“…interesting and completely delightful musings on Architecture…”
– House and Garden
Over the past few years I have collaborated a number of times with Create Streets, an organization which aims to promote street based and human centred architecture. I had been introduced to the founder of Create Streets, Nicholas Boys Smith, via a mutual friend from Cambridge, and I first met him in Waterstone’s cafe in Piccadilly. He arrived brandishing various pamphlets filled with hard-nosed research backing up ideas of which I agreed
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Architects are always presumed to be good at maths and physics. This suggests that people feel the primary role of an architect is to make a building stand up, which is curious because architect in the UK are not licenced to carry out this task. Perhaps architects are to blame...
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Palladio-mania is just going too far. Last year I was invited to two Palladio parties on the same evening, one was at the RIBA and the other at the Italian Embassy. Wherever I look I see articles, symposiums, exhibitions, publications, parties and even a church service...
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A few weeks ago I chaired the Traditional Architecture Group’s first round table discussion and we chose ornament as the subject. It was a fascinating discussion you can listen to as a podcast. You are in for a treat!
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A good pair of brogues will last decades. Trainers will not. Nylon, as used in sports clothing, seems to be the 'go-to' fabric nowadays, unless you are a reactionary architect who peddles nostalgia - like me.
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Over the years I have noticed that clients seem to favour French classicism over Italian. Because of this, I have been sent on several trips to Paris to study and measure buildings – it’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it!
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In the early 1990s, Washington DC was not just the capital, but also the murder capital, of the United States. Despite this, I found it a surprisingly enjoyable place to live, when I spent the year out before my diploma there, working for the eminent classical architect Allan Greenberg...
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This latest offering is a comic I wrote many years ago. Not much to do with architecture but as it’s nearly Christmas I thought I’d post something lighthearted and I am sure we all need cheering up as it’s been a tough year for everyone. The plot follows my alter ego crossed with Tintin who falls into Italy’s dark criminal underbelly after finding his uncle murdered in a suburb of Milan...
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There is no correct way to pursue a career in architecture. In Francis’ most recent podcast, he debunks the myths and offers advice for young people interested in perusing a similar occupation. Francis is joined by his daughter, Claudia, who interviews him one on one.
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As a practicing classical architect, I have had a number of clients who have wanted their houses to look like the work of the English Palladians of the Georgian era rather than Palladio himself. From this I started to notice that the work of the English Palladians...
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As everyone knows, the 29th March this year is a big day in European politics, but, if like me, you feel bored by the process and anxious by the result; might I suggest celebrating 150th Lutyens’s birthday, which coincidentally is on the same day?
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Last February I went on a tour organised by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art and saw the tremendous work done in Forth Worth, a city in North Central Texas. Over a long period, sound urban principles have had an astonishing effect on the town...
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Until recently my knowledge of Manchester architecture was limited to the inside gatefold of ‘The Queen is Dead’ LP. This shows the Smith’s standing outside the Salford Lads Club, where a terracotta Scamozzi Ionic capital can be seen cheekily peaking our over Morissey’s shoulder. I imagined the rest of the city continued in this vein, which indeed it does but with a scale, grandeur and flamboyance I could have only dreamed of.
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Drawing was, and still is, my passion and therefore I am saddened by the wholesale abandonment of drawing from art education in recent times. I’m not arguing against modern art, I just feel that as an accountant should be able to add and subtract, an artist should be able to draw fluently whatever style of art he or she later decides to employ. With Picasso, for example, whatever you think of him, his exceptional drawings which he did as a child give the rest of his work an authority it would not otherwise have.
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A few days ago I did a short podcast with my son Alfie. We wrestled with the question that if architecture is 'frozen music', as Goethe suggests, what sort of music should architects play.
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The gull sees a site plan, but the human sees a setting for their life carried out on the ground. Seeing from both points of view is a daily challenge for any architect or master planner.
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Earlier this year, Country Life, Historic Houses and Neptune launched a competition to celebrate the best new kitchens in old spaces. Our recently completed kitchen fits this brief perfectly and we are thrilled to be shortlisted down to the last three.
