Unopened Envelopes

2011-09-16T04:36:00.000-07:00

For Sindiso Khumalo who is about to be propelled into London Fashion Week mayhem.
(via Wit & Delight)

Public Speaking

2011-09-16T03:49:00.000-07:00

Fran Lebowitz reserves all her fears for writing. She has termed her terminal writer's block as a blockade.

*Apologies for leaving it so long and pausing on Arab architecture.

*Please watch Martin Scorsese's documentary on Fran. She did write in 1981 and since then has spoken for a living.

Arab Architecture

2011-07-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

The RIBA are hosting two events as part of the Shubak festival. See here for my Phaidon profile.

Meeting up

2011-07-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

Write on the back where and when. See here for details.

Novel on the tube

2011-07-01T06:21:00.001-07:00

Tash looking oh so pretty by her Baker Street tube poster. Now go buy a copy of The Novel in the Viola.

Serpentine

2011-06-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Peter Zumthor designed this year's Serpentine pavilion. Click here for my Phaidon article.

Anyone for tennis?

2011-06-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Federer vs Nadal

WIM•BLE•DON from BRYANKU on Vimeo.

(via Seesaw Designs)

A woodturner

2011-06-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

“I try to make bowls as my clients wish them to be. Often I will make a bowl out of wood from a well loved tree, so that the tree can live on after its natural death. All of my bowls are for everyday use for fruit, salad, cheese, or bread. As you use them they will gain the marks and patina of your household, they are not intended to be marooned on a shelf as an ornament.”

My aunt Katherine Hallgarten at work.

Alice Stevenson

2011-06-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

I've been researching illustrators and remembered a friend of a friend's friend Alice Stevenson. She is a prolific book cover designer, one of which is featured on today's Design Sponge...The design makes me want to leap to Greece with the book in a straw bag.

Wit + Delight Tumblr

2011-06-08T02:45:00.000-07:00

Pretty inspiration via Wit + Delight and the main reason I'd like to wear brogues today.

Film night

2011-06-08T02:24:00.000-07:00

Long time readers will recall the last time Audrey and I tried to go to a Film4/ Somerset House 2010 summer film night. See here for a reminder. We plan to try again as Pedro Almodóvar's latest, The Skin I live In, will be screened on the 27 July. Picnic baskets should be designed to fit golfing umbrellas.

Barbican 2012 announced

2011-06-07T06:41:00.001-07:00

Book for Binoche, Blanchett and Bausch tickets at the Barbican. Make a note for the Bauhaus exhibition too. Barbican, I salute your programming. If you like to plan for tomorrow and never for next year, take a deep breath out, tap a few keys and book. And then revel in the fact that the Barbican has made you a planner.

Wedding

2011-06-07T06:34:00.000-07:00

Check out my other blog, garden wedding. It's a mood board more than anything else. A slapdash, doesn't that look lush, let's cut and paste blog. So nothing fancy but lots of garden wedding shots. Really it's so I don't send you unopened envelopes with countless wedding images!
(image via J Crew)

The Riding House Cafe - ask for The Rachel

2011-05-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Tash and David told me about their local cafe. David and I sat in the red lounge booths sampling the divine tapas (purse friendly £3, £4, £5 options). 10 days later we went in again. We were not around around the corner and just popping by. This was a real destination, let's head to Warren Street supper option. I asked for a non-alcoholic and no cane sugar cocktail. The mixologist proudly created a Spring mint concoction and named it The Rachel. He made a note of the ingredients in case I come back. That my friends, is service!
** update: David said "you know he names one for everyone who asks, right?" Killjoy.

High Street Main Street

2011-05-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

Have a read of my sister-in-law Sara's new blog, High Street Main Street. As an American living in north London and town planning expert, she has a transatlantic perspective on what makes our local streets work. What makes a livable place? For answers..

