We specialise in the conversion of restaurant spaces, hotels and interior re-development, paying careful attention to the surrounding location and environment. Practice members contribute a range of diverse skills and work closely together as a team. Inspiration is drawn from the teams' combined passion and belief that eating out is an extension of home, and staying in hotels a part of life.
Leaves a lot to be desired, frankly. The subject that it purports to cover is so immense, and the space devoted to it so small (and possesed of such an awefull layout)... This, really, is what all the rest of my complaints would spring from, so i will not mention them here. It did cover all of the more essential points of interest of the time. And of course there was the iconic banner that advised travelers that they were about to leave the American sector... As i said, the pieces that the exhibition have were interesting, i just wish there'd been more of them.
The object that i'd highlight particularly was one that actually amused me. I was besically an oversied metal collar intended as a necklace and heralded as jewelry of the 21st century. I think the source of my amusement is quite obvious.
I'm not entirely sure that it could be said to be an element of the design, but i think i owe it to myself (and everyone else) to say that the prohibition against backpacks on backs is silly. Will not really knock down anything. (IB
Josef Koudelka's photograph 'Prague, 1968, 22 August, past midday' shown at the V and A's Cold War Modern exhibition is a powerful and compelling statement, communicating many layers of meaning. The Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia on 21 August 1968 was a brutal display of Soviet power, dictatorship and violence. Five months earlier the Czech nation had voted and achieved democracy, and in the heady days of the so-called 'Prague Spring', political freedom and social equality was briefly glimpsed by this cultured, dumpling-loving nation. But it was too much for the brutal Russian regime, who feared loss of power in her satellite countries. Troops invaded on the night of the 21st August and as planes flew overhead, the nation was terrified yet again; many had lived through Nazi invasion and brutality thirty years earlier.
I know this because my family were trapped in Prague, a few metres from Wenceslas Square (the equivalent of Prague's Trafalgar Square), the street depicted in Koudelka's picture. It is one of my clearest childhood memories. The Russians broadcast that any individual or groups of people demonstrating in the streets, would be shot. On 22 August, the Czech people, by word of mouth, told each other that their protest must be through absence, not presence.
Thus, Koudelka's photograph shows the silent, absent demonstration of a nation - no-one walked or drove on the usually crowded streets that afternoon. Instead there was an eerie emptiness and only the sound of tanks rolling on the cobblestones. Even the largest country in the world was powerless to stop such a 'non'-protest.Of course, twenty years later, as the Soviet Union collapsed and each Eastern European country threw off Soviet dominance, the Czech Velvet Revolution seamlessly achieved what it had tried to do two decades too early. My father's family, trapped throughout their lives by different regimes, once again watched history unfurl outside their bedroom window. In December 1999 I organised a fund-raising evening of drama, music and discussion on behalf of Amnesty International entitled 'Last Days of the Century'. Koudelka kindly allowed me to use this photograph for publicity, as well as the main image on our programme. He visited me from Paris and gave me a copy of this picture. As the bloody twentieth-century staggered towards its end, this photograph was my way of connecting both my family history to the larger historywe have all lived through, as well as paying homage to a brave nation standing up to the main power behind the Cold War. (Katherine Klinger)
The image above essentially epitomizes what I am obsessed with in terms of architecture. This is a prime example of the aesthetic of “natural”, organic architecture – when the materials used in construction are not only exclusively natural, they are those that are found nearby (i.e. there is a minimum of, say, carting in Egyptian marble to do the fireplace). Now of course if they did use carts, it would not harm the environment… However, the rule about using exclusively natural materials could be modified in cases where there is a lot of un-recycled trash. This means, for example, using some bit of found plastic for insulation or weather protection, etc. This benefits the environment as it uses materials which previously would have simply been not rotting in landfills and possibly creating toxins besides.
As one can see, I care quite a bit about Mother Earth and the environment, so I want everything I do to take into consideration its impact on our surroundings. Thus it becomes easy to see why buildings such as the one above represent my obsessions.
The following maps are of Eden Grove, the first being the current, the 2nd being the 1st edition of 1849-1899, the 3rd then being the 1st revision of 1888 - 1914.
