drawing

Setting The Tone

The word tone suggests both visual and aural sensations, a reminder that the feeling of a place is perceived through all the senses, not just what we see.

The Abbot’s Kitchen at Glastonbury Abbey

The Abbot’s Kitchen at Glastonbury Abbey

I finally got round to visiting Glastonbury Abbey this week, having lived near-by for 5 years and been deterred by the magic-crystal shops, and discovered this little gem of a building. The Abbot’s Kitchen is the only ...

Nantes Architecture School – Lacaton Vassal

Nantes Architecture School – Lacaton Vassal

Last week I went to see a building I’d been longing to visit since it opened in 2009. The School of Architecture in Nantes (ENSA) by Architects Anne Lacaton & Jean-Philippe Vassal takes a provocative and inspiring attitude to educational space that is sadly lacking in most British universities. It looks like a carpark, which is pretty much what it is in its construction. From their first...

Piet Oudolf Interview at Hauser & Wirth Somerset

Piet Oudolf Interview at Hauser & Wirth Somerset

The first time I saw the work of the Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf was ten years ago on a visit to Bentley in Hampshire where he had collaborated on the gardens of Bury Court, a hop farm that was converted to a plant nursery in the 1990s. Since then I’ve seen a ...