Isokon Gallery, Hampstead
A short post on #Isokon Gallery, Hampstead. An excellent small museum devoted to #Modernism and Modernists, patrons, artists, architects and writers. #1930s #London
A short ramble round Leicester
Coming to a brief spell of teaching at De Montfort I thought it might be of use to the casual cultured visitor to point out some of the less well-known elements of Leicester that are worthy of consideration.
Øve Arup at the V&A
Øve Arup is a must-see for anyone interested in London history and architecture. It also has a little surprise for those from County Durham.
The Soane Museum
With an idle hour or two between teaching and meeting a friend at St Pancras I found myself wandering down to Somerset House, drawn by the lure of coffee at Fernandez&Wells and art at the Courtauld. Walking through Lincoln’s Inn fields I noticed that for once there was barely a queue outside the Soane Museum.…
La Philharmonie and a Musical Museum for London
Arguing for a landmark museum of classical music in the City of London.
Back in the north
A couple of weeks ago I went back to the north for a conference in Middlesbrough.* Some academics complain about having to go to conferences but for me, no matter where they take place (even Holloway Road), there’s always something to be learnt by getting out of the conference and having a good wander around. This…
Two Parisian modernist landmarks
I was very lucky recently to be taken on a guided tour of a hidden away modernist gem in the back streets of Paris. The Maison de Verre was designed by Pierre Chareau and his collaborators for the gynaecologist Dr. John Dalsace to act as both family residence and practice centre. The house is privately owned…
Getting ejected from galleries
Having recently strayed from one of the purposes of this blog, which is to flag up things of interest to those in London on a limited budget, I return to the theme with two excellent exhibitions at RIBA and Ordovas Gallery. But with slight misgivings. As someone who occasionally works in the tourism/hospitality industry one of my key bugbears…
On Somerset House
In my London lifetime Somerset House has been transformed from a large office block with a beautiful gallery* nestled within to a cultural complex of public areas, gallery spaces, university, pop up cinema, music venue with a variety of shops, restaurants and cafés to suit most pockets.** This process, being gradual, has largely been unheralded compared to the…
On Faversham
Church and beer. These are the things I now associate with Faversham, a place I’d never particularly thought about before a friend took me there to mark his moving from Kent back to north London. To my regret the only acquaintance I made with the church during our visit was this glimpse up a side-street as…
