I had already been tipped off that Andrew Jones, an enterprising lawyer, had spent lockdown, not travelling round Africa as he normally does, but walking round his local neighbourhood, which happens to be Green Park. The result is a charming, deeply well-informed guide to the amazing range of buildings which surround the park – the relatively nondescript as well as the architecturally wonderful – and is packed full of social, as well as architectural information. Did you know that Rupert Murdoch lives in 25, St. James’s Place ? Does Arlington House really have a penthouse with a retractable roof ? The author stayed in the Royal Overseas League en route to school, had his stag party in a suite in the Ritz, and a relative eloped with King Zog, so he appears exceptionally well qualified to write about the area’s more exotic inhabitants. Just published.

I was pleased to read Richard Calvocoressi’s long and thoughtful obituary of Alan Bowness (see below), having expected there to be others in the papers today. It feels as if it does justice to the full breadth of his achievements at the Tate, which can sometimes be overlooked – the opening of Tate Liverpool, the establishment of the Turner Prize and the two Patrons schemes to help with the funding of acquisitions. What I hadn’t fully appreciated was the astonishing range and depth of acquisitions during his time at the Tate.

There is a very good interview with Bowness in the recent volume, Living Museums: Conversations with Leading Museum Directors, by Donatien Grau which amplifies Calvocoressi’s account, including Bowness’s national service as a conscientious objector and the fact that he was shortlisted to be Director of the Tate in 1964.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/feature/alan-bowness-obituary

Some scenes from Regent’s Park in the sun this afternoon.

The front of Lasdun’s Royal College of Physicians looking north towards Chester Terrace:-

Some penguins also enjoying the sun:-

Cumberland Terrace:-

And Casson’s Elephant House (1964), described as ‘zoomorphic brutalism’:-

It happens so quickly. One week the croci come up, the next there is a whole wealth of flowers to enjoy:-

I am fascinated by 22, Bishopsgate, the massive new tower block which has appeared like a stealth bomber during COVID, dominating the skyline. It could be worse. It is strangely nondescript, as if it has been designed not to be too obtrusive. Probably it was:-

This is the view of it from outside our house:-

From further away:-

And up close:-

We went to see the wonderful mosaics in the children’s playground in Hackney Downs, done by Tessa Hunkin and her big team of helpers in the style of the Roman mosaics of Jordan:-

Nearby are the Hounds of Hackney:-

And tea at Brunswick House. It felt nearly like normal life.

While I was at the Royal Academy, I was always very aware of the benefits of having a 999-year lease, while the other Learned Societies in the Burlington House courtyard were having to spend a disproportionate amount of their time and energies negotiating their leases from the Department of Communities and Local Government. This is an argument which seems to go round and round between the societies, the Treasury, and the department as their current landlord. Since the Society of Antiquaries, much more than any of the national museums, has devoted itself for over three centuries to the study and investigation of British history, maybe Oliver Dowden could devote some of his interest in British history to solving it by way of a private conversation with Robert Jenrick. A quick way to solve a real problem and win public applause.

https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/march-2021/putting-a-price-on-scholarship/

I am rather fascinated by the imagery of the new building in Broadgate which was given planning approval yesterday, because it betrays absolutely no awareness whatsoever of its surrounding context, as if it is being built in the middle of nowhere, or in Toronto or Sydney as the comparative images suggest – a free-standing monolith, which pays no attention to Liverpool Street or Spitalfields or the view from Victoria Park or, for that matter, the forest of other narcissistic, free-standing towers which will surround it in close proximity.

I can see that the City is determined to show its chutzpah by giving planning permission to a clutch of megaliths, all presented in the name of sustainability by anonymous corporate architects on the international circuit. But is the City’s planning committee really paying attention to changing patterns of work ? To the future skyline ? To the risks of terrorism ? They look a bit like the cooling towers built in the 1970s and now being blown up. That’s not my idea of sustainability.

https://3xn.com/project/2-finsbury-avenue-broadgate

I have been looking in the press for reports of the meeting of Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with museum directors to tell them how to run their museums. But although the meeting was much trailed in advance and we were told by the Sunday Telegraph what its conclusions were going to be, the only report so far is Dowden’s own Twitter feed which says that ‘it was a very productive conversation about protecting heritage for future generations’ in which – this reads like a slight parody of Whitehall practice – it was ‘agreed to set up a working group & produce guidelines to put the govt’s retain and explain policy into practice, so that more people can engage with our shared practice’. It sounds as if the lion might (very sensibly) have turned into a mouse.

On our recent trip to Hackney Wick, I spotted a bakery, but wasn’t able to investigate, so went back today. It’s called Doh, is opposite Hackney Wick Station, and only opened in its current location in January. It was, as I had guessed, full of the most delicious things, including Veg Boxes, too big to carry on my bicycle, and the most incredibly excellent, freshly made bread:-

There are other good things in Hackney Wick:-