L&N - A Londonewcastle publication

Issue One

L&N A

Publication

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Brute force We explore London’s finest Brutalist buildings

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The Original Goldfinger

Our guide to Fitzrovia

Pragmatist, visionary, reluctant Bond villain.

We look at the life and times of Erno˝ Goldfinger, the architect behind two of London’s most iconic ‘towers’ Balfron and Trellick.

Still think the West End is a bit of a deadend world? Then follow our guide to a long and luxurious weekend north of Oxford Street and think again.

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In the diary / On the horizon We preview the return of East London’s 1-2-3-4 Festival, look forward to Tate Modern’s Switch House opening and highlight some essential design, music and architecture events.

Ab Rogers interviewed The inimitable interior designer discusses the positives of a dyslexic mind, elevating eating to art with Heston Blumenthal and his tenure at the Royal College of Art.

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If one thing matters everything matters. We are a design led London developer with a passion for the arts, architecture and design. We conceive and curate residential-led mixed use schemes aimed at London’s diverse and dynamic creative communities. We are Londonewcastle.

Londonewcastle The Courtyard Building 17 Evelyn Yard London, W1T 1AU United Kingdom Tel. 020 7534 1888 Fax. 020 7580 6635 info@londonewcastle.co.uk

Find us online londonewcastle.co.uk twitter.com/londonewcastle facebook.com/londonewcastle instagram.com/londonewcastle

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EWS & EVENTS. N We take a look at what’s going on and going up in London

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Come on in...

For this, our first edition we profile a past master of Brutalist architecture, Erno˝ Goldfinger; a man whose name became synonymous with one of James Bond’s most infamous villains. We speak to Ab Rogers, a selfprofessed inimitable interior designer who’s helping to rejuvenate one of Goldfinger’s most famous buildings.

We spend a long weekend in Fitzrovia, pinpointing the best shops, restaurants and art galleries, and get our fingers dirty at the Nomadic Community Gardens project in Fleet Street Hill. We also preview some of the capital’s best events and restaurants, and hop over to Hiroshima to discover a design hotel that is absolutely obsessed with two-wheels, Hotel Cycle. Enjoy!

Noah Ellis L&N editor

PROFILE. The Life & Times of Erno˝ Goldfinger

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INTERVIEW. Interior designer Ab Rogers talks to us about his work and passions

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 DESIGN & CULTURE. Our pick of the finest Brutalist buildings in London

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 NETWORKS. Gardening for good at the Nomadic Community Gardens

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L &N LOVES. Cycling in Japan, vaporised booze and al fresco eating

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NEWS & EVENTS.

IN THE D IARY

1 June – 2 July

From 17 June

7–17 July

LIFT Festival

Switch House at Tate Modern

Summer Series at Somerset House

South Bank, SE1

The Strand, WC2

Sixteen years since Tate Modern opened in the former Bankside Power Station, the world’s most popular museum of modern and contemporary art is getting bigger. The Herzog & de Meurondesigned Switch House (pictured below) will augment the existing Boiler House and Turbine Hall and is being hailed as the most important new cultural building in the UK since the British Library in 1998. The expansion will increase usable gallery space by 20,700 sq m (222,813 sq ft) which is of course great news for Londoners, visitors to London and the city’s profile as a global destination for the arts. The new complex will benefit from a complete rehang of the permanent collection, with far more space for performance and interactive art. To celebrate the Switch House opening, the gallery will be staying open until 10pm each evening for an opening weekend of special events.

Set within one of London’s most iconic landmarks, Summer Series at Somerset House returns with an impressive line-up of headline acts alongside emerging artists hotly tipped for success in 2016.

Over eleven nights the event will welcome the likes of Laura Mvula, Everything Everything (above right), Caravan Palace, James Morrison and French house-funk pioneer St Germain, culminating in James Lavelle’s audio visual extravaganza UNKLE:REDUX (right). Yet again it’s an undoubtedly stellar line-up to match the spectacular surrounds of the Somerset House courtyard itself. Cocooned within one of London’s most spectacular neo-classical buildings in the very heart of the city, it is an open air venue that takes some beating.

Citywide Since 1981 LIFT has been pioneering new forms of theatre, presenting spectacular performances and moments of magic in every corner of the capital.

