HARRIETFRANCIS_BA_FM_SUMMIT by Harriet Francis

bi annual A n E x p l o r a t i o n o f Fo o d Fa s h i o n a n d A r c h i t e c t u r a l I d e a l s.

Vol. 1

bi annual

Vo l . 1 new found utopia

contributors

editor harriet francis

designer harriet francis

submit your work

harriet@bi-annual.co.uk

say hello

www.bi-annual.co.uk

photography harriet francis hiroyuki oki daniel gebhart

printing

thank you

mj group london

demetra kolakis erika symonds

binding london binding company

paper

g.f smith

keith francis thomas hood jesus lopez isaac mchale grace margetson melanie francis

contents

Architecture 1

Food

23 barbican

64 verical

trout terrine 46 How Food Shapes Our Cities 52 lyleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s review 70 pickled pigs ears 72 pigeon and pig trotters

Fashion

Guests

32 dungeness

farming 68 london review

32 Dungeness 74 connotations 52 fashion

of the suit

film 74 interview with the industry

20 raw

12 Keith

Francis 52 jesus lopez 60 ana carolina minozo 74 thomas hood

he Newfound Utopia issue focuses on the current desire to reconnect the urban concrete city with the natural pasture of the once uninhabited land. I have an affinity with pioneering restaurants, delectable food, well designed clothing and extraordinary architecture because all areas share a common objective, which is to make daily life and that which is inevitable and unchanging - we have to eat, sleep with a roof over our head and dress for the weather - utterly delightful. Currently, local and sustainable food culture is simultaneously uniting and remapping the world of design, travel and style. This issue will focus on the current adaptions of the city to aid quality of life in urban areas. This new interest with the pastoral seeks a very ancient joy in the landscape through new media, technologies and expression. Firstly, we are witnessing an architectural revolution whereby architects are reconnecting the pastoral with the city by erecting vertical farms up industrial and residential buildings to enable plant and vegetation growth as well as

a means to cleanse the air. This technique is a very current tendancy with a rich Western lineage, as architects look back to the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon for inspiration. The same tendancy can be seen in food culture - consumer preference has turned to organic, seasonal and local produce as well as an increase in preferance for quality meat from arable, free roaming land. In fashion, we are becoming further interested in the craftmanship of clothing; the quality of material, production and exclusivity in consumption. This new tendancy aspires for benevolent pleasure mediation through a mediator of polarities, including city:country, high-tech:lowtech, body:machine, rational:romantic, micro:macro, inside:outside.

Editor in Chief Harriet Francis

As the majority of britains bucolic land faces planning permission and demolition, we are beginning to reconcile, now more than ever, with the picturesque idyll of the pastoral through representations of food, fashion, architecture and interiors.

>>>

from lake to plate nurturing a better relationship with our day to day diet Photograghy and Words: Harriet Francis

Fishing with my dad has long been an activity I

Ireland and Grafton Resevoir near our hometown

wished to pursue, as children my brother would

in Northmaptonshire, my dad hadn’t graced

often go with him on his fishing trips to Ireland,

their waters since with the idea that no one could

Scotland and Iceland whilst I’d enviously stay at

replace his presence in the boat, instead taking

home. The quote “Give a man a fish and you’ll

to the river banks of the Scottish highlands and

feed him for a day; teach him how to fish, and

Alaskan boarders, solitarily.

you’ll feed him for a lifetime” was a life lesson our

Grafton Resevoir in Northamptonshire is the

dad taught us from an early age, reminding us of

spot to catch Brown trout and Rainbow trout.

the importance of independence and practicality.

the Brown trout is a British ‘beauty’, ‘the most

Looking back, I think seeing my dad in his fishing

beautiful fish England has to offer’, this fish can

attire and picturing him in the wilderness was a

be identified by its dark spots and golden brown

vision of escapism from seeing him in his business

skin. The Rainbow on the contrary originates

suit that represented his identity as a high-profile

from Alaska and is identified by its white belly,

businessman. The vision of him in his fishing

dark brown spots and pink stripe. Upon asking if

kit was a reassurance for me as I knew he’d

we could do a ‘fish, gut, cook’ article together, we

always be able to find tranquility on the water,

decided Grafton Reservoir would be the perfect

a far cry away from the stressful constraints that

spot.

his business put on him. The image was also

On our way to the reservoir I was to pay attention

nostalgic to our holidays we would regularly

to the tops of trees - according to fishermen too

take to the Lake District former to his success -

much wind causes disruption on the water so the

climbing crags, getting lost, hitchhiking back and

fish like to hide in the depths of the reservoir, on

finishing the day in the ‘Drunken Duck’ pub with

the contrary if the wind is still then the fish are

a well deserved coca-cola.

able to see the shadows above the water, giving

Grandpa had taught my dad to fish as a child and

away our game. Middle ground is what you’re

they remained fishing partners until his passing.

looking for - and we had it. Its 7.30am and we

Their favourite fishing spots were Waterville in

drink copious amounts of coffee to prepare us for

>>>

the blistering winds of the lake. We place bets on

talks of buying a trout off another fisherman for the

how many fish we’ll catch and the weight of the

article. At the most unexpected time, we have action.

prospective catch, I optimistically bet on three 4

Dad stands excitedly hovering over the boat whilst

pounders.

