Glasgow University – revisit (apparently you can see it during the day as well!)

Arriving at Speirs Wharf in daylight gave me the chance to catch a strange daylight version of the pic in this post from a few days ago.

I wanted this second view anyway, as I’d found it too hard to try to properly the various building seen in the foreground. As this is a fairly long lens shot, it flattens the perspective, making it really difficult to judge depth, and identify anything in aerial views.

I thought I gone back to the same spot I took the first pic from, but must have been wrong, and been a couple of metres to the side. While the main building was easy enough to match when I made the compare version used below, I found it impossible to align closer verticals, such as the motorway lighting column, which is well out of place.

I was so sure I’d stood in the same spot, it was only when I got frustrated with the match I realised I had missed my spot.

Surprises

I was surprised (shocked?) to see how large the variation in linearity/distortion between these two images was – cameras no carry tables of correction to correct for such things in lenses, and I had expected this to mean the two views would be very similar, but found that despite being shot with the same lens/camera (at max zoom, so no variation in that setting), and from what was virtually the same viewpoint, there were significant differences in the non-linearity across the field of view. While this is never going to be noticeable when just eyeballing one image at a time, when one is laid over the other, and reference points are matched, it becomes obvious that some points in-between are most definitely NOT in the same place.

Not so much a surprise, more of an unexpected confirmation, but the effects of light and shadow on building sides, walls, and roofs can dramatically change their appearance, and make them unrecognisable when trying to identify them in other pics of the same areas taken at different times, and make it almost impossible to find them in aerial views, where the lighting may be quite different.

This has made me appreciate how much help being able to use 3D, or just alternative viewing angles (in Google Earth or Street View), can be when trying to track down old/historic buildings can be.

Oh look… You can see Glasgow University

Having taken a night/low light pic/stitched panorama from Speirs Wharf, and been a little disappointed since there wasn’t really anything noteworthy to be seen, at least not when looking south, I later had a walk around the place, hoping to find something better.

I was not disappointed for a second time, and found a fairly attractive view of the lit spire of Glasgow University.

The only problem was its distance, meaning the desired view was a small(ish) part of the best view I could take at full zoom – not really a good idea for a night or low light shot that will need a relatively long exposure. Something further aggravated by my aversion to tripods and desire to work hand held. That said, random supports are NOT off the agenda, and there was a handy wrought iron fence.

Even so, although the camera assured me all was well, when I inspected the eight ‘identical’ pics I took, despite the fence support and vibration reduction, only ONE of them was not rendered useless do to small movements.

If you’re wondering, then no, there isn’t any more detail to be raised from those shadows – this view is AFTER that was done.

Much as I’d like to name the roofs seen in the foreground, other than the Hunterian Gallery part of the university building (the lump in the centre, with some lit windows to its right).

The tall light is probably on the M8, where it meets Great Western Road, but I’m just not sure as I can’t identify what looks like a line of tenement chimneys to the right.

This might merit a reshoot in daylight, to catch the various features in greater detail, and get a fix.

Glasgow University Rankine Building Sculpture

I suspect this falls into the category of “Seen so often it’s not even noticed”.

I’d entered the new ‘traffic free’ Kelvin Way when I happened to turn around and notice the large sculpture decorating one aspect of the University’s Rankine Building.

Although it’s a feature I’ve seen many times before, I’ve never really noticed it in any detail – never having even stopped to grab a pic in passing – and had no idea what it was about (fortunately, it has a plaque below).

I took a snap as nothing more than a memory jogger, intending to return with a decent camera for a proper pic. Of course, it’s rained since then, or at least made serious threats to, so I’ve not been out for a while.

I looked at the snap I’d grabbed, and found it to be underexposed, skewed, and far off vertical.

Challenge accepted!

It’s probably the first pic I’ve seriously reworked using the GIMP, and I wouldn’t have been able to carry out the free distortion/perspective correction and alignment needed with my usual editors. While they may be good, they don’t allow any changes outside the constraints they work within. In this case, the old one kept changing the aspect ratio of the original, making edits hard to complete without losing the original’s proportions.

I think the GIMP rescued this one, and saved the shot.

While I didn’t need the GIMP for the plaque, it needed some extensive retouching as the “Morons with Stickers” had decided it needed their rubbish stuck to it to ‘Make it Better’.