Working in partnership with London’s major arts venues, theatres and galleries, as well as countless hidden spaces and places across the city, LIFT is a unique, biennial festival that transforms the city into a stage. Firmly rooted in the life of the capital and of its people, LIFT celebrates the experiences of the many individuals, cultures and communities that call London home and promises to be the most ambitious festival to date. liftfestival.com

somersethouse.org.uk

tate.org.uk

Coming soon

Gallery 46 by Londonewcastle Whitechapel, E1

1–30 June

London Festival of Architecture Citywide Celebrating this great city as a global hub of architectural experimentation, practice and debate, the London Festival of Architecture returns with a packed, city-wide programme of events backed and delivered by leading cultural and academic institutions – including the V&A, the Design Museum, Serpentine Galleries, RIBA and the London Transport Museum. This year’s theme ‘Community’ will explore how Londoners and visitors to the city can be active participants in its growth and evolution – from reinterpreting or redesigning familiar places and spaces, to testing interactive forms of consultation and planning for future development. Engaging and era-defining. londonfestivalofarchitecture.org

1–24 June

The Migration Museum Project Shoreditch, E2 The migrant camp in Calais has over recent months become a potent symbol of Europe’s refugee crisis. Yet few people realise the camp has existed in some form for over 20 years.

The Migration Museum Project, working closely with Counterpoints Arts and produced in collaboration with those who live and work in Calais, is staging an exhibition at the Londonewcastle Project Space in Redchurch Street which reflects on these lesser-known aspects of contemporary migration developments and questions our national responsibilities towards refugees living just twenty miles from our shores, closer to London than Birmingham. londonewcastle.com/arts-programme

Neu Galleries and Londonewcastle have joined forces to create GALLERY 46, a multi-faceted arts development space in Whitechapel for the presentation of new and established artists alongside community arts initiatives. A satellite initiative of the Londonewcastle Arts Programme, which runs the Londonewcastle Project Space in Shoreditch, GALLERY 46 is a multipurpose venue, ready to host exhibitions, installations, fashion shows, pop-ups, film and fashion shoots and more. It will also help support the overall aim of the Londonewcastle Arts Programme to bring London’s creative community and vacant spaces together, as well as help stimulate and nurture the creative vibrancy of the wider East London community. Neu Galleries has a history of developing unique and site specific exhibitions with innovative artists and established artists (Nick Waplington, Sean Dower, Tim Nobel and Sue Webster, Lohan Emmanuel, Joel Gethin Lewis, Moby, Mick Rock, etc.) as well as working alongside music initiatives and off-site locations to create a broad spectrum of exhibitions and events. With both spaces, Neu Galleries and Londonewcastle are committed to involving the East London community as a whole and welcomes proposals from all creative and arts communities. londonewcastle.com/arts-programme

03 ON THE HOR IZON

Permanent

Seen and heard

New London Model

High-Rise On DVD this July

Fitzrovia, W1 Built with data supplied by Ordinance Survey using a combination of laser-cutting, 3D printing and hand-crafting, the New London Model is a 1:2000 scale interactive model bringing the story of London’s historical and physical development to life. At 12.5 metres-long, the model covers more than 85 square kilometres of London, 19 Boroughs and approximately 170,000 buildings. Touchscreens allow buildings and major infrastructure projects to be brought to life across the surface of the model, showing the key areas of change and revealing the sheer scale of proposed development in the capital. Visitors can also call up detailed information and key facts on London’s newest projects and buildings. Definitely a must-see for anyone interested in London’s everchanging landscape.

3 September

Opens late 2016

1-2-3-4 Festival

Queen’s House

Director Ben Wheatley’s film adaptation of J.D. Ballard’s dystopian classic hit the big screen in March and has wasted no time in stirring our inner Brutalist-Corbusian sensibilities. Starring man-of-the-moment Tom Hiddleston and set in what appears to be a 1970s London of the near future, the story revolves around young surgeon Robert Laing (our man Hiddleston) and his introduction into the seemingly perfect community inhabiting a colossal tower block overlooking the Thames. With swimming pools, supermarkets, a school, and 40 floors of luxury apartments with fixtures, fittings and furniture plucked straight from The Masters of Twentieth Century Design Volume One – the high-rise has it all. But all is certainly not well within. It’s compelling stuff as the seemingly perfectly constructed and appointed building starts to turn everyone a little loopy.

Released on DVD in July.

Bow, E3

Greenwich, SE10

highrisefilm.co.uk

newlondonarchitecture.org

The pioneering East London festival returns this September to remind indie and alternative music aficionados what they’ve been missing. Famous for showcasing early performances by Florence + the Machine and Crystal Fighters at its first-ever event in 2007, the 1-2-3-4 quickly earned cult status among London’s cool crowd for fusing the freshest upcoming bands with the biggest name contemporary artists of the time. Now, after a four-year hiatus, the 1-2-3-4 is back and raring to go with The Jesus and Mary Chain and UK indie giants The Cribs topping a bill of the great and the grungy, including Milk Teeth, Claw Marks, Love Buzzard, Nova Twins, Blinders and Phobophobes, plus hot tips from the US No Joy and Nancy Pants. The festival’s new location on Three Mills Island, one of London’s oldest extant industrial centres, will no doubt offer something special too. Londonewcastle are proud and excited to support this year’s 1-2-3-4 Festival.

