A Priory Heights New Year

Happy New Year to all my readers! Hope yours is off to a great start. 

I had a lovely night seeing out 2013 and seeing in 2014, just with The Cat and a friend. We celebrated with drinks and nibbles in the comfort of a flat on the Priory Green Estate, built up on high ground just north of King's Cross (and, for me, a nice piece of modernism: designed by Berthold Lubetkin as part of the Tecton Group in 1937, but built to a modified design after the war, and completed in 1957). From there, we enjoyed a dual fireworks display: we had anticipated the official show centred on the London Eye off in the distance, but were also treated to something a wee bit closer, with the local kids setting off their own home-grown show right in the heart of the estate, below our window. Then we popped open a bottle of sparkling and danced around to songs from the 80s and 90s, because nothing says 'party' like the golden tracks of those days...

Yep, 2014 is off to an awesomely retro beginning. But don't let that fool you - I am all set to embrace the future and whatever this year brings.

Halfway Down the Stairs

The Tate Britain re-opened in its full glory today, following a massive refurbishment. Apparently one of the highlights is the new staircase:

Tate Britain, Millbank, London (Image source)

And don't we, as a species, just love a good staircase?

Wells Cathedral, Somerset (Image source)

Tulip Staircase, Queen's House, Greenwich (Image source)

Nelson Stair, Somerset House, Westminster (Image source: David Holt London)

Tassel House, Brussels (Image source)

De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex (Image source) 

What is it about staircases that we find so appealing? Is it simply the graceful sweeping form of a curved stair, and the pleasing angles and geometry of those that are square on plan? Or is the sense of anticipation in not knowing what lies around the next bend or on the next landing? Or is it the underlying feeling of wonder for the mathematics and physics that appeals to us on some subconscious level, even if we aren't engineers? Or it it that slight sense of exhilaration in being able to move across planes and spaces in ways that would not be possible, were it not for these structures?

Whatever the case, I certainly think there is something more profound than pure aesthetics that gives us a sense of awe and great pleasure on encountering a particularly noteworthy, or even a relatively average staircase.

M.C. Escher's Relativity (Image source)

And that, my dear readers, is what I call a tangent - from a gallery re-opening to waxing philosophical about staircases. Though I did manage to draw it back to art with Escher there.

But do pitch in, what is your favourite staircase? Is it a simple stone medieval spiral staircase? A sweeping marble Baroque palace staircase, with ornate gilded balusters? A clean white, sleekly formed Modernist staircase? Or is it something more humble, like your carpeted, timber staircase at home?

With that last thought, let me leave you with an old favourite poem, which might indeed say a little more about the simple appeal of staircases:

Halfway Down

(A.A. Milne)

Halfway down the stairs

is a stair

where I sit.

There isn't any 

other stair

quite like 

it.

I'm not at the bottom,

I'm not at the top;

so this is the stair

where 

I always stop.

Halfway up the stairs

isn't up

and it isn't down.

It isn't in the nursery,

it isn't in town.

And all sorts of funny thoughts

run round my head.

It isn't really

anywhere!

It's somewhere else

instead!

Komm Mit Mir Fliegen (or Come Fly With Me)

From lush, green Irish countryside to gritty, urban Berlin... 

Immediately after getting back from Ireland the other week, my mum and I turned around and hopped on a flight to Germany for more adventures. And, as if we hadn't seen enough airports already, we headed down to Tempelhofer Freiheit. But this is a bit different to your average airport. Tempelhof operated as one of Berlin's airports between the 1920s and 2008, but is now being reclaimed as a public park.

Tempelhof Airport has rather a mixed and dramatic history. It was an official airfield from the 1920s but the original buildings could not meet capacity and the airport was redeveloped under the direction of the Nazis from the late 1930s. In true Nazi style, it was built to awe and impress, forming part of Hitler's megalomaniacal visions for Germania... In fact, it remains one of the largest buildings in the world today, based on sheer volume.

The original airport building (Image source)

Under the canopy of the 1930s building (Image source)

Another view of the 1930s building (Image source)

Unfortunately, I do have to confess to rather liking the look of it as a building, despite its nasty associations and origins. Thankfully, the history of Tempelhof was somewhat redeemed by its part in the Berlin Airlift, post World War II, when Allied forces flew in much needed supplies to the people of West Berlin when the Soviets had blockaded the city.

It later reopened as a commercial airport but was eventually closed less than a decade ago.

1949 West Berlin stamp (Image source)

Though I must say I'm disappointed never to have flown into Tempelhof as a visitor to Berlin, it is great to see that the site had found such a positive new use, as a public park. I was disappointed to be literally fenced off from the airport building itself on our visit there, but I guess I'll just have to return to Berlin on a weekend next time, when they conduct tours of the interior of the building.

In the surrounding park, the runways remain, as generous paths for walkers, cyclists and skaters.

Away from these concrete strips, you can also enjoy a more shaded, leafy and wild park experience: 

Mama tripping through the flowers 

Me lying amongst the flowers
Shirt: Rokit, London
Culottes: Beyond Retro, London
Shoes: Somewhere in Leipzig, Germany

There's also some wonderful community gardens and art spaces to explore in the park:

It was rather a lovely, relaxing and fascinating place to visit and I'm glad we took the time to stop off and explore it, during our packed-full, busy few days in Berlin. You can read more about the site's history and future plans for the park and see more historic pictures here, if this post has piqued your interest.