Fortunately, I was able to remove their additions, and restore the plaque to it original condition, with weathering.

Unfortunately, it’s one of those plaques which has a light relief engraving, making it difficult to read, especially in a flat photograph.

It’s a pity the whole text wasn’t given a black infill, like the title.

This can usually be cured by choosing a time when the subject is lit at an angle, but in the dark corner where this plaque reside, that’s not happening any time soon.

I put it through an edge detecting filter, which may make it a little more readable,

Footnote

As I was tweaking the sculpture image, I noticed a detail rising from the mush.

If you look at the area near the centre of each of the concrete cladding panels attached to the building, a light mark becomes apparent.

As this was not a high resolution original (worst camera) I couldn’t make out any detail in the small square that showed up when this was examined.

I will have to look closer next time I’m passing, but I do recall seeing yellow retroreflective survey targets attached to other parts of the building, near the bottom. I almost grabbed a pic, wish I had now. See this post for earlier observations.

I suspect these have been attached to each cladding panel, to allow their position to be monitored, and give an early indication of any movement, which may indicate they are coming loose and may fall off – not something that would be particularly popular with anyone passing below at the time.

Joseph Black Memorial

I’m almost ashamed to say I just saw the subject of this post for the first time recently.

However, in mitigation, it’s just occurred to me that I seldom walked in its location, University Place, off University Avenue, until the past few years, and it’s been less than obvious in that time, thanks to extensive building works which have been carried out around the whole area in those years. I think this is the first time I’ve ever walked here without road works, fences, stacks of building materials, and Portakabins littering the area.

This memorial to Joseph Black is mounted on the north wall of the fairly extensive Joseph Black Building, and is (VERY) roughly estimate to be about 10 m wide by 20 m high – it’s not small.

I’d planned to go back for a ‘proper’ pic, but this one from my worst camera came out well, so appears here.

A low-relief portrait memorial of Joseph Black was sculpted by Benno Schotz in 1953 and incorporated into the north wall. The building was renamed the Joseph Black Building in 1997. A pioneering Chemist and University lecturer from 1756-1766, he first identified carbon dioxide and carried out pioneering research on latent and specific heat.

Joseph Black Building

For anyone interested in computers, it seems this building accommodated the University’s second computer, an English Electric KDF9, one of nine noted to be in use in UK universities and technical colleges in 1967.

It had about 20,000 transistors, 192 kB of memory, and didn’t quite fit in the pocket, at a little over 4.7 (metric) tons.

The University’s first computer was a DEUCE, commissioned in 1957, installed in 1958, it ran for seven years. This was also the first electric computer at a Scottish University.

So, it seems a wide Glasgow University pic IS possible

I’ve tried taking a wide pic of Glasgow University in the past, but as locals will know, there isn’t much road width in front of the place, before it turns into a fairly steep hill.

It’s also quite tall with its tower, so even with a reasonable wide angle lens, you’re still going to be taking pics of bits, rather than the whole facade.

I happened to be walking along the lower part of that hill and glanced up as I passed the tower just as the flagpole lined up with its centre – and I thought I might as well try taking a series of pics, just to see if they would stitch together, and how bad the distortion might be on final stitch.

I got a surprise after doing the stitch – a near perfect panorama from the bits straight out of the camera, needing almost NO editing.

As usual, I made mistakes, such as not looking far enough left and right to capture the entire width of the building. But, to be fair, I only did this as a test, expecting the result to have some sort of fisheye type distortion, or worse.

Exposure’s really wrong too – the upper part of the tower should match the building below.

The interesting bit lies in the top right and left quarters – they didn’t even exist as I didn’t capture the sky as this was just a test. The software recreated them, filling in the blanks.

Missing bits can at least be fixed by nothing more than remembering to reshoot things if I’m back there, and remember.

Note

I pumped the images into what I refer to as my ‘old’ software, and it did exactly what I expected.

Not only did it distort the end result, as if it has been shot through a big magnifying glass, it even did weird stuff with the sky. Normally, it does a better job of matching edges (than the ‘new’ software), but this time it just made it look like someone had gone mad with some white and blue spray paint.

I will never understand this stuff fully, and why some pic sets produce weird effects, while others just work, and are near perfect.