Zaha Hadid Architect, 1950–2016

the1234festival.com

To royally celebrate its 400th anniversary in 2016, the Queen’s House in Greenwich will be reopening after extensive renovations later this year.

Renowned as England’s first Classical building, the house was designed by Inigo Jones and reputedly built for James I’s queen Anne of Denmark by way of an apology. The story goes he swore in front of her after she accidentally killed one of his favourite dogs during a hunt. Today the building not only stands proud as one of the grandest swear jars in history as well as Royal Museums Greenwich’s finest fine-art venue. The much anticipated reopening will once again reveal the wonders of the National Maritime Museum’s outstanding art collection including a new art installation

by Turner Prize winner Richard Wright. The building’s rejuvenated architecture will also provide an unparalleled backdrop to the art too. Seek out the ‘Tulip Staircase’, the cubic Great Hall, painted ceilings and the orangery opening out onto the glorious Greenwich Park. rmg.co.uk/queens-house

Like most professionals in our industry and indeed anyone with a love of innovative thinking and design, we were deeply saddened to hear of Zaha Hadid’s passing. An inspirational and uncompromising talent, she was the first woman to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) gold medal and has left a formidable legacy around the globe. Her trademark sweeping curves applied to buildings, furniture, footwear, cars and super yachts, are peerless. Though she will be sorely missed by her family, friends and fans, she will be fondly remembered through her work, not least her mesmeric 2011 design of London’s Roca Gallery, seen below.

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PROFILE.

The Life & Times ˶ of Erno Goldfinger

Erno ˝ Goldfinger was one of the most iconic proponents of post war Brutalism in Britain. Responsible for the creation of no fewer than four iconic Grade II-listed buildings, his architecture was bold and brutal and it regularly divided opinion amongst his peers and public alike.

Although his creations were much maligned in his day, Erno˝ Goldfinger was revered by many of the residents in his buildings as a visionary. He once famously spent two months living in flat 130 on the 26th floor of the Balfron Tower and invited guests over for a glass of champagne as he was eager to gain feedback on his latest project.

Goldfinger was not to everyone’s taste, however, most notably Ian Fleming, the author of numerous James Bond novels.

After hearing about the architect on a golf course from his wife’s cousin, Fleming took the decision to name Auric Goldfinger, the megalomaniac villain in his latest novel after him. Enraged upon hearing the news, Goldfinger allegedly attempted to sue Fleming, but when the latter threatened to change the name of the character once more to “Goldprick” the matter died down.

Goldfinger nevertheless hit back at Fleming and stated that there “was implicit anti-semitism in the novel, giving a Jewishsounding name to a character obsessed with gold.”

Gold nuggets Notable works Trellick Tower, North Kensington Balfron Tower, Poplar Alexander Fleming House, Elephant & Castle Willow Road, Hampstead Did you know?

The name “Balfron” was borrowed from a town just South of Glasgow due to Scottish associations with the Poplar area.

In his words “Families will spend most of their lives in the flats I design. I must do everything possible to iron out problems.”

Born in Budapest in 1902 to a wealthy family, Goldfinger moved to Paris in the 1920s to study architecture, then to London in the 1930s to practice it. He married Ursula Blackwell, heiress to the Crosse & Blackwell fortune. He was described by his critics at the time as an “impetuous champagne socialist” although he preferred the labels “Marxist” and “pragmatist”; he reputedly spent much of the Second World War raising money towards the Soviet cause.

Goldfinger paid little attention to those who admonished his architecture and unashamedly preferred substantive functionality over aesthetic appeal. After all, his buildings were built to be lived in, not just to be looked at and he was always attentive in observing the way each of his residents lived and keen to apply these lessons to his subsequent designs.

Balfron Tower, completed in 1967, realised Goldfinger’s thirtyyear vision for large-scale public housing. The most striking characteristic of the building is the composition of volumes that make up its distinctive profile. Like the Trellick, its younger and larger sister, the structure consists of an apartment block and a separate lift tower, connected on every third level by bridges.

After years of under investment and high operating costs the building had fallen into a state of disrepair and is now being re-invigorated for 21st century contemporary living which will give it a new lease of life whilst remaining sympathetic to its heritage and significance.

Leading architects Studio Egret West, working alongside pre-eminent interior architect Ab Rogers, will be responsible for rejuvenating the building and ensuring that its local distinctiveness and character are restored and sensitively adapted.

Likewise, the building will be enhanced to promote well-being for residents; impact from noise and air pollution will be reduced, sustainability and environmental efficiency will be improved and the public realm will become more enjoyable and usable.

Crucially, Balfron Tower will be updated to meet today’s living standards through sensitive exemplary design, securing the long-term viable future of this heritage asset. As exceptional features, and in line with Goldfinger’s original design intent, the disused communal and plant rooms in the stair core tower will be used to house residents amenities.

