Spot the Frippet: bricolage.

Believe it or not, bricolage is actually sometimes concerned with bricks.

No, things aren't usually that simple.

Bricolage is the jumbled effect you get when buildings of different ages and styles are erected next to each other. It can be charming, or it can be something close to sacrilege (The Prince of Wales described the proposed extension to the National Gallery in London as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend".



This is Peter Ahrends' carbuncle design

This is how it turned out in the end:

:
Photo by Richard George - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=715349

phew.)

Examples of architectural bricolage are often most interesting seen from the rear, so I'd recommend walking along the backs of High Streets - or Low Streets, for that matter - and seeing whether you find a carbuncle of the warty or jewel kind.

Spot the Frippet: bricolage. This word is French, so you say it bree-coh-LARJ. In French bricolage means Do It Yourself. Bricoler means to tinker.

Bricolage can also describe anything made from mixed media, especially if it's made of things that just happen to be lying around. It's also music produced by found or home-made objects such as pots and spoons.

More widely, bricolage is the process of creating a personal identity by choosing objects from various other cultures, and the means by which any problem is solved or piece of knowledge acquired through the piecing together of existing knowledge or beliefs.