Phewf! Hello again

2011-05-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

So it's just about June and the last time I was here it was April. It's been so long we might need to invent a word. Phewf it is. Let me update you a little. In the last few weeks I've been working on:
Southbank Centre's Festival of Britain 60th Anniversary for the Black Country Atelier
Writing articles for Phaidon and Urban Junkies

I've been enjoying:
Cycling in Copenhagen and going to an art gallery by the sea
Listening to a John Cage concert at the Southbank Centre
Eating artichokes at St John
Reading John Berger's new book
Introducing David's whole family to my whole family. Thank you Hendon bagels for the rugelach. Rugelach brings families together.

And I turned 30! The day brought a big surprise. More about this in a short while.

Hope you have been well. Tell me all..

(image via The Ceder Room)

2011-04-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

A feast meets live art. Tableau Vivant is an art installation, a performance, a history lesson and a decadent meal on Vyner street. April's theme is Dissecting Sebastian and the menu as follows:

ACT I: STARTER - YOUTH
Goats cheese mousseline with slow roasted beetroot, parmesan and walnut crisps
ACT II : MAIN - BEAUTY
Rolled spiced pork belly stuffed with apricots and prunes wilted
spinach roasted root vegetables
ACT III : DESSERT - DEATH
Profiteroles filled with 3 different creams, orange, rose water and
pistachio and a chocolate cardamon sauce

honey bee

2011-04-05T05:17:00.001-07:00

Liv: What would you like for your birthday?
Rachel: Your visual knowledge for a year.
Liv: seriously
Rachel: Well, could we go beekeeping
Liv: seriously?
Rachel: YES! Local honey helps hayfever. Not that I get hayfever.
Liv: Well, I know the beekeeper at Hackney City farm..
Rachel: Of course you do. I don't want a whole course or anything. It might just be an afternoon fad. Or I could well become a beekeeper.

(looking forward to 30 candles)

Wedding

2011-04-05T04:44:00.001-07:00

My wonderful friends Katie and Ollie are getting married at the Villa Ephrussi in July and I can't wait!
(the villa was recently profiled on the always pitch-perfect SeaSaw Designs)

A Bowery lift

2011-04-05T04:39:00.000-07:00

Foster + Partners have designed a 12 by 20 foot moving gallery room in NY.

Be still my heart

2011-04-05T03:38:00.000-07:00

Forget Black Swan's swirl of melodramatic trash. In fact, forget all preconceptions about dance. Watch Wim Wenders' Pina.

PINA - Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost - International Trailer from neueroadmovies on Vimeo.

Are you sitting comfortably?

2011-04-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

Henry Wilson's designs play with classics. Visit his website for an anglepoise glass blown lamp.
(via Vogue Living Australia)

Space

2011-04-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

High and low. Basement versus rooftop. If the office context changes, do we have radically different ideas? I'm a freelancer nowadays and I ponder things from my kitchen desk without my co-workers to give me answers.
(via Black Eiffel)
p.s Hello again.

A curated bookshop

2011-03-10T02:56:00.000-08:00

Literary agency Lutyens and Rubenstein have a Notting Hill bookshop. It's glorious. Go west just to peruse.

A reflective check-in

2011-02-25T08:03:00.000-08:00

First vending machines, now let's reinterpret the mini-bar.

School of Life has just launched a partnership with hotel chain, Morgans Hotel Group. A few international hotel rooms will have newly installed 'mini-bars for the mind'. The £10 chocolate covered raisins will be replaced with reading prescriptions and a box of conversation starters! Check out the vending machine at St Martin's Lane Hotel which offers an I owe you dinner with Alain de Botton for a mere £5,000. I wonder if he would bring a box of chocolate raisins.
(via More Intelligence Life)

Business Course

2011-02-25T05:04:00.000-08:00

I've been attending City University's business course on Thursdays for the past few weeks. The seminars have discussed the usual components: business planning, budget forecasting, marketing.

Last night, the tutor said:

"You know the way to make money? Gambling. You will get a 30% return. For every third horse..."

What is more concerning is that this morning I woke up thinking about probability and poker chips.

The Makers

2011-02-25T03:03:00.000-08:00

The Makers has been appearing around the blogs for the last couple of weeks. It's an excellent photography project by Jennifer Causey who captures 'makers' at work.

