SeaSaw

Inspiration and bunting found at SeaSaw Designs' letter press blog.

Flat 3

Flat 3: 3 beds, 2 baths, living, kitchen, balcony + sprawling oak tree
small print: 17 tiles have fallen off bathroom wall, no hot water at kitchen sink, 'doily' pattern on living room ceiling for no obvious reason.
I have also been notified that the archaic plumbing is the reason for the leak in the communal garage. Is it time for paint samples?
(Image of a wordsmith's flat, Mr Shanley's bathroom )

In a Scottish fly-fishing lodge,

there is now a laminated list of how to:
Make a fire*
Play poker
Climb (half) a mountain in thick cloud
Cook poached salmon with lime and bay leaves
Limbo

All useful skills acquired on a week off.

*I might well be the last to know that it is illegal to burn logs and coal in London fireplaces. We should admit when there are gaps in our knowledge. Liberating.

Ready for a new landscape

(A novel set in the Highlands)

Cut-out designed by Yuken Teruya Studio

Scotland

The trip to Fort William next week is planned. Sleeper train tickets and recipes for 10.

Jim P sent the weather update. While I try not to be so pedestrian as to forecast the weather, it's looking a little glum for the Ben Nevis rain trek 2009.

Softball

Regents Park. 30 degree 'sci-fi' sun.

Grimshaw architects vs Amenity Space (+ RIBA London misfits)

We may have lost spectacularly to Grimshaw (do they produce techinical drawings for their game plan I wonder) and I may have carried the bat with me to first post, but the point is that I hit the ball. Hand and eye co-ordination people!

Good grief.

Owen Hatherley, writer for architecture weekly Building Design , has a blog with a TITLE.

"Sit down man, you're a bloody tragedy'.
(This phrase was apparently barked by Socialist James Maxton to Prime Minister Ramsey Macdonald in 1935 on the occasion of Ramsey's final speech in Parliament).

An architecture blog worth sitting up for.

EVENT: Open House

Open House will open London on September 19-20. 700 buildings of intrigue, including a "sunken house" in Hackney by Adjaye Associates and Eldridge Smerin's Highgate Cemetery glass home, will leave their doors ajar. No offer of cake and tea on arrival but the event is free. Other highlights include Erno Goldfinger's Trellick Tower on the Golborne Road and a tour of the Olympic site where you can wear a canary coloured hard hat.

Wallpaper's* micro-site will detail their pick of the weekend's buildings shortly.

Rural dwelling

Dwell magazine have profiled Living Architecture.
Living Architecture: a series of rental homes to be built by emerging and established practices including Peter Zumthor and Nord Architecture. The idea stems from the notion that we only experience 'great' architecture in museums and places we pass through (e.g Stansted Airport) but rarely get the chance to wake up in such a space. The countryside retreats have appealing house names: In-between house, Balancing Barn. Available for rent for holidays from 2010.

City dwelling

Morning RIBA basement office conversation.

Me: What is that rumbling sound? It's always rumbling. (dissatisfied)
Tamsie: The tube. Directly below us
Me: Oh. Well that's ok then. (placated)

Driftwood

Architectural Association's annual pavilion outside number 36, Bedford Square by 3rd year AA student Danecia Sibingo.
"A sculptural installation which embraces invention, experimentation, new materials and aesthetic intelligence". Indeed.

TED

TED talks recently held their conference in Oxford. TED started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three disciplines: Technology, Entertainment, Design but their scope is now broader. It is essentially a Talks mecca, with a $6000 pilgrimage to conference sites in Long Beach, California and Oxford. Thankfully, they broadcast their talks. Hear Alain de Botton on success, failure and why we should define individually what this means i.e dance to your own tune.

Camden Canal

A man on his perfectly named boat, "The Shrimpette". Blue cheese and a glass of red at his side. Civilised.
I've heard that you can take canoeing lessons along the canal but can't seem to find any company that doesn't have 'pirate club' or 'kidz' in the title. Are we supposed to know how to do this? If anyone has special google powers and can shed some light on how not to turn in circles on the waterways, then please let me know.
*If you would prefer not to paddle the The London Waterbus Company runs enclosed narrowboats from Camden Lock(Camden Town) and Little Venice (Warwick Avenue). Boats leave every hour weekdays between 1000 and 1700, and every 30 minutes on weekends.

What to read on the road?

The Travel bookshop of Notting Hill is celebrating 30 years of open doors. Recommendations for your backpack by Julian Mash in today's Guardian travel section.

Plant life

For short on surface space city folk. Hot air balloon baskets.
via

EVENT: Life Drawing

RIBA London is partnering with London Drawing for 4 drawing events.

22 September at Design Museum 7pm -9pm
1 October at Will Alsop's Studio, Battersea 7pm -9pm:
8 October at RIBA, 66 Portland Place 7pm - 9pm
22 October at Doodle Bar, Battersea 7pm - 9pm

Each drawing session is £15 per head, including materials.
email thesocial@inst.riba.org for booking

Classic

. ..way to let people know that you have a new home by Sindi.

Yes, we've moved. The shoreditch twat is now the hackney twat. Still gorgeous, still creative and living for the sun. We don't wait for the summer, we are the summer!

Watch this space for info on Sindiso Khumalo designs

FT

The Ruth Borchard Collection at Kings Place was reviewed in the Financial Times last Saturday!

"It is an archive of interest to anyone concerned with British art history, and its permanent home at Kings Place, as well as the associated launch next year of a national self-portrait prize is excellent news".

p.s Watched the film of the collection that includes interviews with curator Robert Travers, a few of the artists and me, the granddaughter. Thank you to each of you for listening to me when we speak. Do I really sound like that?!
New motto: always a good idea to finish a sentence. Occasionally.

VHS Video Basement

A Picture House in Soho for luddites opened this summer in a disused language school just off Oxford Street. With midnight video screenings and silent films projected on the roof, a group comprising 6 artists have set up camp in the Chapel Street building for the 2009 summer rainy season. The court date for the 'filmic squatters' was at the end of last month. So if you see a group meandering with many boxes of VHS, Be kind and rewind.
*Just been notified that they pause the film if an audience member wants to say anything and begin a demi-discussion.

Paris

Peach cobller crumble at Spring, near Montmartre.
A weekend focusing around food. As it should be. Much talk of St.Germain jazz but supper got in the way.

Often we go to places for a list of important reasons. To see, to relax, to work. I like being the 'in search of...' tourist e.g in search of peach crumble.