Grander Designs.....

Property doyen Kevin McCloud has ever spoken out against “identik” architecture and boy, don’t we agree with him. I, too, abhor the sold cheap (ha!) and piled high in the sky, anything is better than nothing approach to housing. But whereas Kevin has spent twenty years demonstrating to TV viewers on how to build a “dream” home, my vision is somewhat more down to earth. Rather than eclectic palaces appealing to ebullient individuals, my grand designs involve sustainable housing en masse. Just to recap on the many building and architectural articles that I have written previously, a well-designed building serves the needs of the people that live and work in it.
The building is made from high-quality materials, and has due regard for its environment and the ecosystem.
It is designed to fit into its landscape or townscape in an elegant and unobtrusive way.
The price is within financial reach of these same people, whether for renting or buying.
The building does not drain resources from other, vital aspects of private or civic life.
The building does not serve merely the interests of shareholders and investors, and its environment does not seek to exclude certain groups on the grounds of age, race, spending powers and other, arbitrary delineations.
A good example of a well-designed building could be a low-rise development, that is, no higher than the tree-line, consisting of one, two and three-bed apartments, with the ground-floor flats reserved for older and disabled people. This low-rise configuration maximises the roof-space available to install solar panels, a feature that provides low-cost, sustainable energy to the occupants. The blocks are made to the same pattern, yet rendered slightly differently for visual interest and identification – think of modernistic furniture units. Grass-grown areas around the separate blocks enable children to play, observed by parents and guardians. Walkways entwine the grassy areas, ramped rather than stepped so that pedestrians can wheel buggies and wheelchairs, with ease. The same walkways allow ease of access to public transport hubs and private cars parked securely in garage banks. If required, an occupant can pay a slightly higher rent for green space that can be cultivated to individual taste – the only “exclusion” inherent in the design. There is nothing “eclectic” involved in building like this but neither is it cold, snooty, arrogant or obtrusive.
Further Information
https://www.amazon.com/Where-Do-You-Live-Dwellings-ebook/dp/B005SST1JU
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/aug/22/investors-kevin-mccloud-property-schemes-huge-losses

Horticultural delights....

The school holidays have another two weeks to roll, and anyone living in proximity of the M25 could do no better than motor to Bullmoor Lane, (Enfield, North London) where you will find the entrance to Capel Manor Gardens. For the princely sum of £6 pp, (family tickets and concessions available), outdoors’ aficionados will have a ball, blazing a trail about the myriad horticultural delights created by the students of Capel Manor College.

Over 60 separate gardens, the brochure says. Well, I lost count of the vistas of wonder that we worked our way past; a Japanese garden, an Australian garden, a garden filled with spooky trompe l’oeil, numerous rose gardens, lavender gardens and well, just gardens. Jaded with blossoms, we explored the miniature zoo (animals to watch for include meerkats, marmosets and humans), the woodland walk, the fairy forest, the temple lake, the holly maze and much, much more. Around every corner, a surprise that will leave you laughing aloud hits the eyes; broken statues sunken in the earth, enticing building facades that prove to be shams and cute little ponies – is there any other kind? - that turn out to be real. Our mistake was arriving too late in the day to see everything – don’t you do that. Amenities include a cafe, and picnic areas and loos at intervals. Essential for enthusiasts of gardens, of life, and of the weird and wonderful – do not miss! https://www.capelmanorgardens.co.uk

Will mass jet-packing ever take off?

Years ago, I dreamed of a future where the then not invented jet pack would be the main form of commuter transport, at least. Every morning, we were all going to don the j-pack together with the business suit, before grabbing the briefcase with the sandwiches inside. No more traffic jams, bus-waiting anxiety or train station tantrums. We were simply going to power on our j-packs and, like human bumblebees, hover over rooftops and gardens and roadways deserted of people, aside from a few die-hard pedestrians and motorists. “Good morning” we would all say to one another politely, before landing our feet in front of the office, school or university, wherever we were headed.

Jumping jezebels and jiving jitterbugs – no wonder JK Rowling triumphed! Hogwarts itself wasn’t so packed with fantasies; at least Harry, Hermione and the others learned how to fly on broomsticks. In my musings, I had never imagined the hazards in store for humans making free in unregulated air-space. Gracious, we can’t even get it right when we are on the ground. A mere glance out of my window reveals telegraph poles and tree branches, electric wires and chimney pots, birds and even, a distant church spire, all in addition to the certainty of colliding with other humans. Other hazards include the possibility of the j-pack malfunctioning and the subject crashing to earth at his peril and that of others. With all those j-packers making free over private gardens, prison yards and other verboten spaces, trespass law as we know it would have to be redefined. Aside from such minor matters, who would choose daily stratospheric exposure to inclement weather and bird droppings before landing in on a business meeting in preference to a relaxing journey in a vehicle interior, accompanied by hot coffee and the morning paper? The problem with mass jet-packing is that it is just too democratic, humans reduced to functional units defined by a hard hat and a flying suit. The underlying truth is that every human function is intertwined with a narrative of social status. The reason that a j-packing London mayor caught the news was because it was an exclusive experience. It will require another human evolution for j-packing to take off, en masse. We will have to learn how to never collide with each other or anything else, and to never fly over anyone else’s private space. And then pigs really will fly to the moon! https://www.cityam.com/boris-s-vision-jetpack-future-already-here/