In this post, Julie Zook and I sit down to discuss some key headlines of our recent co-edited book, The Covert Life of Hospital Architecture, which was published open access with UCL Press on 22 March 22. Health as social, hospitals as social We conceived The Covert Life of Hospital Architecture in late 2019, just…
I’ve recently read Scott Berkun‘s excellent book ‘A Year Without Pants‘, where he reports from his experiment of working for Automattic (the wonderful guys behind WordPress). He was tasked with the introduction of team structures into the perceived chaos of an entrepreneurial, DIY-minded and bazaar-like organisational culture. The book is remarkable on various accounts: It…
A couple of recent trips to Germany (Munich and Stuttgart) made me think about airports and how they create very diverse experiences for travellers. Obviously, each airport is unique in its size, location and its spatial configuration. However, it struck me how conceptually different airports are. How you experience an airport certainly depends on your own…
Several months after the opening of the new concourse of Kings Cross Station, now that the initial hype is over, I’ve finally had the chance to go and have a closer look at how the new station works. Designed by John McAslan and Partners and engineered by Arup, the new station was mostly praised for…
The other day I passed by Apple’s flagship store in Covent Garden/London and was almost magically pulled into it by its wondrous atmosphere. It is huge, open, filled with light and incredibly empty. By empty I don’t mean lacking visitors, as people were clearly playing around with the gadgets and computers on display (though there…
As part of ‘Workplace Week‘ I had the rare opportunity to visit Westminster Palace and see it through the eyes of a Facilities Manager, which was highly fascinating and intriguing. Andrew, Head of Facilities for the Parliamentary Estate guided us through Portcullis House, the building on the Embankment, where all MP’s have their offices, and…
Inspired by the start of term at UCL, a new great cohort of students to teach and interact with, and the new module that I teach (‘Buildings, Organisations, Networks’ in the MSc ‘Advanced Architectural Studies’ – now called ‘Spatial Design: Architecture and Cities’), I have recently thought a lot about building typologies. So in essence,…
Last week I had the unexpected chance to get myself inside one of London’s most iconic buildings: 30 St Mary Axe, Headquarter of Swiss Re, also known as the ‘Gherkin’. Built by Norman Foster at the turn of the century using parametric design and thus a novel technological approach, this building has seen both praise…
Like hundreds of other Londoners, I was curious to see the insides of The Bank of England at this year’s London Open House. And like hundreds of others, I thought it would be a good idea to come early to avoid the historic queues. Well, arriving a mere 7 minutes after official opening on Saturday wasn’t…
The idea of the coffee house as the place to be if you want to get good work done is not new. In his informative TED talk, Steven Johnson highlights the role of the coffee house in the era of enlightenment: a place for people to meet, engage in discussions, think, read and write. Ideas…
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