGS\DESIGNSTUDIO. Brian Jennings, the practice principle of both their Dublin and London studios gives an insight into this very exciting and hugely enjoyable experience;

'The design of TOOTOOMOO' www.tootoomoo.co.uk

The core philosophy of TOOTOOMOO is fast casual pan asian dining, with healthy food made to order, based around an open visible central kitchen.  You can eat in, take out, or have your meal delivered.   There are separate retail, kitchen, preparation, seating and patio areas, and the first site is 12 Crouch End Hill, London which is approx. 700 sqft.

JENNINGS DESIGN STUDIO worked intensively with the clients to design a radical, innovative, and original concept born from this philosophy, and though it may look like it has just 'happened', in fact every single aspect has been meticulously considered.
We knew we wanted to create an authentic and theatrical pan asian street food experience that stimulates all of the senses, so we created the 'street' feel by using natural and reclaimed materials, making the best possible use of their natural properties.  Reuse and recycle were identified early as appropriate design themes to help create the street feel.

Food is at the heart of the TOOTOOMOO environment, and the attitude of the space is loose, eclectic and urban with untreated plasters, exposed services, reclaimed materials, and oiled natural timbers providing an unspoilt envelope for the kitchen and food to speak.  The open kitchen is a showcase, where selecting the ingredients and preparation of the dish is constantly on view.  All ingredients are displayed so your choice of food combinations is a self educating and engaging experience. Our seating arrangement invites you to take a perch and watch the process.   The transparency of the cooking process reflects the spirit of TOOTOOMOO and the eclectic urban asian surrounding promises to leave a lasting impression regardless of whether you sit in or take away.

For more design info - please contact;  
brian@jenningsdesignstudio.com 
www.jenningsdesignstudio.com
For viewing the entire shoot and photography usage;  
siobhan@siobhandoran.com

Warm and Happy wishes for 2013 - To start off 2013, I have selected a small preview form my shoot at the newly refurbished Charles Dickens Museum. Enjoy!

The architects’ Purcell UK has overseen the newly completed refurbishment and extension of the Charles Dickens Museum in London.

The Charles Dickens Museum, the author’s former Bloomsbury home, is once again open following a major investment that has seen the building transformed and doubled in size in Dickens’s bicentenary year.

The £3.1m Great Expectations project, funded substantially through the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), is the most significant legacy of Dickens’s bicentenary, securing the future of the building for generations to come and offering a brand new visitor experience for the 21st century. The re-opening of the Museum is a fitting finale to a year of worldwide Dickens celebrations.

As well as restoring the house at 48 Doughty Street – Dickens’s home at the start of his career and the birthplace of classics Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby – and opening the house’s attic and kitchen for the first time, the Museum has expanded into neighbouring 49 Doughty Street. The adjacent building has been converted into a state-of-the-art Visitor and Learning Centre with rooms available for formal and informal learning events, study and reading facilities.

The redevelopment project has given the Museum the once in a lifetime opportunity to conserve and improve the historic building at 48, restoring the Grade-I-listed house to its original early Victorian splendour with the help of heritage specialists and literary scholars.

For photography enquiries contact siobhan@siobhandoran.com

For Museum enquiries contact:The Charles Dickens Museum, 
48 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LX
T: +44(0)20 7405 2127 
E: info@dickensmuseum.com