Is this Glasgow University’s underworld portal?

Being on a fairly steep hillside means I can’t claim to have tripped over this one, but it was still a surprise, since I’ve wandered along the paths above and below many times, yet never noticed it.

This time I was walking along the grassy hillside looking for something else, when this pair of hatch covers/doors caught my attention.

I’ve no idea what they’re for but, despite their fairly substantial constriction, they can’t be for anything particularly sensitive. Despite having two sets of staples, the large pair of doors only has one padlock fitted, and it’s so tiny it barely even shows up in the pic (it’s the blob above the handles).

There’s nothing around, or any markings, to give a clue as to what’s behind those hatches, and I couldn’t hear anything. It’s often possible to hear sounds of water if such things belong to some sort of water company hardware, but unless it was in the past, and is now derelict and dead, that’s not the answer.

Seems odd to have a little hatch so close to a larger opening clearly intended for people to get through.

I didn’t find any on historic map records for the area of Gilmore Hill, and had the same result after digging up out of copyright OS maps of the hillside, which is depicted as just that – a plain hillside. The same is true of the current online OS offering.

Unexpected Glasgow University pic

Not something I would normally take a pic of, but as I was wandering the grounds of Glasgow University last night (or evening to be more accurate), it occurred to me just how long it had been since I haunted this area.

A little earlier I had been looking at a completed new building (should find out what it is)  in University Avenue, and a new pedestrian area. Last time I’d been there I had been watching modular sections of the building being hoist into place, and the pedestrian area had not even been started.

I hadn’t planned to be here, and just landed by accident as I took a detour through the grounds.

Then I noticed the lighting was a mix of the fading evening light, and the various floodlights which illuminate the building.

Glasgow University

That’s as much as I could catch in a single max width shot – I wasn’t going to play the panorama or stitching game this time, and I couldn’t stand any further back thanks to the big flagpole that my back was against.

Even though I deliberately chose to tilt the camera to create converging verticals, my normal habit of correcting such things is making my fingers twitch, as I still want to make the correction.

Pity about the van though – there was some wazzock who walked into the scene, fortunately at a point where I was able to exterminate him – but the van’s just too big to edit out.

There’s a guy rope smack on the centreline too.

I’m surprised at how light things look in this view, and the detail it managed to keep.

Later, when I was down in Kelvin Way, I spotted a chap taking a view of the same building with his phone. Obviously later and darker by then, when I peeped over his shoulder I was impressed by how bright the image was on his screen, but with the best will in the world, at that distance, he wasn’t going to get much detail of the whole facade.

It’s funny seeing places I used to wander around and grab pics without thinking – it’s all beginning to feel lie a very long time ago, and something that I ‘used to do’, but don’t any more.

Corrected bonus

So, although I didn’t tweak it, since it only took a moment, I did let an automated tool remove the convergence, just to see the difference, just to satisfy my curiosity.

Glasgow University Unconverged

I’m slightly surprised, I thought it would have looked ‘artificial’, and wrong (the procedure corrects for convergence, but trades this off with other errors it introduces).

Even so, I have to be boring and honest…

I STILL prefer the geometrically correct view.

Is this OCD or ADHD (or BOTH)?

Glasgow University sculpture oopsie at the School of Engineering

Well, THIS is irritating.

I took the pics below some time ago, but never got around to using them for various reasons.

However, I did play about with the images, to see if the perspective distortion could be fixed, and a few tweaks made to various image setting to bring out the surface details.

At the same time, I had a rummage through some online sculpture references and, at the time, found a few (and I really mean ‘a few’) listings which referred to this installation, and gave a few details.

Then, it seems I made the supreme ‘oopsie’ of not copying any of those scant details at the time, as I’ve just finished tweaking the pics – only to find that I don’t seem to be able to format ANY sort of search string that can find ANYTHING related to this sculpture.

Back then, I did manage to find the name of the artist, the meaning behind the elements (well, that at least is fairly obvious), and the date.

So, all I can do for now (unless anyone seeing this has details, and is kind enough to add them to the comments below) is include the pics, and tell you where to see this one for yourself.

Glasgow University School of Engineering Sculpture

The entrance to the building – the sculpture is on the gable end of the extension to the left of this doorway,

Glasgow University School of Engineering Entrance

I grabbed a couple of random oblique views, just to capture the scale of this thing, which is not so obvious when it’s seen in isolation.