I rustle for my camera and point in the direction

We arrive and the landscape is like no other, it is

of the line - the rod is bent so curvaceously I fear it

flat as we’re in the midlands and we can see until

snapping, soon the fish approaches the surface - it’s

our eyes meet the horizon, the air feels so fresh it

a rainbow - its mouth is gawping dragged by the

almost knocks me out having arrived from my flat

hook as dad reels him in, I quickly pass him the

in London only several hours before. The only

net and the fish is bought into the boat swiftly. I

problem being the light is bad with a foggy overcast,

pass the implement for the kill and he knocks the

I worry for the quality of the photos.

fish on the head, at first the fish fights against him

Firstly dad takes me into the ‘cafe’ where he

so it’s hastily given another two knocks. The first

shows me photographs of the fishermen who’ve

knock I dealt with unaffectedly, it was food after all,

succeeded in catching the largest inhabitants the

but when it struggled against my dads hands I felt

lake has seen, the man behind the bar eyes me up

a pang go through my body. Later he tells me he

and down sceptically as neither I or my father are

hadn’t packed the right implement, the one he had

trusted locals, I also couldn’t be looking further

was to be used for much smaller fish. I’m happy I

from the part. Getting back into the car I get into a

felt that pang, as it is essentially teh confrontation of

pair of miscellaneous waterproof trousers that my

facing your diet choice with integrity

dad had previously fished from the cellae, throw

As I go to pick up the fish it slips from my hands. I’m

over my waterproof jacket, help dad with his kit

to grab him firmly - something I probably naturally

and head out to the pier. Upon greeting two men

opposed to for the thought of holding an animal

who ask if I’ll be fishing, my dad jumps in and tells

who had just passed. I clench my fingers around its

them I’m simply there to take photographs for a

belly - a struggle due to the slippery secretion that

‘lake to plate’ article for a university project. The

lines the fish produced by mucous membranes; this

men are inquisitive and ask of what university I go,

crucial layer serves to protect the fish from fungi,

when I enlighten them that it’s for London College

bacterial infections and viruses. I hold him up with

of Fashion ‘ironically’ - they don’t know what to say

the pride that my father had caught him, happiness

and proceed by impelling a child size life jacket over

that we would feed tonight on possibly the freshest

my head.

fish I had ever tasted. Bearing it above my head I

We find our first base on the reservoir and I choose

feel its bones and hard flesh against my fingertips,

<<<

The second rainbow trout is caught in the same

arduous catch, my dad is very obviously quite with

spot, its a good catch weighing around three pounds

himself as he pants away.

similar to our first catch. The second is caught

I sleep all the way home as I’m comatosed from the

minutes after the first, we both agree that they must

fresh air and hours of anticipation and adrenaline.

have been partners, in the boat and slumped next to

Contrary to my preconceptions, I can’t say I

the first, I begin to feel the excitement of the game,

was bored at any moment on the boat; there is

we must catch three as that’s what my bet is placed

something very marked about sitting, listening and

on.

thinking in the tranquility of a sparse landscape.

To catch a fish, you must sit patiently holding the

Once home, we gut the fish in the kitchen, a

rod in your dominant hand with the index finger

nostalgic practice reminiscent of when my father

touching the line. This touch is the crucial part of

used to come home when I was a child, and I’d

catching your fish, as it’s where you’ll feel the tug

help gut, stood on my stool to help me reach the

of the line, the slightest nudge can lead to serious

counter. Gutting a fish is fairly easy, but do be

disappointment. This happened to us around mid

prepared with sheets of scrap newspaper as the job

day, my dad felt a tug on the line from the fish

is particularly messy - we do it quick so my mother

nibbling on the fly, however it didn’t take and we’d

doesn’t fret upon arrival home. Filleting of the fish

immediately lost it.

is rather frustrating if you’re a perfectionist, as you

Mid day is the worst time to fish, the best time is

really need to be skilled to get the perfect cut.

around mid morning, mid afternoon and during the

The act of killing food and eating it has furthered

night. We were facing the worst part of the day and

my relationship with the dinner table, I now think

having moved to different parts of the reservoir in

to where my food has come from, the people

the hope of finding some action, we were start to

involved, and the process taken. This train of

loose hope and talk of heading home. Of course,

thought is important as it makes you think twice

unexpectedly so, during this conversation we were

about wasting food, and the extent to which it can

onto our third! The third fish had my dad impelled

be trusted.

from one side of the boat to the other as dad refused

My dad and I happily chatted away about trivial

to let him go. The fish pulls him in a 360 motion

things on the boat whilst unwinding in tranquility,

and attempts to move under the boat - making it

a rare novelty when we both live busy lives in

impossible to reel in. After chaotically running back

separate cities. Fortunately, we’ve agreed that from

and forth he’d finally landed it in the net - the fish

here on I’ll be occasionally joining him on fishing

is our biggest catch yet, a true reward for such an

trips, not only in England but around the world.

recipe

raw trout terrine Earthy flavours of the trout are intensified by leaving the fish raw in this simple yet rich terrine. It is best composed using fish cauht that very day to ensure the robust flavour of the trout. This dish is brightened and complimented with lemon juice and a handful of parsley.

500 grams raw trout

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

200g butter, softened

juice of 2 lemons

200g natural yoghurt

4 tbsp freshly grated or prepared horseradish

4 tbsp chives, chopped

1 handful parsley

1tsp maldon salt

method

Line a deep baking tray with baking paper. Slice the two fillets of trout into 1cm thick 4cm wide pieces. Roughly chop any remaining meat of the fish and add into a mixing bowel. Beat the butter until very soft, and add to the fish along with the chives, parsley, shallots, and yoghurt. Mix well and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Spoon into your deep baking tray, making sure it is filled to the top (even if this means you have remaining space in your dish). Cover with cling film and refridgerate for several hours until firm. Slice and serve with crusty bread and a horseradish, creme fraiche dip for enhanced flavouring Serves 4 as an apertiser

BARBICAN brutalist in form albeit post modern in function Photograghy and Words: Harriet Francis

Chamberlin, Powell and Bon are the revolutionary

Chamberlin, Powell and Bon drew up various

architects behind the ambitious concrete

estate

designs in an attempt to erect an ambitious estate

The Barbican, currently housing over 4,000

that would house the wealthy workers of the city

residents. Before the Barbican stood, the area was

and offer them an especial, cultural, residential life.

a desolate post war vicinity devastated by bombing

In 1955 the first proposal sketches were submitted

during the Blitz, leaving a scattering of Roman and

to The Corporation of London. Ambitious plans

Tudor remains and an unscathed, Medieval, St

were drawn that ranged from studio flats to five

Giles Church.

