Unlikely Inspiration: Looking at Architecture in London and Beyond

For many years, Londoners have maintained the proud tradition of bestowing clever nicknames on their most prominent downtown buildings. There’s the Gherkin (30 Saint Mary Axe by Sir Norman Foster), the Walkie-Talkie (20 Fenchurch by Raphael Viñoly), the Cheese Grater (122 Leadenhall Street by Richard Rogers), the Shard (32 London Bridge Street by Renzo Piano), and the Can of Ham (70 Saint Mary Axe by Foggo Architects) just to mention a few. The more I looked at these buildings, the more I began to wonder: What if they were made to look even more like their catchy monikers? What if they morphed into something completely different? Why couldn’t less famous buildings be examined, analyzed, or explained by comparing their existing forms with unlikely objects such as geodes, toasters, wine bottles, or perhaps turtles? Might casual observers, design aficionados, or serious students of architecture benefit from looking at buildings in this manner? In the summer of 2018, I embarked upon the ＂Unlikely Inspirations＂ project by compiling 50 pages of photographs taken during a trip to London earlier that year. These photographs were interpreted with several hundred drawings produced over a period of nine months. As long as I felt inspired by what I was doing, I remained confident that the endeavor would prove worthwhile.This book picks up where the Gherkin, the Walkie-Talkie, the Cheese Grater, the Shard, and the Can of Ham labels leave off. It demonstrates that free-association is immensely useful for exploring building design options. It also shows how a stream-of-consciousness approach not only invites an understanding of architecture as it is, but it opens our minds to new ideas and design concepts. It is my sincere hope that this book takes the reader beyond the one-liners, stimulates their imagination, inspires them to solve design problems, and fosters their creativity. I would also be delighted to know that I’ve convinced readers to see drawing as a way of thinking.