As a native North Londoner, Holloway Road is for me, one of the most least interesting roads that I often travel along daily. Covered with bus lanes and cameras waiting to pounce and fine, I use it to get from the Archway Road to Upper Street, rarely pausing to give the shops or architecture a second glance. This is, of course, an omission on my part. The sex shops, bric a brac stalls and Georgian restaurants represent a cultural diversity and grittiness that is becoming increasingly absent in the gentrification of London. But what of its history?
In Elizabethan times, at the intersection between the Holloway Road and Seven Sisters Road archery contest were held opposite today's Odeon cinema in Bowman's Place. So the area was green and wooded and centuries later, Edward Lear lived in Bowman's Lodge.
Running north-west from Islington to Highgate, it already had hamlets in it known as Upper and Lower Holloway, in the 18thcentury.Upper and Lower Holloway were not favoured by the well-to-do, and the many shabby terraces were occupied by a population of labourers, railwaymen, shopkeepers and clerks. Parts of Lower Holloway and in particular, Campbell Road, was centre of desperate poverty. It was known as ‘the worst street in North London’ with a reputation as a centre of overcrowding, disease, casual labour, street gambling and immorality .‘This road is the king of all roads’ the local sanitary inspector wrote in 1908-1909…’thieves, prostitutes, cripples, blind people, hawkers of all sorts of wares from boot laces to watches and chains…pugilists, card sharper’s, counter jumpers, purse snatchers, street singers and gamblers of all kinds, and things they call men who live on the earnings of women.'
In the music world, 304 Holloway Road is an important site. In 1960 record producer and manager Joe Meekestablished his own studio. He recorded hundreds of singers and groups here, and mixed tracks for release on single, EP and albums on a number of different labels.Meek used a group called The Outlaws to back many of his sessions and Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple fame, joined the group in late 1962, and began recording at Meek's studio. Meek famously murdered his landlandy, before killing himself, also on this stretch of the Holloway Road. (Katherine Klinger)
Gordon Ramsay has the reputation of being the nastiest chefs around; but his passion for food is truly remarkable and amazingly delicious. This is one of his restaurants in London that is bringing all different kinds of people to taste something very unique and difeernt.
The design of this place, is very sleek and modern. And also gives a welcoming and warm and light feeling. (KP)
These pictures shows how food now a days are turned into art, and how these artists in the kitchen interpret what their passions are, thru cooking. These images shows chefs working and some examples of food produced in this kitchen. The restaurant is an Italian restaurant called, Quadrato (means square in Italian), they serve modern Italian cuisine, and in banqueting the kitchen serves from Japanese, Indian, thai and varies from the taste of the customers.
Also shows the preparation area in where the chefs work.
This is one of the best Japanese restaurants in town, they serve Japanese cuisine with a modern and European twist. The chefs specialises the food with perfection, and presents food with mixtures of rich colours and textures, and not to mention with great taste.
The interior and the view of the Thames river, is stunning and breathtaking. You will feel very relaxed and honoured eating in the restaurant with that view. The warm furnishings and the mood lighting settings make the food appetising to the eye, with the view of the beautiful lights of London. (KP)
The yurt visitor does not knock on the door: she is always welcome; the yurt visitor does not step on the threshold: to do that is to tread on the neck of the host; and the yurt visitor asks four questions-to which the answer is always 'yes'. I fell in love and became obsessed with yurts on my fiftieth birthday this year. Always drawn to tents, discovering yurts was a moment of pure recognition.
Descended from generations often in flight, two of my biggest interests - land and nomadic structures - finally found co-existence and clarity. I believe my yurt to be the nearest yurt in the world to an underground transport system. I wake to the sound of squirrels curiously eyeing the smoke curling from the wood stove chimney, glance at the ancient oak tree through the foor foot perspex roof dome and in twenty five minutes stand in Leicester Square.
Yurts are one of the oldest housing structures in the world: the shape echoes the silhouette of the ancient mound at Silbury, the domes of sacred temples, the ice houses of the Arctic north. Yurts stay upright in storms, yet can be moved to the courtyard of Eden Grove in an hour. They can be seductive bedroom, meeting place, thinking place and eating space. My yurt can transform itself into an ancient dining hall, or a modern restaurant. We can serve a family, wine a board meeting and dine a pair of illict lovers. For each, we can transform the decor as a magician by sleight of hand. And in the morning, the yurt can disappear, so the courtyard can re-function as car park, or garden or simply the entrance to our office. (KK)
This site is a very interesting, putting all sorts of images, news, art, and new ideas in japans’ art world and in other places. The site is very easy to use and with all links clearly visible and accessible to the user.
