Public Blog

The ending of, then restrictions on international travel since the outbreak of the pandemic has been tough to endure. Architects, artists and students particularly must travel abroad; there’s only a limited amount you can learn from a magazine, video or from zoom. You have to see the work, “in the flesh” breathe in the atmosphere and meet the people. That's how you also build bridges, across cultures.

No doubt some contributors at the COP26 conference, just about to begin in Glasgow, will be calling for an end to flying or for the number of international flights to be restricted or for punitive costs to be added to the cost of a flight. Leaving flying abroad available only to the very rich.

In the last few years, I have been invited to work, teach and lecture internationally, from the west coast of the USA to the east coast of China and Australia. That experience has benefited me professionally, socially and culturally but also as a human being, in the most profound way. It would be tragic for us all to lose that. A sustainable balance is needed that addresses climate change but does not restrict the ability to travel globally.

I have taken my sketchbook, as always, and a few of my drawings from the countries I have visited in only the last few years are included here:

Harbour Bridge and Utzon Concert Hall, Sydney NSW
La Jolla,Kahn Salk Institute
Olympic Park, Seattle USA
Kansas City,Nelson Atkins Holl Bloch Addition
Greek Amphitheatre, Taormina Sicily
East Lake Donghu, Wuhan Hubei Province People’s Republic of China
Old Town, Suzhou Jiangsu People’s Republic of China
Taos Pueblo, Taos New Mexico USA
Hagia Sophia Mosque, Anthemius of Tralles and Isodore of Miletus Istanbul
Boston Harbour, Skidmore Owings Merrill
Wuhan National University Campus Wuhan Hubei People’s Republic of China
Larsen Hall, Caudill, Rowlett and Scott Harvard University USA