bedroom apartments, and spacious, magnificent

Unknown to many, a large part of the complex is

penthouses overlooking the city. The builds were

made up of the Golden Lane Estate, initially built

modern and exceptionally spacious, equipped with

by the latter three architects for the government

a state of the art wet bathroom, a modern waste

social housing scheme. During their time together

disposal vaccuum built into the kitchen sink and

at Kingston university, the government had devised

large floor to ceiling semi-circular windows looking

a competition for British architects to draw up plans

out over green, watery aestheticised landscapes.

for an innovative social housing estate in the scheme

The kitchens were on the contrary very basic on

that would house those in need with immediate

the condition that the wealthy residents would opt

effect. All three architects applied on the prospect

to dine out.

that if one of them would win they would split the

An ambitious arts centre was included in the plans,

reward. The estate was a success, bringing their

equipped with a music hall, a library, exhibition

names to light as prominent, pioneering architects

spaces and a theatre. It is today the largest performing

of their time.

arts centre in Europe and home to the London

Once the social housing state was erect, Chamberlin,

Symphony Orchestra and was once the home to

Powell and Bon considered the rest of the rubbel

The Royal Shakespeare Company. The Barbican

ridden vicinity that surrounded the estate. During

also houses three cinemas, a swimming pool, a large

the 1940â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s there was much talk surrounding what to

conservatory, a library, two restaurants , exhibition

do with the space, during the day it was a bustling

rooms and a lake ornate with fountains, floating

working city, yet at night it became a ghost town.

gardens, iridescent green water and colourful carpe.

>>>

The idea was to stabilise, facilitate and nurture London’s

specific period was integral to function, devoid of ornate,

art scene whilst engaging residents in social, agreeable

bewtitching aesthetics that most periods have deemed

activities such as rehearsal sittings and restaurant dining

admirable. The idea of this cold, simple facade was

amongst friends for a civilised evening. Ultimately creating

subject to the preference of art critics and theorists of

a cultured community of city workers.

the time, especially theorist Adolf Loo’s. Loo’s believed

The building work took over thirty years to complete and

that with minimal style void of ornate, decorative nature,

it wasn’t until the arts centre met completion in the 1980’s

architecture would have the potential to stand the test

that the estate officially opened. Consequently, what was

of time. Adding buildings and products, subject to his

meant to be a state of the art, refined, residential estate was

theory, would become financial investments, surpassing

later condemned ‘unfashionable’ by the public, due to its

the trending aesthetics of future generations.

postponed opening in the Thatcherite era. Consequently

Chamberlin, Powell and Bon gave much detail to the

many residents sold their flats to the Corporation of

structure to ensure the estate not only felt refined and

London in the 1980’s at subsidised rates, this is why part

extraordinary, but engaging and tranquil.

of the estate today is used for social housing.

The Fly tower, originally erected for functional use to

The Barbican has recently regained its well deserved

house the Royal Shakespeare Company’s theatric sets,

attention from the Public as Londoners and tourists from

was deemed inappropriately ugly. The lake central to the

around the world fascinate over its idiosyncratic identity,

complex formally housed a glass conservatory, however

that particularly defines the 1960’s architectural period.

during the 1960’s this was dismantled and reassembled

As popularity rises in London’s fashionable East end,

to house the tower in a pyramid of glass, greenery and

the Barbican is now more popular than ever, and so new

wildlife. The green house is thus inconspicuous, raised

wealthy residents, such as the CEO of Barclays bank, have

above ground level behind the residential blocks with no

decided to invest in the grade II periodic infrastructure.

signs for direction. Once found, residents and members

Despite popular belief, the Barbican cannot be wholly

of the public are able to enjoy the tranquil haven save

identified as a clear example of Brutalist architecture, as

from the bustling tourism of the arts centre below. The

it defies the period’s conventional laws of function. The

conservatory is well kept, ornate in luscious gardens on

term ‘brutalist’ is derivative of the French architects, and

a tiered landscape, housing a pond filled with colourful

refers to the unfinished or roughly finished concrete -

carpe and a melodic avery.

‘beton brut’ in French. The term Brutalist is well coined

The history of Cripplegate largely informed the architects

as it onomatopoeically represents the bold, monumental,

plans. For instance, The soaring towers and vast concrete

and heavily serious style of the grey architecture. It is

volumes are contrasted by the red, terracotta tiled paving

particularly important to note that the architecture of this

representative of the Victorian Industrial age. Victorian

<<<

lamps were donated from London’s Tower Bridge to

spiritual welfare, offering tranquil landscapes ornate in

further the Victorian influence. Medieval references also

wildlife and fountains. For instance the Conservatory

run continuous in the design. The principal meaning of

houses an aviary, and it is here where you’ll find chestnut,

“Barbican” given by the Oxford English Dictionary is

green singing and star finches, Java sparrows, diamond

an ‘outer fortification or defence to a city or castle’, the

doves and Japanese quails; an elaborate, aesthetically

architects have intentionally played on this idea as the

pleasing conservatory. The pathways laced with water

building lends itself the quality of a Medieval fortress.

fountains and the very appealing greenery are a far cry

The structure feels both defensive and empowering from

from the concrete jungles that were being drawn up

its fortified design, a maze is created from high walks

during the brutalist period, the Barbican’s wondrous

and pathways discouraging the public to wonder in and

water garden with a view of St Giles’ Church and its

encouraging residents to focus inward. This is why many

momentous Pilotti’s magnificently distinguish the

visitors today find it very hard to find their way around as

Barbican as an incomparable, idiosyncratic build of its

it can be highly disorientating. Integral to the continuity

own.

in the aesthetic are the fortified and circular motifs that

Remarkably, within the infrastructure there are an

inform the structure of the residents windows, the water

overwhelming 118 different entrances, though most are

garden, the outdoor furniture and the tiling. They are

inconspicuous in a defensive nature. What makes this

strongly symbolic of the Barbican due to their famed

build so special, is it suceeds in being rather unwelcoming

repetition across the estate.

for visitors, yet Chamblin, Powell and Bon spent much

The tranquil waterside central to the estate, complete with

time and effort in designing the opening courtyard to be a

fountains and swaying reeds, renders the build positively

spectacular landscape for visitors who presumaby would

romantic in comparison to its concrete contenders

have entered the complex by a specific, inconspicuous

representative of function over form. Everything about the

entrance. Of course, with 118 disorientating ways of

Barbican forces residents to live inwards, from its fortified

entering the complex, many visitors naturally enter the

design to its glamorous gardens and colourful lake. What

venue through Silk Street, ironically formally intended

once lied beyond the walls of the Barbican wasn’t at all

as the goods’ entrace.

as inviting as what it is today, consequently the architects

The final cost of the building was a staggering £156

built the fortress like infrastructure so that the Barbican

million; and to build today would require £500 million.

would be seen as a walled off town within itself.

