bloody architects

The light is good; the reading lamps, long-necked;
All doors have keys.  Your modern architect
Is in collusion with psychanalysts:
When planning parents' bedrooms, he insists
On lockless doors so that, when looking back,
The future patient of the future quack
May find, all set for him, the Primal Scene.

Vladimir Nabokov p73 of 'Pale Fire'.

On the subject of Pale Fire, have been enjoying this from El Perro del Mar.

Building visit : 25 Montpelier Row, Twickenham

Please note the next B&B building visit is going to take place on Sunday 2nd December 2012, meeting outside no.25 Montpelier Row, Twickenham, London TW1 2NQ at 2.30pm.

We've kindly been offered a tour of this house, built by Geoffrey Darke for his family in 1969, by the current owner - Simon Callender - who's been working hard restoring it to its original glory over the past year.  Some more photos here.

Anyone who can't make the tour can catch up with us for a drink at the White Swan in Twickenham from about 3.30pm.

If you are planning to come please let me know by sending an email to ...brutalismandbooze@gmail.com

Archbishop Sumner C of E Primary School, Kennington, London

This is a really nice, simple building whose qualities I've pretty much failed to capture in these photos, but each time I walk by I want to have another go...

London SW4

Ai Wei Wei Studio

I'd always thought that the Chinese government had demolished Ai Wei Wei's own studio but, if I understood correctly from the 'So Sorry' hagio-mentary... the building was a sort of government commissioned art centre.

 all photos from triplefivechina on Flickr

Shame it had to go - hope they don't bull-dose his house.

if you pour concrete i will find you

battersea rise, london SW11

wonderwall

would love to have a wall like this at the end of my garden

Cotton Gardens Estate, Kennington

Here's the map...

Although i'm not making any kind of exhaustive study this is the first estate I've come across since the Bungalows in Southwark's Brandon Estate which has a similar combination of very high and very low residential units...

from the estate plan above you can see how it includes 20 or so of these little corral-like houses with (i think) no outward facing windows apart from those related to the entrance

Kennington

Complexity and Contradiction is obviously on my mind just now...