Category: Blog
In the footsteps of a Danish modernist who understood form and structure
It’s funny how familiar places can suddenly take on a new significance – as an Oxford student in...
Read MoreThe question of whether or not we should be building high rise living spaces, by Joseph Kelly
As well as raising countless questions about the construction, materials and maintenance mechanisms for high rise accommodation blocks, the Grenfell Tower tragedy also revived the longstanding debate about the theology of urban...
Read MoreGestalt theory challenges us to view church construction more holistically, says Joseph Kelly
When the Hungarian philosopher Max Wertheimer established the theory of Gestalt psychology in the early 1900s, he probably never expected that his ideas would find an application in the practice of church building. Yesterday I...
Read MoreWhat ancient Chinese roofs can tell us about climate change
To reconstruct a picture of past climates, scientists often examine trapped bubbles in ice cores or the width of rings inside old trees. A new study, published in Science Advances by researchers at Nanjing University in China...
Read MoreRepurposing unloved buildings is risky, but the benefits and rewards make it worthwhile, says Joseph Kelly
It’s fascinating who you can bump into in the pub, especially now that we’re entering the post-pandemic world. In my case conversations with strangers inevitably end up with some kind of discourse about buildings, and Gareth was...
Read MoreJodrell Bank and the problem with listing too many buildings
When Sir Alfred Bernard Lovell built his world-changing telescope at Jodrell Bank in the late 1940s, he could never have imagined that the complex metal structure would become Grade I listed, nor could he have guessed that the...
Read MoreIn a rapidly shrinking world, the ‘Tiny House’ movement is now a global phenomenon
Way back in 1973, as I was working my uncertain way through secondary school, my English teacher handed me a copy of a newly-published book that he thought might inspire my learning efforts. Inspire me it certainly did, though...
Read MoreMeaningful human spaces and flexibility will be the hallmark of post-covid architecture, says Joseph Kelly
As we emerge from pandemic lockdowns into a post-pandemic world, it’s becoming apparent that some things have changed forever. Most significantly there are profound debates taking place that will impact on the built...
Read MoreStop to think before we start pulling down statues and demolishing buildings, by Joseph Kelly
Over the past few days I’ve been in the sleepy north wales village of Hawarden, photographing some particularly fine Victorian buildings nestled in its snug little high street. Those familiar with the name will either know...
Read MoreNew challenges and opportunities for architecture in the post-pandemic world
As we start out on the 2022 journey, many architects and planners will be reflecting on the great changes of the past two years, and how a post-pandemic world might look in terms of the built environment. Given that it’s...
Read MoreOf railways stations and fallen arches
Hardly a week goes by that I don’t travel to London on business; from the north west all mainline routes terminate at Euston station, the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line to Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester...
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Resisting the intentionally hostile
It’s odd how sometimes the deepest conversations about architecture can pop up in the most...
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