Jumping the shark

摘要

The joy (and challenge) of a column like this is that you're never sure what you're going to be required to write about next. My last conversation with the Journal's editor went something like this: 'We're doing an issue on the state of British architecture, with pieces from the likes of Charles Jencks and Robert Adam. We thought it might be interesting if you did your column about that parallel world I hear you inhabit from time to time. You know, design.' It seemed a good wheeze. But the instant I pressed the red button on my mobile, the head-scratching began. What does he mean by design? The Emmy-long-listed TV opening title sequences of Peter Anderson? Websites by Poke? Wolff Olins' Olympic branding? The newspaper design of Mark Porter? Stuart Haygarth's limited-edition chandeliers made from debris he finds on the street? Or Jonathan Ive's slick, high-tech, now ubiquitous iPods? I know he likes his cars, so perhaps he wants me to write about Gerry McGovern's work at Land Rover.