Is it on Strava?

Strava. Like marmite you either love it or hate it.

Strava is an addictive app that enables you to track journeys, shows your route, provides time/distance data and compare with others. You can view other rides, runs and other stuff. I have even used it for canoeing trips, which I had to log as workouts as there isn’t actually a canoe option. I have taken to logging runs on it as it provides so much more data than the usual stopwatch, and there is something childishly pleasing about seeing your run appear on screen with a map and times.

I’m sure it can be used by real athletes to get credible coaching data but for now it’s a case of going for a run or cycle and setting the GPS to ready, to make sure that when the questions is “is it on strava” the answer is yes. It is. Been there, done that, and recorded it all on strava!

RIBA Prize 2013 - A bit staid or what?

Sometimes it’s good to have an outsiders view. Bringing a fresh perspective and new approach, But sometimes it’s just aggravating. The latest prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize has been awarded to Astley Castle. Its good to know a contemporary prize has gone to something as futuristic and modern as a…castle. Um. Well its been Restored. Sympathetically. It’s a 12th century fortified manor, further damaged by fire in 1978, so attention to timescales has been a big pressure on this project. So our best prize for architecture goes to a pastiche. That’s taken a tad under forty years. Great.

Mind you, it was against strong opposition. Park Hill was a refurbished tower block from the 1960’s. Er…next year can we look less far back in the past and a bit more to something that looks as though it was designed and not just re-designed? Mind you the Sydney opera house has just turned forty. That still looks cool. Possible RIBA winner next year?