September 2016

Round and Square: A3

I could not choose what to draw, so I draw two things today; both round and square. The first drawing is from Hasan bin Ali, looking North.

As on other days I found a rich harmony in the way the strong square shapes of the traditional (pre-concrete) building ahead of me made music with the strong square shapes of the early modern (concrete) building to my left. It is a gentle jazz, softened not just by the circular corner post, the leaning telegraph pole and the crazy drainpipes but also by the sleek smooth satellite dish, like a large new moon, rising over the parapet. And behind it the ubiquitous white drum of a water tank – reassuring.

Round the corner on Umm Wishaw it was the two roundels which caught my eye; two gypsum panels telling us that this was a police station once, not so long ago.

When the building, number 21, is restored (will it be restored ?) what will happen to those plaques ? They are our memory (not mine but the city’s) and must be preserved. Again base metal is transformed into gold.