exurban

Exurbia (aka Edge City, subSuburbia, sprawl, outta control, psychick death zones): that newly expanded, resurfaced and subsubcontracted housing areas that aren’t really near anything, except the highway. These are evidence of continued flight from the urban zones by the almost affluent. Requiring a car as they usually have no sidewalks, the exurban neighborhood is a …

drawing on the past

It’s been a busy week. There are a couple of entries waiting to be written, including one about the galleries I’ve been able to visit over the last few days. In the meantime, I’m posting an image instead of words. Predictably, looking at the art work of others has made me think about my own …

Being Frank

Oh dear. It’s not been too rosy for Mr Gehry lately. So far we’ve had snow falling on students head’s, clients employing other architects to fix bits they don’t like and a hockey trophy which … when Gehry pulled the covering off the trophy, it was like someone had tugged the burlap bag off the …

Dear AJ

It’s probably best if I leave my name off any planning applications at work for a while. The AJ published my response to the article they wrote the week before about Philip Singleton, the new head of Birmingham City Council’s urban design unit. Dear AJ, “University applications are up in both our universities and I …

toss your salad

I’m missing my daily reading slot now that I’ve started driving to work instead of taking the tram. However, Radio 4 is providing an adequate substitute as I drive along the M6 hoping not to get stuck in a jam. This week’s Start the Week program had some fascinating guests on it. Two of which …

Fettuccine spinaci e pollo

I cooked this a few weeks ago when Mike and Libby came over one evening, but haven’t had chance to write it up until now. Since I’ve been trying a few dishes from Asia recently, I decided to switch location and move to Italy. I’m a sucker for any pasta dish, and I think Mike …

More mash please

Following the previous post, here’s a link to a boingboing.net entry – it seems MTV are joining this band wagon too. Here in the UK, the Q music channel has also had a mash up feature for some time.

Pirate radio

More coverage of the now infamous DJ Dangermouse mash-up of the Beatles and Jay-Z, Black and White albums can be found over at Wired. I downloaded this a few weeks ago and, frankly, it’s over rated. However, the extra publicity that it’s brought to the mash-up arena is beginning to make the discovery of new …

screwup

I have been duly reprimanded by my ex-fellow student and architectural adventurer, Bobby H, for the above comment about Sketchup and orthographic drawings. It is with great regret that I have to inform you that you have given incorrect information to readers of your blog regarding the export options of sketchup. I have been using …

Deconstruction and Tea

Thanks to some great entries over at City of Sound and That Brutal Joint about a piece by Nikos Salingaros posted at 2blowhards.com, I’ve been spurred on to catalogue a piece written by myself and a couple friends a few years ago for the Birmingham School of Architecture student magazine. It’s with recognition of the …