7+ mon, 1+ week ago (1247+ words) It is a place where a Disney-ish castle, complete with turrets, sits near a scaly "pangolin" house. But is Graven Hill now straying from the DIY vision that made its anarchic jumble of styles so mesmerising?What would the world look like if Kevin McCloud had his way? What if each of us had the chance to build our very own Grand Design, letting our streets be lined with personal visions, liberated from the identikit brick boxes offered by the usual big housebuilders?A glimpse of this world exists, sort of, on the outskirts of Bicester in Oxfordshire, where the country"s biggest self-build experiment has been under way for the last 10 years. Graven Hill is a place where rooftops tilt, zigzag and bulge, where windows come in circles, squares and triangles, or poke out from unexpected places. There are…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago (334+ words) Architect known for the exposed structures of his buildings and the geodesic domes of the Eden Project It was Grimshaw's blend of enthusiasms that made his Eden Project in Cornwall such a huge and popular success when it opened in 2001. It became a visitor attraction even before a single plant come into bloom in its huge greenhouses. For Grimshaw, the high tech approach was the way to turn the messy, earthbound and mud-soaked business of architecture into a kind of magic trick. He wanted to use modern materials to create lightweight, prefabricated components that could be put together in an instant, such as the Meccano construction kits that he had played with as a child. He and Farrell went on to build a pioneering co-operative block of flats overlooking Regent's Park, in which they both lived with their families for…...

5+ mon, 3+ week ago (41+ words) From a brutalist apartment in London's Barbican to a flat in the heart of Shakespeare country Continue reading... From a brutalist apartment in London's Barbican to a flat in the heart of Shakespeare country Fri 6 Jun 2025 02.00EDT...

5+ mon, 1+ week ago (395+ words) My father, John Parker, who has died aged 91, was inspired by his art teacher at South East London Technical College (SELTEC, now Lewisham College) to become an architect, and had a career spanning 65 years. In public service, he worked with the London county council (LCC) from 1962 to 1965, developing the concept of two-storey schools with roof gardens for children with special educational needs. And at the London borough of Lambeth (1965-70), he led designs for Brixton town centre. John was born in Sydenham, south-east London, to Elsie (nee Curtis), a cook, and Richard Parker, who worked for the Metropolitan Water Board. His was a story of social mobility, which took him from relative poverty to a planning career within local government in London. He was evacuated to Devon and Yorkshire during the second world war, and went to SELTEC on his return to…...

3+ week, 6+ day ago (343+ words) My sister Liz Barnard, who has died aged 83, began her working life in the government Careers Service, but in her 30s she changed career herself. In 1977 she embarked on a degree in furnishing and interior design at the London College of Furniture, and then moved back to Norwich, where she had grown up, and began to develop property. Liz was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, during the second world war, to Mary (nee Loomes), a teacher, and Arthur Barnard, known as Barney, an accountant. It was a time of rationing and bombs, and Liz continued to be frightened by loud bangs for the rest of her life. Barney moved to gain promotion in his career as a municipal accountant and the family followed him. By 1949, Liz had three siblings, and soon after that, when Mary's sister died, her two children, along with…...

2+ mon, 1+ day ago (869+ words) From the ziggurats of the MI6 HQ to TV-am's eggcups and a Hong Kong tower that featured on a banknote, Farrell strived to make uplifting architecture" "Nonconformist' architect of MI6 building dies " news" Spies, eggcups and penthouses: Farrell's best buildings " galleryTerry Farrell made his mark on London. All his buildings had a certain postmodernist swagger, but one of his most conspicuous (ironically, in view of its function) was the headquarters of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6, on the site of the former Vauxhall pleasure gardens.Completed in 1994, MI6 showed Farrell, who has died aged 87, in his postmodern pomp, energetically juggling historicist motifs to conjure a flamboyant, flesh-coloured fortress, replete with ziggurats and crenellations, dominating its Thames-side locale. Deyan Sudjic described MI6 as "an epitaph for the architecture of the 80s, and its styling that which "could be interpreted equally plausibly as a…...

6+ day, 17+ hour ago (580+ words) Competition-winning apartment building plans should be approved twice as quickly by NSW councils, and will be three to six storeys high Airy Scandinavian interiors, shaded balconies, light-filled courtyards " could these be Sydney's next art deco apartment blocks or red brick walk-ups? The New South Wales government has launched nine new mid-rise apartment building pattern book designs, which it hopes will support the construction of 112,000 homes in the "missing middle" over the next five years, through its controversial low and mid-rise (LMR) reforms. The designs, among the winners of the government's pattern book design competition, come after the release of eight low-rise home drawings in July. The mid-rise apartment designs unveiled on Monday range from three to six storeys, including four designs for small lots, three designs for large lots and two designs for corner lots. The cross-ventilated and energy-efficient pattern…...

2+ mon, 1+ day ago (233+ words) Sir Terry Farrell, the UK's leading architect-planner and postmodernist, has died aged 87" "Nonconformist' architect of MI6 building dies " news Continue reading... Spies, eggcups and penthouses: Sir Terry Farrell's best buildings " in pictures - In 1965, he set up in practice with his longtime friend Nicholas Grimshaw. During the next 15 years they had some notable successes but progressively their interests diverged. Farrell and Grimshaw's Herman Miller Factory in Bath, completed in 1976, was a landmark of British hi-tech architecture- In 1980, he founded his own company, Terry Farrell & Partners, and had early success as a forerunner in the postmodern movement with buildings such as the TV-am studios by Camden Lock, London. As a reference to the breakfast television filmed there, the building is topped with a dozen eggcups - The Secret Intelligence Service (or MI6) building, Vauxhall Cross, London. It is blown up at the end of the…...

2+ mon, 2+ week ago (83+ words) This year's Sydney Contemporary art fair will premiere Photo Sydney, a space dedicated to contemporary photography. The fair is on show from 11-14 September at Carriageworks Continue reading... Patti Smith in the Kitchen, NYC The Lake from In Australia Dresie and Casie, Twins, Western Transvaal Fire in the Garden Madonna, Chains, Album Cover Debbie Harry in her apartment Melt, Portrait of an Iceberg #5 Bounded in a Nutshell / King of Infinite Space (diptych #2, right) See You on the Other Side...

3+ week, 3+ day ago (142+ words) More than 40 projects were recognised in the national awards, identifying contemporary designs that offer solutions to critical national issues, including housing shortages, affordability and the climate crisisGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email Continue reading... More on this story "I'm never surprised when I read about a woman murdering a man': Helen Garner on her Baillie Gifford prize-winning diaries "Nothing compares to it today': the sequins, scandal and nude showgirls of Australia's Tivoli circuit Helen Garner's diaries win 2025 Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction Three decades later, The Truman Show feels freshly disturbing " and astoundingly prescient Mushroom tapes, erotic Greek myths and joyful Thai cooking: the best Australian books out in November Happiness review " Schitt's Creek meets Glee in charming Kiwi musical comedy Frankenstein, Materialists and Pluribus: what's new to streaming in Australia in November...