Posts Tagged With: architecture

Greek Dreams

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Mark

Categories: Photography, Travel, Vibe Monitor | Tags: architecture, church, Greece, Greek, iPhone, Oia, Olympic Beach, Religion, Santorini, Tadaa | 1 Comment

Under Big Ben

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Mark

Emerging from one of the most impressive tube stations, deep beneath Westminster, we stood in the shadow of Big Ben and before long we were wandering off the beaten track, away from the tourists.

The Palace of Westminster is an impressive riot of Gothic fakery, every buttress and spire insisting on it’s medieval origins. The Houses of Parliament are a testament to the great Victorian illusion that the establishment was rather more established than it really was. But just behind the familiar sight of Big Ben is a quiet empty park free from coach parties and cameras.

I had no idea Victoria Tower Gardens were hidden behind the bustle of buses and mounted police. A single stone folly, the Buxton Memorial Fountain stands on the great stretch of green which runs parallel to the Thames.

Designed in 1865, the fountain has been moved, ransacked, and renovated. It’s original statues have been stolen, but it remains a monument to the abolition of slavery in The British Empire. (Although there are some clubs in Vauxhall where slavery is alive and well and something of a vocation!)

The metal spire is unusually colourful for the period and has more in common with Gaudi than the grim preserve of the Victorians.

Stone lions guard the fountain which used to spout drinking water under the beautiful vaulted marble roof.I can see the place is more suited to a Vogue fashion shoot now, than the pomp and pageantry of the past.

London fizzes with energy, so finding an oasis like this is a relief, even if the sun is hiding and May feels more like November.

“Hello? London? Big Ben? Sovereign’s Entrance? Are you avin a larf?”

This is why I love London. You can wander just a few yards and the scenery around you is transformed, from Nu Industrial Deco to Gothic Revival in a matter of seconds. I think I made the first one up, but the Capital is alive with hidden wonders, and taking a wrong turn is the thing to do.

Categories: Photography, Travel, Vibe Monitor | Tags: architecture, Big Ben, Britain, Culture, Heritage, Houses of Parliament, London, Palace of Westminster, Subway, Tube, UK, underground | 18 Comments

Secret Doors of the World

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Mark

Little House, Oia, Santorini, Greece.

I’ve found myself in some strange places. Camera in hand, partner and tourists rolling their eyes: it’s a door. Why is that man taking pictures of a door? I love the stuff that other people walk straight past.

Rusting door, Castlefield, Manchester

It’s the mystery, the history, the peeling paint and the rust. Forgotten locks and handles, or maybe some overwrought filigree. To me, the texture of weathered neglect is beautiful.

Weathered wall and iron gates, Santorini, Greece

When the sleeve gets tugged I say ‘Go and flick through Facebook in the café – I’ve found something fascinating…’ There are hidden wonders to be found if you wander from the beaten track.

Haçienda, Barcelona

Coming back from Parc Güell above Barcelona, I spotted this charming little haçienda and in my mind, I bought it and moved in straight away.

Fantastic Art Nouveau shop door, Brussels.

As beautiful as Brussels is, I could have spent all day in Grote Markt and missed this elaborate example of Art Nouveau architecture which was hiding down a side street. I stopped the traffic to get this shot, while the horns hooted.

Categories: Photography, Random, Travel, Vibe Monitor | Tags: architecture, Barcelona, Brussels, Doors, Greece, Greek Island, iPhoto, Oia, Photoshop, Santorini, Spain | 34 Comments

Spring in the Park

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Mark

Escape from the City!

I’m first from the starting gun when the sun comes out and we hit the nearest park, desperate for ultra-violet rays and proof that flowers are actually growing. I know I said we’d be stopping off at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (see previous post) but there’s the tiniest crease in the fabric of space and time which takes us from the kaleidoscopic colour of Park Güell in Spain to… Heaton Park in north Manchester, England.

This is yet another chance for me to wave the Union Jack – this time, while sunbathing. Culture shock, maybe, but I suggest you grab your sunglasses and get a load of this: it’s a Scottish Highland Cow. Or bull, as both male and female have horns. Also the oldest known registered breed of cattle. I wasn’t expecting to come face to face with a horned beast (not on a Wednesday afternoon and certainly not in broad daylight) and was kind of hoping for something more like an ice-cream van.

Heaton Hall has been here in one form or another since 1684, and the grounds were designed in the style of Capability Brown, England’s finest landscape architect in 1839. It’s the largest park in Europe.

The funfair was in town…

There’s a beautiful boating lake, with an island in the middle, full of ducks and geese and swans.

I tried to make this one look like an old postcard from the 70s, partly because the brightly coloured train which drives around the park is like something out of The Magic Roundabout.

If you liked this, then my previous post from Park Güell in Barcelona will completely blow your mind…Get some colour!

Categories: Photography, Random, Travel, Vibe Monitor | Tags: architecture, Capability Brown, flowers, Heaton Hall, Heaton Park, history, Landscape architecture, Life, Manchester, news, photography, random, Scottish Highland Cattle, Spring, swans, The Magic Roundabout, Union Jack | 12 Comments

Gaudi Wonderland – Park Güell, Barcelona

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Mark

‘A fool or a genius, time will tell,’ said Antoni Gaudi’s tutors as they handed him his degree. Spain’s greatest architect is famous for his gothic psychedelic style which predates the colourful extravagance of the sixties by decades. Park Güell, so named because it was based on the English Garden City Movement, was definitely a work of genius: an undulating pleasure garden of vibrant colour and form.

We stayed in Sitges on the coast, just outside Barcelona, and ventured into the city for a Gaudi expedition and shopping at Desigual. You have to take two escalators up a mountainside until you reach the summit which boasts sweeping views of the city, with the Sagrada Familia just a toy on the horizon.

Speaking of toys, Park Güell is like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. A panorama of spiritual symbolism and gingerbread houses create the ideal environment to relax and enjoy the view. I listened to a busking violin as craftsmen repaired broken tiles, which betrayed the real age of the place.

After the tourists have gone and the sun starts to set, the park starts to feel magical, and you can almost see through Gaudi’s eyes. Influenced by Moorish architecture, Gaudi was a visionary, a Modernista with perhaps a penchant for mushroom tea…

I was fascinated to see how Gaudi recycled unwanted ceramics, or trencadis amongst his mosaics and made something beautiful out of damaged and discarded materials. It’s incredible to think this place is a century old.

Gaudi actually lived here in the park in this house which was intended to be a show home: Park Güell was originally supposed to be a housing development for rich aristocrats! I wonder if their names were Dougal, Florence and Zebedee?