British Architecture
Glass building London
London’s skyline has a new addition this week: the Walkie Scorchie. Joining the crowded group of glass protrusions, such as the Shard, the Gherkin, and the Cheesegrater, is 20 Fenchurch Street, which had previously been known as the Walkie Talkie, on account of it looking vaguely like a gigantic two-way radio. But the 37-storey office block, due to be completed next year, has gained a new sinister reputation: the death ray, the fryscraper, the Walkie Scorchie. Its south-facing concave facade conspires to concentrate and reflect the sun’s rays into…
read moreBritish Victorian Architecture
Though new technology drove innovation in Victorian architecture, nostalgia was its keynote. Past eras were plundered for inspiration. Both watered-down Regency Classicism and the Greek Revival continued after Victoria came to the throne, but as her long reign wore on a battle of the styles developed. The Gothic Revival had a powerful grip on the imaginations of architects between 1855 and 1885. That still left room for a bewildering array of other borrowings from the past. Perhaps national pride encouraged an admiration for the architecture of…
read moreBritish Designs
A border terrier and an English pointer admire Drumstick Park by Robert Nicol. Mikael Buck/More Than British designer Dominic Wilcox is a master of the whimsical. His childlike imagination has created inventions such as a stained-glass driverless car and a helmet with a crane that serves cereal. He has brought children’s inventions and imaginary friends to life, and last weekend in London, he created a contemporary art exhibition for dogs. Dogs check out paintings that use a dog-friendly color spectrum palette. A border terrier jumps into a 10-foot…
read moreTop British Architects
Turkishceramics is collaborating with the Architects’ Journal on an exciting new project exploring the life and wider world of Mimar Sinan, with contributions from leading and emerging contemporary architects and expert writers. In November, Turkishceramics and the UK’s leading weekly architectural magazine the Architects’ Journal took a group of British architects to Istanbul and Edirne on a research trip to study the work of Mimar Sinan. The research will result in a book called Sinan: The First Starchitect , with an exhibition to follow in May…
read moreTypical British House
Wherever you may go around the world, it’s easy to conclude that if a home has four walls and a ceiling, everything else must be broadly the same. Well, even if that were true (and it’s not) there are still tiny differences between a house on the other side of the world and the house you normally live in that can be quite unsettling the first time you encounter them. So, having conducted extensive research into American and British households (by comparing notes between the traveling experiences of Anglophenia writers) what are the things that are…
read moreArchitecture Modules
The core modules are designed to give you an essential grounding in Building History and other key areas of knowledge and skills. Research skills At the beginning of the first residential course we introduce you to a range of essential research skills. In part, this module is about orientating you amidst the vast range of materials either physically present in Cambridge or available online. In part it is about demonstrating the value of scrupulous scholarship, and apprising you of some of the key sources for Building History, and the methods and…
read moreLondon must visit
With a city filled with so many sights to see and places to go, it’s hard to find time to do everything so we’ve made it simple for you; just make sure you’ve done the Top 10 Don’t Leave Until… and you’ll return home with a true sense of London. 2. Spot the six ravens at the tower The Tower of London is one of the most iconic landmarks in the capital. As well as the Beefeaters and Crown Jewels, see if you can count the six legendary ravens that are said to guard to tower and court from ruin. 3. See a West End show There’s plenty of things to do…
read moreArchitecture Edinburgh University
ESALA understands Architecture as the discipline responsible for the design of the built environment. It is both a celebration of our cultural inheritance and a statement of our cultural ambitions. Therefore, we could describe our activity in ESALA as the research and exploration of contemporary society, philosophically, historically, technologically and culturally through the medium of Architecture. While studying at ESALA, you will acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding of how buildings are made, and in the pursuit of this acquire skills…
read moreArchitecture Berlin
Short notice, but I’ll be giving a short talk tomorrow with Prof. Harald Bodenschatz at the TU, as part of an event for the launch of the Berlin Urban Design book (see earlier post). I’ll stick to the point, and they’ll be slides! All details below: Der Hinterhof in Berlin Brennpunkt des Berliner Städtebaus Abendveranstaltung anlässlich des Erscheinens der zweiten, erweiterten Auflage von * Städtebau in Berlin. Schreckbild und Vorbild für Europa * Berlin Urban Design. A Brief History of a European City Verlag DOM publishers In der städtebaulichen…
read moreBritish Architectural Library
Originally designed by architect Sir Colin St John Wilson and his partner MJ Long between 1982 and 1, it was the largest UK public building to be built in the 20th century. Intended to move and inspire its visitors, today the British Library’s London site is much-loved and well-used by scholars and members of the public alike for its soaring and stimulating spaces. With its five public floors sweeping upwards like a wave, the architecture is both immense and extraordinary. Surrounded on both sides by 11 Reading Rooms, the Library’s centrepiece is…
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