BERKSHIRE NIGHT OUT

Solid modelling in the Revit family environment. Slower than the surface modelling of Sketchup but better parametrics and embedded data. Best of all it integrates fully with the project environment for robust BIM workflows.

I moved on from Sketchup 20 years ago, Autocad hung on for little longer for some marginal work. But Revit has been my BIM pencil for so long now it's hard to think of losing access after I retire fully.

 

 

This is St Bartholomew's Arborfield by James Picton. Victorian Gothic Revival. I was there two weeks ago with my Reading friends, enjoying the architecture, soaking up the history and context, taking pictures (never enough) pub lunch together close by.

Friday was a good day to take a first crack at the massing model. Lots of rough estimating here, which is one of my favoured pastimes. A bit like freehand sketching. Drawing "by eye". Playing. Music "by ear".

Each church is unique so there's minimal use of parametrics. I've been learning how best to tackle these forms. Mostly extrusions, but what's the best choice of work plane? When to use join geometry? How to minimise voids? Striving all the time for greater fluency. Enjoying the challenge and delving deeper into the geometry of these churches.

 

Friday night out. Still hunting down new Sports Bars within taxi range. Just hit happy Hour nicely at The List, Al Jaddaf Rotana Suites. Quite a class act. The food was great. Flamingo theme picked up here and there in honour of the bird sanctuary close by. It may be a desert landscape, swamped by concrete and glass, but there is also nature to be found in Dubai, delicate as the city is brash.

 

I will gloss over the massing of this hotel. Not to my taste. But at close quarters it works, outside and in. Not exactly groundbreaking, the blend of modern and traditional is commonplace now. But it does exude quality and for the average non-architectural visitor it’s sure to delight.

As a non meat eater, I’m mostly faced with fish and chips or some kind of curry at these bars. In this case the fish was a cut above the average. Nice crispy batter that even held up as leftover lunch the next day. 

For the uninitiated Berkshire is pronounced "Barksher" and it's the ancient diocese and county to which the Arborfield church belongs.