Category: London and ParisPage 1 of 3

Preparing the colours for your Professional Palette

There are some inputs to our creative process that we build up over time so that we are ready to draw on them whenever we work on a…

Derive #2 City of London – Log book

19/3/18 Derive #2 Location: City of London Context: preparation for my talk ‘Circling the Square‘ 0:00:00 Moorgate and London Wall. Once solid-looking stonewalls are now façades pinned in…

Harrow: my original civil engineering inspiration?

This morning I was down at our local primary school arranging to do a talk about civil engineering for the Year 5 and 6s. The head teacher remarked…

From concrete courtyard to blooming garden – the story of the Big Dig

In December last year I wrote about day one of the Big Dig, M and my plan to transform our barren concrete courtyard into a thriving patch of urban greenery….

Barbican, you were looking lovely today

Today the Barbican looked stunning. I had the feeling that with the sun shining this is how Chamberlin, Powell and Bonn’s original renders of the Barbican might have…

In Praise of Euston Station

I know it is not often that you hear people say this, but I do really like Euston station – from an interpreted transport perspective, it is a…

Archive photos/early attempts at developing/les arcs

Probably the best module I studied during my year at ENPC was not engineering-themed – but photography. The module was run as an English language course: the subject…

Herringbone Wall

Spotted near Dalston

The Big Dig

This is not a post about the civil engineering megaproject to put a massive road underground in Boston. This is a post about spending a very satisfying day…

Going full circle on the Overground

I feel like a bit of a wally standing here in the rain at Clapham High Street Overground station. There are many shorter ways to get me home, which…

The New River Clissold Park to Finsbury Park

[slideshow]

Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig…and Bazalgette’s sewerage system

Being set mostly in London, the latest James Bond film, Skyfall, takes us an action-packed tour of some the city’s great engineering projects: disused Underground tunnels, Bazalgette‘s embankment…

Speaking with Pictures – Peter Ayres at Big Draw Big Make at the V&A

This afternoon M and I dropped in to the V&A to see what was happening at Big Draw, Big Make. The first talk that caught our eye was Speaking…

A few photos from National Walk to Work Week

[slideshow] Last Friday, inspired by National Walk to Work week I walked to work, first to the Hub in King’s Cross, and then on to Oxford Circus. Here’s a…

Notes from Migrations at the Tate Britain

Notes on a few things that caught my engineer’s eye at the Migrations exhibition at the Tate Britain today. ‘Quickly Away Thanks to Pneumatic Doors’ and ‘Soon in…

Roll up roll up engineering communicators…time for more Science Showoff

…it’s Science Showoff time (well it will be next Tuesday). That magnificent monthly occasion when enthusiasts from all walks of science tread the boards in an entertaining manner…

Dan Lepard, my first loaf, and the value of fail-safe instructions

My highlight of the Guardian Festival yesterday was Dan Lepard, regular baking columnist for the Saturday Guardian. In a packed room he gave five golden rules for successful…

Good laughs at Science Showoff

I went down to Science Showoff last night at the Wilmington arms, ‘an open mic night for all communicators of science’. The spectrum of material covered was rather…

Resisting Ikea – preparing for Monday’s sustainability conference

I spent most of last weekend preparing for a sustainability conference that we ran on Monday (post about that event appearing shortly). I know from experience that the…

Looking back from the future: Useful Simple Trust’s first decade, as told in the year 2020

As part of the Useful Simple Trust Away Day in June 2011, eight Trustees and Directors were each asked to compose and present a five-minute piece giving an…

Showreal – Millennium Bridge Micro Documetary

Early this year I was filmed presenting a short clip about the Millennium Bridge by a TV production company developing a concept for a new engineering show. We…

New Year’s Day – Gauguin: Maker of Myth

M and I have been meaning to go and see the ‘Gauguin: maker of Myth‘ exhibition at the Tate Modern for some time. The reviews have been great,…

Hamlet at the National Theatre – what an epic!

Today I saw Hamlet for the first time. The production that M and I went to was at the National Theatre. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised, but…

Belly dancing, Charleston and keepy-uppies – civic participation in action

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gooD14xRh4&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1] This morning I was delving further into Bowling Alone (more notes to follow); by this evening I found myself performing at the Charity Gala, Oak View School…

Touring the Capital with ICE President Paul Jowitt

Article written for the ICE London’s newsletter in my capacity as Chair of the London Graduates and Students. Touring the Capital with ICE President Paul Jowitt ICE President…

An ode to my bookmark

It slipped away from between the pages as I pushed my way down Oxford Street. It was a present, given to me by my house mate Rose. At…

Frank Auerbach: London Building Sites 1952-1962

This afternoon M took me as part of my Christmas present to the Courtauld Gallery to see the exhibition  ‘Frank Auerbach: London Building Sites 1952-1962. Quite how I…

The Smallest Cinema in the World

The Smallest Cinema in the World is now open. The Cinema, conceived by artist Annika Eriksson as a venue for films that she is making about Regent’s Park,…

Other mobile structures in London this summer

The Smallest Cinema in the World will be a mobile structure. It will be towed to different locations in Regent’s Park throughout the summer. This is possible because…

Richard Rogers Exhibition – Pompidou centre

The Richard Rogers exhibition at the Pompidou centre is now over. I went once and meant to go back as there was so much to take in (and…