Poundbury Pt. 1

Once upon a time there was a prince who dreamed an impossible dream, to build a magical town; a town where harmony, proportion and humanity reigned for ever and ever. 

The Arts and Crafts Brownsword Hall

That prince was named Charles; the town, Poundbury. As to whether it is a fairytale or a nightmare, the jury remains firmly divided down the middle.
The mere mention of the place transforms normally sane people into po-faced armchair architects...while architects...well they simply turn purple and expire in a puff off self righteous hot air.

Bread and coffee

Attitudes are invariable coloured by the man rather than the vision; but given that his dream is so benign, it is a mystery as to why people become so hot under the collar.
The development on the edge of Dorchester is now in its twenty first year and when completed in 2023 will contain 2,500 new homes and a population of 5000; increasing the population of Dorchester by a quarter.

Superdoopermarket - the Waitrose building

The  master plan never had any pretence to be architecturally cutting edge. The novel element to the scheme was far more subtle, to create a development where factories, private dwellings, social housing and retail were carefully integrated with the consequence that car dependency was to be dramatically reduced. Given Charles green credentials there is even an anaerobic digester chugging away somewhere producing gas for up to 25,000 homes.

Wandering Poundbury's streets makes you appreciate just how ambitious the scheme is in fact you can quite easily get lost in its expanse, while the deft use of proportion and detail lends the place wit, style and humanity which most (all?) new domestic developments lack. 

Stubby columns of the Brownsword Hall

Nothing is perfect though; the shops are of a niche variety; the interiors are often cramped and lacking the style and quality of the exteriors while there still seems to be an over-reliance on gas guzzlers. 
...Buts that's enough of my views...best take a saunter around the development, partake of latte (or royaltea) at Olives Et Al then lay aside vain prejudice then form your own right royal opinion.

The influence of Burns - the fire station

 

Dorset Museums 8-the Russell-Cotes Museum and Gallery

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If your idea of Bournemouth is a bit gor-blimey, you're mostly right; but then, perched on the cliff, high above the pier and the cloying aroma of chip fat and sun oil stands the town's last bastion of culture...The Russell-Cotes Museum.

I shad no inkling of this hidden gem (and it is gem) until just a couple of years ago yet it houses a world class collection of

Victorian painters from Rossetti and the pre Raphaelites to Landseer and on to amazing pieces created by daubers I've never even heard of. In fact it forms a short sharp anthology of the best of Victorian art.

The collection was assembled by manic collectors Merton and Annie Russell-Cotes and is housed  in the opulent villa Merton built on the cliff-top as a present for his wife. 

The building is an exceptional monument to late Victorian taste and for that reason alone would be worth the visit. As old man Merton said, 'I made up my mind to construct it architecturally to combine the Renaissance with Italian and old Scottish baronial styles' How did he resist chucking in a pyramid for good measure... that's Victorians for you...

The Russell-Cotes were also avid globe-trotters and souvenirs of their jaunts cover Australasia, America, India, the Near East and Africa as well as the Pacific Islands. 

Great art bringeth forth great hunger so if you want to sample a further masterpiece in oils. Harry Ramsden's fish and chips is but a short walk down the hill - just follow your nose.
www.russell-cotes.bournemouth.gov.uk

Dorset detail

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We don't accept plastic...

Dorset detail Pt.2

A few more inspirational nuggets ...

Dorset detail Pt 1

Our forebears relished decoration it was a part of their soul. It is, therefore, heartbreaking that the architectural and design austerity of the past sixty years has swept all of this away. Let's face it, you may admire an iPod but you could never love it.

The following are a random collection of Dorset detail I've recorded on my travels...