WHERE THE EYE WANDERS

February 2025

It’s fascinating how some of our earliest memories can form the foundation of our lives and interests. I recently heard the brilliant Michael Bourne on This Cultural Life discussing how his love of music and choreography traces back to The Sound of Music. As he said, “it’s all within you at the start.”

The Sound of Music is a personal favourite of mine as well, as are the Austrian Alps where it is set. In fact, for most of my young life I debated whether to become a nun or how to reach the ‘Alm’ and become Heidi. As luck would have it, I did then spend some of my teenage years in an Alpine village – but without having to put on a habit. The vast blue skies and open vistas evoked a profound sense of freedom and joy, while the mountains provided a sheltering embrace and a precious lifelong perspective on life’s brevity and fragility.

A few years ago, I began experimenting with drawing Alpine landscapes in pencil and chalk on grey paper. By following the play of light and shadow it’s easy to lose yourself in the process. That’s the beauty of it — this act of intense observation forces you to discern each crag, rock, and solitary fir tree standing at the edge of an escarpment. There’s something deeply moving about how these majestic forms seem to embrace the small villages nestled in their shadow.

This act of closely observing and feeling the space is how I approach design. It’s about more than just what’s in front of you; it’s about immersing yourself in the essence of the space, its rhythms, and its soul.

And some landscapes speak more deeply and directly to us than others – for me, recognising that has made all the difference.

Art is such an important, fundamental way in which we are all agents in making a world

Antony Gormley