Goldfinger ended his career in a house on 2 Willow Road, Hampstead, a modernist three storey building built out of re-enforced concrete which he designed for himself in 1939 and resided in until his death in 1987. The house is now listed and is under the care of the National Trust. Its plans drew fierce local opposition at the time from local residents including Fleming as well as the Old Hampstead Protection Society. Henry Brooke, president of the society felt that an angular, “modern” house built of reinforced concrete would be “disastrously out of keeping” with the character of the area.

The local authority initially rejected planning for the house citing that “an alien aesthetic would destroy the beauty of the neighbourhood” as grounds for refusal. Ironically, like most of his other work, those that were quick to dismiss it at the time are today its fiercest proponents.

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Brutalism /'bru t( )l z( )m/ n. a stark style of functionalist architecture, especially of the 1950s and 1960s, characterised by the use of steel and concrete in massive blocks.

DESIGN & CULTURE.

Barbican Estate, EC2 Tube: Barbican Architect: Chamberlin, Powell & Bon Housing over 4,000 residents, the Barbican Estate was conceived in 1959 across a 35-acre site that was devastated by Luftwaffe bombings during the Second World War. The estate is situated alongside the Barbican Centre, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as the London Symphony Orchestra.

Flats are distributed among three 43 storey towers – Lauderdale, Cromwell and Shakespeare which were completed in 1973, 1974 and 1976, respectively.

Brutal Attraction

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Ministry of Justice, SW1 Tube: St James’s Park Architect: Fitzroy, Robinson & Partners with Sir Basil Spence War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.

Orwellian in stature, Basil Spence’s striking post war building has a cantilevered projection at the top commanding an impressive vista keeping the immediate environs of St James’s Park under surveillance. Big Brother is watching.

London is blessed with more than its fair share of Brutalist masterpieces. Here, we select a few of our favourites.

A brute abroad  Alexandra Road Estate, NW8

UCSD Library, US

Tube: Swiss Cottage Architect: Neave Brown

Architect: Pereira & Associates Although this building is based outside of London it’s definitely worth mentioning. Designed by Pereira & Associates as a library for the University of California in San Diego it opened its doors in 1970 and contains the message “Read/Write/Think/Dream” at its entrance.

This futuristic low-rise Grade II* listed building was conceived by the newly formed local authority of Camden in the 1960s and completed in 1978; the first of the post war housing estates to achieve listed status. It comprises two parallel pedestrianised streets and three 300 metre long terraces. The largest of these, seven storeys high, backs on to the West Coast main line, and is built ziggurat-style, high at the rear, to block the noise of passing trains. It was famously featured in 28 Weeks Later.

Southbank Centre, SE1 Tube: Waterloo Architect: Norman Engleback An intriguing melange of spiral staircases, jutted balconies and high beams juxtapose the Southbank Centre against its tranquil Thames surroundings. The building is one of London’s most divisive and has drawn opprobrium from some of the city’s leading public figures. Love it or loathe it, the Southbank Centre nevertheless remains a testament to London’s ability to push the boundaries of convention and continually redefine itself.

07 Trellick Tower, W10 Tube: Westbourne Park Architect: Erno ˝ Goldfinger Often confused with its younger sibling Balfron Tower, the behemoth Grade II* listed Trellick Tower soars above the West London skyline as one of London’s most recognisable architectural landmarks.

Like Balfron Tower it is configured with a separate service tower linked to the main building by a walkway at every third storey.

The ultimate guide to Brutalist London This two-sided folding map features over fifty leading examples of Brutalist architecture in London, from the Alexandra Road Estate to World’s End Housing. Celebrated Brutalist buildings such as the Trellick Tower, the Barbican and the National Theatre are included along with lesser known, yet equally influential buildings.

The reverse side of the map features an introduction to Brutalism by the Twentieth Century Society’s Henrietta Billings, photos by Simon Phipps and details about each building. £8. Available at bluecrowmedia.com

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INTERVIEW.

Q. How would you define your style

Q. Has dyslexia increased your hunger

A. I don’t really believe in style. I believe that,

A. I certainly haven’t succeeded because I was

above all, a design should always be fit for purpose, fit to deliver its specific function. Every project is different and demands a bespoke solution – one that is crafted to achieve its specific brief – and though over time we have built up a set of tools that can be applied to different scenarios we are always building on and evolving that tool box, learning from every new project and applying that knowledge to the next – whether it be an exhibition, a retail space or a hospital.

told I wouldn’t succeed. Like everyone, I’ve got school reports that point out my limitations.

However if I have had success it’s been through becoming very excited by designing things and finding a passion and a language within that.

I don’t think I could have had that language without being dyslexic and I tell my daughter who is also dyslexic that she is really lucky in many ways.

to succeed?

and approach as an interior designer?

