I love travelling but Perth is just so far away from everything; I was completely shattered by the time I got to my digs in Notting Hill. Besides being shattered I am freezing – although it is summer here London its actaully colder than Perth at this moment. I think the three pairs of shorts I packed was a bit ambitious.
I’m staying in a beautiful street filled with Victorian era town houses – student accommodation that comprises of three townhouses joined together with many small rooms. The more I walk around this area the more I realise that much of this Victorian image of money and position was somewhat a facade. Whilst the houses look grand from the street they are deceptively narrow, not very deep and only faced with the beautiful white stone that adorns the street front the rest of the building is in London brick. Those that are private residences (many appear to be either small hotels or hostels) are often divided into apartments.
Another thing that struck me is the sameness. Whilst it makes for an imposing sight, these grand facades that we appreciate from another century, it is exactly what offends me with modern suburb landscapes – their sameness and the lack of individuality. Yet it doesn’t deter from the architecture and maybe that is exactly the answer – the nature of sound architecture allows for repetiton in a way that modern suburb architecture doesn’t.
I will keep walking the streets and reporting but right now my feet hurt.