Not the first or the last, but we got rid of the TV by free-cycling it to some needy students.

For some time the TV has been neglected. My partner was purged of any TV habit when we had a long-term guest earlier this year who just couldn’t stop herself watching TV and talking to you at the same time. [read more...]

As a cyclist I always cycle on the road. What really winds me up is when I see adults cycling on the pavement. And then there are those cyclists who are kitted out in dayglo vests and super bright LED lights and cycle on the pavement!

My 4 year has recently learnt to cycle and is very keen about it. At the moment she rides on the pavement whilst I cycle  [read more...]

Slow off the mark on this news but in another recent architectural incident the Prince has had his wrists slapped by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), so here it is…

Following a complaint by anti-monarchy pressure group Republic, [read more...]

This is a subject close to my heart & something that I agree with: Think-tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN) says that new allotments should be created from what is an estimated 3,500 hectares of derelict brownfield land & that local councils should promote “edible landscaping”. Apparently there are 100,000 people on a waiting list for an allotment – I was lucky & got one just before it started to get popular a few years ago. &, with no garden to speak of, it’s perfect for the children when we go once a week.

NLGN director Chris Leslie has said that “…allotments can [read more...]

This is a re-hash of a post from a previous now defunct blog  - I just had to re-publish it (it’s been edited).

Some years ago I was a member of Norwich City Council Planning committee. I once refered to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts as an example of great architecture whilst we were considering some mediocrity that was up for determination. One the members derogatorily described it as a shed. Technically it is.

But surely this building by Norman Foster has to be the best piece of architecture in Norwich of modern times…

31/10/10 – Recycled from the first incarnation of this blog with some minor edits…

Here is the reply to my question in my last post from Rupert Read. Rupert is the Green Party lead candidate for the European Parliament elections in 2009.

Here is my own response to your important question:

Of course new builds should be of the now. They should deal with the pressing social/global issues of the time. In the nineteenth century that was the Industrial Revolution. In the new millennium it is dangerous climate change.

30% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from the home. This figure need to be cut by a bare minimum of 80% by 2050 as we fight to save the planet. Much of this will be done out of necessity by alterations to the existing housing stock (effective insulation, CHP systems) but a great contribution can come from innovative new building projects.[See the abstract for a Keynote Speech I am giving on May 15th to the Institute for Domestic Heating Engineers, for a bit more on this.]

Architects need to embrace modern techniques to construct ultra-low and zero-carbon buildings. For example, Passive Solar Design – which pays specific attention to the site and location of dwellings, the prevailing climate, solar orientation and glazing elements – can provide energy consumption reductions of up to 70 – 90%.

Buildings built according to the rigorous German Passivhaus standard (super-insulated, triple-glazed, airtight) use approximately 85% less energy and produce 95% less carbon than properties built to UK 2002 standards. With the addition of Microgeneration Technologies such as Solar Photovoltaics and Ground Source Heat Pumps these buildings achieve zero-carbon emissions.

By their very nature ultra-low/zero-carbon homes appear strikingly different to the ‘traditional’ and mundane designs we have seen replicated up and down the country in housing projects for the last 30-40 years. However, necessity dictates that the contemporary architect and planner must embrace (and continually develop) environmentally sympathetic, scientifically sound, avant-garde ideas now and in the future as we struggle to save our world.

…Hope these thoughts answer your question, Paul. But I’d also be interested to hear more back from you on this, as you probably know more about some aspects of the question, perhaps especially in aesthetic terms, than I do.

A good answer from Rupert. I very much agree with where he states: “By their very nature ultra-low/zero-carbon homes appear strikingly different to… ‘traditional’ and mundane designs”.

You can get more info on Rupert by visiting his blog.
Image: Rupert Read

31/10/10 – Recycled from the first incarnation of this blog with some minor edits…

I sent a question about architecture to four European Election 2009 candidates of different parties: Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat & Green Party.

I have had two replies. The remaining two were sent the question just about two working weeks ago so I think that that’s plenty of time to have replied even if it was to decline to comment.

I sent the following question to: Jonathan Morgan (Con), Richard Howitt (Lab), Andrew Duff (LD) and Rupert Read (Green):

The question was originally a one-off that I sent to Rupert Read. I put exactly the same question to the other candidates.

21/04/10 – re-edited from a defunct blog of mine…

Near where I live Tesco want to build an express store. For several years a vociferous campaign by a motivated section of the local community has successfully had several planning applications refused. The Norwich Green Party who are politically motivated against Tesco have been very active in this campaign to the extent that, in my opinion, Green Party councillors on the planning committee have been dangerously close to having fettered their discretion.

The latest application by Tesco was determined at a meeting earlier this year; the planning department’s recommendation was for approval with conditions but it was refused by the committee.

Despite assurances I can’t help but feel that the local Green Party doesn’t quite rank the quality of our built environment as highly as our natural environment. It’s almost as if their dogmatic opposition to that behemoth that is Tesco outweighs all other considerations. If the price of destroying Tesco’s ambitions for the Unthank Road means we end up with sub-standard, pastiche architecture then so be it – because that is a very real danger.

Tesco are appealing. In pure planning terms Tesco will probably win (I might be wrong) which means that the City Council will have to pay costs. What happens if Tesco lose? Will Tesco sell the site? If they do the probability of a rubbish architecture on the site is high.

The artist impression (above) doesn’t quite do the proposal justice – it’s ostensibly contemporary and many won’t like it. But if you ask me I’d sooner see this Tesco shop than some ill-conceived pandering to the 19th century.

In an ideal world we’d have neither – it would either be landscaped open public space or something inspiring by Richard Rogers !

Occasionally our eldest [8] sits in on the evening television news.

Today we saw footage of the Olympic Torch as it wound it’s way through London. There were the clashes of protesters with police, attempts by protesters to grab the torch, runners flanked by the Chinese special Torch protectorate, who were flanked by dayglo bicycle police, who in turn were flanked by normally dressed police.

How do you explain things like this in terms that an 8 year old can understand?

The other day she said that all the news about Zimbabwe was boring. When you have attempted to explain Zimbabwe and what a dictatorship is how then do you explain the scenes that occurred in London today where in her eyes the actions taken by the police against the Torch protesters look like scenes from anywhere in the world where there are repressive regimes (well not quite, but the Poll Tax riots… Miners’ Strike… ?).

Obviously in time she’ll get a better understanding of the world but I won’t hide events like this from her even if it is frustrating to find the words that will help her understand.

Trying to explain the situation in Tibet I suddenly remembered how I failed to introduce her to Tintin some years ago. I dashed over to the bookcase and retrieved ‘Tintin in Tibet’ and told her to read it to herself after her bedtime story. (I’m actually reading the last book of the Nania Chronicles – The Last Battle – to her. It was nice that she could see the allegory of the manipulation of Puzzle by Shift).

Anyway, Tintin in Tibet won’t explain the current troubles, but it might turn her into a Tintin  fan.