CHURCH AND STATE

 

Sometimes I just stumble around the Internet from idea to idea. I guess we all do. I came across this digital archive of Lambeth palace library before, then forgot about it.

Anyway, now I have this big Rectangle of church locations mapped out, from Reading down to Southampton I can search more systematically and download floor plans where they exist, which is maybe about half of my dataset.

So there are going to be lots of gaps. And in any case I can't possibly model them all, even schematically. As for site visits, who knows? But sampling is a valid scientific technique, not that this is science. More of a rag-tag mixture methods.

The challenge will be to zoom in and out. Keep the big picture in mind. Sample the detail. Maintain some kind of coherence.

 

 

 

St Mary's, Mapledurwell. Zooming right in to create "first approximation" 3d geometry as a Revit family. Extrusions, solids and voids. No need for any parametric controls. Just the materials. It's a one off.

A few years ago I might have aspire to a "universal" family that could morph into just about any church in my dataset. I'm not ruling that out, but modelling them one-by-one seems a better way to start.

These are very simple little buildings, but still there is so much going on. How many have the entrance door in the west wall? More common to have a little porch just around the corner I think.

There's a story across time for sure. Maybe a simple Norman box. Chancel added later with fine east window. Gothic arch and tracer. The online plan shows a smaller vestry so that has been extended in modern times.

Wooden bell tower. No telling how many times that has been renewed and revised. But it remains a modest village church. Flint walls with limestone dressings. Plain tiles on the roof. When did these come into use? Was it thatched at one time perhaps?

Drawing = modelling = thinking... Asking questions. The stuff of life.

 

 

Playing with sheet layouts for typical churches. Assembly views for the Revit users out there. Location plan needs more work. Maybe zoom in to create a site plan

This little church is just a bus ride out of Basingstoke. Looking forward to seeing it "in the flesh" I think you have to try to imagine yourself as a member of the congregation 200 years ago. More than that would be a stretch, but maybe.

Back to a time when churches were still the glue that held society together. When they were built by hand with only the simplest of mechanical devices. Not because that was a better world. Not because it was worse. Both those things are true in some ways.

I just think we have to hang on to some kind of continuity with the past. To realise that all the "improvements" we make also come at a cost. We can't stand still but we can be less triumphant about "progress" Take it with a pinch of salt

This work is totally reliant on very recent digital technology. But it takes me back in imagination to times before steam power. Maybe I should read some Thomas Hardy.

 

Two opposing views on two consecutive days. My daily walk at something past six. Working hard to improve my mobility and agility. The problem is to do with getting tight. Muscles, not whisky.

A multi faceted treatment programme is working wonders. Some meds, some physio, topical gel, electric back warmer (made in China, shipped by Amazon) Focus on posture, stretching exercises. Try to bring some quality of life to my mid-to-late seventies. Lose some weight (I've done it before) Get ready for the eventual move from private health care to NHS queues.

Meanwhile, it appears that Dubai is finally getting around to installing a serious storm water network. It would be easy to get on our high horses with "about time" and "why not 20 years ago". But this would imply that I have the information, expertise and confidence to manage trillions of dollars, making the right trade-offs at the right time.

I don't. The ruling elites in the gulf have handled these kinds of decisions far better than I could. Yes they have made mistakes and their morality could be questioned here and there, but that's what humans do. It's not as if they are building upon a foundation of societies that went through the European enlightenment. 

 

Dubai is a beacon of openness in the Middle East. I am forever grateful to have spent two decades here, saving money and getting to know people from so many different backgrounds.

Looking forward and looking back. A time to reflect and a time to embark on the next chapter in the adventure of life.