Looking for something to watch in the long evenings of the lockdown? You could do worse than giving Westworld a go. What started out as a visually incredible, if somewhat baffling, modernisation of the 1973 film set in a Wild West-themed amusement park gone (rather violently) wrong has become a weekly showcase of proptech possibilities. Without really spoiling anything, the action in season three has very much exploded into the real world of the not-too-distant future, and it’s one of the most dazzling visions of tomorrow ever to appear on screen. Autonomous vehicles, passenger drones, and quite breathtaking architecture, along with plenty of next-gen developments that will plausibly transform our built environment: biometric scanners, green spaces integrated into skyscrapers and widespread artificial intelligence, which, in one episode, sees a lease negotiated in seconds. And it’s all gleaming with possibilities – a proptech paradise. Well, as long as you ignore the killer androids on a relentless rampage of revenge.
A mega-tall story
Kudos for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat for taking a look back at its predictions for mega-tall buildings around the world. As a child of the 80s, Diary is a sucker for “mega” anything – and mega-tall, for these purposes, is 600m or higher. In 2012, when 2020 seemed light years away, it made some pretty strong predictions for what urban habitats might look like in the future. Some it got almost spot on. Others, perhaps, were overly ambitious. In the win column, eight years ago, it predicted that, in 2020, South Korea would have three of the world’s 20 tallest buildings. And, indeed, it does! But then, in 2012, it said that there would be eight mega-tall buildings in 2020… and, in fact, there are only three. As in many other respects, this year has, it seems, fallen mega-short.
Lockdown lust
No, this isn’t another prediction of a baby boom in late 2020/early 2021 (though Diary finds it hard to imagine why anybody going through all this would think it would be better with more children around). Instead, we have buying agent and “the BBC’s favourite property expert” Henry Pryor to thank for his call-to-arms on Twitter: “Tweet a property suitable for social isolation #LockDownLust” Cue some splendid examples of places to hunker down and ride out the storm to rival Wayne Manor (see last week’s Diary), including Glenseaton Lodge in Aberdeen, which benefits from a natural moat. Then there is Borgo Monte Corona: “A veritable paradise away from the madding crowds, hidden among the glorious Umbrian hills above the medieval hamlet of Santa Giuliana, this historic complex is almost a hamlet in itself.” With a swimming pool (naturally), its own 14th century olive mill and multiple houses in the grounds for other family members to self-isolate, it is a snip at just under €1.5m. The only problem at the moment is getting there…
Spot the difference
It was great to see images of Edinburgh’s New Town North, the mixed-use redevelopment of the 5.9-acre former RBS site, ping into Diary’s inbox. The project, said the release, is ambitious and will transform one of Scotland’s largest brownfield sites. But just as we started tapping away to write a refreshingly non-coronavirus story, in pinged another email about the scheme with a revised CGI rendering. Please use this one, said the email. Okay, we said. And we did. But, we don’t know if it is just us, but can anyone spot exactly what has been revised? Diary clearly does not have an eye for detail.
Breaking new background
We may not be able to travel much in real life, but we can at least do it virtually – including, now, on our ever-frequent video conference calls. Downloading fantastical backgrounds for use on Zoom and other services has become very much a thing. Diary has been offered the opportunity to sample Marvel and DC Comics-based options, Disney landscapes and, most temptingly of all, a wonderful vista of Eternia from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. So far, we have not succumbed – but widespread industry acceptance would certainly brighten things up, based on our experiences so far. Most Teams meetings are a sea of plain, neutral colours and chatting to people in Avengers Tower or Castle Grayskull would be a definite improvement. One thing that has occurred to Diary during this lockdown is how amazing it would have been if people had internet access and were forced to work remotely during the 1970s. The clash of wallpaper patterns would be enough to trigger a seizure.
WFH, DIY, WTF?
One thing about a prolonged period of working from home, it gives us plenty of time to notice what’s wrong with our houses. And the theoretical extra time made available in our lives (not that Diary has noticed this benefit yet) means we can all do something about it. Even, it seems, if we lack the basic skills to do so. Thus, with no vested interest that we can make out, the people at MyJobQuote.co.uk have been diligently working to identify the “biggest lockdown DIY fails” of the British public. And, it seems, most (58% of respondents) have been struggling with laminate flooring, while 52% have had issues tiling their walls and floors. Apparently, 34% report their “main motivation” for doing some DIY as boredom owing to having nothing else to do, 16% admit “being influenced by their friends/family/neighbours” and 13% by online articles/videos. But, as the WFH phenomenon gives us unprecedented access into our colleagues’ homes through Zoom and Microsoft Teams, no doubt that is playing a part as well – who knows if an impressive statement wall could mark you out as someone who is going places. Dress to impress is out right now, so why not decorate to accumulate?
