Matthew Cook | Lightnews

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 1d

In Wellington badly parked cars are given dunce caps

A row of cars parked along a street where roadworks are taking place, each car has a traffic cone placed on the roof

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 5d

dat is wat ik was geleerd!

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 11d

In the UK maybe not yet, however I am currently involved in an urban design project in Eindhoven that aims to do exactly this.

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 11d

@flightradar24.com it's snowed again at Schipol but it looks like they have enough deicer today. PH-TFL is off to Bonaire, where I'm sure it will be a bit warmer!

A picture of a TUI 787 from the terminal building, from the front in line with the starboard engine. A deicing truck is cleaning snow from the plane. A guy in a cherry picker basket is spraying a white misty liquid onto the engine casing

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 11d

Case in point, I live between two supermarkets of the same brand. They are only 500m apart! They wouldn't do this if they didn't have the customer density. I also live in a small apartment block and don't own a car

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 11d

This is intertwined with a lack of building density. You can't build pleasant density if you have to store all the cars, but you need the car if everything is distant.

Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 11d

Labour keeps talking about saving the high street without naming the real problem. Car dependency. You cannot fix town centres while planning everything around driving. The internet is permanent. Retail only survives where footfall is dense, local, frequent, and cheap to access.

Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streets, study finds

Decay of town centres a top issue among voters especially Reform UK supporters and is fuelling resentment against Westminster

www.theguardian.com

Cargo Bike Ben @cargobikeben.bsky.social · 11d

Labour keeps talking about saving the high street without naming the real problem. Car dependency. You cannot fix town centres while planning everything around driving. The internet is permanent. Retail only survives where footfall is dense, local, frequent, and cheap to access.

Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streets, study finds

Decay of town centres a top issue among voters especially Reform UK supporters and is fuelling resentment against Westminster

www.theguardian.com

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 19d

Maybe we could give trump a large perspex 'ice' key to greenland and an ownership certificate like those ones that said you owned a bit of the moon?

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · 20d

A quarter of Geert Wilders' PVV party have broken away due to disagreements with his leadership. This could be concerning for the UK's radical right, but luckily for them it has no history of infighting or splits!

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Jan 10

Edward Jenner, pioneer of vaccination, is not celebrated nearly enough IMO! Last week I visited the first vaccine clinic (aptly named the Temple of Vaccinia) and his tomb (under the blue card by the alter). The temple was recently put on the heritage at risk register but funding has now been found

The temple of vaccinia, a small outbuilding in a wooded part of a garden. Made from rubble stone walls with a thatched roof. It has a big wooden door with a gothic arch and the door is flanked by whole tree trunk slices as decorative cladding

The corner of the chancel of a small church. Next to the alter is a small blue card marking the family tomb of the jenners

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Jan 9

My first cinema visit was to the electric picture house in Wotton-under-edge, you used to get a sandwich bag with a handful of jelly babies with your admission

An old photo of a terrace of rural cottages, the middle one is whitewashed stone. A big sign says 'the town cinema'

An old photo of inside the cinema, it's about 4-6 seats wide, maybe about 40 seats total

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Dec 21

We have a dog delighted to be heading overland from Rotterdam to the UK via metro and ferry

Our black labradoodle sitting next to suitcases on a metro platform, wagging his tail

The dog on the ferry, rolling around on the cabin bed like a silly boy

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Dec 18

Not helpful with the issue at hand but this reminded me to check your stock, the XL having been sold out last time, and I see it's back in. So you've made at least one sale from this and my dad can wear it out whilst roaming the wetlands.

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Dec 16

It's still going strong in the Netherlands and even has a digital version. Judging by my morning metro ride it's quite well used, and not just by the original generation of users

nos.nl/teletekst/101

Nederlandse Omroep Stichting

NOS.nl - Nieuws, Sport en Evenementen op Radio, TV en Internet

nos.nl

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Dec 11

It's so delightfully incongruous with the rest of the city, really top notch

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Dec 8

New game: What season is it? - anthropogenic climate change editon

A picture of several trees. The one in the foreground has blossom, the one in the background is only just turning yellow. Other threes are completely bare. It is december

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Dec 6

It's also a sad reminder of the sudden death of Jean-Louis Cohen in 2023, who was still early in his work cataloguing Gehrys career and didn't get to complete it. I was lucky enough to be taught by Jean-Louis & enjoyed bus rides with him from Delft to Rotterdam
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Louis_Cohen

Jean-Louis Cohen - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Dec 6

Daft, the amount of times I hear about a significant death via a dumb joke like this