The build took 130,000 cubic metres of concrete, enough

As much as the Barbican ticks off the prescriptive nature

to cover 19 miles of a six lane motorway. The build has

of brutalist architecture, it almost emancipates itself from

effectively influenced renowned architects around the

the category as much thought is put into the residents

world, and stands with pride despite its subdued opening.

barbican centre Architects:

Chamberlin, Powell and Bon

Architectural Style:

Brutalist x Modernist

Designations:

Grade II Listed

Built:

1950s - 1970s

dungeness modern architecture meets rural pastures in the modern yet bucolic coastline of dungeness. one of britains most treasured nature reserves and well kept secrets.

Model: Harriette Tebbutt

Photography and Styling: Harriet Francis

Harriette in Cos + shoes by Zara

Topshop Boutique + shoes by Churches

Alexander Wang + shoes by Zara

Cos + shoes by Zara

dig on for victory

during ww2 the germans blocked all shipping routes into britain. during this period those at home helped build over

million allotments.

due to todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trending preference for organic produce, these allotments currently hold a waiting list of up to ten years.

Are

we slowly

beginning to realise the truth of vulgar mass food corporations?

>>>>

uring the Second World War the Germans U-boat blockade meant that food was no longer able to be shipped over seas, a terrifying thought when 75% of Britain’s food was then imported by ship, consequently threatening the home front with starvation. “Dig for Victory” was the infamous campaign set up by Professor John Raeburn (1912 - 2006) the head of the Agricultural Plans Branch of the Ministry of Food, enabling Britain to jump the shipping obstacle via a hugely successful propaganda campaign encouraging civilians to grow their own produce in any land available in order to reduce reliance on imports. According to the War Cabinet’s records, annual food imports had halved to 14.65 million tonnes by 1941. The campaign’s tagline “Spades not ships!” encouraged citizens to start planting on all available land, including parks, school fields, football pitches and factory courtyards. By 1942 half the civilian population was part of the nation’s “Garden Front”, and ten thousand square miles of land had been “brought under the plough”. Even the moat at the Tower of London was given over to vegetable patches, whilst the Royal Family sacrificed their rose beds for growing onions. Cartoon characters Captain Carrot and Potato Pete lightheartedly led the campaign with their own songs and recipe books, a marketing campaign that proved to be well ahead of their time. Every Sunday an audience of 3.5 million tuned in to the Home Service to listen to Britain’s first celebrity gardener, Cecil Henry Middleton, giving his gardening tips. According to the Royal Horticultural Society there were nearly 1.4 million allotments in Britain by the end of the

of the war, producing 1.3m tonnes of produce. The government estimated that around 6,000 pigs were kept in gardens and back yards by 1945. Ultimately, the campaign that led to the UK dramatically halving its reliance on food imports. Contemporary food theorist Carolyn steel examines that our relationship between food and cities is fundamental to our everyday lives. Food shapes cities, and throughout them, it moulds us - along with the countryside that feeds us. The gargantuan effort necessary to feed cities arguably has a greater social and physical impact on us and our planet than anything else we do. Yet few of us are conscious of the process, and we rarely stop to wonder how food astonishingly reaches our plates. It has been proven that people who live in cities eat more meat than those who live in the countryside, and as more of us are moving into cities, more of us are eating meat. This becomes a growing concern as the livestock feeds off of arable land, and with an increasing population, such arable land is decreasing in size whilst planning permission is put into action to accommodate the increasing population - In turn we will require more meat - this is detrimental to our livestock and evidence proves that our intake of meat will rapidly decrease by 2020. In previous centuries food was intricately interconnected within the architecture of the city, geographically grafted to allow food import from the country side into the streets of london. During the period of 1980 to 1920; 90 years after the trains came, maps prove that the city changed dramatically from being small and spacial enough to feed citizens via animals on foot, to then becoming a large, disordered splurge, creating strenuous obstacles for the

Words and photography by Harriet Francis

<<<

livestock to enter the city. Before, livestocks would literally

impossible in popular living areas of London: councils

walk into Smithfield Market to be slaughtered, and

such as Hackney and Islington have closed their lists

poultry would fly in wearing canvas shoes to Poultry Lane.

completely as they’re both more than ten years long.

Food used to be constrained by geography, we used to have

Guerilla gardening is now becoming popular in cities as

to get our food through very difficult or physical means and

volunteers are using their initiative to plant flowers, salad

all of a sudden the food chain is effectively emancipated

and vegetables in any location that will enable growth. It

from geography, creating an untrustworthy, preternatural

is this particular ‘garden of disorientation’ that will help

system. As of the 1830’s, the rail network meant that pigs,

educate children on their diet and plant the fundamental

sheep and cows were no longer walking into the markets,

seed as to where their food comes from, as well as

they were being slaughtered and packaged out of sight

generating better relationships amongst communities.

and out of mind somewhere in the countryside. Their

Growing Communities is a project run in London that

arrival into the city by rail changes everything, as mass

helps transform food and farming through community-

hellhole food corporations are able to expand out of sight.

led trade, offering citizens fresh and organic produce in

And of course, after the trains came cars which

a wide range of weekly ‘vegetable boxes’ that cater for

ultimately marks the end of the process of understanding

all sizes of families and budgets, delivered to your door.

and visualising where our food is sourced from.

