Wandering from the train station into Pollok Country Park not far from the centre of Glasgow, I switched off the map on my phone and relied instead on my general sense of direction as I moved toward the Burrell Museum. It would miss the point entirely to be constantly looking
My first day in the workshop did not go so well. I quickly learnt that the ever-present sawdust was going to irritate my airways and cause my asthma to flare. The dream of opening my own little workshop turning out hand made instruments quickly became a chimera. I retreated
It was around twenty years ago that I read about the completed design of the new Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, designed by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue. It was not a monumental expression of a government's power, but instead more like a village accommodating to its context, the
I recently came across the graphic design work of Chris Ashworth in his book 'Disorder Swiss Grit Vol. II'. It combines the perfectly composed, slightly off kilter, arrangements of the mid-century Swiss Style with an eye for layers, texture and the hand made. The invisible organising grid
A recent trip to the United Kingdom allowed me to see some recent, and not-so-recent, examples of housing. An incomplete survey, as it was limited to what was close at hand, and of course it is almost impossible to see inside unless you know a resident. That said,
If I think about how I was taught about architecture in the late 1980's, it was at the tail end of the post-modern era that celebrated the thin signage of the Las Vegas strip. The commonplace was okay, which meant that ideas, form and language were important.
In the winter of last year, I was on a train travelling north to a small country town. As I looked out a window I glimpsed a timber plantation partly harvested. You could see the stark line demarcating forest from a barren open field. Most of this timber, blue gums
A curiosity about how things are made has been with me since starting work as an inexperienced graduate straight out of architecture school. Rooted in the necessity to learn quickly and be useful, I needed to absorb how a building is assembled and crafted from others. It instilled in me
I acknowledge the Boon wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the unceded lands upon which I live and, mostly, write. I pay my respects to their elders past and present. Yalukit-willam is a name that means 'river camp' or 'river dwellers&