Surrey Homes | SH15 | January 2016 | Health & Beauty supplement inside

Above: The kitchen space was once three rooms and a corridor, but is now
open-plan light and airy Right: Pops of colour add to the general brightness
of the rooms
Once upon a time we lived in caves. It wasn’t ideal
but it sure beat rubbing two sticks together in
the pouring rain. However, after a few tens of
thousands of years, some bright spark grew tired of the
damned great hole where his cave met the elements and
decided to build a mud wall across the entrance. It probably
collapsed two or three times in the making but ultimately it
was finished and he stood back to admire his work. His wife
joined him and after a moment or two he turned to her.
“Architecture is reaching out for truth,” he grunted. “A
great building must begin with the immeasurable, must go
through immeasurable means when it’s being designed and in
the end must be immeasurable.” In the blink of a low-browed
eye, architecture had been born and with it, architects.
Both are, by and large, A Good Thing. The latter, however,
can have a tendency to eclipse Miss Piggy when it comes
to pretention – the words above were not actually spoken
by our caveman but by the great American architect Louis
Khan. There are of course, exceptions and one of the most
notable is Sir David Chipperfield whose contribution to
architecture worldwide is truly immeasurable and whose
pronouncements are invariable enlightening and inspiring.
35 www.wealdentimes.co.uk