Diversionary Daily

Handled

Arne Jacobsen’s designs for the SAS Royal Copenhagen Hotel covered everything from the architecture of the building itself right down to the chairs, furniture, cutlery, almost every object used throughout the hotel.

Even the doorhandle.

And yes, they’re remarkably beautiful and also perfectly fit the hand — form and function meet at last — and that same fastidious attention to detail flows through everything Jacobsen designed.

Sadly the AJ Door Handle is only used on internal doors, with main room entry through an awful modern swipe-card system — the modernisation of the hotel has meant a few concessions of design to technology and modern conveniences.

Posted on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 | 0 Comments

Needs no introduction

Swan and Egg Chairs in their natural habitat.

Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 | 2 Comments

Flashback

I stumbled across some photos from the SAS Royal Copenhagen Hotel that I never got around to posting, so I'll be putting them up over the next few days.

Almost fifty years after it was built, the Royal is still a defining part of the Copenhagen’s built skyline (on the whole it’s a surprisingly low-rise city). The hotel’s checkerboard facade of rooms lit up the dark winter night when I visited.

Posted on Sunday, September 9, 2007 | 0 Comments

Yawn

I’ve been lazy of late and not taking photos. Here’s one from London instead.

Posted on Monday, September 3, 2007 | 1 Comments

Norwegian Mountains

One from somewhere high up in Norway during last year’s European adventure.

In hindsight it was probably the baptism of fire and unending upwards inclines that make up Norway’s spectacular roads that drove Cranky the Townace to self-destruct days later in Sweden.

Norway was mighty pretty though.

Posted on Sunday, August 12, 2007 | 0 Comments

Titanium clad

Another shot of the Guggenheim Bilbao’s titanium-clad skin.

Posted on Sunday, August 5, 2007 | 1 Comments

Speaking of iconic roofs

Thinking about the up-close detail of Sydney Opera House’s roof got me thinking about other famous buildings whose cladding is equally iconic, and the most obvious answer is Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 | 0 Comments

Further back

Stepping even further back in time, here's a cobbled street in Sweden.

From memory it’s probably a street in Gamla Stan, the amazingly well-preserved old town area of Stockholm.

Posted on Sunday, July 15, 2007 | 0 Comments

Westminster

One from a couple of months, and about 17,000km ago.

There’s something about the Underground that looks good in black and white.

Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 | 3 Comments

Rain

First let me make it clear that I don't want this blog to descend into commentary on the weather. That'd be some kind of sad last resort for something to write about, and while I've come close before, I'm not that desperate.

Now then.

That aside, I've been meaning to post this photo from Ribe, Denmark, and it happened to start raining today just in time for lunch today, so I'm going to retract earlier comments regarding impending good weather and promise not to talk about the weather again.

At least not until next week.

Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2007 | 0 Comments

Reeds

Another photo from Ribe: from memory this was taken in the moat surrounding the remains of Riberhus Slotsbanke (Riberhus Castle). I'll check into that — posts are few and far between while I try and sort out net access at home here in Sydney.

Wish me luck.

Posted on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 | 0 Comments

Danish wood

In the fine tradition of last year's post, Norwegian Wood, here's a stack of logs from Ribe, Denmark.

Posted on Monday, June 4, 2007 | 0 Comments

Abstract

Getting a little too close to the balconies in the entry hall at the Natural History Museum, London.

Posted on Friday, June 1, 2007 | 0 Comments

Enlightened Silhouette

The stuff stashed away in the stairwells (yes, stairwells!) of the British Museum is pretty mad. It's almost like the stairwells are where otherwise homeless bits and pieces end up. From memory this was somewhere between the Africa and Japan rooms.

Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2007 | 0 Comments

Stepping Up

Another from the archive: a doorway somewhere in Chelsea, London.

Posted on Monday, May 28, 2007 | 0 Comments

Previously

I haven't had a chance to mess with more Sydney photos, so here's an old one from London. It's another shot of the stunning Battersea Power Station, which is sadly in disrepair after another failed apartment conversion fell through.

The June/July issue of Wallpaper magazine has a beautiful photospread showing the power station's current tragic state, with the boiler house completely open to the elements. It's worth checking out next time you're near a newsagent, especially for the retro futurism of the control rooms.

The BBC also have a small photo gallery from a few years back.

Posted on Sunday, May 27, 2007 | 1 Comments

Winging It

Forgot to post this yesterday. Somehow a long-haul flight doesn't feel complete without posting a photo of a wing.

If anyone needs me, I'm still hanging out in the sun heading into the office to learn the ropes.

Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007

On the Move

257 days after I skipped the country, this Sunday I'll be stepping back on board a plane headed to Australia. I'll explain more soon, but in summary I'm upping sticks and moving to Sydney to work with the great team at news.com.au.

I'll be sad to leave behind friends old and new here in London, but I can't wait to discover a new city and meet new folks in Sydney.

If you're in Perth, I'll be back for a weekend some time soon to catch up with everybody. And if you're in Sydney drop me a comment or email and let me know your tips for the city... I might even buy you a beer in return.

Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 | 9 Comments

Closing Time

Looking across the vast turbine hall of the Tate Modern into the bookshop as the galleries empty out at the end of the day.

I've been making a list of design books to buy one day, when I have a nice coffee table or home office to house them all.

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2007 | 2 Comments

Under Repairs

This photo made it onto the holiday website but never here, so I'm making amends now.

Since yesterday I mentioned the Reichstag in Berlin, here's a photo of its iconic glass dome which I'm told is really quite cool. It was of course closed for repairs while we were there last year.

Posted on Wednesday, May 9, 2007 | 1 Comments