What a wonderful name for an exhibition: “Back to where we have not quite been”. What mysteries, images and memories it conjures up? The introductory brochure to the exhibition and the four day event that runs alongside it at the Arnolfili in Bristol, established as a centre for contemporary art in 1961, starts with a […]
What is this? An electric fan is circling overhead, turning and twisting as it changes direction, with the whirling noise of the fan filling the room. It seems to come closer and then it jerks away, moving off in another direction into another part of the room, before coming back. Is this science or is […]
Close your eyes and think back 20 years to 1995 or 1996. It was a different millennium and the major worry was the “millennium bug” that threatened to disable every computer in the world at midnight 1999. How did you live then? There was no pocket-sized mobile phone, iphone, ipad or laptop computer. Sony’s playstations […]
In January, the construction of the new Orchid House in Estepona was well under way. Such was the speed of completion that the new building opened in March this year and both the Orchid House and the new landscaped park around it are now firmly part of the urban fabric of Estepona. The park is a […]
The King has ordered the construction of the largest and most powerful warship in the world. The crowds, like colonies of ants, swarm over the cobbled quays around the harbour in Stockholm as the ship sets sail on its maiden voyage. The atmosphere is electric with excitement as the crowds gasp in awe at the […]
There are few architects who are so radical in their day that they have a style named after them which survives several centuries later. Seventeenth century Veneto must have been an exciting place. Clients were demanding their new villas to be designed in the latest fashion by Andrea Palladio (1508 – 1580), the sought-after architect […]
The White Cube aesthetic of gallery design, with white walls, white lighting and highly polished concrete floor comes alive when the art is reflected in the floor, creating a further dimension to the experience for the viewer, like watching lights playing in a dark pond of water or floodlit buildings along the River Thames, the […]
Japanese design achieves emotion, connection and refinement from the minimum of shape, line and colour; Japanese ceramics have incredible beauty with their perfectly proportioned shapes, free of fuss and elaboration; Japanese landscapes bring the outside world into the home and place natural materials in zen gardens where nature provides a relaxing contemplative environment as a […]
The main entrance of the New Wing of Somerset House has been filled with a colourful grove of elm trees beyond which, through an open door, sits a grand piano on its side, both entirely unexpected within the controlled classical architecture of this historic building. These installations at Somerset House celebrate the elm tree and […]
Has the River Thames flooded? A beach hut has floated onto the River Terrace of Somerset House and the adjacent windows of New Wing are filled up with blue water? It’s a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Trust’s Nepture Coastline campaign to look after England and North Ireland’s coastline, appropriately being held […]
"The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry, of painting and music, of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden. If you don't want paradise, you are not human; and if you are not human, you don't have a soul."
(Thomas Moore)
To be an architect means having a wide range of interests - architecture, art and creativity in all its variety of forms, sustainability, science and innovation. The greatest interest is often where these different worlds overlap and collide - that is when something imaginative often occurs that pushes us all forward to another place
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