They are helping to build community lead alternatives

Food is thus

to the current damaging food system and offter start up

any

apparent

effectively emancipated from needing relationship

with

nature

all.

packages to other communities to help them with the

Currently we find it hard to value food or trust it meaning

transforming process too.

more and more food is thrown away each day. One of the

Growing Communities also organises for the weekly

great irony’s of modern food systems is that they’ve made

Stoke Newington Farmers Market allowing those

the very thing they promised to make easier much harder

small-scale farmers and producers who are believed to

by making it possible to build cities anywhere in any place,

be the basis of a sustainable agriculture system to gain

they’ve actually distanced us from our most important

popularity and thrive.

relationship, which is that of us and nature, ultimately

These community-led urban food growing projects will

making us dependent on systems that only they can

revive the city as one interconnected, where citizens

deliver, those of which are detrimentally unsustainable. So

will become visually aware of the food supply chains.

what is the answer? Quite patently, the answer would be

Without these communities or markets, naturally

to start growing and attending to our personal agricultural

developed, pastoral land will be degenerate, and zero

land within cities, such as the Dig for Victory campaign

sum commodity corporations will be the food-chain

of WW2. However getting an allotment is virtually

dominion, alienating humans and society from nature.

The Garden City ebenezer howard 1898 Taken from the book Garden Cities of Tomorrow, the description of a utopian city in which people live harminously together with nature, identifying food as the ultimate ordering principle of his vision. Howard aimed to reduce the alienation of humans and society from nature and hence advocated garden cities.

lunch with aspirant director jesus lopez

during jesus lopezâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time at london college of fashion he unexpectedly delved into the realm of film. three years on and the young, ambitious filmmaker is rapidly becoming an acclaimed

award

winning

director.

over

lunch we talk of his signature style, how he came to prominence and his latest film

- out.

>>>>

there is a director who can depict our post

modernist time so imminantly in regards to cultural, ethical and aesthetic matters, the appropriate figure.

Jesus Lopez

would deem

Lopez brings challenging themes

under the lens as he discovers and proposes a style of life that endorses reality, humour and emotion in face of old fashioned dispute.

Lopez

succeeds in smoothing

the path that leads to the modernisation of the next generation.

he were to be exploring such current

tendancies in the past, his work would would be closed for discussion in discomfiture of the public. If he were to explore such themes in the future, those controversies would inevitably appear trivial.

is this frame that

identifies

Lopez’s relevance to the modern movement of

our time.

was delighted to be able to catch up with

him over an intoxicating lunch of heavy red wine, pig chap, gulls eggs and sea urchin at restaurant

James Lowes

new

- Lyle’s.

Gull’s egg + Seaweed Salt Nettle Soup, Pheasant Egg + Cured Pork Neck Raw Highland Beef, Sea Urchin + Mustard Lamb’s Sweetbreads, Ramson + Lettuce Bath Chap, Chicory + Radishes

Why did you choose this place? Do you come here often? This is my first time too, Lyle’s only opened last week. I often go to the Clove Club and really enjoy dining there for their innovative menu. The owner of the Clove Club Isaac used to run a restaurant with James Lowe called Upstairs at The Ten Bells, since its success the two split off and have opened up their own restaurants and this is James’.

leader than I imagined! hf

How infuriating! How did you resolve that?

It was hard, you have to understand that on set, you are working with an over-tired crew who work all hours to achieve what you want to complete, and it can feel soul destroying to know that 24hrs of hard work have simply gone amiss. My reaction was - everyone to bed, we’re reshooting 7hrs of footage tomorrow. I’ve learned that on set emotion can waste valuable time, and it’s best to remain passive for the crew as ultimately they’re counting on you, you can’t let them see you worry.

Tell me a little about the film OUT

The menu looks really interesting. Shall we choose what to eat before getting carried away in conversation? What are sweetbreads? We order our food and our wine is served to the table. A delicious full bodied red, perhaps too heavy for a lunch date but it got the conversation pouring plentiful.

It’s been so long since I last saw you! How have you been getting on with the production of OUT?

It’s been a lot of fun but very challenging. Last week I had a nightmare whereby after a long day of filming with a crew of 15 people we discovered the memory card was corrupt, and had to do it all again. It was tough but I realised I’m much more of a

Well it’s set in small town England and revolves around a family drama scenario whereby Mary’s son arrives home from university in London for the weekend to tell his mother he’s gay. hf

Is this story losely based on you and your experience of coming out to your mother?

It’s partly based on my story and partly based on other peoples stories, those who I’ve interviewed and those whose video’s I’ve seen on You Tube. I’ve realised that

most mothers react the same, as they are shocked and become eratic and hopeless, but most often the mother then comes round and everything works our well in the end. hf

I suppose that was a very difficult scene for you to film, needing it to be so precise with the emotion?

I think we did about twenty different takes! It was very important for me to get it right. I wanted the outcome to be a mix of humour and sincerity. I humoured the reaction because at the end of the day, it is just a reaction and the overall outcome is never a big deal. Being gay is not such an issue today.

I understand thar the former star of your latter films, Jeff Kristian, is playing Ollie’s mother Mary. What was the idea behind choosing a male to play the role?

From what I’ve experienced, it seems that contemporary mothers usually play both roles of mother and father in the family, maybe because the parents are divorced or the father is away a lot with work, whatever the case it appears very common of our society. So there’s a metaphore there for modern roles within the home. The make

up artist and prosthetics artist made the look perfect, its actually quite hard to tell that she is played by a man, and I quite like that. I think it would be effective if the audience initially believed he was a woman. hf

I feel that the sibling also plays quite a prominent role in the family as the brother comes out. From experience I’ve found that girls usually try to bring the family together after the news. Men tend to deal with their emotions inwardly so its really up to the sister to help the father and mother come to terms with it all.

