Tag Archives: building

Apr 07 2026
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

Big beetle building

Tuesday 7th April 2026, 11.20am (day 5,339)

Big beetle building, 7/4/26

Surely the title of this post is self-explanatory. I love it. I just wish I could remember exactly where I took this picture: it is somewhere on either Howland St or New Cavendish St, somewhere very close to the BT Tower. But I cannot find it on Google Street View (last updated in that area in about 2021) which suggests it has only been there for a couple of years. Great effect, though: and presumably functional in some form or other. Going on the way all the pipes run into it I assume this is the air-con, or possibly the pillar of the structural integrity of the superframe, or something.

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Oct 15 2024
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

Spinningfields

Monday 14th October 2024, 1.40pm (day 4,799)

Spinningfields is the bit of Manchester city centre by the John Rylands Library, behind me at this point and outside which I was sat waiting for my second 2pm Monday class to start. The lack of people in the vicinity was the first thing I noticed and prompted the taking of this shot; an attempt to get a pleasing mix of line and colour, basically. Clare says she ‘likes the turquoise’, and who am I to argue?

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Jul 19 2022
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Monday morning in Oxford

Monday 18th July 2022, 8.45am (day 3,980)

Ship Street, Oxford, 18/7/22

My perambulation around the southern parts of England continues. Academic that I am you might have expected Oxford — undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest seats of learning — to have featured on here over the last 11 years (nearly). Its rival Cambridge has done so, and I have to say I do find that the more attractive place of the two. Cambridge has rural charm whereas Oxford is really just a middling-sized city with, admittedly, some pretty fine buildings. But on a sunny, pleasant Monday morning, it’ll do.

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Jul 16 2022
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

The Post Office Tower

Friday 15th July 2022, 6.30pm (day 3,977)

Post Office Tower, 15/7/22

I’m back in London again and here’s one of its best-known landmarks. Actually this hasn’t been called the ‘Post Office Tower’ for a very long time — these days it’s the ‘BT Tower’. But for my generation this always was the Post Office Tower and always will be. Tallest building in the UK from when it was built in 1964 until 1980. There’s still something cute about it; it reminds me of a big light bulb, for some reason.

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Apr 21 2021
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Urban scene

The roofers

Tuesday 20th April 2021, 1.55pm (day 3,526)

Nutclough roofers, 20/4/21

A day working at home gained interest through getting a masterclass in roofing from these guys working on the house over the road. At the beginning of the day that roof looked like the one of no. 31 next door. Roofing’s one of those specialist talents that very few people have, but which we all need, isn’t it? And I’d take some persuading to spend a whole day on that scaffold (constructed by another professional group that we need to just trust).

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Feb 20 2021
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

Wasted effort

Friday 19th February 2021, 2.40pm (day 3,466)

Business school, 19/2/21

This is the exterior of the Alliance Manchester Business School, built for a vast amount of money and now going completely to waste, along with the rest of the campus; monuments to a time past, now standing in a city of the dead. If you think I’m being over-dramatic, have you been to Manchester lately? Nothing has happened there since October. A sense of rot is setting in, and if you (like the publicly cheery city council) think that ‘recovery’ is all just a matter of a wave of the legislative wand, I say that’s optimistic, at best.

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Sep 08 2019
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

The fear of the Lord…

Friday 6th September 2019, 1.05pm (day 2,934)

Chester building, 6/9/19

The city of Chester makes its third appearance on the blog with this rather odd piece of architecture. I like the black-and-white, but that’s a strange inscription don’t you think? And yes, the burglar alarm at the bottom does annoy me. Otherwise I think I’ve mostly got the symmetry right.

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Jan 15 2019
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

Chemistry Building

Monday 14th January 2019, 2.30pm (day 2,699)

Chemistry bulding, 14/1/19

Not an exciting shot, but then again this wasn’t an exciting day, nor is it an exciting period: I can see all the photos from a 15-day run (ending on 24th January) being from Hebden Bridge or Manchester. Never mind, I have marking to do. Here, I at least like the pipes, the red against the grey.

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Nov 30 2018
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

Humanities Building, Bridgeford Street

Thursday 29th November 2018, 1.45pm (day 2,653)

Hums Bridgeford St., 29/11/18

On the outside, not one of the campus’s more attractive buildings, but it was looking OK this afternoon, and inside it’s actually quite pleasant, with lots of dark wood panelling etc. Mind you I still get lost in this building sometimes as it has a very confusing room layout, despite (or perhaps because of) hosting the schools of Planning and Architecture.

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Oct 06 2017
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

Graphene

Thursday 5th October 2017, 1.10pm (day 2,233)

NGI translucency, 5/10/17

I have never noticed before taking this picture what a masterly piece of architecture the National Graphene Institute is. The crane you see in this picture is not a reflection. In fact, it stands behind the building, which is therefore translucent in its upper portion. Graphene was discovered by Andre Geim here at Manchester by how it adhered to pieces of sticky tape used to clean graphite, and look — here are those pieces, lined up, black, translucent — just like graphene. It’s brilliant, actually.

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