We welcomed our newest designer, Barnaby, to the team this month.
Barnaby joins us after completing his masters in Urban Design and International Planning at the University of Manchester, which he navigated while also working at the cosy Edinburgh Castle pub in Ancoats, Manchester.
As is Placemarque tradition, we’ve asked him to share a bit about what makes him tick. Here’s five minutes with Barnaby.
Tell us about your favourite…
…place
I love Vienna for its outstanding architecture on practically every street corner. But it doesn’t feel like a museum but a modern, engaging city. It’s got plenty of interesting developments from pedestrianising city streets to social housing schemes that feature massive parks.
As a bit of a transport nerd I also loved the options with trams and the U-Bahn to choose from.
…designer
My favourite designer is Jan Gehl, a Danish urbanist and architect. He was at the forefront of the current movement in urban design to see cities as a place for people and not cars. He emphasises the importance of streets as public places and not simply routes to get from A-B quickly, creating spaces that feel inviting and are primarily social spaces.
His work in Copenhagen is really inspirational and is one of the reasons why Copenhagen is consistently ranked as one of the most liveable cities in the world.
…object
That would probably be a Charli XCX poster that I managed to bag at one of her concerts. Charli holds a really important place for the LGBTQ community in general. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of a brat summer as I was writing my thesis…
What are some of your hobbies?
I love swimming and am also a keen reader. I set up a book club with friends to get us to engage with different works that we would never have considered before. This year I’ve discovered a love of Jane Austen after being traumatised by reading Pride and Prejudice at school.
What excites you about wayfinding?
I love understanding a place and discovering its history, culture and people. Wayfinding provides the chance to learn about somewhere and reflect that through maps and signage within the physical environment.
I see wayfinding as a graphical representation of that place and what makes it important, to visitors and locals alike.
What are you most looking forward to about your new position?
I’m really excited to be able to make maps. It has really developed in a passion of mine and I think working with Placemarque will be a perfect chance to engage with maps and places.
I’m looking forward to using the skills I learnt in my masters, too. We learnt about the importance of people focused, human scale design. Urban environments can be overwhelming at times and creating spaces that are legible and easy to use is important.
Tell us something we don’t know about you…
I am obsessed with cats. I had two growing up and have never lost my love for them. They’re all I see on Instagram.