Big news!

2011-02-24T04:15:00.001-08:00

David and I got engaged last Saturday!

This is how it happened.

I met David at the French Institute where he is doing an Advanced French Business course (for fun, crazy man!) and we looked around the library. David's idea of romance is anything French and mine in sitting in a library. We then became flaneurs, stumbling around a South Kensington food market and gorgeous bookshops. During a crab salad at Bibendum cafe, David and I talked and talked and I found myself feeling like the luckiest lady and so privileged that I even know him. We made our way to a misty Regent's Park and talked about his work at the BBC and ideas for gaming online (?!) before we came across an enclosed Japanese garden, near the rose garden in the inner circle. I didn't want to sit down on a damp bench post the morning downpour but David had come prepared with a tea towel for me to perch on (he had been paying hourly attention to the weather forecast). He then rifled through his bag and gave me a crumpled city map, a genius invention. He then rifled in his bag a second time but this time presented me with a small box. He asked me to marry him in such a heartfelt and open way and everytime I think about it my heart soars. David, I am indeed your Sally Albright. And I am so excited for all our days to come.

Time it was..I have a photograph

2011-02-24T03:03:00.001-08:00

Since 'assisting' photographer Andy Lopo on a Phaidon shoot and writing about Iwan Baan, I've become mildly obsessed with the great medium. I am also struck by my friends artistry, Olivia & Alison and David Solomons. More on this to come.
(Jody Rogac's fashion photography via Brian Ferry)

House Peek

2011-02-22T17:43:00.000-08:00

I keep returning to images of actress Amanda Peet's home. If I were ever to start from scratch, gut a house and grab a hammer and nail, this would be my inspiration.
(Reminded by Frolic. Images via Mimi + Meg)

Iwan Baan

2011-02-21T15:51:00.000-08:00

My Phaidon article on the wonderful architecture photographer Iwan Baan.

W Hotel

2011-02-15T07:25:00.000-08:00

I accompanied photographer Andy Lopo for a Phaidon article on the opening of W hotel in Leicester Square.
See other images and article here.

Perfect room apart from the antlers

2011-02-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

Agree with Sarah Berry - this living room colour palette of pink, gold and grey is lush! On the look out for that lamp.

Goggles Umbrella

2011-02-15T06:37:00.000-08:00

No more hunched shoulders whilst clutching an umbrella. Stride with confidence with a viewfinder! Perfect for February showers.
(spotted on Black Eiffel via Fubiz)

A pre-Valentine's stew?

2011-02-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

Le Creuset Cerise Cast Iron Heart Dish. Undeniably sappy but seeing as one of my favourite things to do is to cook with David*, I had to post.
*David tends to do the actually cooking. I typically take on the sous chef role, hovering and tasting and making extremely "constructive" comments e.g I think it's ready.

Swiss Cottage Library

2011-02-11T08:17:00.001-08:00

Swiss Cottage Library is facing possible closure. The library costs £1.2 million to run and Camden Council's library budget has been cut by 25%. Camden Council are considering closure as a possible option after such a slash to the budget. I love this library - it revolutionised library design. It's Grade II listed and when you sit in there you can understand why. If you come across a petition, sign it.
(via BD)

Really..

2011-02-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

(via Design is Mine)

On the waterfront

2011-02-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

Artangel and Living Architecture are collaborating to create a temporary timber hotel room on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall!
More info here. Bookings start from 8th September 2011 for 2012.

I can make shoes

2011-02-10T07:41:00.000-08:00

Shoe making workshops! The examples are not exactly my style: I wear ballet slippers, Clarks wallabees or brown riding boots. I'm sure I could make a pair without spikes or a spiked stiletto though.
(via Le Cool)

Skylight nook

2011-02-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

Curl. Up. Here. Please. And include the books.
(via)

Sugar and Spice

2011-02-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

Whimsy and Spice's plump maple marshmallows and inspired earl grey sandwich cookies.
Have a sweet weekend everyone!

