Dundee Literary Festival - A L Kennedy

Good to see a Dundonian return to the local Literary Festival.  And what a local lass. Funny, nervy, erudite - a woman who couldn't wait to leave Dundee High School and head for brighter lights elsewhere.  Glad to hear her say that had the city had a theatre studies course she may have stayed.  Not that we'd ever be able hold such a wide ranging talent.  

She reminisced with the packed audience about her early Dundee life: the uncool DHS uniform, the peripatetic old Rep theatre and how the new one was built on the fundraising of tablet sales!  How Tayside House had never looked better (as a mound of rubble) and how great the future looked for the city.

Her first reading was about the past too.  Her grandfather sounded like the ideal we'd all have liked to have.  An ex-boxer who taught her about life, chiefly to not be afraid.  The first time he entered a ring he was afraid.  He lost not to his opponent, but to himself because he didn't believe he could win.  The second reading was also another warm one about waiting at a railway station, thinking of her godchildren and their waiting welcome; whether they were getting too old to hear her stories, and how they had begun to write them for her instead.

The last was a proper rant about workshops.  How, by being on the other side as a participant, led by a magician who so bullied and tormented it created a toxic impression.  No matter how tired she is when she's leading one, or irritable she feels with those who participate, she remembers being on the other side, and wants to be remembered as educating, enlightening and amusing. 

Why A L? Not, she said, because of feminism, or fear of sexism, but because her younger self was still too afraid of her opinions.  She liked the anonymity; no one was going to turn up at her door and berate her writing or disagree with her views if they didn't know her real name!

Alison Louise - you were brilliant; a much warmer person than the media image sometimes portrays.

Photo:H.Boellstiftung http://www.flickr.com/photos/boellstiftung/7209076348/

Ian Callum — A Life of Design

 

Jaguar F-type

The visit by Ian was part of a series of talks by some of the world’s leading designers held in the run up to the V&A at Dundee opening in 2017.  Not something I would normally be particularly interest in, but linked with a petrol head, this was a no brainer.  I had never heard of Ian or his brother, but they are a very big deal in the car design world, albeit with different manufacturers.  

 

His talk took us through his career from designing mirrors and switches at Ford to modernising the design of Jaguar, whilst respecting its history.

 

Ford Puma

 

Ian was an entertaining and informative speaker - knowledgeable not just about design but about the business of communication.  He is someone who cares about design, not in an elitist way, but believes things; cars, buildings, bathrooms, should be both functional and beautiful.  Of course, working for Jaguar his customers aren't looking at price, whilst those of us further down the price line have poor design foisted on us, and are told it's because we want cheapness above everything else.  Do we?  

 

Somehow, I doubt Ian would agree that it has to be one or the other.  In a crowded marketplace, good design is a differentiator not a sunk cost; something that producers have to wake up to - especially as we begin to move away from a throw away society. 

 

The fun takeaways from his talk:

• black is the cheapest car paint colour to produce and red the most expensive;
• never say something's "intuitive" to your CEO unless you want fired, and
• even if you've designed Aston Martins, it appears you still can't afford to own one.

 

More about Ian Callum  

Photos from Flickr:

Jaguar: usf1fan2

Puma - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lutzifer/4442026174

 

Broughty Castle

In Dundee - My Way, Broughty Castle is a wee gem, probably better known to visitors than locals, who merely consider it a pretty focal point to the harbour or beach views.   

Still no bad for a Scots tower built in 1496 that’s withstood sieges and battles; during the rough wooing of Henry VIII and by General  Monck in the Civil War.  It lay in ruins until the perceived threat from France, reviving its empire under  Napolean III in the mid 1800s, when it was rebuilt as part of coastal defences.

Each floor is dedicated to a different exhibition:  Broughty Life through the ages; The Orchar Picture Collection; Flora and Fauna; the Armoury depicting those who defended the castle and Broughty; and finally the Observation Room with views over the wide sweep of the beach and the Tay.

 

And all this for FREE.   

Be a tourist for an afternoon - give it a visit.

Dundee Continental Market 2013

Dundee Continental Market, City Square was a delight.  

The revamped square works wonderfully as a venue, all the various food smells mixing temptingly in a relatively small area.  

The sun was shining, with everyone in a cheery mood tapping their feet to the fabulous sounds of the Rock Choir.  

There was a good trade at the German and Italian meats and, if you fancied something even more exotic, you could have kangeroo, ostrich and more.  

I stayed with the more traditional pies and cheeses, and whilst, temptation went into personal overdrive at the dark, shiny, velvet chocolates - I found a will of iron to resist.

There was a tabled area by the sound stage if you simply couldn't wait to sample some hot food, and wanted to wash it down with a selection from the euro beers.

The Kelpie Heads, Dundee

Wasn't it terrific to see the 15 foot high scale replicas of The Kelpies by Andy Scott in Dundee City Square during its tour of Scotland.  The real heads will flank the entrance to Helix Park in Falkirk and will be awe inspiring to see.  Even more so at night, as apparently they will be lit from within, there's even talk that it may be possible to install a lift to allow the heads to be used as a viewing platform.  

It would be fabulous to have something so impressive at the entrance to the new waterfront.  I know the We Dundee site had a few suggestions for bringing back the Arch, but something more up to date reflecting both the history of the waterfront and the modernity of the V&A building would be great.  I'm sure for the right idea, something representational with mass appeal, we could raise sufficient public subscription to fund it.

Whale of a Mistake?

Now that Tayside House has been removed, has Dundee created a new "most hated" building in the car park at East Whale Lane?  
 


The brutal, industrial design dominates the view driving westward along Dock Street.  The Ned Kahn inspired metal sheets may work at softening its form when you're standing directly in front of it - and the rippling wind effect is pleasant.  


BUT, from any other direction it's nothing more than a bare, concrete and steel skeleton.   The form follows function of new wave of architecture is more often just used as an excuse to down-size specifications to the cheapest possible box.  

Dundee City Developers, I thought we had learnt the lesson of the 60s and 70s?  It does not bode well for the new look waterfront if you can't hold out against the cheap 'something is better than nothing' viewpoint ... sometimes, and more often, it absolutely isn't.  If you want us to love and respect our city, give us the environment and buildings to love.