Q. What was it like working with Heston A. I’m quite close with Heston. We’ve done three

I passionately believe in the power of the interior, that it has the capability to improve our quality of life, influence human behaviour and stimulate active engagement with our environment. For me the exterior is, or should be, a celebration of the interior – we spend much more time inside than out – and I think there are great improvements to be made if we focus on resolving detailing internally rather than being so transfixed with creating huge external status symbols.

projects together over the years. The Little Chef revamp [in 2009] was quite high pressure. Heston had six months, we had three, most of which we spent with a camera crew following us around.

We also had a very low budget. We were trying to transform this very clunky old British brand and make it something that was relevant of the moment and I think we succeeded.

The programme was getting four million viewers at one point. It was fantastic. Doing The Fat Duck in Bray has been more complicated because it’s such an extraordinary personal story.

Q. How has dyslexia influenced your work?

A. Dyslexia defines the way I work to some extent because it has meant I can’t do written communication. On the simplest level I have a fantastic PA who converts my crazy thinking into very rational letters and we know each other very well so I think at this point in my life its quite easy, you can organise your way around it.

We spent four years working on that project and a lot of that time was spent eliminating things.

We kept coming back to the fact that it shouldn’t be about the interior, but about the food and things fell into place once we focused on creating a high functioning stage on which the extraordinary food could perform. So we had a beautifully coloured carpet and created walls that fell away, lit the tables exquisitely and provided a really comfortable chair to eat in.

It’s also a never-ending source of humour when I misread things. Like the time I passed a hairdressers called Virginia in Melbourne and thought it was called something very different…

So my life is full of those sort of jumbling up of signs and I think that this ambiguity and confusion only helps to fuel creative thinking.

As a result of my dyslexia I can’t spell and I’m quite chaotic, but I can visualise things in a very three dimensional, 360-degree way. I feel very comfortable sitting in my head imagining things, looking around them and it gives me my own perspective. I have a different toolbox to other people and mix that with a studio full of super talented, functioning people who have got different talents.

I really believe in collaboration and all my work over the last 30 years has been an active result of collaborations; collaborating with the client, partners, artists and friends.

AB ROGERS

I think collaboration is something dyslexics are very good at because we’re very interested in communication, people and because we know we can’t be a single maverick; we have to be part of the team. We’re quite lopsided in some ways.

The inimitable interior designer began working as a carpenter aged 18 before going on to become one of Britain’s foremost creative minds – renowned for his work on Tate Modern, The Fat Duck, Comme De Garçons and most recently Balfron Tower. Here, he talks dyslexia, his work with Heston Blumenthal and his recent role at the RCA. 1.

We spent a lot of money and we reduced the covers so it was a kind of contradiction to a normal restaurant project but once you go to eat there you understand. Eating at The Fat Duck is not just about having a very good meal; it’s about having an experience. So we were trying to put in the building work to make that experience happen – to set it on fire, so to speak.

Q. Were the multisensory elements

of Heston’s food incorporated within the design?

A. We wanted the space to be the best possible context for his stories to be told. His work is full of non-linear narratives that play out throughout the meal and we designed the space to respond to journey the diners experience – mixing a selection of different lights to complement the dishes as they are served, so one table has got the warm light that goes with one dish and another is experiencing a much cooler light to go with theirs – it then becomes a personal, bespoke encounter in a shared space. We introduced other small triggers throughout – the toilets were made of burnt wood, its evocative smell bringing thoughts back to cooking and the glass of the wine cellar changes from transparent to translucent – all your senses are engaged all the time.

Q. Are there any similarities between Heston and yourself?

A. We’re both quite obsessive, have strong thoughts and are interested in experience. I don’t see design as something you consume through the eyes, you need to consume it through all the senses.

I don’t think Heston sees food as being a linear thing. It’s completely dispersed. It’s everywhere and it’s everything.

Heston’s fascination at the moment is about nostalgia and trying to create triggers inside a meal inside a conversation. Mine is different from that, although there are definite overlaps.

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Ab testing Favourite project?

Probably Comme des Garçons because we were very young [as a studio] and it was a huge honour to be given it to do. We had six months to transform a site in Paris into an ultimate fashion boutique but the brief was to create an alien way of entering the store. The client was amazing; very responsive and we were fascinated by details.

It was six months of really learning. Learning from the client, learning from the consultant, learning from the manufacturers.

Favourite architect?

There are so many brilliant architects but if I was going to have to pick one today I would probably say Kazuyo Sejima. co-founder of SANAA. I think her work is extraordinary. I think her sensitivity is exceptional but there’s Pierre de Meuron (of Herzog & de Meuron, see Switch House opening on page 02) as well… The list would be endless.

2.

Favourite food?

I passionately believe in the power of the interior, that it has the capability to improve our quality of life, influence human behaviour and stimulate active engagement with our environment.”

