We have seen a collective madness this week with one of the results of the tragic events in the US being a spate of vandalism to statues of historic figures such as Winston Churchill who, whether individuals like it or not, are part of our heritage and, worse of all, to memorials to those who […]
It is many years since I visited Cannizaro Park – and that was for an open-air summer concert, so I didn’t really explore the park which probably is at its best in the spring when the magnificent collection of azaleas and rhododendrons is in full bloom. On arriving at the house you discover the Millennium […]
Looking back a few months in time, it seems strange that the gardens at RHS Wisley were one of the last places I visited before the coronavirus lockdown. While sensible social distancing and other precautions were then in place, no-one really realised then what was about to hit us all as we effectively lost three […]
At one time threatened with development for housing, Morden Park is one of London’s hidden gems, an area of natural woodland and parkland hidden behind housing from the 1930′s which followed the opening of Morden Underground Station at the end of the Northern Line in 1926. At the centre of the park is a large […]
Today’s exercise in this current pandemic was in Morden Hall Park, which has the River Wandle wandering through it, on its way to Wandsworth, the river being enjoyed today by children, splashing dogs, and the occasional father having a paddle. The estate was owned by Westminster Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry […]
One of the benefits of the current pandemic situation is that we are all appreciating the value of local green spaces, parklands and nature far more than perhaps we did. Hopefully this will be reflected in future planning and land-use policies to avoid concentrated urban developments with minimal outdoor space such as in Vauxhall where […]
Todays walk for exercise during the pandemic was through the first phase of the Ram Quarter development on the site of the old Young’s Brewery where beer has been brewed since at least 1533, continuing after the closure of the brewery in 2006 with a micro-brewery on site. The brewery and pub was located on […]
Do you experience anxiety or are you one of those people who calmly sails through life, no matter how strong the stormy winds are howling around you? Particularly relevant in these uncertain times of the coronavirus, the Science Gallery’s exhibition at the turn of the year focused on the wide-ranging issues about living with anxiety […]
Despite his name, Hamish Fulton is a London born-artist (1946), but he left the city, its buildings, its noise, pollution and its chaos behind him in his career as a ‘walking artist’, exploring landscapes across the world which are recorded in his exhibition ‘A Decision to Choose Only Walking’ on show earlier in the year […]
Swirling landscapes reflect the beauty of the natural world and its fragility as earlier in the year Australia experienced immense bushfires while England had some of the worse flooding in a generation from record rainfalls and, meantime, the impact of climate change is all around us, not least in the shrinking of the ice caps […]
"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
Recent Comments