So, another beautiful sunrise this morning, even more dramatic than Friday’s sunrise. Oranges and reds and billowing clouds and it is a little like the sky is on fire. A stunning contrast between the eternal majesty of the sky and the everyday mundanity of the street below, or some such statement. Read the rest of this entry »
I step out of the front door and hope I don’t bump into my neighbours. I’ve heard them banging around and so figure they are probably about to leave too. It is not that I don’t like them, or that they are particularly difficult, more that I’m not generally a bit anti-social and would rather have such exchanges of pleasantries when I don’t have a train to catch. I think I’m maybe just a bit miserable. I then think that perhaps it is a nice thing to have the odd friendly face when you leave the house in the morning, and that I’m lucky that there are some friendly people on my road. A good contrast to the wall of impersonality I will face with my commute. Read the rest of this entry »
Dirty Modern Scoundrel has highlighted the JR James Archive on Flickr. James was Professor of Town and Regional Planning and Chief Planner at the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and took a huge amount of photos of British architecture, and by the looks of things had a particular interest in brutalist architecture. The collection, brought together by the University of Sheffield, has loads of photos, maps and plans and is a very good way to lose a few hours as you work your way through this chronicle of post-war British town planning. Read the rest of this entry »
Valérie Anex, Ghost Estates, Ireland
A ‘ghost estate’ refers to an unoccupied housing estate. The term has been used, and seen, widely in Ireland. The ‘Celtic Tiger’ years from 1995 to 2008 saw a huge amount of economic growth in Ireland. This led to a housing surplus, made much worse with the global economic downturn from 2008 on. There were a lot of houses, and nobody willing or able to buy them. Read the rest of this entry »
Heading home yesterday afternoon it began raining. Read the rest of this entry »
Wait until next year 