Aaaand we’re back. It is amazing how suddenly it has been half a year between posts. I am once again back into the swing of this blog thing.

During these days of isolation, I’ve taken a long look at my past posts and realized that perhaps the blog is trying to be too many things at once. I have a lot of great ideas, but I think successful blogs stick to their niche. So… I have decided that niche is architecture and moving forward I will aim to stay on track with architecture-related content.

Sure, architecture isn’t exactly a niche – however, architecture in Perth framed in my unique viewpoint as a ‘foreigner’ touring the City whilst working and growing as a young architect – that is fairly unique. Plus add in my love of history and research and I think I can come up with some pretty rich content.

I’ve also suffered from the wanting to do too many things at a time and thus stifled my own creativity by overwhelming myself. My solution to that is to focus my ideas and content on a monthly or bi-monthly theme related to architecture – starting out with the easiest: material (physical materials buildings are built or clad with).

So, in that vein, this month’s theme is… Brick.

And now I am going to go against some of what I just said for this monthly motivation post, but in all fairness lots of things inspire me – not just a single material.

I listened to an online talk recently (The Architect’s Bookshop Isolation Talks) featuring Studio Bright out of Melbourne. Melissa Bright, the Director, talked about the Studio’s many projects, but one that stuck out to me was Ruckers Hill House. The use of brick, the preservation of the old home, and the integration of the pool is just brilliant. I am captivated by the upside-down arches and the quality of the brickwork. See the project here: https://studiobright.com.au/project/ruckers-hill-house/

Images from Studio Bright’s website

Brick is such a classic material, particularly here in Australia. It embodies “heritage” and “long-standing” and it reminds me of lots of other classic and quality pieces. These velvet ribbons are just gorgeous and I love the handmade and rich feeling attached to them.

Images from Nettle & Silk’s website, see link below

It is starting to be Autumn in Australia so I am digging all the jewel-tones right now. The ribbons and the yellow bouquet below are from Nettle & Silk, and I am tempted to buy their entire website right now but have no idea what I’d use all the ribbon for. For some beautiful vibes and a heartwarming story in these tough times check out their blog post: https://nettleandsilk.com/blogs/journal/holding-one-another-when-we-cant-touch 

Left, from pinterest no credit found; Right, Nettle & Silk

Finally, and to bring us back to the topic of the month, I’ve already been having a great time looking into brick as a material. I’ve been using it much more frequently in my design process, which makes sense considering it is a very common building material here. I need to know more, and am excited to see both the classic and the out-of-the-box ways it can be used. Particularly in relation to light and contrast with other materials, as seen in the below images. I imagine I will revisit this material again, as one month will not be enough to dedicate to it!

Images from archdaily; images of Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Marina Tabassum

Sending good vibes out to you all for the Month of May!