The Shard

2011-02-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Changing London's skyline one layer at a time. One layer at a time.

Steven Alan

2011-02-04T08:44:00.000-08:00

Dear suitcase, I would very much like to pack Steven Alan attire for summer holiday Italy 2011.
(via)

SK Studios

2011-02-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

The Architecture Foundation has appointed Practice Architecture to create a new community space in South Kilburn. The space is currently a one storey portacabin block but is set to become a community art space.

"Tenants of South Kilburn Studios, working across a variety of creative disciplines will - in lieu of rent payments - pledge to apprentice young people from the local area, running practical workshops and helping to build portfolios in trades from fashion and textiles to painting".

Andy Lopo

2011-02-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

Photographer Andy Lopo is going to shoot some film to accompany Mike's forthcoming Phaidon article. I like how he smudges light and concentrates your focus. His images make me feel like I'm looking into a crystal ball. Allow yourself to be drawn in...

Laceshade

2011-01-31T05:29:00.001-08:00

Delicate and dramatic.
(via all the mountains)

Crumpled London Maps

2011-01-31T04:41:00.000-08:00

Waterproof but not creaseproof. Inspired.
(via Elias Redstone)

Reading Room

2011-01-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

Wine bar and bookshop with new + vintage titles. V&A's new South Kensington reading room
(via London Design Guide)

Indoor Gardening

2011-01-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

Bubble Terrariums.

I always give plants too much love (i.e I over water). I must remember that orchids thrive off neglect.
(via Remodelista)

Be Mine

2011-01-27T02:47:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law has been looking at everything letterpress for Theo's room. She also stumbled on this sweet 14th February card.
(Via Mr Boddington's studio )

Phaidon

2011-01-24T03:55:00.000-08:00

I have recently started contributing to Phaidon online as part of the Black Country Atelier. My first piece profiles the Architecture Foundation's film night and their screening of Dark Days. Click here to have a read.

Rooftop NY flat

2011-01-18T09:57:00.000-08:00

Joel Gray lives in my dream conservatory flat (via Frolic ). It used to be 3 servant quarters! Just needed to say that aloud on the interweb.

SVPPLY

2011-01-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

Have a little look at design solutions via SVPPLY furniture guide

Hoxton Hotel £1 Sale

2011-01-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

The Hoxton Hotel sell 5 rooms every night at £1 and 5 rooms every night at £29. The rooms are released during the year for a three month booking period. Sign up here if you feel like an east london holiday.

Flat 14 Office/kitchen

2011-01-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

Has procrastination come to this? What next, pictures of my pesto pasta supper? Forgive me, but I had to tell you about my space solution in my flat. For the past year, the living room table has been for plates/laptop/post. From today it will only be for plates + post as I have created a little kitchen nook which is the new work space. It has Nigel and Nigella recipe books on the ledge and The Little Prince painted spinning top for distraction. Some space arrangements instantly work. My first idea was to convert the hallway cupboard into an office. That would most definitely not have worked.

On the waterfront

2011-01-14T06:01:00.000-08:00

Featherstone Young have designed their own floating family home.
We had a fantasy of fishing out of the window from the sofa - Sarah Featherstone.
(via BD)

Glam Wallpaper*

2011-01-14T02:04:00.000-08:00

Spot mister Mike in a red velvet bow tie at Wallpaper* design awards.
(I was going to attend but met my friend's cat in Hackney instead. Priorities people!)

King's English

2011-01-10T06:50:00.000-08:00

LIONEL: They're idiots
BERTIE: They've all been knighted
LIONEL: Makes it official then.

Justified hype. Speech therapy and friendship. The audience at Screen on Baker Street applauded.

Graphic illusion

2011-01-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

Laura back briefly from Amsterdam: I told my parents I was going to a Bridget Riley exhibition. They told me to careful with my eyes.
Me: I'm too mesmerised to move. Also, I think I may have just seen a dragon coming out of the wall.

Bridget Riley at the National Gallery until May.

London 2011 - look forward to..

