At night, at the heart of Imperial College in South Kensington, London, the 85 metre-high blue-floodlit tower of the Queen’s Tower acts as a beacon from miles around, a celebration not only of the College’s international importance in science, technology and medicine, but also of the old Imperial Institute, opened in 1893. In 1982, already […]
In his 2016 Christmas address, the Pope discussed the tension at Christmas between the spiritual and religious meaning of Christmas and all-pervading 21st century commercialism, supported by the media which at times appears to have only one interest – how much people are spending in shops compared to previous years (apparently the new measure of […]
On entering through the revolving doors, the Christmas tree ahead is modern but with a traditional theme. Instead of the green branches of a pine tree, there are metal frames which are evocative of the 19th century cast-iron roofs in this very building, around which is a spiralling garland with hand-made decorations rising to a […]
Gingerbread City has appeared in South Kensington opposite the Victoria and Albert Museum. With a masterplan designed by Tibbalds, leading architectural practices and schools acquired a plot on which to build and bring the City to life. There don’t appear to be any over-onerous planning restrictions, the only real constraint being the structural capabilities of […]
How many miles of rope barriers are there in museums and art galleries around the world, hanging neatly between hooks on stands, keeping visitors at a safe distance from exhibits with the message “Keep Out”? The red rope barrier has escaped from the world of museums into FeildenCleggBradley Studio’s new Cornerhouse Gallery in London with […]
Hopefully, one day, peace will come to Syria. What then is to be done with the ruins of the ancient city of Palymra which has been substantially destroyed? Should the temples be recreated, or would they just be fakes, especially now that digital technology can recreate 3D images anywhere in the world, as currently on show […]
Inside the glass box is a perfectly-ordered and immaculately-tidy artist’s studio. Outside, in the landscape of a second box, is a world of chaos with a solitary figure smoking a cigarette as he looks over a sea of objects and bodies broken and scattered around him. Order and chaos; creation and apocalypse; – Argentinian […]
You’ve just paid several million dollars at auction for a top painting by your favourite contemporary artist. Did you buy it because you want to enjoy it, or as an investment? The likelihood is probably both. Is it then sensible to hang such a valuable painting on the wall at home where is could deteriorate […]
Innovative and transformational art was the underlying theme of the 12th edition of the PULSE Maimi Beach Contemporary Art Fair, focussing on new and mid-career artists from all around the world. The transformational theme ran throughout the fair in a variety of ways from the 3D optical illusions which is characteristic of British artist Patrick […]
Like discovering a lost civilisation, as explorers enter the doorway above which is written, “Walhalla” they discover a lost world, with walls lined in lead and everything grey with the age of time , where soft fabrics have become petrified and metal has twisted and rusted with age. While the reference is to the mythical place […]
"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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