Last week I blogged about my visit to see the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower at the Olympic park in London, click here to see it. The point I made in this was that Art and Architecture cannot become one entity in the form of a building.

I maintain that view when it comes to physical buildings, but my perspective was broadened on this last night when I visited the ‘Nott: Just a City‘ exhibition in The Pod, Nottingham. The Nottingham and Derby Society of Architects (NDSA) have run this event for a few years now and they invite local practices and students alike to showcase their work. This creates a great fusion of design thinking and practice achievements.

Last night Elliott Wood hosted an excellent ‘British’ themed drinks event at the exhibition, with all drinks and food being from local/ British sources. It was great to catch up with some friends in the Nottingham property community, especially as I don’t ‘live’ in the city now in terms of my work base.

In addition to some design inspiration and stimulating conversations (especially with my good friend John McCay on ‘infographics’) I took two key things away with me last night;

– Art and Architecture definitely DOES exist – in the illustrated form. There were some excellent examples of creative design and different presentation techniques, including some physical models which I always like to see.

– Nottingham really IS a ‘Talented’ city (which was the message the city took to MIPIM last month). The engagement between industries and Nottingham’s two superb Universities is so important – and last night was a great showcase of this.

If you get a chance, call into the NDSA Nott: Just a City exhibition before the 19th April. It’s worth a visit, especially to see Elliott Woods parabolic structure…

Thanks to Gary Elliott, Stephen King and the team at Elliott Wood. A really good and different event.