2010-12-17T04:49:00.000-08:00

Art + design
+Will Alsop- Proper behaviour in the Park at the RA
+Gordon Matta-Clark, Laurie Anderson and Trisha Brown show at the Barbican Art gallery
+ Miró at Tate Modern(and if you happen to be lucky enough for a Cornwall Tate St Ives visit see Simon Starling: Recent History: Design Research Unit 1942 – 1972)
+Projects by Olivia and Alison
+Pick me Up graphic art fair at Somerset House
+Southbank Centre's 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain (wallpaper a wall in celebration?!)

Books
+Purchasing Natasha Solomons' The Novel in the Viola in hardback (signed copy please Tash)
+Nicole Krauss' Great House
+Craig Raine's How Snow Falls (already in print but let's include it in this listing!)

Theatre
+Richard III at the Old Vic directed by Sam Mendes
+The Children's Hour at the Comedy Theatre with Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men's Peggy Olson)
+ Almeida's Spring season: Penelope Wilton in A delicate balance and David Eldridge's first play since his Festen adaptation, The Knot of the Heart
+ Peter Hall's Twelfth Night at the National
+Toneelgroep Amsterdam Antonioni Project at Barbican

Gigs
+Deerhoof electro-pop at Alexandra Palace
+Remembering how good The Decemberists are
+Rufus Wainwright at the Royal Opera House
+Beach House supporting Portishead at the Palace

Comedy
+Jerry Seinfeld's first UK gig in over a decade (why the O2? Could we not have had a 40 night run at Soho Theatre?!)

Film
+Architecture on Film: Dark Days
+Black Swan (Charlie Rose interviews)
+The King's Speech
+Miranda July's The Future
+Wim Wenders Pina Bausch documentary (release date tbc)

Food
+Breakfast at Bill's in Covent Garden (the Brighton branch made me happy)
+Tom Dixon's recently expanded Dock Kitchen

(image by Mama Borchard who always reminds me how lucky we are to live in London!)

The Royal Tenenbaums

2010-12-17T04:31:00.000-08:00

More pencils. Note the hand-typeset in Futura Medium in keeping with Wes' film font.

Margot: You probably don't even know my middle name. Royal: That's a trick question. You don't have one. Margot: Helen. Royal: That was my mother's name. Margot: I know it was.

(via The Scout)

RUSHMORE

2010-12-14T06:22:00.000-08:00

Rushmore's pencils! I want to join the beekeepers.
(via the pitch perfect A Cup of Jo)

ECC

2010-12-14T06:12:00.000-08:00

ECC = Experimental Cocktail Club = after hour drinks during this lush time of year.
Rose martini
(via NY Times)

Signage

2010-12-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

(Barbara Hill designs via SeeSaw designs)

Skyroom

2010-12-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

David Kohn Architects built on a Tooley Street roof to create Architecture Foundation's event space. Open for after work cocktails this week and next. See for opening times.
*Possible venue for next year's 30th birthday celebrations? Includes star gazing.

Signage

2010-12-13T08:59:00.000-08:00

A new shop opens in Paris in March 2011.

Same time, same place, same table

2010-12-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

A year on, my favourite conversationalist lunches again with his Grandada.

AA School of Architecture

2010-12-09T04:14:00.001-08:00

3 exhibitions at the AA school. Annoyingly, I missed Alex Laing's The Americas but still time for Linda Brownless and Serie Architects.
(images by 1) Linda Brownlee, 2) Serie Architects, 3) Alex Laing)

Phaidon announcement

2010-12-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

In 2011, I will be part of a collective that writes for Phaidon's online architecture pages. Agenda has a gorgeous style and I'm so excited.

Do judge a magazine by..

2010-12-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

Boneshaker + Anthology. Two new magazines have launched with playful front cover illustrations.

Ticket to Ride

2010-12-07T06:29:00.001-08:00

Oh yes. A railway themed board game that's better than Monopoly with David and Katy. Winning tastes sweet. Particularly if you have an older brother and never won at Monopoly.

Happy Golden Hanukah

2010-12-02T03:21:00.000-08:00

A few ideas to go with the gelt.

