From: julianlzb87@gmail.com
On 18/02/2026 22:14, Tara wrote:
> Julian wrote:
>> On 18/02/2026 21:43, Tara wrote:
>>> Julian wrote:
>>>> On 18/02/2026 16:39, Tara wrote:
>>>>> On Feb 18, 2026 at 11:15:57 AM EST, "Wilson"
wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 2/18/2026 11:07 AM, Tara wrote:
>>>>>>> On Feb 18, 2026 at 11:00:04 AM EST, "Wilson" wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 2/18/2026 10:36 AM, Julian wrote:
>>>>>>>>> On 18/02/2026 15:28, Wilson wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> On 2/17/2026 6:20 PM, Tara wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> Tara wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> On Feb 17, 2026 at 4:24:25 PM EST, "Julian"
>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I’ve got a new thriller out this week, under my pen name of
S.K.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tremayne. I am pleased with the book, and I believe it’s
>>>>>>>>>>>>> entertaining. I
>>>>>>>>>>>>> am also aware that, in a tough and competitive market, that may
not be
>>>>>>>>>>>>> enough for it to succeed. I am even more aware that readers might
>>>>>>>>>>>>> decide
>>>>>>>>>>>>> the book is dreck. They might give me one star reviews, and no
sales.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Then the book will crater, my publishers will probably abandon
me, and
>>>>>>>>>>>>> my nice career will drift to an end.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> And that, of course, is how it should be. No one in any career is
>>>>>>>>>>>>> entitled to a free ride. That especially applies to people who
get
>>>>>>>>>>>>> to do
>>>>>>>>>>>>> a desirable, creative job such as novel writing. Whether
you’re a
>>>>>>>>>>>>> writer, actor, director, sculptor or musician – if you want
that
>>>>>>>>>>>>> enviably fun creative profession, you live and die by public
approval;
>>>>>>>>>>>>> and if you are bad, goodbye.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Unless, of course, you are an architect. I was reminded of this
>>>>>>>>>>>>> peculiar
>>>>>>>>>>>>> anomaly by last week’s furore over the latest architectural
wart to
>>>>>>>>>>>>> attach itself to London’s battered face: the already notorious
>>>>>>>>>>>>> ‘Belgrove
>>>>>>>>>>>>> House’, that now dominates a prime corner of Euston Road,
where it
>>>>>>>>>>>>> sits
>>>>>>>>>>>>> right next to King’s Cross and St Pancras.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I presume it has been situated in London after the original
design was
>>>>>>>>>>>>> rejected by a horrified Uzbek government, as being too ugly for
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tashkent.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you have not seen it yet, the best way to get a sense is to
look at
>>>>>>>>>>>>> photos like the one here.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> https://x.com/ianvisits/status/2020440287785443433
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Briefly. The second best way is for me to describe it, but that
is
>>>>>>>>>>>>> actually quite hard. Because it’s difficult to verbally
capture this
>>>>>>>>>>>>> weird, stupid and meaningless collision of styles, materials,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> dimensions. The closest visual analogy, to my mind, is one of
those
>>>>>>>>>>>>> plates piled high at a hotel buffet by an idiot: with a splodge
of
>>>>>>>>>>>>> curry, some sauerkraut, five potatoes, some lemon pie, a lamb
cutlet,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> smoked herring, and several cheesy crackers, and everything
banal and
>>>>>>>>>>>>> tasteless even before you smush them together.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> In short, the building is appalling, and it’s not going to get
better
>>>>>>>>>>>>> over time. It is a dud. A turkey. A calamitous flop. It is the
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Millennium Dome. It is Fyre Festival. It is Triangle, the BBC
soap
>>>>>>>>>>>>> opera
>>>>>>>>>>>>> set on a North Sea ferry route. It is Raise the Titanic. It is
Harry
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hill’s I Can’t Sing. It is Keir Starmer’s prime
ministerial career,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> rendered in concrete and plastic. It is my first novel, Absent
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fathers,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> which got a cheque for zero pounds zero pence, as a computer
could not
>>>>>>>>>>>>> believe an author could sell so few copies, so sent a cheque
anyway.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Finally, it is the architectural equivalent of Via Galactica
(1972), a
>>>>>>>>>>>>> space-themed musical with actors on trampolines, which lasted
seven
>>>>>>>>>>>>> performances.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> But here’s the thing. For all the creative disasters listed
above,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> someone responsible paid a price. Even the lavishly coddled
Millennium
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dome project damaged careers. And yet, if you design and erect a
>>>>>>>>>>>>> hideous
>>>>>>>>>>>>> building, equivalent to these aesthetic catastrophes, you pay no
price
>>>>>>>>>>>>> at all. And this despite the fact that, unlike a rubbish novel,
you
>>>>>>>>>>>>> can’t chuck a bad building in a bin. No, the building squats
there,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>>>>>> decades, blighting the lives of everyone who must look at it. And
>>>>>>>>>>>>> given
>>>>>>>>>>>>> that this particular building is situated in one of the most
>>>>>>>>>>>>> conspicuous
>>>>>>>>>>>>> sites in the capital, opposite two of its grandest railway
stations,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> that is going to be a lot of people.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Worse, there’s a decent chance the architects of this carbuncle
>>>>>>>>>>>>> will get
>>>>>>>>>>>>> an award. Because that’s what they do in architecture world.
They have
>>>>>>>>>>>>> hideous ideas, then they force them on the rest of us, and then
they
>>>>>>>>>>>>> give each other prizes. Until, about 40 years down the line,
everyone
>>>>>>>>>>>>> accepts the obvious truth, and the pile of ugliness is finally
>>>>>>>>>>>>> demolished.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you need proof, just look at the lists. Salford’s laughable
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Centenary
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Building, Britain’s very first Stirling Prize winner (in
1996), was
>>>>>>>>>>>>> set
>>>>>>>>>>>>> to be knocked down just 30 years later, to much applause. The
Tricorn
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Centre Portsmouth won the Civic Trust award in 1967 and yet was
>>>>>>>>>>>>> demolished in 2004. Pimlico Comprehensive School collected a RIBA
>>>>>>>>>>>>> prize,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> then it was flattened in despair. Gateshead’s Trinity Square
car park
>>>>>>>>>>>>> was recognised as a ‘most outstanding modernist building’ by
the 20th
>>>>>>>>>>>>> century society after it was blasted to hell. Add to this, our
own
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Belgrove House: yes it won a World Architecture Festival Award in
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2023.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Yes, they’ve already given it an award. Perhaps they got
excited by
>>>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>>>> potential ugliness. In any other art form, failure is failure. In
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