Yes I agree, I feel it’s because girls are generally more emotional and empathetic at that age (Rachel is 17) and usually mature faster, they can empathise with both the mother, father and brother. Sophia Satchel-Baeza plays Rachel, Ollie’s sister in the film and she acts as a support pillar for ollie as well as for her mother, I feel she really represents are generation.

We stop chatting to take a bite of the gulls egg, the egg is presented on a large bed of whole gulls eggs, quite a presentation for a solitary egg. It tasted plain. Its a shame the flavour didn’t live up to its aesthetic, we both agree it tastes bland, and continue to drink the delicious, very alcoholic wine.

What films or directors mainly inspire your work?

There are three prominent directors who have been great influences on my work, Pedro Almodovar has imposed the greatest influence, then Xavier Dolan and Wong Kar Wai. I especially like the heterogenous scenes and the incandescent colours of Wong Kar Wai.

What do you think your personal style/ signature is that all your films endorse?

There’s always a hint of humor almost in every scene and I take great care in the overall look, so the styling, the set design, colour palette, the aesthetics are very particular.

In most of my films the audience will go through a process of change with at least one of the characters. Fashion plays a key role in this as it has the power to change the perception of gender in oneself and others.

absorb the film and get lost in the plot. For instance, in It Melts the main character melts into chocolate, in Ephemeral Nature the husband and wife disappear whilst dancing, it’s another fun and humorous element of my films whilst exploring quite challenging themes. In OUT, I have used prosthetics on the characters for one particular surreal moment. Next to arrive - the cured pork neck rested on a runny pheasant egg in a deep green nettle soup. Utterly delicious. Neither of us talk as we take in the taste and textures of this spectacular plate. The pork neck is a fine alternative to parma ham, offering a finer texture and a deeper, bacon-like flavour.

Why did you choose film over photography, fashion design or creative writing?

It happened by chance during my second year at univeristy, when my then tutor encorouged me to tell the story that I had written for the Creative Media unit ‘Ephemeral Nature’ through film. It was clear from then on that what had inspired and influenced my work in the past had been film. I am particularly visual and imaginitive and I feel that film gives me the extensive means to bring my stories to life.

Another signature style is most probably the surrealism. It seems to come back in all my films because I like to visually display the characters’ imagination and therefore my own. It’s an enriching idea, I feel it helps members of the audience really

I would find photography too restricting, espeically with the particularly challenging issues I deal with in my films. But most importantly, when creating a film, it doesn’t feel like work, which is everyones dream. The raw beef with sea urchin is placed on the table. The presentation is delicate and beautiful but the flavour doesn’t add up. The sea urchin remarkably added no flair to the dish at all. The mustard flower over powered the dish, but we consumed it all due to its light, playful texture. Neither pleasant or unpleasant, an immemorable plate.

come across to audiences. ‘OUT’ is a big drama from a mum’s point of view but with hints of humour in a small town context. The small learning is that no matter the drama, everything’s OK in the end, because families work through it. hf

What is it that really makes you want to be in the filmmaking industry?

That’s an easy one. It’s its power of escapism. Fashion has it too, and so does music, but a film combines all these forms together. I think it’s the most powerful tool for storytelling.

With your continuous use of gay and transgender themes played out in a humoured light, I feel as though you’re a director that stylises our generation. Everything you’re doing would deem aesthetically, culturally and ethically relevant in representing current affairs. I feel your role as the director of OUT is to aid and comfort those many women and men who are currently building up the confidence to come out to their friends and family, is this what you’d set out to achieve through film?

Personally, when life has hit me hard, I have always found a refuge in films. So If I can contribute to that for other people too, I’ll have achieved a great deal. The bath chap, a slow roasted pigs headturned-terrin was indulgent in flavour and fatty texture, almost a little too rich. As for the astonishing desert of spelt cake with loganberry, this and the pork neck, nettle soup were enough for me to encourage anyone to try this restaurant. James Lowe has proved a competent chef, and if I hear news of the menu progressing in quality I will most definitely return. After all, it is early days for Lowe.

Thank you for those comments I do feel them and I hope that it’s the way I will

Lyles Tea Building 56 Shoreditch Highstreet E1 6JJ

Jesus Lopez www.gsuslopez.com OUT 15.06.14

I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see any colours, all was in tons of grey. The town in the south of South Americathe bottom of the worldas I used to call it. Nothing happened there. Time was still, governed by nature and marker by peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s routines. Time to wake up, time to call the neighbour, time to have dinner, time to get married, go back to school, have babies, die. All was happening elsewhere, the Southern Cross pointed the direction where time and space coexisted in fluidity, rather than the stillness of the south of South America. I followed it, went northeast, went to Europe, to the big city. I wanted to live the urban, breathe city lights and smoke pavement.

The colours I searched for werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t there the city was also on greyscale. Sharp and bold tones of grey, fading into black and white. so I returned to realise what I once lived was an etheral and magical out of focus reality. Just like in a dream.

Ana Carolina Minozzo

Vertical Farming for Victory? with a century of experience of growing crops in large quantities in glasshouses, scientists

have

technology agriculture.

developed

needed so

far

to the

the build idea

necessary vertical remains

firmly on the drawing boards of numerous architetural firms.