The images that are posted are very striking which makes the reader more interested in reading further in the site. This site has a very Japanese culture and art written all over it.
They have all sorts of publications about art, photography, architecture, manga, music and they are all categorized accordingly.The site basically shows us new trends and new art culture that is shaping the art in japan, and is also used to advertise artist’s artworks. (KP)
Sergisonbates.co.uk (architecture and Design)
The site has a very minimalist feel to it which is very interesting, comparing to the Japanese site where it is more detailed and more extravagant. The format and style they use for this site makes u feel the space and the simplicity of things. And appreciate and concentrate more on the single object that is in the space. They posted images based on their projects and installations.
They have been testing the materials that they are using in constructions for their projects. (KP)
www.muf.co.uk
I find the design and content of this website disappointing, even though the architectural practice interests me as it is almost all-female and gender issues in relation to architecture is somewhat obiliquey referred to on the website.
I find the the opening page unattractive and the choice of colour choices: a dull black and white photograph of a building, split to reveal written information; a choice of uninspiring blue text that is shaded differently three times on one page; red text for the address and phone number, with the
email in black and white. I find the overall effect quite ugly and the page pulls me 'down', rather than inviting me in.
There are five portals to enter, and on clicking the first 'profile: studio/publications', the text leaves me bewildered and confused. I find myself reading long sentences which I find hard to grasp, as
they lack rhthym and ultimately, meaning. What does the following sentencereally mean: 'Access is understood not as a concession but as the gorgeous norm; creating spaces that have an equivalence of experience for all who navigate them both physically and conceptually, muf deliver quality and strategical durable projects that inspire a sense of ownership through occupation.' If indeeed 'access' is the key concept, then language access fails almost completely for me, and is in no way experienced as the 'gorgeous norm', whatever that means. It is also curious that on this page something called the MUF MANUAL is available for £15, and on clicking the 'buy now' button, the viewer is taken to a Paypal
Page: there is no description of the manual or anything about it-merely a request for money and instructions aboutpayment. I am left feeling that perhaps I am a bit stupid: am I expected to know what the MUF MANUAL is, to such an extent that it is not even necessary to describe it?
The Portfolio portal demonstrates the undoubted strength and expertise of the practice, although again the use of language in the opening description is almost inaccessible to this viewer. I find myself re-reading sentences to try to find meaning so elusive, I miss the point. I like the fact that the practice gives the budget of most of the projects, as this enables me to have some sense of scale. However, it is not possible to click and go deeper into any project and the photographs used are small and disappointing. In the awards section, although MUF is the recipient of a number of awards, again, it is not possible to go beyond the title of each project, and in the 'news' section( which is mainly about MUF awards), the
invitation to 'take a look' at MUF's success in the European Prize for Urban Public Space, does not work properly.
www.lyancharchitects.co.uk
On first entering the site, the viewer encounters a subtle greenbackground with the practice name 'Lynch' boldly written alongsidecontact details and seven key words to navigate; movement occursthrough a series of photographs that quietly float on and off screen.There is a sense of sobriety and confidence communicated by the colours and font Lynch uses, and the tone and eloquent simplicity ofthe site communicates quiet, understated elegance: a feature of hisarchitectural work and practice.As an onlooker, the site draws me in, and I want to know more about Lynch's work as an architect,designer and thinker.
I do not have to search and decode the site: it is the projects thatare important, and they are simply communicated through a series ofphotographs, depicting a combination of site plans, models, drawingsand pictures of completed buildings. There is evocative detailing insome of the photographs, showing, for example, people interacting with a building, or a single cup lying on the floor; the Princelet Streetproject in London's East End, reveals a ghost-like figure in the firstpicture, reflective of the shadowy historicity of the area and its origins.
Some of the sketches in the Non-Residential section give me hope: they are simple outlines, not too complicated and I follow the lines andthe impressions in my own head; the contrast with some of the modelsis striking: complex detailing and subtle-lighting, again reflectingstrength and confidence. And lastly, to satisfy my curiosity, a photograph of the architects themselves: figures surrounded by woodand materials, work and reflection in progress. (KK)
whatarchitecture.com
At first glance, the website appears quite inviting, due to the interesting presentation of information on the first page. The graphic organisation is quite successful in pulling in the viewer's interest.
