This year I was slightly confused as to when Open House London would be given lots of events had been changed due to the Olympics and Paralympics. Fortunately it is around the same weekend as usual – 22nd/23rd September 2012 – and as soon as I managed to find a free booklet (thank you Brixton Library) and started to read it my excitement levels rose remarkably. This got me thinking, why is it so appealing to go round and visit buildings you may have never even known existed, and may have no connections with at all? Well to start with just look at some of the amazing pictures in the Open House London 2012 booklet and see if you an resist a visit.

There is a link between the Olympics and Paralympics and Open House, and I think that is the generosity of spirit. Open House, which has been going since 1992, relies a lot on volunteers, as well as homeowners and custodians of buildings, to offer their time and space to people who are curious (and frankly nosey at times!), knowledgable, and often in large numbers. It is always suprising to find yourself in a queue – don’t worry, they are not usually too long- with other people chatting (who keeps saying Londoners do not talk to each other hasn’t been out and about!) engagingly of the places they have have visited so far that day (usually several more than you, slow open house does not seem to exist yet). You will be constantly suprised at how many people want to visit no.131 anywhere street just to see the possibly eccentric owners personally give you a tour of their ‘ecological, contemporary-yet-brutal adaptation of a victorian two up two down’, with or without solar panels.

It can also be very competitive. I haven’t actually witnessed any in-queue fighting, though it would not suprise me when a place is only ‘limited to three people and a dog’ every hour. Even if I get the booklet a few weeks before the weekend I never seem to get round to booking the so-called ‘hot’ events (hot buildings? don’t get me started), and by the time I do they are all booked up by aspiring architects and ‘the organised’ – you know who you are! Not to worry though, there is always a hidden gem that you can visit that has no restrictions, sometimes stays open later than advertised, and gives you a free cup of tea or glass of wine (art studios mainly, if that’s your incentive).

Recommendations? Where to start I don’t know, I guess it depends on your interests or willingness to be suprised, and how far you want to travel – personally I am thinking Abbey Wood this year and maybe Hackney Revisited. I have suprisingly found the schools and academies very interesting as, for someone who has no reason to go into schools, I have been impressed by the modern facilities. Two contrasting ones I would recommend are my local, Clapham Manor Primary School, and the canal-hugging The Bridge Academy Hackney. (It also made me realise that some of the education budget was being spent wisely.)

One favourite building of mine is the art deco Park Lane Hotel (they did not turn us away though we hadn’t booked), with a ballroom to strictly dance for, whilst if you can’t afford to stay in the hotels Sanderson (yet to visit) or St Martin’s Lane (recommended) but want to see what they look like why not pop along this weekend. The booklet is worth getting from your local library, which I hope is still open and if not do not be silent, keep campaigning until it does re-open, if the library has any left in stock, they do seem to go like hot cakes. If not go to the Open House website for more information – http://www.openhouselondon.org.uk – and photographs.  Another brilliant free London event, enjoy.