John Tehan finds that traveling broadens his design palette as an architect. He recalls visiting Syria several years ago and seeing the ancient citadel in Aleppo with its walls towering over the dense city. The citadel's strategic position has made it a focal point of recent fighting. Tragedy, the souk beneath the citadel, once the largest in the world, is now in ruins. Even the extraordinary Krak des Chevaliers Crusader castle has not been spared destruction. Tehan believes that the destruction in Syria makes the world poorer, as cultural heritage is lost.

1. SMALLWOOD ARCHITECTS’ DIRECTORS ON WHY TRAVEL BROADENS THE
DESIGN PALETTE
Self-confessed inveterate traveller John Tehan, finds that travel broadens the design
palette and inspires his work as an architect.
Travel 1: John Tehan in Syria
The recent awful news of Syria’s decline into the abyss and the terrible trials of its
people are very vivid for me, having been there a number of years ago.
In particular the recent news of destruction of parts of Aleppo’s ancient citadel and
souk are especially concerning. In Aleppo, one of the most ancient cities in the
world, the Citadel’s walls tower from on top of an improbable hill, like a volcano, right
in the centre of the dense city - the validity of its strategic position even now
obviously the reason for fighting there. It’s ancient doors and ramp are apparently
now shattered. Beneath the citadel the souk was once apparently the largest in the
world - 14 miles of covered lanes throbbing with spices and commerce since ancient
times – now tragically in ruins.
Even the extraordinary Krak des Chevaliers, the medieval Crusader castle par
excellence has not been immune to recent destruction.
It is not only Syria and its people that suffer - we are all vastly poorer for what is now
being lost.