The East Beach Cafe At Littlehampton
On my way to Yeovil, I had lunch at the Thomas Heatherwick-designed East Beach Cafe at Littlehampton.
It was a good gluten-free lunch of fish and chips and a glass of wine.
The cafe was very busy too and I suspect on a lovely summer’s, it might be difficult to get a table.
It was also a fair walk to and from the station and as ever the signs could have been better.
I don’t know whether Thomas Heatherwick has ever been to Felixstowe, but the ceiling detail was very like the walls of Charlie Manning’s Amusements in the town.
The De La Warr Pavilion In Bexhill
I like to have a walk by the sea every week, so I went to Bexhill to see the amazing De La Warr Pavilion.
Unfortunately, I arrived too late for lunch, but I did have a rather nice cup of hot chocolate in the cafe overlooking the sea.
Why though, does the building have to be ruined, by allowing car parking so close?
Sensing Spaces At The Royal Academy
Today was a preview day for Sensing Spaces at the Royal Academy.
What was unusual about the exhibition was that the taking of pictures was encouraged.
We need more of this. Obviously, under the control of a tasteful set of rules. Like no flash, not getting in the way of other visitors and not taking pictures of the visitors. Almost like the rules on the London Underground, where I’ve heard that drivers get fed up of the camera flashes, as they drive trains into the station.
One installation even allowed me to take a reflected selfie.
Go and see the exhibition. But make sure you take a camera that is good in low light, with the flash switched off!
I suspect too, it would be best to go,when there are a shortage of walk-on extras.
Too Many People In Oxford Street
This is predicted to happen, when Crossrail opens in 2018 in various media articles over the last couple of days. Look at articles on the BBC and in the Standard.
I have just added this comment to another article.
What Oxford Street needs is a moving walkway along the street at first floor level, with escalators up and entries to the shops at that level. It could be covered over much like the long escalator in Hong Kong. It could also be expanded as time goes on with cafes and stalls, and sub branches down Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road and towards Soho, Hyde Park and the British Museum.
Underneath would be for buses, taxis and cyclists, and for pedestrians going to and from the various stations.
All it needs is a bit of vision and Oxford Street would be the envy of the world, rather than the overcrowded gutter it is today.
This may be an old idea of mine, but I think even more that its time has come.
Around Smithfield
There was an article in The Times yesterday, about the redevelopment of some of the market buildings in Smithfield.
So I went and took some pictures.
the main Smithfield Market was rebuilt some years ago, but the western end, is a mixture of dereliction and the worst of 1960s architecture. Surely, any modern sympathetic development would be better.
After all the area is surrounded by some good watering holes and first class tourist attractions, so perhaps an artisan market and craft workshops might be better than what is there now.
As the area is close to Farringdon station, which when Thameslink and Crossrail is complete will be one of London’s major interchanges, it must surely be an area with potential visitors.
Ariel On The Bank Of England
I’ve never thought that the actual building for the Bank of England, was much more than a functional one. Wikipedia says this about the building.
The Bank moved to its current location on Threadneedle Street, and thereafter slowly acquired neighbouring land to create the edifice seen today. Sir Herbert Baker‘s rebuilding of the Bank, demolishing most of Sir John Soane’s earlier building, was described by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as “the greatest architectural crime, in the City of London, of the twentieth century”.
I’d thought it was much older.
As you walk alongside the building up Princes Street, it looks very much like an over-grand prison.
There is though, a gilded sculpture on the roof.
Ariel On The Bank Of England
Surely this isn’t the best place to put a work of art!
Is This Going To Be A Beautiful Roof?
The roof on the Canary Wharf Crossrail station is coming on, as these pictures show.
Is it going to be a beautiful roof, using some of the best technology at our disposal?
After all, when Barlow, Brunel and Cubitt created their grand stations, they used the best and created masterpieces for us to enjoy nearly two centuries later.
Will they be joined by some modern masterpieces from Crossrail?
The Roof Goes On Canary Wharf Crossrail Station
If Canary Wharf Crossrail station is the taster for the standard of the stations on the new line, then we’re in for a treat.
The Roof Goes On Canary Wharf Crossrail Station
Some of our best Victorian architecture was reserved for stations, like Paddington, Kings Cross and St. Pancras. Are we repeating this in the twenty-first century?
Mugged In My Own Shower Room
Ever since I moved into this house, I’ve moaned about the bathrooms. The en-suite shower room of my bedroom has got a lot of my anger, as every other time I clean my teeth, I bump my head on the cabinet above the basin.
Last night, as I went to bed, the awful cabinet bit back. I’d needed a new toilet roll and as one does, I keep them in the bathroom cabinet. But the catch is not the most reliable of devices and as I rose from the toilet, the door caught me on the head.
It only managed to extract a very small spot of blood.
My head has a very thick skull, but this morning, I do have a wound and a small amount of pain there.
It could have been a lot worse.
It’s another piece of bad workmanship and/or design to blame on Jerry.
I wonder if RIBA have a worst building prize.
Inside The Guggenheim Museum
I finally went inside the Guggenheim Museum on Tuesday morning.
The building is impressive, even if as I said before the art didn’t move me at all.
The Anonymous Widower 