Midas Collection

A wishbone via SeeSaw Designs

A recipe for golden (apple)latkes via Smitten Kitchen

Boxed Water is Better!

2010-12-02T03:00:00.000-08:00

Let's make the transition from plastic bottles to cartons: recycled packaging + 10% of profits donated to water conservation foundations and 10% to forestry foundations.
Approved.

A prolonged cold moment

2010-12-02T02:46:00.000-08:00

Let's all hibernate in the Tate. While we are there we can see Rosa Barba's exhibition.

Missing London

2010-11-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

(image via {Wit + Delight} )

Nordic

2010-11-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

Nordic Bakery have just opened a second home in Marylebone.
Sara and I had a scandi lunch of gravlax on rye bread but denied ourselves a cinnamon bun. Fools.

Shh

2010-11-11T06:29:00.000-08:00

RCA Secret postcard sale. You won't know who the artist is until after you have made your postcard purchase. Over 1,000 artists have donated work from the acclaimed(Grayson Perry, Sir Peter Blake, Sir Paul Smith, photographer David Bailey, film maker Mike Leigh and designers Ron Arad and James Dyson) to the emerging (RCA students).

Vic

2010-11-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of bespoke. Just something for you. Vic's personalised photo shop (open until tomorrow at midday) is so charming: she is inspired by your name and the feeling it creates before popping a photograph in the post.

Happy weekend all.
(Photos via Vic)

Continuing Concrete

2010-11-05T05:18:00.001-07:00

How can concrete become cozy? A Norwegian Mountain cabin's answer.
(via Emmas Designblog)

AOC (Agents of Change)

2010-11-05T05:07:00.001-07:00

AOC's renovation of a Golder's Green family home. Concrete hearth with a parquet pattern. Spot the rabbit!

The Grand Stack of Notebooks

2010-11-05T04:45:00.000-07:00

Archie Grand Notebooks with specfied content.

Architects I met and liked.
Writers I met and liked
Doctors I met and liked
Communists I met and liked (!)

I Am Love

2010-11-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

Me to Jing: You HAVE (with caps lock) to see I Am Love. It's an Italian melodrama with Tilda Swinton.
Jing to me: An Italian melodrama with Tilda Swinton? Wow. Um. Ok. Sold.

Another Country

2010-11-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

My first stop at the London Design Festival's Tramshed event was to Another Country. Since then I've noticed considerable design press coverage for the Dorset based craft furniture designer. A day bed that the Shakers would have approved of.

Likely to inspire a post countryside walk and apple cake snooze.

Face to Face

2010-11-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Such a strange feeling to read about my late grandmother Ruth Borchard and the Face to Face self portrait collection in this week's Time Out!

A (mixed) review of the exhibition at Kings Place

Self-portraits can be morbidly fascinating. It was the introspective nature of the endeavour that prompted the late Ruth Borchard to build a collection of 100 self-portrait paintings and prints by mainly British artists, each bought/commissioned for a maximum of 21 guineas. This selection, spanning 50 years (1921-71) offers welcome glimpses of several key developments in British painting, not least the kitchen sink school. The specificity of Borchard's interest, however, and this lacklustre, frieze-like display make one all too aware of the gaps: those who are not and should be represented here.

Borchard, who fled Hamburg during WWII, was clearly a woman of influence and a hard bargainer. Many decades on, it seems preposterous that artists of Euan Uglow and Roger Hilton's ilk would agree to part with such personal works for so little.The majority were made and bought during the 1950s and '60s, when post-war austerity and social realism ruled. The sobre palettes and serious poses generally reflect this, as opposed to more abstract concerns from across the pond.

Among the many art-school educators (William Coldstream, John Minton), David Bomberg looms large: from certain perspectives around the odd balcony space, there appears enough muddy slap to drown a field of festival revellers and overwhelm the more subtle but significant pieces of this art-historical puzzle. While one might argue that the holes in any collection are as pertinent to the backstory as the works included (the fact that only five women artists made the pack speaks volumes), one tends to rely on Borchard's accounts of her dealings with the artists as tonal chart to match these p‚té-hued views on the past.