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Dalibor Vesely (1934-2015) is the subject of legend at Cambridge University. He was my diploma tutor at the Faculty of Architecture, where he taught during the 80s and 90s.
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In celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Country Life ran a lighthearted competition to improve the front elevation of Buckingham Palace. If I could make alterations and in the festive spirit of the challenge, this is what I would do.
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Berlin is a great place to visit for a few days. The city is a manageable scale full of fascinating museums, superb architecture and hundreds of lovely and varied restaurants.
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When I was growing up I was unsure about whether I wanted to be an architect or an artist. Over a summer holiday, in my late teens, I painted my younger sister’s bedroom with scenes from Alice in Wonderland.
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Architects must seem a strange breed, they work long hours, take on huge liability, having emerged from seven years of expensive training only to be paid less than a bricklayer. It is a life full of stress, so why do so many people want to do it?
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A few weeks ago I was asked to show an ICAA tour around a house in Ireland. I caught a late flight to Ireland on a Sunday night. I then had to hire a car and drove for over an hour. Eventually, I arrived at Roundwood House.
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An essay about Francis Terry's numerous sketching holidays in Italy and other European cities with this father the classical architect Quinlan Terry CBE.
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St Andrew’s, Felixstowe is an uncharacteristic early work by Erith designed between 1929 and 1930. He worked in collaboration with Hilda Mason, who, as the older architect was probably the dominant force in the project.
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I needed to get a puncture on my daughter’s bike repaired and so I went to the Bike Doctor in East Bergholt. He said I’ll have this done in ten minutes. But what could I do in East Bergholt for ten minutes? I thought I would go and visit the church.
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School reunions can be stressful, 'dress informal' says the invitation, but how informal? At least they didn’t demand 'smart casual' – whatever that is. After much indecision, I headed west to Stowe, my old school.
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This year, a client commissioned me to draw an ionic capital. Doing a drawing of this scale is something I rarely have time to do and it was fortunate to be given the opportunity.
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The Haywain by John Constable, perhaps the most famous English painting, depicts Flatford in Suffolk which I know well as it is only a few miles from where I live and I often take my little West Highland Terrier out for walks in that direction.
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Arriving too early to catch a train from Manningtree station, a friend and I used up the time looking at the Mistley towers, only a short distance away.
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Many award-winning houses and those seen on ‘Grand Designs’ often look like space ships or abstract sculpture, which I am sure are worthy in their own way, but they do not look like houses. Is this a problem?
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In these days, when travel restrictions are foisted upon us, I have found myself reminiscing about adventures of days gone by. Years ago, in my student days, I measured the Raimondi chapel, which is a side chapel dedicated to St Francis in San Pietro in Montori on the Janiculum hill in Rome. The chapel was designed by Bernini and filled with sculpture from his studio.
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One of my favourite houses is Townley Hall in in County Louth, Ireland. It is not open to the public but the institution that owns it are happy for enthusiasts to look round, which I did a many years ago.
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The V & A is, without a doubt, my favourite museum. I enjoy wandering around with no particular purpose, looking at whatever objects catch my eye. Sometimes I find new gems; other times I enjoy returning to familiar pieces...
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Jefferson was a great architect because he had an instinct for elegant phasing, which is the essence of all good architecture. His design of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville is an exceptional work of architecture.
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When I walked up to the front of Versailles I was struck by how unimpressive it was despite all the money spent on it. When I returned home and aided by the extra time which the coronavirus lockdown has generated, I set myself the task of redesigning Versailles.
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Taste is a curious thing and I have often wondered how it works. Things considered tasteful can stop being tasteful, seemingly for no apparent reason, but there must be more to it than that.
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alladio's villas in the Veneto are made from render which is a cheaper alternative to stone, but it looks similar from a distance ... I think even if the Villa Rotonda was made of cheese, it would still look splendid from afar.
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Architects for millennia have sought to find rules to determine the proportions of every aspect of a building. A window, for example, can look too narrow and thin or conversely it can look squat and fat.
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We recently bought a puppy and discovered that he much prefers classical music to pop. It seems that dogs are born with discernible musical tastes which effects their moods and this seems to be consistent throughout the species.