If the perspective looks odd (around eye level, that just because the road passing beneath this subject is not level, but slopes up to the left.

Glasgow University Sculpture

I still can’t believe how searches made within two years of the first effort didn’t seem to be able to find anything about this, either as a text or an image search.

Granted I did have to dig around a bit before refining what I found back in 2019, but at least I found something.

The Mackintosh Lantern and Finial hidden away in the Hunterian Sculpture Courtyard

I’ve never managed to get around to posting about the Sculpture Courtyard at the Hunterian Art Gallery, and wonder how many have ever visited it, or even know about it?

It wasn’t publicised before the pandemic lockdowns, and I only found it by chance a few years ago, when I spotted someone coming IN the door that leads to the courtyard, and wondered what they had been looking at.

I was later intrigued (still post Covid days) to see that the gallery had provided a stand of umbrellas for visitors to use if they ventured into the courtyard. A nice touch – and very necessary at that time, as we were ‘enjoying’ one of those Scottish months when almost every day was a constant downpour.

This post is NOT actually about the courtyard, but the Mackintosh related artefact I discovered being stored there.

The plaque tells the story – 1973 means it would have been gone before I had a chance to see it.

Mackintosh Lantern and Finial Plaque

This shows the platform the lantern and finial are mounted on – I assumed the wrapping was in place to protect the item from the weather, or maybe to protect some restoration or repair work which was being carried out.

Mackintosh Lantern and Finial At Hunterian

 

This is just a bit closer in, hopefully showing a little more detail.

Mackintosh Lantern and Finial 1

 

And a shot from the other side, which is not so well wrapped, and shows more detail.

Mackintosh Lantern and Finial 2

It was nice to see something that could have been lost to demolition back in 1973, and I was able to ‘find’ in 2019.

Unfortunately, when I remembered the Sculpture Courtyard was there during a visit to the Art Gallery in 2020, which took place within days of the first lockdown and closure of public spaces, there was a sign on the Courtyard doors stating that the area was temporarily closed for maintenance.

I didn’t think I’d just be getting around to putting a post together over a year later, and that I what I thought might be a delay of a few weeks in taking another look would become quite so extended.

Distortion Note

I believe I may have made a mistake (OH NOES!) while processing the above pic.

The space constraints in the Courtyard meant holding the camera at odd angles to get everything in, and use a wide angle focal length, which can give various perspective distortions.

I thought the finial was being distorted – vertically stretched as a result of it falling towards the upper edge of the original framing – but I’m not so sure after looking at some other pics of the Courtyard showing other sculptures.

In the above final versions, I did edit the views so that the globe appeared spherical/round symmetrical, because it looked as if the pics had been stretched vertically, making everything look skinny and distinctly out of proportion. Normally, I’d revisit to get a definitive look at the original scene when I spot something like this, but that’s not happening any time soon, and it’s been too long since I took these pics for any chance of me remembering a detail such as this.

Although I’m NOT going to dig out the originals and reprocess them, it may be worth looking at the Lantern and Finial in the later post on the Courtyard, where it appears in the background.

The ouroboros hidden in Glasgow University

Kelvin Building Signs

I’ve kept the most interesting find from a wander I took around Glasgow University’s buildings a while a go.

I can recommend visiting places you may think you know well, and looking with new eyes, for details.

It’s all too easy to get used to places and just drift through without noticing anything because you’re not paying attention.

It’s not often I come to a complete stop, and look surprised when I see something, but I did just that when I spotted the carving below on the Kelvin Building (Physics and Astronomy).

I should add that this is one of those odd features which seems to be problematic regarding its colour rendering, and I’m not sure about the final version.

It was a horrible grey day when I took the pics, and the original (unprocessed) version came out as a hazy grey, almost a colourless monotone.

I let the various colour correction tools loose on it, and three different types all came up with the same final result – but I’m not convinced of the accuracy, but can’t be sure without a visit to confirm (or get another pic on a brighter day), which isn’t likely to happen any time soon. I just don’t recall seeing the colour variations on the day, but then again, the light was terrible, and I wasn’t really paying attention to that aspect of the view.

