2015 Creative Design and Art Award

We are thrilled to announce the 2015 recipient of the Ross Langdon Creative Design and Art Award is Brianna Jeanneret from Tasman High School.

Abigail presented the award to Brianna during the school's annual achievement recognition ceremony on the 16th December. For excelling across multiple creative areas (music, art, drama, film & literature) Brianna received:

The book, Architects' Houses: Twenty Australian Homes by Stephen Crafti. This book was chosen as it features the homes of both Drew Heath and Sam Marshall. Ross worked with Drew to finalise the design of his home which features in the book. Sam Marshall played a role in Ross' early career development in Sydney. Both Sam and Drew maintained friendships with Ross when he moved overseas to further his career.
A book voucher to value of $250
A cash voucher to the value of $200

The award is designed to encourage students to pursue their creative ambitions by aiding the purchase of resources, reference material and design/art supplies.

We wish Brianna all the best for the future. Congratulations!

Memorial installed

On the 19th September 2015, the 1.5 tonne completed sandstone sculpture was craned into it's final resting place with Ross. It was a nervous and sad day for us. The installation of Ross' headstone brings a renewed sense of loss and grief; this is final.

This memorial provides a site to visit, a tactile object to interact with and a place to contemplate. We hope the bird bath at the top of the sculpture will soon be visited by the many birds at the site.

On the two year marker of losing Ross, Elif and Baby, we installed a floral installation on, through, over and around the sculpture. Flowers are abundant this time of year in Australia (Spring) and it feels only right to celebrate their form, colour and scent.

"... the flowers may rise in Spring,
the trees may bud, the waters run,
the merry finches sing."

A huge thank-you to Norbert Villy for his immense skill, time and sensitivity in sculpting Ross' memorial. And to his partner, Gay Brench for her help and support throughout the process. This felt like an impossible task; we are grateful to you for helping us through it.

Hands on with the sandstone

During our recent visit to Ross' sculpture, Norbert was more than willing to share his great knowledge and passion for the trade and encouraged us all to get hands on with the sandstone. After a few tries, we soon realised how unforgiving working with stone can be. It was challenging and taxing on the body, but immensely satisfying to contribute to Ross' sculpture. For us Ross' way of working is at the heart of this project:

"we tailored and adapted our design techniques and construction techniques to the skills that we found and...worked with them to understand what they could do so that our designs could reflect that" Ross, 2012

Memorial Progress

The memorial design is gradually revealing itself under the careful but powerful process of removing the excess sandstone. With each strike of the hammer, chips and fine sandstone dust falls away and our sculpture takes form.

The design of the memorial was a collaborative process between our family. Some of the initial ideas including; a reference to the ceiling in Ross' Kyambura pavilion; the curve of Mount Wellington; and a connection with the natural environment have all been carried through to the final design. Gaudi is also referenced in the design, because he was a favourite architect for Ross when he was studying and later when he was living in Europe.

Linden (Ross' mother) worked on site at Kingston cemetery with clay to create a small model for Norbert to scale up into the memorial. The inclusion of a bird bath is to encourage the many small birds that live in the surrounding trees.

Norbert and his partner Gay Brench have been very generous in keeping us updated with photographs of the progress, seen below.

Sandstone

How does one design a monument for Ross, architect extraordinaire and humble generous human being?

Very early in the research process for a headstone we knew that a regular black or grey stone with gold writing would not suffice. Ross needs something unique that connects with the landscape. A site-specific sculpture: attracting the wildlife and gently weathering with exposure to the elements. Nestled below Mount Wellington and looking out across the grassy hills towards the blue ocean, a grand and yet understated sculpture for our Ross.

We’ve chosen sandstone.

Norbert Villy, a stonemason of French descent and living in beautiful Gardners Bay Tasmania, has begun work on the sculpture. The selected sandstone slab, a finely structured stone with consistent tone measuring 1400mmm x 1200mm x 500mm, has been delivered to Norbert’s property and carving has now begun. Norbert learnt his trade from his father and uses only traditional hand cutting tools. He is deeply passionate about creative sculpture in stone and has embraced this project with compassion and energy.

Stay tuned for updates on how the sculpture takes shape over the next five months.

Music

Ross enjoyed music. He worked and studied to music; always with his headphones on and focused on the designs in front of him. Or acting as the office DJ with the latest and greatest playlists. I have many albums and playlists recommended to me by Ross, as many of his friends, colleagues and family do.

After the event, we received the below note from a friend of Ross and Elif's in nairobi. Thanks for sharing Paul.

"Friends, when I got our landrover back from Westgate 10 days after what happened, this track came booming on: I mentioned to some of you it must have been the last thing Ross & Elif would have been playing just as they parked up and headed into the mall. It was on a USB stick, stuck into the stereo, of Elif's that I then gave to her mother. Have been meaning to share this for a while. Uplifting in its own special way.

Enjoy, friends, and share! Paul x"