Author Archives: John Stewart

Stormont You probably recognise this building as a backdrop to various news reports on Northern Irish politics and it was here that the 700 hours of negotiations to secure the Good Friday Agreement took place. Its official name is ‘The Parliament Buildings’ of Northern Ireland, reflecting the original plan to have two separate office andContinue reading “Blog 48”

Glasgow Central Station We are fortunate in Britain to not only have had so many fine Victorian railway stations, but also that so many have survived the onslaught of 1960’s and 70’s comprehensive redevelopment. In Glasgow, Buchanan Street Station is now a distant memory, we have lost St Enoch along with its magnificent hotel, butContinue reading “Blog 47”

Figurative Sculpture As a result of the ascendancy of abstract art, most people feel unable or inadequate to judge the quality of contemporary sculptural work. We are advised by critics as to which artist or whichever work should be viewed as outstanding and the market dictates their often astonishing values. When most sculpture was figurativeContinue reading “Blog 46”

Richard Norman Shaw I was recently looking through the list of recipients of the RIBA’s Gold Medal to check in which year the great Richard Norman Shaw won it and couldn’t find his name. Shaw (1831-1912) is just one of the many giants of our profession who produced architecture of outstanding quality and about whomContinue reading “Blog 45”

‘A Pattern Language’ My last blog considered the Farnsworth House as an experimental domestic building which both celebrated 20th century technology and offered a new way of living. Mies van der Rhoe re-examined and re-engineered every aspect of domestic life to produce one of the most radical reinterpretations of the ideal home. It got me thinkingContinue reading “Blog 44”

Gothic Revival Architecture My latest book is on ‘British Architectural Sculpture 1851–1951’ (yes – I know – good luck finding a publisher for that one) which has required me to really study the Victorian architecture which makes up the first half of the book in some depth for the first time. I thought that IContinue reading “Blog 42”

The Death of the High Street Apparently, our High Streets across the UK are in terminal decline. Largely as a result of the pandemic, ecommerce grew by 46% in the UK during 2020 and for many people it’s a new, incredibly convenient (and entirely anti-social) habit which will stick. Traditional retail is said to beContinue reading “Blog 41”

The Hoover Dam Now and then, engineers produce art of the very highest standard – Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge, Calatrava’s World Trade Center Transit Hub or Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace and probably my all-time favourite engineering project – the magnificent Hoover Dam on the border of Nevada and Arizona. Originally known as Boulder Dam, itContinue reading “Blog 40”

Groningen Forum Groningen, if you haven’t had the pleasure to visit it yet, is a delightful university city in the very north of the Netherlands. It was founded almost a thousand years ago and like so many Dutch towns and cities, has maintained an architecturally and culturally rich historic core. It largely survived bombing inContinue reading “Blog 39”