Blog by Catherine Hoggins Illustrator & Designer

Water Towers - Illustration

12/5/2023

What do you think of when you think of American landmarks? Like me you might think of The Chrysler Building, The Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty or The Flat Iron Building, but the humble water tower is an iconic sight and a fascinating landmark that is seen in both rural America as well as on the skylines of cities such as New York.

As I researched more about water towers for this collection, I found out that the wooden water towers in New York City are not just an iconic part of landscape left from years gone by, but play an essential part in supplying water to many apartments still today.

Here are a few more things that I learned;

I found out that just three family run companies have played a role in building and maintaining the New York water towers for over a century now - how amazing!
There are estimated to be over 15,000 water towers on the city rooftops, not all of them are wooden though.
An interesting article that I found called 'Recycling Our Cities, One Building at a Time', on Bloomberg, talked about sustainable building practices from around the world and how one company in Brooklyn is reclaiming timber from old retired water towers, which they then use to create beautiful architectural elements and creative designs for interiors, how wonderful is that! You can check out the article link here and company link here if you would like to learn more.

Thanks for Reading!

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Illustrated Buildings of Buxton, Derbyshire.

6/2/2023

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When we build, Let us think we build forever" - John Ruskin

A Derbyshire Spa-Town in the Peak District National Park

Nestling in the Peak District National Park, the Spa Town of Buxton with it's Grade I and Grade II listed buildings provided the inspiration for the illustration shown above. Find out a little more about the individual buildings below from The Crescent, not as famous as the one in Bath, England, but just as beautiful to the rare Victorian Penfold designed Post Box which you'll see around town if you keep your beady eyes open...

The Pump Room
Architect - Henry Curry
A Grade II listed Building which was last used to "Take the Waters", back in the 1970's. It now serves as the tourist information centre with gift shop, the marble bath for taking the waters is still in situ and well worth a visit.

Other points of interest include The Grade II Victorian Post Box, from 1866 designed by JW Penfold, showing the VR emblem. One of only a few surviving Penfold pillar boxes from the Victorian era which are still in use today.

The Devonshire Dome
Architects - John Carr
The Dome - Robert Rippon Duke
This Grade II listed building built in 1779, has a dome designed by architect Robert Rippon Duke which was added in 1881- at the time it was the worlds largest unsupported dome of it's type, I understand it is still the largest in the UK.

The Pavilion Gardens

Buxton Opera House
Architect - Frank Matcham
Originally opened it's doors to great applause in 1903, It was fully restored in 2001 and is still open for business today...

The Pavilion Gardens
Grade II Listed space date back to 1871, with 23 acres of green space including a boating lake, children's play area, miniature railway and botanical greenhouse there is plenty of green space to relax and recharge.... for more information about visiting this Peak District Town check out Visit Buxton's website here

The Crescent
Architect - John Carr
Grade I Listed Georgian building, built in the 1780's. This amazing renovation project was finally completed in the Summer of 2020. The building is now home to a luxury hotel with thermal and mineral water spa.