Ahhhh hello again blog-land. Wow I have so much I want to talk about and ask you about… I’m not sure where to start. So I am picking one of my favourite topics and running with it…
Architecture.
I am not an architect, sometimes I wish I was, but I am not. I also wonder whether my passion for architecture would diminish if I understood all the nuts-and-bolts of it.. All the technical aspects.
I remember being fascinated by houses and buildings as a young child. I would reflect on the aspect of the house, the layout of rooms and the aesthetic qualities. (Unfortunately I also developed a sense of inferiority as I begun to judge friends houses against my own – but that will be left for another blog another day)!
Growing up on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria afforded me an enviable place from which to develop an interest in architecture. There are some beautiful old houses scattered around the peninsula which once belonged to wealthy graziers and the like, or were holiday houses for Melbourne’s elite. In particular, Craigie Lee on the Esplanade in Mount Martha. Craigie Lee has always been my “Tattslotto” house – you know the house that you would buy instantly once you won Tattslotto! It is an amazing house on a fantastically large block of land (which was once much bigger)…. My favourite feature is the swimming pool, (which I can only partly imagine as the fences surrounding the house are so high), however from the road you can see the pool-house and a giant slide which delighted my imagination even as a child. I imagine the pool house and surrounds look exactly like the pool in the Grace Kelly classic “High Society” – and of course I imagine myself swanning around the pool LOOKING like Grace Kelly.. Never mind the fact that I am a 6ft tall brunette!
Falling Water was of course a staggering eye-opener. I don’t remember how old I was when I first saw a picture of the Frank Lloyd Wright design, but it certainly shifted my perspective on how architecture could effect the soul, the very essence of you. It was the first time I realized that architecture was Art. An important form of Art. Just as powerful and life altering as music and paintings and sculpture.
As an adult, a day does not pass without me thinking about houses I would love to design, or changes I would make to my rented house. One day I hope to be able to build my own dream home, I have it mapped out on paper already of course. It is based on a Los Angeles home I once saw in a magazine. I have no idea who designed the house, or where exactly it is, but I can see the echo’s of mid century modernism in it along with a hefty dose of Palm Springs style. One day I will draw it properly and post it here – maybe someone will be able to tell me where my inspiration came from and to whom I owe my gratitude.
For now let me show you one of my favorite Melbourne houses. When I saw this house in a magazine I knew I had to find it and look at it from the street… What followed was a 2 hour drive around the leafy and well-to-do suburb of Kew. I found it though… And it changed me. I don’t know how else to put it.
Sean Godsell
Kew House
http://www.seangodsell.com/kew-house
With that I bid you farewell.
Till next time,
Katexx