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“Why did the chicken cross the road?” is not a great joke. What interests me more is where the chicken crosses the road in people’s minds. When asked the question, what do you imagine?
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Quality is so important. It is the different between mass produced bleached white sliced bread assembled in a factory and bread lovingly made in small batches by a baker who really cares. The ingredients are much the same, but the differences are enormous.A discussion with Alfie and Francis Terry.
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How much should I, as an architect, push my opinions? Should I simply take instructions from clients and blindly obey, or should I insist on buildings being a particular way?
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The proportions and defining features of the five orders of columns are a fundamental part of classical architecture. In this video, Francis and his father Quinlan Terry CBE delve deep into this cornerstone of the profession. From the rustic undecorated Tuscan order to the detailed and ornate Composite, they reflect on their usage over the years, their rich symbolism as well as the mysterious question of their distant origins.
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Many people, would love to build a new house in the country. The problem is getting planning permission. But don't despair, NPPF paragraph 84e is the planning legislation which is specifically written to allow this to happen. In this video architect Francis Terry and planning specialist Martin Leay discuss how this can be done in practical terms using examples of their many past successes of 'paragraph 84e' houses.
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This video is an interview between Francis and his father Quinlan Terry CBE, discussing the many unforgettable moments in his highly successful sixty-year career.
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In this video Francis Terry discusses with his son Joey what ways architects can address these pressing issues, and how traditional construction methods and materials can contribute to the debate.
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Francis gave a zoom talk on his sketching through the decades to the Traditional Architects Group recently. In this talk, Francis discusses his work from his various sketchbooks and focus on how these drawings inspired his work.
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Many people, perhaps you, would love to build yourself a new house in the country where you could live with your family and work from home in rural tranquility. It is perhaps the English dream. The problem is getting planning permission. But don’t despair, NPPF paragraph 80e is the planning legislation which is specifically written to allow this to happen. The clause states that the new house has to be an ‘exceptional’ work of architecture and so it is not easy to get planning permission… but not impossible. In this video architect Francis Terry and planning specialist Martin Leay discuss how this can be done in practical terms using examples of their many past successes of ‘paragraph 80e’ houses.
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The highest praise one can give an artist is to say he or she draws like Raphael. It comes in the same package as writing like Shakespeare or ‘bending it like Beckham’. As I can’t write poetry and don’t play football the latter two challenges are not open to me, but drawing like Raphael... how hard can it be?
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Many people, perhaps you, would love to build yourself a new house in the country where you could live with your family and work from home in rural tranquility.
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Francis Terry explores whether factory-built homes can be both efficient & beautiful, arguing for classical design as the key to creating lasting appeal.
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Francis Terry explores British architecture from the Victorian & Edwardian eras through to post-war modernism, tracing its ideals & transformations.
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A few weeks ago I did a lecture on the architecture of the 18th century. This century is where I go routinely for inspiration. There is something magical about Georgian architecture which everyone seems to enjoy no matter who they are.
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This is a lecture I gave to the office about the baroque movement in architecture. It follows on from a lecture I gave about the renaissance and is the precursor to a future lecture on neoclassicism.
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On occasions I meet architects who think that they are, or more often should be, 'in charge' of every aspect of their buildings. These people are either very naive or deluded. They harp back to a golden age when architects were taken seriously like doctors or lawyers...
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There is no correct way to pursue a career in architecture. In Francis’ most recent podcast, he debunks the myths and offers advice for young people interested in perusing a similar occupation. Francis is joined by his daughter, Claudia, who interviews him one on one.
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The definition of Pastiche is 'an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.' I imitate historic buildings, rather than inventing new styles, and with this in mind, it may seem fair game to direct the word at my work...
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This year we chose Venice for our family holiday. We stayed on the Lido so that we could achieve the right balance between beach and culture and keep everybody happy. I have not been to Venice for several years...
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One of the most universally adored details of all classical architecture is the Ionic capital at the Erechtheion on the north side of the Acropolis, built between 421 and 406 BC. Phidias was both sculptor and mason of the structure and was employed by Pericles...
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