Kelvin Building Ouroboros

I had to take a second look, as my first impression was of some sort of all seeing eye representing the Illuminati or suchlike, but the second look confirmed the six pointed star in the middle of the triangle, and not an eye.

There are many interpretations of the symbology, but given that this is on a physics building, we’ll be going with the alchemical option and leaving the nonsensical options for another day.

I actually DID start to summarise some of the options for the meaning of the three symbols contained in the above work, but found it impossible to mention just one without appearing to be favouring it, and dismissing the others, Even though that wouldn’t have been my intent, there are so many nutjobs online who think THEIR interpretation is the one and only TRUE version, the chances of attracting them are just too high.

There are now PLENTY of online references where the various meaning of the six pointed star, triangle, and ouroboros (snake/serpent/dragon eating its own tail) can be found.

I’m sure many a happy hour can be passed working through them all 🙂

As noted when I started, this is on a building related to physics, or natural philosophy to give it an earlier name, and that means I’ll be sticking with alchemical connections.

I’m still more concerned with the weird/horrible effects the light had on the view on the day I happened to take this pic.

Since I can’t see me getting back for another look (quickly), I think I’ll try something I don’t really like doing, and turn this one into a black and white, or greyscale version, avoiding the issue altogether.

Glasgow University Ouroboros Greyscale

I HAVE to go back and take another pic, and take care to do it on a nice, bright, sunny day, even if only to satisfy my own curiosity, and work out if I’m imagining the colour problems, or if they’re real.

LED luminaire take on traditional styling

This pic comes from a couple of years ago, after a glance at what appeared to be a traditional light fitting on a wall in Glasgow University returned a view that was just ‘too shiny’.

A second glance revealed another oddity – apparently no lightbulb to be seen.

A closer look around the area showed the entire site had been retrofitted with LED luminaires, with flat LED panels mounted in the roof of a traditionally styled lantern.

In the past, I suspect the lantern would have been cast in a foundry, with decorative details moulded into the edges.

The modern interpretation of this lantern is made of folded sheet metal, and the flat surfaces are devoid of the decoration which would have been seen in Victorian times.

As can be seen, decoration is achieved by adding little details, so an effort has been made to avoid an overly plain appearance.

 

Glasgow University Exterior LED Luminaire

I had to get closer before the LED panel became obvious.

The ‘ROAD SIDE’ sticker is a nice touch, but should probably be removed once the thing is installed.

Note the missing decorative ball on the front right corner mounting (it should hide the plain nut), and the wrap of green/yellow ‘Earth’ insulating tape on the end of the conduit below the base. The installation diagram shows this should feed a cable gland, but the original pic show a grommet  here, and the light area seen below shows the grommet is too small for the hole where the gland should be.

DW Windsor Installation Detail

 

Glasgow University Exterior LED Luminaire Detail

A closer look at the panel, and the sticker which allowed this luminaire’s manufacturer to be identified.

This is the ‘High Performance’ version with high power LEDs providing between (approx) 1,000 to 9,000 lumens, and consuming 12 to 93 watts. There’s even a choice of colour temperature, from 2,700 to 4,000 K.

How things have changed since the days when all you got was a gas flame (or mantle) and had to employ the services of a lamplighter 🙂

DW Windsor LED Panel

I have to say I’m impressed by the level of detail provided by the manufacturer on their web site, with full details on not only the mechanical aspects of their fittings, but reports on all aspects of their electrical and lighting characteristics.

There’s almost too much, but then again, I’m looking at everything – if I was actually looking for a suitable item, I’d just be concentrating on what I needed/wanted.

Coincidentally, International Dark Sky Week passed exactly one month ago (I should have mentioned it, but was too busy, and too late), and there’s a nice outdoor lighting graphic that went with it.

Dark Sky Week 2021

It’s getting interesting to pay attention while wandering around nowadays, and look closer at light fittings.

LED fittings have now been around long enough to become practical alternatives to the various traditional fittings, and their power saving and more efficient designs also make them attractive as replacements during routine maintenance of existing fittings, when all that would have been planned was relamping.

It’s interesting, or perhaps I should really say depressing, that even this simple choice has been hijacked and become a ’cause’ for the conspiracy theorists, who have come up with all sorts of crazy ideas about LEDs, and warning people NOT to change to them, and keep their traditional lighting.