Slobodište Memorial Park : a walk through Bogdan Bogdanović’s heavenly war memorial

The realm of Bogdan Bogdanović’s thought-provoking spaces in former Yugoslavia is a feast for the senses, and a pinnacle of all art and architecture exploring memory and loss. “Most of my monuments are to the victims of Fascism, to the Partisan movements. They are monuments dedicated to suffering; they are never triumphalist and have no… Read More

Madonna, Mother and Whore : notes on vandalism at Bulgaria’s most photographed monument

Decades of appalling vandalism nearly destroyed one of the world’s most endangered monuments in Buzludzha, Bulgaria. I draw from my thoughts on politics, culture and the human condition to come to terms with the inevitability of this catastrophe You’ll think I’m dead, but I sail awayOn a wave of mutilation Wave of Mutilation by The… Read More

Iron Cross : the war cemetery inside the Arctic Circle

Near the village where Santa and his elves work tirelessly to deliver Christmas, there’s a mausoleum containing the remains of thousands of German soldiers who fought in WW2’s northernmost front In summer 2021, I found myself wandering inside Finland’s arctic circle at the northern capital of Rovaniemi, a lively town of just over 60.000 people.… Read More

Climbing up the slide : the annoying slang of architecture

Morphologies, programmatic adjacencies, and spatial compositions : it’s all Greek to me, as I take a long, hard look at architecture’s Rococo lingo To paraphrase a quote from one my favourite artists, J.M. Basquiat, I’ve first learned about architecture by looking at it. My ongoing fascination with architecture, and the research of its forms, history… Read More

Ghost Subway : a time capsule at Euston’s Lost Tunnels

You’re a ghost on the highway And I’ll love you forever Ghost Highway by Mazzy Star The derelict station at the corner of Melton St. and Drummond St. is partially hidden behind construction fencing. The craftmanship on display is worth a closer look : purple red sang-de-boeuf terracotta tiles cover the boarded up ticket hall.… Read More