3.

I’m generally more orientated towards the future than the past but I realise nostalgia has a powerful pull and I can see the triggers of memory are a fascinating thing to explore. I would say we both try to take a 360 degree view of things and like to go beyond what is expected, to challenge the norm.

Q. How would you like to be remembered?

A. When I was a teenager I was a bit of a hippy, I wanted to be a carpenter and harm no one.

Now I’m older I’m more focused and ambitious.

I believe strongly in the power of design to effect the way we live, to inspire creativity and conversation and importantly to nurture and comfort. I love working in hospitals and I’m really interested in the relationship between the practice of medicine and the psychology of space and how spatial design can improve emotional stress in healthcare environments.

We are so excited and privileged to be working with Maggie’s Centres [a network of centres offering free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their families and friends] at the moment. I consider it one of – if not the – most important project the studio has ever worked on. It is an opportunity to try and push the boundaries of what design can do for the human condition, to explore how a space can lift the spirit, offer the chance for peace and quiet or encourage people to reach out to each other.

This is where my heart lies and it’s what I’d like to be remembered for one day. There’s still much to achieve and I always prefer to look forward rather than back.

Q. You recently headed up the interior design program at RCA. What was that like?

A. It was great but I hated the politics. When I went into it everyone said you’re just going to get into such a mess. I love teaching (I’ve always taught) and I love students and I think we need to find a way to make education less bureaucratic and more about the teaching. We’ve completely lost the position that we once had where we can all learn.

We can’t all learn now, only the rich can learn.

So as a result we see less and less local people teaching it, we see ideas coming from a similar place because we haven’t got so many different backgrounds. I think great teaching is about great conversation. I can’t teach in the conventional sense, but I can show people things and we can start a conversation and introduce some ideas they might not know but they have to teach themselves.

It has to come out of provoking this conversation.

We can look at extraordinary things and that provokes our imaginations and our conversations.

Q. Grayson Perry has said the

government is not doing enough to support young people in the arts.

Do you agree?

A. Absolutely. Not just arts but education.

This present government is trying to move as far away from the broad education that I really believe in. I believe the reason Britain is what it is today is a lot to do with the arts schools. The arts schools have been amazing at producing music, design and film.

I think it will be a barbecued mackerel with some foil wrapped potatoes with a bit of thyme and oil.

Something quite simple. Maybe a little salsa on the side. But preferably all made on a beach. The mackerel must be hours old, it must be really fresh.

Favourite colour?

I don’t have a favourite colour. I like tonality and I like appropriate colours. I really like yellow and red.

I like fluorescent colours. Fluorescent pink I really love. I’m also really interested in coral. I love colour without loving one colour and families of colours.

So a series of colours that relate to each other.

Favourite music?

Rapper’s Delight by the The Sugarhill Gang, a bit of Marvin Gaye and some Johnny Cash.

Eclectic. Totally eclectic.

They used to have very specific open door policies that allowed people from any background to come and to have this quite immersive marinating education where they’re kind of really digging deep to come up with wild ideas that are frankly transformative. From Michael Craig Martin to teaching in the YBAs right the way across, it’s been extraordinary.

Q. What advice would you give to the next generation?

A. Like most places of learning, the most important place in RCA was the bar. It’s where you meet other people and you fight and you argue and you get drunk and you discuss and you solve the world. As soon as art schools have a prescribed degree as such and people come with such clean ambitions then I think it’s a disaster.

As practitioners, as designers and as artists we need to be corrupting and contaminating each other to make things more complex. Now that complexity may come back to a very minimal reduction but we need to get these different ideas going on.

4.

An artist that doesn’t know what’s going on in the art world will never produce really interesting art..

It’s naivety. It’s great to be naive but your naivety must be informed by the incredibly complex world that we live in. Hopefully there’s always someone who can contradict me and show me that I’m totally wrong and that’s great.

1. Rainbow House 2. Emperor Moth 3. Little Chef 4. Comme des Garçons

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THREE MILLS ISL AND LONDON E3 S A T U R D A Y 3 R D S E P T 2 0 1 6 1 2 - 11 P M THE CR IBS SPECTOR THE W Y TCHES NO JOY NA NC Y PA N TS

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GI A N T BU RGER

MILK TEETH

SA IN T LEONA R D’S HOR SES

SH A ME

PINS

STR A NGE C AGES

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NETWORKS.

COMMUNITY

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Londonewcastle’s involvement with Fleet Street Hill began in 2009 and forms part of our vision for the wider regeneration of the area. Peter Barber Architects have drawn up plans for an exciting scheme that includes contemporary affordable apartments and townhouses around a new public square and starter units for new businesses on the ground floor.

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Meanwhile, over in Fleet Street Hill...

