Written by Ruth Slavid, “Extreme Architecture: Building for Challenging Environments” is as impressive as the title suggests. A journey through the elements, the book covers the major environmental factors—hot, cold, high, wet and space—categorized into five chapters and led by a brief summary explaining the difficulties of each climate.
The range of impressive architectural feats includes a tropical summer home, a Swiss chairlift station, a floating sauna, a lunar hotel, African school buildings and an underground global seed vault, to name a few. With the photographs just as inspiring as their subjects, the book makes not only for a great reference point but also a work of art.
This is the second part of the BBC’s interview with Alfred Hitchcock in 1964, and if you enjoyed the first half you’re sure to love the second. Topics of discussion range from ‘A good cry’ and the satisfaction of temporary pain in Thrillers, to reality and whether we really want it in film, and the differences between English and American audiences. Hitchcock also goes on to mention how content is of little importance, and that audience reaction is what it’s all about. A wonderfully entertaining and informative documentary that is sure to have you rushing down to the local video store.
For any lover of film and cinema this is a must see. This first half of the 1964 BBC interview with Alfred Hitchcock is highly amusing, and not to mention extremely interesting. Hitchcock talks about the science of pure cinema and how one must tell a story visually, thereby letting the “talk” be part of the atmosphere.
He also goes on to say how the art of pure cinematics means an audience in Tokyo, New York and London watching the same film will respond emotionaly to the same things. There are some fantastic comments by Hitchcock and you’re sure to catch yourself having a good giggle.
Born in New Orleans, Scott Alger is a New York based artist whose work combines street graffiti, expressionalist painting and performance, all expressed through photography. Using light as paint, Alger creates images which he then photographs, the result being a number of rich, glossy images. This style and process originated from a traumatic experience which saw Alger and his friends struck by lighting, the result of which left Alger temporarily blinded and ended the life of one of his friends. As a way of healing, Scott created this new style of photographing light to help him get over the experience emotionally.
Now obviously unless you can afford to jetset across the Atlantic to the Big Apple, a visit to one of his exibitions is going to be out of the question. However, his website is worth a visit. There is a wonderful collection of photographs to look at as well as some interesting videos about his work.
Definitely one of the most interesting blogs on the web today, The Sartorialist has revolutionised the way people look at fashion on an every-day stage. Started by Scott Schuman in New York who after leaving a career in fashion sales and marketing, devoted his time to shooting every-day people on the streets of New York and posting the photos to his blog: “I thought I could shoot people on the street the way designers looked at people”.
He now writes a monthly column for GQ magazine and is involved with numerous fashion projects as well as work with style.com. The Sartorialist blog has also been voted one of Time Magazine’s top 100 Design influencers. Scott Schuman now covers street fashion from New York, Paris and Milan, to Rio de Jeneiro, London, Sydney and Moscow.
It’s a great site if you love and enjoy fashion and provides a fascinating snapshot of what people are wearing around the world.
Continuing on with the summer theme I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to rave about Bensimon trainers. As much as I’d hate to see everyone sporting them this summer (a chap has to be original after all!) they really are the perfect summer trainer.
Lightweight, robust, durable, cool as hell and not to mention cheap! They have a rubber sole and a canvas top and would best be described as some sort of plimsoll. French and very cool, they really are hard to beat when it comes to summer fashion.
Forget BBC1. When it comes to summer tunes you can’t go past itunes radio and Ibiza Sonica. A constant stream of smooth, funky chill-out to get you in the mood for summer. To connect just open your itunes, click on radio and choose the electronic list. Then scroll down to Ibiza Sonica and start listening. The latest club tracks and beach chill-out are exactly what you need for your summer playlist. You can also go to their webpage and connect to the live streaming as well. Check it out.
I first saw this video clip whilst I was on holiday in Spain. It was part of a short-film festival that also happened to include some music videos. It’s a fantastic song with some great images all jumbled together that make it quite an emotional and feel-good experience.
Beirut are an American group whose music combines elements of Eastern European, folk and Western pop music. “Postcards from Italy” is from their first album “Gulag Orkestar” and having listened to quite a few of their other songs, I would have to say it’s my favourite. One to add to the summer playlist!
Wondering what do drink this summer? Well you can’t go past the stylish and sophisticated Americano. Light and refreshing, it’s one of the most popular aperitifs in Italy and is making a comeback in the cocktail bars of London, New York and Sydney.
Served in a rocks glass with plenty of ice, the Americano consists of equal measures of Campari and Martini Rosso topped up with soda and garnished with a slice of orange. Originally called the Milano-Torino as Campari came from Milan and Martini Rosso came from Turin, but during the Prohibition era in the United States, the Italians noticed an influx of Americans who enjoyed the drink and so renamed it the Americano.
Banksy strikes back! But this time it’s legit. The anonymous street artist, who is more accustomed to attacking city walls and buildings like a guerrilla soldier, has this time taken the straight approach and landed his biggest exhibition yet in the Bristol City Museum.
A collection of Banksy works using different mediums but with the same cheeky Banksy style will be on display until August 31st. Many never-before-seen works, including his animatronic pets which were recently on display in New York, have been presented in what was a bit of a coup for the museum’s top brass, with many employees having little or no idea what was going on leading up to the exhibition launch. Duped into thinking a film crew was setting up, the artist’s work were literally installed over night! From blood smeared lion statues with remnants of a lion tamer’s outfit at their paws, to beret sporting chimps painting sunsets. A must see.
