The photographers T & R Annan & Sons Ltd made a photographic record of Glasgow in the 1850’s. Over a decade later, Nick Hedges travelled to Glasgow and other industrial cities – Liverpool, Birmingham and Belfast. Sadly, he recorded very similar scenes of poverty and slum conditions of children living in housing with damp and insanitary conditions a selection of which have been on display at the Science Museum. It is astonishing to think that these photographs were taken only 40 years ago, 20 years into a huge country-wide programme of social housing and slum clearance and they illustrate the magnitude of the task needed to give everyone a decent, clean and dry home. Sadly, as we now know, many of the new developments have not lasted the test of time and have themselves since been demolished.
Ian Caldwell
"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
About site
"Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for example"
(John Ruskin)
I hope to showcase contemporary design and innovation, including architecture, art, design, science, technology and sustainability, to those searching for architecture, design and art inspiration to create beauty. I hope you enjoy it and will contribute to it.
Recent Posts
- Holding up a Black Mirror to the modern world at the Saatchi Gallery
- Omar Victor Diop challenges views of African history and current challenges
- New Urban Square in Porto
- Creativity with Building Hoardings at J P Hackett in Savile Row
- Modern art weaves through different materials in Materia at rosenfeld porcini
- Carribean influences: Jasmine Thomas-Girvan & Chris Ofili at David Zwirner
- Laurence Edwards’ Gathering of Uncertainties at Messums London and Wiltshire
- 20th art and architecture: Lee Krasner at the Barbican
- Fashions of today complimenting those of the past: Manolo Blahník at the Wallace Collection
- An invasion: Body + Soul at Canary Wharf
- The New Garden in the City at 120 Fenchurch Street
- This year’s Sculpture in the City expands into new areas
- A sign of confidence in London art by Timothy Taylor in Burton Street
- The valuable work of the UK’s Cultural Protection Fund
- A very British magical mystery world: Rowland Emett at Bonhams
- Living in a sinister world of survelliance: Top Security at the Science Museum
- Anno Mitsumasa’s fascinating drawings, watercolours and papercuts at Japan House
- Food glorious Food: The future of food at the V&A Museum
- Looking to the future at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair at Olympia
- Good and Bad – the world of AI at the Barbican
- Cutting-edge themes at the cutting-edge Dulwich Picture Gallery
- Bringing Avebury Manor to life in collaboration with the BBC
- Modern inspiration from ancient crafts: Linda Brothwell at Stonehenge
Recent Comments
- Ros McTaggart on The Great Architectural Bake-Off from the Museum of Architecture: Gingerbread City.
- Paper Castles in the Sky at the V&A on Architects created a Gingerbread City of the Future at the V&A
- A fascinating and different side of Anish Kapoor at the Lisson Gallery on Reflections in space and time by Anish Kapoor at Pitzhanger Manor
- Reflections in space and time by Anish Kapoor at Pitzhanger Manor on The meticiulous restoration of Pitzhanger Manor by Jestico and Whiles
- Reflections in space and time by Anish Kapoor at Pitzhanger Manor on Anish Kapoor brings a reflective new light to the Palace of Versailles