Set alongside the banks of the River Test in Hampshire, England, the old derelict industrial site which had housed a paper mill, and at one time had a major role in the manufacture and printing of England’s bank notes, has been rescued by Bombay Sapphire for a new distillery and visitor centre. Key historic buildings have been refurbished, others […]
A spaceship arrives in North America with aliens who know nothing of Earth and the people there. What do they find? Today, in October 2016, they find people searching for a potential leader for the next four years, but the two potential candidates are fighting each other and discussing all sorts of issues apart from […]
Fighting through the jungle, the explorers come across an empty plain beyond which is a simple grey temple with a door. There is nothing to hint at what is inside, or whether the temple can be entered through the door or whether it will be locked tightly shut. Quietly, slowly, the explorers move across the empty […]
It’s a busy week in London for art visitors who would have leapt round from Jeff Koons’ exhibition at Alime Rech’s new Gallery to Berkeley Square where there was an opportunity to bid for Jeff Koons’ “Dom Perignon BALLOON VENUS”, from an edition of 650 for an estimate of only £25,000 to £35,000, one of the […]
Towering above the room, the ballerinas appear to have the delicacy of glass Christmas baubles which break all too easily, yet are solid and made of hard steel. Like glass baubles, their curves create reflections everywhere, of visitors as they move around them, of the lights which project onto them and of the paintings on the […]
Intrepid explorers have their guidebooks and maps in their hands as they explore the darkest corners of Fortnum and Masons in Piccadilly, London. From the cells of Reading Prison to the luxury of Fortnum and Mason – two very different locations for art exhibitions, with two different set of artists. In 1844, when Reading Prison […]
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s reputation as an architect is linked primarily to his designs for churches and cathedrals and for Gothic-revival masterpieces such as the Midland Station Hotel at St Pancras Station and the main buildings for the University of Glasgow. Early in his career, in his early 30’s, he explored a castellated style for […]
Following an international competition to select an architect for the new Reid Building, the Glasgow School of Art selected American architect Steven Holl. Controversially, at the time, the project involved demolition of Keppie’s landmark Newbery Tower with calls for it to be listed, but Glasgow is the midst of a renaissance where post-war buildings are […]
The 1960’s and 1970’s in Glasgow was an era of incredible optimism and change. Whole swathes of old 19th century tenements were being demolished and replaced with new concrete blocks of flats to give families modern accommodation with kitchens, indoor bathrooms and central heating. Speed and fast forms of construction were key to solving some […]
Frustrating for my teachers, but those of us sitting at the window of the classroom had the great distraction of watching the huge metal ball swing up high and then come crashing down into the sandstone masonry of the old building outside the window. Over and over again, the ball swung into the building, forcing […]
"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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