Weekend

2010-10-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

On the cusp of November and I am on the cusp of a cold. I know, I know. Chicken soup followed by fresh ginger with honey and lemon. Need a quick remedy as going to see my friend Lucy. We lost touch - I was one of her bridesmaids - and we both have no idea how we lost touch. We do know exactly how long it's been as she had a baby boy called William in the meantime! Looking forward to long and overdue catch up.

Have a fun weekend all.
(image via White Trash Beautiful- an excellent title!)

Ready...set...

2010-10-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

A running track through the building. Zaha Hadid's fantastic design for a Brixton school makes me want to go back to school and start running. I never thought I would ever write that as both are decidedly unappealing options!
(via Guardian)

Hauser & Wirth

2010-10-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Hauser & Wirth have just opened a sleek gallery on Saville Row. The gallery's inaugural exhibition showcases the late Louise Bourgeois's web of textiles.

"Noah"

2010-10-27T05:07:00.000-07:00

A Loire estuary look out point and retreat.
(via Handmade Charlotte)

Paris vs NYC

2010-10-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

A tally of two cities.
Please Mister Muratyan, tally London and Paris.

Desert Glamour

2010-10-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

Tash is back after Joshua Tree/ Big Sur adventures. She has completed her next book, The Novel in the Viola. My friend is formidably prolific!
Catch up with a Postcard .

Skyplanter

2010-10-25T03:09:00.001-07:00

An average day in the kitchen. Grow plants or herbs upside down. And then chop some green peppers.
(Design Museum shop of whimsy)

Happy Weekend

2010-10-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

We have one more week people until the clocks change. As many of you know, I am not exactly gracious when it comes to lack of sunlight. But I promise this year that I'll try not to hold my breath until spring and will attempt to embrace the winter. Duffle coats will make things a little easier! His and Hers
(image via sfgirlbybay)

Swing dancing

2010-10-22T05:43:00.001-07:00

Choreographing You exhibition at the Hayward.
Yes, you become the exhibition. Perfect for people who rebel whenever they see the following sign: 'Please, don't touch the artwork'!

For the desk space

2010-10-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

A solid walnut masking tape dispenser and a paperweight?
(tinted mint via greedy girl)

Byline

2010-10-21T02:57:00.000-07:00

Theo, my nephew, recently went to Washington DC to visit his American grandparents and thought the newspaper boxes were ovens! A lost in translation moment for a two year old.

Afternoon inspiration

2010-10-19T04:19:00.000-07:00

A dramatic mobile by artist Atelier Xavier Veilhan. This reminds me of a Miro painting that David loves.(Via Seasaw)

Ann Patchett

2010-10-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

I've been carrying Ann Patchett's excellent book, Bel Canto, around for a couple of weeks. She writes so carefully that I am reading at a hesitant,slow pace so I don't miss any of the beautiful prose.
I also can't get Ann's view of her home out of my mind.

I understand the world is full of spectacular things I’ve yet to see, but I can’t imagine any of them would satisfy me as deeply as this house, the casement window in the shower, the light pouring through the halls, or the ceiling in our bedroom, with its thin strips of pale wood that thrill me every morning when I open my eyes.

Graphic Design Matters

2010-10-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

I desperately want to see this film about Swiss born graphic designer Herbert Matter.

Amsterdam *2

2010-10-18T05:54:00.000-07:00

Laura's steep staircase and her choice of dresses for a dancing night out.

Lastly on Amsterdam, does anyone else love Chocomel?

Amsterdam *1

2010-10-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

There were several reasons for this weekend's Amsterdam trip:
i) visit Laura who has just finished her PhD on Ned Kelly and cultural memory (yes, you read that correctly)
ii) cheer Liv who was set to run the marathon
iii) cheer Laura's brother's girlfriend who was also running the marathon
iv) go to a housewarming of a family friend who has recently renovated a house on Keizersgracht.
v) um not run the marathon.
(photos by Liv)