DannyB

Siedlung Schillerpark

Most of the good stuff about housing, urban topographies, planning, environments, living space has already been written. Jane Jacobs, Catherine Bauer, Christopher Alexander, Raymond Unwin, William Morris, Bruno Taut, Camillo Sitte and many others. I doubt anyone is going to improve much on that substantial mass of work. And if even 10 percent of whatContinue reading “Siedlung Schillerpark”

Ceciliengärten

I phoned my mum from Berlin (or Ber-leene as she says it). I spoke in a formal voice.‘Guten abend’‘Guten abend’ she replied. There was a pause.‘Wie geht es dir?‘Ja gut’.‘Ich bin in Berlin’.‘Ja….’‘It’s me….I’m in Berlin…’We laughed so much. People might not realise that there’s still an older Germany in existence. An older Germany thatContinue reading “Ceciliengärten”

A Short Ride on the U-Bahn

The apartment is just off the Kurfürstendamm, on the top floor of a building constructed around 1910. It is light and airy and quiet. It has a central location but there is no sound of motorism. The building is created around a courtyard which has large mature trees and a glorious spread of flowers andContinue reading “A Short Ride on the U-Bahn”

The revolution is magnificent; Everything else is nonsense

Rosa Luxemburg It’s possible that there will be a map of Berlin in the local branch of WH Smith. That’s what I really want. A large, fold-out, paper map of Berlin. Something that shows the edges of the city, and then the places beyond the edges of the city. The villages and forests and lakes.Continue reading “The revolution is magnificent; Everything else is nonsense”

Boulevard Leon Gambetta

The ship was delayed due to a storm in the channel the previous day. A storm at sea, a storm in Putin’s head. Everything is in collision, roaring, squawking, screeching, screaming. A global domination by despots, dictators, false democracies, hysterical right wing newspapers, shock-mouth personas, foul intoxications of hate, lies and hypocrisies. Ordinary everyday workingContinue reading “Boulevard Leon Gambetta”

Pimlico, revisited

I walked through Pimlico several times earlier this year. Before more war had started. There was the brink of a new war then in those nervous days in January and early February. Threats and violations. No one was sure that it would happen. When it did, I remember thinking, ‘so this is how it starts’.Continue reading “Pimlico, revisited”

We Refused to Moor the Ferries

‘We refused to moor the ferries. They can’t make us’. The man telling me this was fishing on the beach. A big guy wrapped up for all sorts of weather. Sun, snow, wind, calm, lashing rain. He had the hood of his jacket pulled over his woollen hat just in case.‘They should have put aContinue reading “We Refused to Moor the Ferries”

Medieval Graffiti & the Conquest of Bread

One of the many books I’m working on (will they ever be completed?) has a working title of Commuting and the Art of Revolution. Chapter five has the working title of Medieval Graffiti and the Conquest of Bread. The structure of the book is the commuting journey I did for several years and the stationsContinue reading “Medieval Graffiti & the Conquest of Bread”

A Map of Dover, 20 March 2022

The Spirit of Britain in Dover Western Docks (next to Admiralty Pier). The sacked workers have all left. Essentially blackmailed by their employer, DP World. ‘If you don’t do as we say, you won’t even get your redundancy money’. There are people on the three ferries as at least two have been firing up theirContinue reading “A Map of Dover, 20 March 2022”

Tyger, Tyger

‘It’s not that they’ve made any losses, it’s just that they haven’t made big enough profits’. The Albanian taxi driver tells me. He is half in and half out of his car outside Dover Priory station. Another driver stands by the car in the sun. We’re talking about the news that P&O Ferries has justContinue reading “Tyger, Tyger”