Screenshot of a post that reads Frank Gehry 1929-2025, itself with a screenshot of a joke news article from 2002 headlined 'Frank Gehry no longer allowed to make sandwiches for grandkids and a picture of a mad pile of sliced bread and sandwich fillings looking like a Gehry building

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Dec 4

I asked my boss what the difference between gereformeerde and hervormde churches is and 15 minutes later he had drawn this diagram for me, starting around 500 ad and ending in madness

A full size whiteboard, standing on the short end, with a family tree style diagram of the various splits in the church from top to bottom. By the end it's an always sunny style made scribble

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Nov 27

Interestingly the Netherlands is a long way behind the UK (but catching up) despite being kings of small country logistical advantages. I miss British packed sandwiches a surprising amount, as seen by a slightly shocked Pret worker last time I was home.

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Nov 25

Stumbled across the express building today and was delighted by it. Hard to imagine what it must have been like seeing this go up in the 30s

A picture of the express building in Manchester, showing its main corner. It's a sunny day with a blue sky

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Nov 24

I visited The Whitworth in Manchester yesterday, it's a marvelous gallery. The newish extension is excellent. I loved how kids have a space to play in the heart of the building surrounded by art. Personal highlights were the George Shaw curated exhibition on trees, and Turner's watercolours

Exterior of the whitworth, made from dark red bricks in a Jacobean style

Interior of the new extension. A man stands in front of a glass wall that looks directly out onto autumnal leaves of the trees in the park

The play space for kids. Tables for drawing and materials to build structures surrounded by framed art on the wall

A wood panelled gallery/learning space with art on the walls and green work tables. The walls have been painted green and a large Gilbert and George piece hangs on one

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Nov 20

(the) Gig (economy), in there?
Gigs, huddled up in Buc-ees or Amazon, in there?

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Nov 18

When you get your Breugel the Elder mixed up with your Hieronymus Bosch

Matt Thrower @mattthr.bsky.social · Nov 18

This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu

Matt Thrower @mattthr.bsky.social · Nov 18

This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Nov 12

Yes of course, I would be very happy for you to use them. If you need the original images feel free to DM. Credit with my name is fine

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Nov 11

Last ones showing the gallery access. It really has been a very successful renovation. It's not exactly the weather now but the deck is well used and very neighbourly

Deck access gallery of the Justus van effenblok. The communal courtyard is below with a bright yellow gingko tree. There are two chairs in the foreground on the deck

Deck access gallery of the Justus van effenblok, on the bridge above the entry road. The deck is about 4m wide here and half of it has been occupied with amazing potted plants

Deck access gallery of the Justus van effenblok. Somebody has made a collection of bonsai trees and they are all growing, in various states of progress, on a raised display bench next to the entrance of the communal stairs

The deck opens out to the street in the corners creating views outside the block. This is also wider, about 4m, and residents are able to put benches and tables here

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Nov 11

A few more pictures of/from the interior spaces

Interior of an unfurnished flat. It's a kitchen/living space with a large wood framed window looking into a communal courtyard

The communal stairwell of the service block. The finishes are raw concrete, painted masonry, and raw masonry where the plaster has been removed

A view of the communal courtyard from the balcony of the service block. Three towers designed by the architects SOM are on the horizon

A view from the office window looking north along the main road of the block. The photo is taken from the fourth floor level and you can see solar panels on the roof of the blocks opposite

Matthew Cook @matthew-cook.bsky.social · Nov 11

Great post! I'm very lucky, my office is that workspace in the central service block. The tower used to hold the baths and laundry facilities. These have gone but the district heating/cooling system is still upstairs. Here are some pics of the interiors. First 3 is the office, last is the gallery

A tall room with high windows made from white painted concrete. The room is used as an urban design studio and there are prints and model making materials scattered about

A bright white office space with large t shaped windows. A big green plant grows in a pot in the foreground and my messy desk is on the left

A darker office with a series of long windows on one side and small square ones on the other sides The roof is lower and there are several desks with papers on top

A double height exhibition space for art with an open gallery running around edge of the 1st floor. The interior is white painted concrete with a brick floor

Municipal Dreams @municipaldreams.bsky.social · Nov 11

🚨 New blog post: How Rotterdam Shaped Social Housing: Part I, the Justus van Effen Estate and ‘Streets in the Sky’
municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/h...

Internal courtyard showing blocks and throughways

Internal courtyard with four-storey block and gallery

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news