>>>>

o put it quite plainly, the UN has predicted

water-conserving, soil-free hydroponic systems and lit by LED’s that mimic sunlight. Control software ensures that we ourselves need to not to worry about the difficulty of keeping these plants alive, as choreographed feeding is rotated throughout the beds. Despommier explains that the clever recycling techniques will ensure that only a fraction of the amount of water and nutrients will be needed compared with conventional farming. On the contrary, opposing theorists have proved that the system denounces energy efficient problems due to the controlled LED lighting system that is needed to obtain a generous helping of produce. The inevitable use of artificial light that the crops will need ultimately undermines the notion that vertical farming will save energy and cut carbon emissions. Essentially, the idea represents the current ambition of architects to explore human-centred green issues that interpret and commodify nature for the higher aim of urbanites. Architecture journalist Helen Castle highlights the benefits within the theory “What, however, is clear is that the subject of this issue proves a rich test bed for reimagining our relationship with nature” proving that aside from its faults, vertical farming is a fundamental start to reimaging the modernisation of urban landscapes. These photographs show an astounding home in Vietnam built by Vo Trong Nghia architects in 2011. The home owners, a couple in their thirties, have reported that their electricity fees are just 25USD per month, thanks to the wind flow and other passive design methods. This particular use of green stacking is void of artificial lighting due to Vietnam’s annual sunlight. A succesful build that will no doubt inform and inspire.

that the worlds population is expected to increase to 9.1 billion by 2050, and in order to feed those many people the worlds food

production will need to increase by 70%, it is thus no shock to realise that by 2050 there will be a drastic shortage in arable land to feed the population. If we carry on as we are that’s a problem that we’re very unlikely going to be able to solve. 19 million hectares of rainforest are lost each year to create new arable land, although at the same time we’re losing an equivalent amount of existing arables to sanitisation and erosion, and we’re very hungry for fossil fuels. In 2050. The arable land that we are able to use is then increasingly being built on by planning permissions of the government. In the near future Ebenezer Howards theories of garden cities and practices of green belts will have been defeated, and meat will be unavailable due to the shortage of land for livestock to feed on. Of course a world without nature is an unfathomable distopia.Columbia Professor Dr Dickinson Despommier is widely regarded as the instigator of the theory, he has pioneered the idea since 1999 and published the book ‘Vertical Farming’ in 2010 which is widely regarded as the manifesto for the idea. There are currently more positives than negatives associated to the theory. Building agriculture vertically throughout cities reduces the need for the carbon-emitting transport of fruit and vegetables into the city. It would also reduce the spoilage that inevitably occurs along the way. The plant racks in a vertical farm can be fed nutrients by

Words by Harriet Francis Photography by Hiroyuki Oki

The zeal with which men are prepared to defend their country is sometimes inseperable from an image they carry in their own minds of the tract of countryside they hold most dear.

Michael Rothenstein, World Review London, (1942)

recipe

Words and photography by Harriet Francis

recipe

Pickled Pigs Ears Serves 2 Two Large Pigs Ears 2 Tsp of Maldon Salt 1 Tsp Sugar 1/2 Cup Vinegar 2 Large Carrots 1 Red Onion 1 Glass Jar

Bring a pan of water to the boil. Wash and shave the pigs ears carefully them place then in the pan of boiling water with a pinch of salt for 20 minutes. When they are cooked, remove the ears and place them in a pan or bowl of cold water, leave these aisde for three minutes. Chop your two red onions into quarters and season with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Place on a low heat in the grill for twenty minutes. Remove the pigs ears carefully, leave aside to cool and dry. Meanwhile peel the carrots and cut them into 1/2 cm thick slices. Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt into a saucepan, bring to the boil and stir lightly until the sugar and salt mix well to the vinegar. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d rather a taste less sweet, halve the sugar to make for a savoury recipe thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not too bitter. Arrange the pigs ears, red onion and sliced carrots evenly in your jar and add the vinegar mixture. Close the jar tight and store it in a cool, dry cupboard for 5 days, you may keep these for a maximum of 14 days. Once pickled, remove the pig ears and slice into two by four inch pieces. Serve with a homemade relish and crusty bread.

recipe

Words and photography by Harriet Francis

recipe

P i g s Tr o t t e r a n d P i g e o n P i e Serves 4 3 Pigs Trotters A Handful of Thyme 1 Garlic Bulb 2 Bay Leaves 10 Peppercorns 2 Sticks of Celery 2 Red Onions 2 Carrots 1 Bottle of Red Wine 2 Pints of Chicken Stk A Scoop of Duck Fat 4 Pigeon Breasts

Prepare and cook the filling for your pie a day before serving for best results. Place your trotters in a pan witht the bay leaves. peppercorns and roughly chopped garlic, celery, red onions and carrots. Cover the ingredients in your red wine and chicken stock, bring to the boil then reduce to simmer. Cook for three hours until the trotters are tender. Next, remove the trotters from the pan and strain the stock. When the trotters are warm, pick the flesh and skin from the bones and put aside. Heat a frying pan, add the duck fat or butter, fry the bacon chunks, then remove to a deep roasting tray or oven dish. Now add the pigeon halves to the tray and brown them. Sweat the onions and add these as well as the trotter flesh and stock to the roasting tray, then cover with tinfoil. Place your tray in a hot oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for a further thirty minutes. Remove, check the seasoning and allow to cool within the stock. Once cooled, remove the pigeon and gently pull the meat away from the bones, keeping the flesh in fairly large pieces. Return the meat to the other ingredients and chill in the fridge overnight.

Make your pastry lid, brush with egg and bake in a medium-hot oven for 40 minutes. Serve with spring greens, particularly kale.

lunch with industry specialist thomas hood

thomas hood has worked behind the closed doors of the fashion industry for over a decade;

working as both a consultant and

a wholesale director for various acclaimed designers. i had the chance to interview mr hood over offal and blood pudding at the infamous st john, to discuss matters regarding the current fashion climate.

>>>>

Words and photography by Harriet Francis

What would you consider as the latest fashion trend?

The latest fashion trend is I suppose all based on modernity and sportswear.

Why do you think this is currently trending?

Because I think, there was sort of, a huge trend in heritage, looking back on everything and looking at the past, such as people wearing selvedge denim and even people growing beards and looking at 1940’s 1920’s fashion. Tweeds and vintage fabrics came quickly into fashion which infiltrated throughout the UK, there sort of has to be an end to that, people got tired of it and wanted a new change. So what better than the modern? Looking at the now is what matters most in the fashion industry currently. We are moving into the antiheritage period and really there couldn’t be anything more anti heritage than the sportswear.

What trends do you predict for the future?

