About

It’s all about context.

Someone very wise once told me:

“Architecture is unavoidable, whether you choose to notice it or not.”

Many do not consciously take in the environment around them, and do not address the questions: why is that building there? What is that structure adding to its environment? Does this stack of bricks and mortar have any real purpose? Do we need it?

Some would argue that these questions don’t matter, that they have no relevance to those outside of a select ‘AutoCAD bound’ few, but they are wrong. Whether we choose to address these kinds of issues or not is irrelevant; we shape our surroundings, and they in turn shape us. We react physically to the built environment; we hear the echo of our voices through a cavernous concert hall, marvel at the power of nature when light floods through a shear glass wall, taste industry on our tongues in the atrium of a massive office block and feel safe in the comfort of our homes – this is something only architecture can achieve.

This blog has several aims. First and foremost it is to explore the world around me, to approach it with a renewed interest, and look beyond the obvious. It is to finally put down in words the ideas and thoughts that I think are relevant to the environment around us. I studied Creative Writing at University, and have been working in architecture (how I go there, I still do not know) for over two years.  My second aim (and slightly more selfishly) is that I’ve come to realise that what fascinates me about the design of a ‘space’, of a ‘building’ is akin to my love of literature: it’s the architecture.  The architecture of a good novel is not dissimilar to that of a good building, both contain key elements that, once woven together in the right way can create something quite extraordinary – this is what I hope to share with you.

– James