Over a Bank Holiday weekend last year, Nomadic Community Gardens (NGC) opened its doors at our vacant site in Fleet Street Hill. In the months since, the area has been transformed from a once neglected wasteland into a transportable community garden and arts space. We headed east to find out how the local community has been making use of the area…

Cultivating cohesion in an environment where local residents can connect, collaborate and forge friendships, NCG provides a unique model for future social enterprises wishing to emulate its success.

In the interim however and prior to work starting on site, Londonewcastle were approached by James Wheale from 1Love Community, a local social initiative transforming underused spaces into beautiful areas to better serve local communities and make use of the vacant space. Today the site hosts over 160 transportable planters and a number of allotments filled with a vast array of fruit and vegetables planted by local residents.

Since opening its doors to the public, NGC has showcased innovative urban agriculture techniques, hosted workshops and a community library and provided skills sharing lessons. A mobile café serves guests and locals that come to visit and artwork in the form of tyre sculptures lining the main path awaits visitors upon entry.

Rob Soning, Londonewcastle COO believes ‘meanwhile use’, the temporary use of vacant buildings or land for a socially beneficial purpose, should become a widely adopted practice across the industry: “In both Fleet Street Hill and Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, we have adopted an active policy of engaging with young creatives and social entrepreneurs for the benefit of the wider community. At Redchurch Street we have created a project space that has been used by local artists as well as social enterprises that currently includes a poignant exhibition showcasing the immigration crisis in Calais. This and other exhibitions have enabled local communities to become better engaged in the critical issues affecting Londoners and how we in turn choose to deal with these. At Fleet Street Hill we have been able to put the site to good use too as a functioning part of the urban outdoors engaging with the local community.”

NCG’s importance is further underlined through research from Exeter University which indicates that greater exposure to outdoor space leads to fewer signs of depression, stress and anxiety and as a result individuals are better able to communicate.

Meanwhile use is a relatively new phenomenon; other such examples include incubator space for start-up businesses or individuals working within creative industries, who would otherwise lack the covenant strength to be considered as suitable

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13 #S OC I A L Going up on our Instagram feed

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tenants, as well as pop ups, galleries and even theatre performances. Social enterprises such as The Meanwhile Foundation and Meanwhile Space CIC specialise in sourcing, strategising and securing vacant land and buildings across different sectors at different stages of the development pipeline.

Notable meanwhile projects to date have included the Platform Project, renovated railway arches at Loughborough Junction which were used as start-up incubator space, and 302-312 New Cross, a collaboration with Goldsmiths University where space is subdivided across three floors between coworking, bolt-on living space and pop-up retail uses.

Based Upon’s The Baby Based Upon are a talented team of artists and designers that make large scale artworks and sculptural furniture. At Londonewcastle we have always said that it's all about the small detail, and their attention to detail, interesting ideas and deep understanding of almost every material known to man, makes them completely unique.

The Baby is a piano like no other. From the side the sculptural form reminds us of a narrow bottomed, wide brimmed tea cup (minus the handles). The dust gold metal gives the piece a warm dull glow. The oval cover top opens up to reveal the baby black and white keyed grand piano and its connecting 230 strings. basedupon.com

We are particularly proud of the work that has gone into Nomadic Community Gardens from James and his team. We believe the project is emblematic of the best qualities London’s communities have to offer and hope that it inspires as many people as possible to get involved in grassroots initiatives helping to transform London’s future.

Marc Quinn’s Iris Series

Nomadic Community Gardens is open all year round so if you want to get your hands dirty and be a part of a great project find out more on the Nomadic Community Gardens Facebook page or visit their website at 1lovecommunty.org.uk.

Alternatively just turn up!

Eyes are not only the windows to our emotions, but they are also the windows to our soul, and as Al Pacino famously said in the movie Scarface: “The eyes, chico, they never lie”. Marc Quinn’s mesmerising eyes look like photographs at first, but on closer inspection they are actually detailed oil paintings. First, Quinn takes a photo of an eye with a macro lens. Then, over two months, he creates a large oil painting with an airbrush.

Quinn rose to prominence in the 90s as one of the original Young British Artists who shook up London’s art scene with their provocative conceptual works and hedonistic antics. The thread uniting the divergent group was a refusal to wait for institutional approval to show their work. marcquinn.com/artworks/irises

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Nomadic Community Gardens is located off Brick Lane a nd is open Monda y – Sunday 10am to 10p m

1. Meeting of Styles UK art arranged by End of the Line. Various artists represented 2. Planting beds 3. Fresh produce 4. James Wheale, co-founder and Director of Nomadic Community Gardens 5. Fruits of the labour

Lara Bohinc’s Solaris Kinetic Table Lara Bohinc’s Solaris Kinetic Table is the result of the collaboration between Lara Bohinc and stone expert Lapicida. The Solaris table is made up of four stacked rings of marble plates which are moving smoothly on a rotation spindle like a range of orbits. We love it as it looks like a modern take on something that perhaps Willy Rizzo or Gabriella Crespi might have designed in the early 70s. larabohinc.com

For more art and design inspiration follow Londonewcastle on Instagram

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LIFESTYLE.

