69 Cities of the UK is an ambitious and singular project by self-taught artist Carl Lavia and photographer Lorna Le Bredonchel.

 

Project creators Carl Lavia and Lorna Le Bredonchel

 

Fascinated by architecture, maps and cityscapes since the age of 5, Carl used to sketch imaginary cities on paper, until he decided to apply the same method to existing cities in adulthood.

 

Black ink and sketch drawing by Carl Lavia

 

Vastness of the urban surroundings, Carl Lavia

 

Loaded with details close to perfection, the black ink aerial views of the cities drawn by Carl reveal millimetric minutia and meticulous precision.

 

Close-up on Manchester city artwork

 

Finished artwork of Manchester city exhibited at an art gallery

 

The feeling that transpires from the final result is an offhand and istinctive approach, capturing not only complex details but also the vastness of the urban surroundings.

 

 

 

Complex details for an offhand, istinctive approach

 

Lorna’s job instead is to document all the processes leading to creation through photos and drone video shootings. Besides following all the creative outputs, Lorna also takes care of the duo’s presence online and offline, exhibition spaces included.

 

 

 

When mapping a new city, Carl and Lorna often walk for hours on end, exploring every spot and getting lost in the urban context. Along the way, they produce sketches and images that will compose the finished masterpiece, which is sometimes larger than 3 metres.

 

Carl Lavia with finished masterpiece depicting the city of Edinburgh

 

 

The original project sparks in 2016, when the two meet during the production of the maxi illustration of the city of Birmingham and Lorna offers to outflow all the following steps on social networks.

Besides exhibiting the currently completed artworks in each relevant city (Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dundee and currently Perth), the definitive project aims to form a common exhibition of all the pieces to put them on show throughout several locations in the UK.

. . .

WHY
why and how did you end up in your career path?
Carl: As a child I used to sketch imaginary cities – in 2016 I changed course and decided to take on an existing city – this was where the roots of the current project began. Lorna decided to photograph several stages of the ever-expanding 2 meter ink sketch and create a Twitter account to flow the photos of the project out to the folks of Birmingham; the response was really wonderful, and we decided that we were both at a stage in our lives where a mighty creative challenge was what we wanted, the #69cities of the UK project was born.

Lorna: I studied photography at LCC then continued to expand my skills through personal projects, I made sure I sought out several mentors who were working photographers in various fields to give me a variety of professional critique along my creative journey.
I was working on solo passion projects before finally deciding to collaborate on something more ambitious with Carl. We joined forces in 2016 while he was sketching Birmingham, I simply offered to document the process through a series of photographs and decided to outflow these images with text onto social media. The response was incredible! And the rest is history.
Collaborating with someone is a peculiar thing in itself, we both have strong ideas, so at times it can get quite fiery between us, we are the best of friends who are at times the best of enemies. It’s energising because we both acknowledge the value of our differences both in terms of character traits and creative approaches.

WHO
how would you describe yourself in a few words?
Carl: Contemplative, methodical and curious.
Thinking back to childhood I had a huge fascination with ant colony’s – their vast networks, all the ants working together as a single entity – this theme is evident in my obsession with cityscapes, exploring community, vast expanse, and minute detail.

Lorna: Detail-oriented! Dynamic, strong willed and very very persistent – annoyingly so, I’m sure… And in the words of the very brilliant Orson Welles, I try to continually pave the way for the allowance of divine artistic accidents!

WHAT
what is your source of inspiration?
Carl: I’m inspired by the work of other cityscape artists, for instance Suileman, he sketched both Edinburgh and Glasgow, also the Italian artist Canaletto. Incredible romance and pure classicism. I also have a huge passion for music, there is always music playing while I work.

Lorna: Flickr is always a good go-to, I also watch a lot of documentaries on people who define or redefine our understanding, creatively and in other fields too, human potential / science / philosophy / psychology etc. Libraries and YouTube are my greatest resource, material on every topic in the universe! 

WHERE
where do you go to when you need a break?
Carl: Our schedule is immense, seriously immense, but, the eyes need a rest from the intense attention to detail – I take saunas, I make sure I run regularly through the city either the one I am sketching or London. We love comedy so Lorna and I feast on comedy shows as much as we can (thank you Netflix) but really, while the Scottish cities are in full swing we have to work hard get this series finished, that is our main priority. 

Lorna: This project has taken over our life, really it has, we are always, always playing catch-up… but, to keep balance I meditate daily and on such occasions when I really do need a change of scene, it’s the simple things, music (recently, Arvo Pärt) I’ll go for long walks, get out into nature, sit under a tree and read etc… Or the opposite, somewhere really busy, perhaps a visit to a particular art gallery, a wander around a new part of town and maybe a decent Belgian beer in an atmospheric pub! Those are all easy choices for a quick change of gear and some new stimulation and inspiration.

WHEN
when and what will your next steps be?
Carl: To continue sketching!
After the Scottish cities are complete, we aim to form a major exhibition of the entire Scottish series to be shown in several spaces throughout Scotland. Then we will start work on documenting the rest of the county – this is a long-term project, but, we do have some interesting plans throughout Europe in between the entire 69.

Lorna: 69 cities is a lot of cities! It’s simply a case of this project being a way of life for the foreseeable. When all the Scottish cities are complete, we will choose two cities from Ireland, two from Wales two from England… and onwards in this manner until all 69 are finished.
We know this project will take years, but that in itself is alluring; to live this project and create a body of work that documents an entire county should take time to produce.

**WILDCARD
your projects are mostly UK-based. Is there any other geographical area you would particularly like to explore, and if yes, why?
Lorna: Yes! but right now we want to keep moving forward until a fair amount of cities are complete, we do have some exciting plans further afield in Europe – watch this space.