I ’m very lucky that I get to travel a lot for my work and, as an architect, any trip I make to any country is a like an architectural research project as I’m constantly surrounded by buildings in the built environment. I can never switch off. I’m constantly taking pictures with my iPhone of buildings, materials, textures and architectural details that I love and that may have an impact on the designs I create when back in the UK.
Photos Darren Chung, iStock
You can be inspired in the same way with every family holiday you ever take. But, it is so important to make sure that any buildings or ideas that do catch your eye actually work when you get back to Blighty. Some architectural design features just aren’t transferable; they work in foreign countries because they suit the climate and the context in which they sit because unique design features in a particular country have been developed and refined over many generations. Taking a holiday design idea that doesn’t work is a bit like having that incredible crisp glass of white wine and amazing meal while sitting on the beach as the sun sets on your dream holiday, but isn’t quite the same when you cook the same meal and drink the same wine in your back garden in Britain. It just never quite lives up to the original experience. This reminds me of Moroccanthemed rooms that for some bizarre reason became popular in the UK throughout the 2000s. They were just a bit weird. I felt like I was in a Moroccan restaurant rather than somebody’s home.
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August 2015
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