Penzance in the Rain

On Wednesday, we took the local bus from St Ives to Penzance and spent a few hours exploring the town. The High street has a lot of empty shops but also some attractive side alleys and houses. There are a couple of very attractive parks and the Jubilee Pool, the UK's largest art deco sea water lido, originally opened in 1935. It was the first to have a geothermally heated pool at 30-35 degrees from an underground well. The rain cleared in the afternoon and we made our way to Marazion

 

Tate St Ives

One of the reasons I chose  St Ives area of Cornwall for our shortbreak was to visit the Tate St Ives Gallery with its impressive architecture.

"It is built on the site of a former gasworks overlooking Porthmeor Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. Originally opening in 1993, architects Eldred Evans and David Shalev building echoes the shapes of the former gasworks, including the ‘rotunda’ that forms the heart of the gallery.  In 2017 architect Jamie Fobert designed a major extension with a new gallery sunk deep into the cliffs. The exterior responds to the natural forms of the coastline and their clay is pale sandy yellow, with blue and green glazes that capture the ever-changing Cornish weather and blend into the hues of the sea beyond."

Museum of Modern Art and Evening on the Clyde

Having walked around the district containing the Mackintosh School of Art (sadly still under wrapping during its reconstruction after the fire), we walked back via George Square and went into the Museum of Modern Art - a very narrow museum built off a traditional staircase. For the evening shots last night, I was using the Olympus Live Composite mode which shoots a series of images using the same exposure time, with each shot only recording new sources of light – and then composites them in-camera.

Mackintosh House, University of Glasgow

After visiting Kelvingrove Museum (more to follow), we walked to the Hunterian Art Gallery, a modern building that also has a reconstructed concrete version of the Mackintosh's Glasgow house.  In 1920, the Mackintoshes sold their Glasgow home to William Davidson, including all the Mackintosh-designed furniture and fixtures. Following Mr Davidson's death, these were gifted to the University in memory of the Mackintoshes and their father. The principal interiors have been meticulously reassembled and illustrate Mackintosh’s concept of the room as a work of art. A great place to visit and photograph - sorry we didn't discover this before John and Margaret had to return home.

Modern Architecture in Hull 1

We chose Hull for our Christmas break partly because research showed it had some interesting architecture both traditional through the various periods but also some modern gems. Here a first set of buildings that took my eye taken in high key to give the feel of artistic architectural design plans though I would need to add a few 'model' people and trees etc