I think there will be a slight more homogenisation of gender, especially with brands rising to popularity such as Rick Owens and Raf Simons, doing men’s almost skirts and dresses, of course at the moment it is simply high fashion but I think eventually this will filter down onto the high-street in the not too distant future.

Maybe one day your dad will be walking around in a dress, it’s not such a distant idea anymore. I think that might be an idea, I think also the use of technical fabrics and performance fabrics in every day wear will become far more scientific and popular, there is currently a lot of high end designers focusing on this but I do think it’s something the high street stores will be looking toward as well. hf

What young designers should we be looking forward to emerge? Who do you think currently has the most potential in the industry right now?

I’d say Agi and Sam, who are currently blending heritage, sportswear, moderninity. They’re quite cleverly targeting various social groups and genders. I would say they are the pioneers for young British fashion. Then there is the brand PropaGang, which is a sort of new look at Jil Sander and taking in the new look of sportswear. It is also quite effeminate, which I suppose links back to the cross breeding of fashion gender. The collection is also quite oversize which ties in with the 80’s trend at the moment, and actually it is the 80’s where sportswear derived from.

Who is your favourite designer and why? I would probably say Jil Sander. Purely due

its timeless quality. its success is that you could take items from the original collections and still look good now. hf

in order to get away with that you need a unique and personal experience for everyone to get them into the shops.

So why do you think Western society saw an outbreak in heritage trend over the past decade?

I think maybe because there is a new flux of men wanting to get into fashion and because of this, a way for a man to get into fashion that is safe and not too fashionable or too out there, is to look back at the ‘workwear’ of men in previous era’s. Celebrities such as Steve Mcqueen and Michael Caine quickly became the modern day fashion icons, and I gather that’s because men were looking back to the past, instead of looking to the ‘now’ to avoid being stigmatised as ‘fashion’. And ultimately heritage is about looking back, so I do think that it originally derived from that need of an anchor for men to access looking different and dapper without the connotations of feminine fashion.

There are many shops who are currently enhancing their brand identity through lifestyle, interiors and architecture. Where do you think this will take shopping and retail culture in the future?

I think it will get even more conceptual, I hope so anyway, as I think the internet is taking over the mass market and I think

Do you think high street stores such as Topshop will concentrate on this more?

They currently make more on the internet then they do in most of their stores combined, so that is always going to be the case, but in order to give themselves a modern identity relevent to modern culture I think they will definitely start changing the retail experience to be even more unusual and even more memorable. It will almost become a piece of PR over the lucrative side to the business.

Also you now have independent shops in London who focus on personal service, shops like Trunk, who totally rely on the idea of independent, personal service where the customer comes in and the assistant remembers his or her name. It is the way things are going whereas the big stores such as Topshop can’t really offer that service as they are such a mass corporation, I think in the future we will see an influx of independent boutique stores catering for all budgets, and a decrease in highstreet stores that are so popular today.Brands such as Nike won’t suffer as despite their size they’ve cleverly developed a very distint brand identity and personal experience throughout their stores.

Blood Pudding + Fried Egg Sinking Bishop + New Potatoes Venison Offal + Seasonal Greens Sweetbreads Pickled Walnut + Watercress Cold Middlewhite Shallots + Dandelion

In the height of Summer 1515 on a field in northern France a battle was taking place. Glistening through blood and mud somewhere behind copious bodies of dull coloured men covered in slightly less blood and mud, sit King Henry VIII of England and Lord Jacques de la Palice on either side of the field. Both these men would have known before they rose to the battlefield that day that the likelihood of them dying was rather small, they’d probably have packed an extra pair of underwear in case they were taken ransom in the enemy’s camp. What gave these men such confidence was something they shared with each one another other: a particularly strong influence over certain men, especially those dying in front of them. The filth ridden men despite sharing a mutual hatred for one another were likely to share a very subtle mutuality; that the men on either side of the field looked exceptionally important. Each man wore with pride the most expensive armour money could buy; astride a horse weighed down by armour matching its master. What was the point in this spectacle of sheen and show? Why would one man have fortunes draped over him when the men fighting wore a helmet at best? The simple answer is that what he had was more important than them; power. So what is a suit? In its most literal form, it’s a piece of clothing; usually a top and bottom made from the same fabric. Not so literally, the suit is something that equalises, dominates, charms, disgusts, protects and weakens the world around it. For centuries suits have been the dominant uniform for citizens around the world. The suit succeeds, beyond any other outfit, in tying together the working class, middle class and upperclass categories; thus a very powerful tool that overrides the social connotations of any other outfit.

Worn originally as physical protection in the late 1500’s, the suit of armour slowly changed into a symbol of propaganda, effectively used to dominate men and separate the wearer until the power shifted from a decapitated Charles I to the highest power at the time: God. Having a power that does not wear clothing meant an abrupt change in sartorial peacocking to almost the opposite, a black hat worn with a black coat, and finished with a black pair of breeches. This was the puritan dress code and levelled all men under God and is the last time when a suit acted as a great equaliser of men. The great equaliser however did not last long, and what once levelled man with man in 1666 acted as subjugator and oppressor when Charles II dissolved the puritan parliament and decreed all men in his court would wear a matching coat, waistcoat, cravat and breeches. Although at first this instgator was a seemingly relaxed way of dressing, this particular dress code was in fact a direct way for Charles to distance himself from his very own men, giving him the power he needed. Unknowingly Charles II with this act became part of the great war of power and the suit. Since this decree the suit has buckled and bent the established law that has slowly changed with the power it represents. And like the once dissolved parliament rose back to a the greatest heights of mans fascination with rule over other men. Of course, today the power of a suit lays questionable. It is authoritive in its tone yet nondescript in its identity, enabling itself to emancipate from class category by succombing to the attire of hundreds of others. Therefore the contemporary suit belongs only to the workplace, where it shall always have a role; allowing for zero discrimination and authoritive mannerism.

Words by Thomas Hood Photography by Harriet Francis

keep in touch harriet@bi-annual.co.uk www.bi-annual.co.uk