Allsorts

It has been chilly in London but we have had some sunshine.

The central heating is maxed at 75 degrees but the kitchen is still freezing. When Bertie is bored he scratches the door to go out in the garden and then doesn’t go out. Done repetitively, and he has canine OCD, it seems to equalise the interior and exterior temperatures. I should wear a jersey but instead sip The Society’s Exhibition Mature Medium Sweet Oloroso Blend. I was on the Medium Dry but through a mistake ordered medium sweet and now find it is most efficacious in warding off the cold.

I have been slow to appreciate the architectural integrity of the Novotel but now can revel in its Liquorice Allsorts inspiration, harking back to Victorian banded brick buildings and maybe earlier. Views of St Paul’s Cathedral are protected and this recent reveal of the Novotel deserves protection too. Four months ago the architects’ great modernist re-invention, nay vision, was obscured. Now it can be appreciated as a remarkable piece of 20th century architecture; at least its exterior.

It has a thrilling symmetry that William Blake presciently captured.

Hammersmith Borough Council jolly well can. A huge tower block hotel will not only frame but destroy this view. Ross Logie of Seeing Architecture can add another tour to his quiver: a tour of Hammersmith embracing its Victorian architecture and fine 20th and 21st century buildings. If the tower block is built he might call it “From Victorianism to Vandalism”.

Stay home, stay squiffy, save lives.