NEIGHBOURHOOD

A weekend in Fitzrovia We spend a long weekend in the West End district to bring you this insider guide to London’s hottest neighbourhood.

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Friday

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Saturday

19.00hrs

10.00hrs

If you are arriving Friday evening, check in to the award winning Charlotte Street Hotel (see Place Finder below), located moments away from fashionable Soho Square. The hotel features 52 wellappointed suites, each furnished by the co-owner of the chain Kit Kemp who recently began designing a range for Anthropologie.

The next day head down the road to Tap for one of London’s best flat white coffees. Visit Lazarides Gallery, a contemporary gallery showcasing a number of exciting international artists, Rebecca Hossack Gallery which focuses on non-Western art traditions and Gallery Different which presents contemporary painting, sculpture, drawing, print, photography and mixed media from British and international artists.

In addition to being situated in arguably Fitzrovia’s most vibrant street, the hotel is replete with amenities including a screening room and film club, gym, beauty salon and operates one of the districts best bars and restaurants.

20.30hrs After dropping your bags off you don’t need to go far to find things to do. Head out for dinner next door to Roka, one of London’s most celebrated Japanese restaurants. Try Group Executive Chef Hamish Brown’s boldly curated tasting menu and you won’t be disappointed. After your meal it is definitely worth checking out the subterranean Shochu Lounge downstairs which serves a contemporary mixture of Japanese cocktails.

Then you’re in luck. Fitzrovia was recently named as the best place to live in London by The Sunday Times in their aptly titled Best Places to Live Guide 2016. Headlining a list of nine other districts, including Hampstead, Fulham and Bermondsey, Fitzrovia ran away with the honours after topping the table for quality of life, crime rates, house prices and school performances.

Place Finder Charlotte Street Hotel / 15-17 Charlotte Street Roka / 37 Charlotte Street Shochu / 37 Charlotte Street The Lucky Pig / 5 Clipstone Street Tap / 26 Rathbone Place Lazarides Gallery / 11 Rathbone Place Rebecca Hossack Gallery / 28 Charlotte Street Gallery Different / 14 Percy Street New London Architecture / 26 Store Street Honey & Co / 25a Warren Street Revival Retro Boutique / 30 Windmill Street Sanderson Hotel / 50 Berners Street Berners Tavern / 10 Berners Street The Crazy Bear / 26-28 Whitfield Street

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If you’re in the mood for a bit of perspective, head down to New London Architecture and get up to speed with the latest developments across the capital by viewing a 1:2000 scale model of London’s major development pipeline covering 85 kilometres of London and 170,000 buildings.

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19.30hrs Head out to Berners Tavern (winner of the coveted AA Restaurant of the Year 2014 and GQ best restaurant 2015) for dinner. The restaurant serves up contemporary British cuisine boldly curated

by British Michelin-starred executive chef Jason Atherton. Highlights of which include the Creedy Carver duck, crispy leg, salsify and Banyuls sauce.

23.00hrs

Staying longer?

If you still have energy after dinner, wander down to the Lucky Pig, a Prohibition-themed speakeasy, for a night of illicit drinking. Assuming you can find its discreetly concealed entrance.”

If you still have energy after dinner, wander down to the Lucky Pig, a Prohibition-themed speakeasy, for a night of illicit drinking. Assuming you can find its discreetly concealed entrance. Here you can imbibe a selection of delicious cocktails, our personal favourite being the Rum Row, which is comprised of caramelised pear infused with Bacardi rum, vanilla, lemon sour and egg white.

22.00hrs

12.30hrs For lunch, head to Honey & Co. This unpretentious middle-eastern restaurant has won numerous awards for its homemade style of cooking and it is easy to see why. Try the delectable roasted lamb kofta with red peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes and garlic yogurt. It is worth booking well in advance though as the venue is small and tends to fill up quickly.

If you’ve got the legs (if you don’t, you should have listened to us earlier) head to the Crazy Bear, an award winning restaurant and cocktail bar with ornate furnishings and an impressive selection of champagne cocktails. The Crazy Bear was founded in 1993 in Oxfordshire as a bespoke hotel and restaurant and successfully expanded to Beaconsfield and Fitzrovia.

And relax!

14.00hrs After lunch go for some retail therapy at the Revival Retro Boutique an old fashioned thrift shop selling 1920s to 1950s clothing and accessories, or if this isn’t your cup of tea head down to Agua Spa at the Sanderson Hotel instead and treat yourself to a soothing hot stone massage.

Failing that, head back to your hotel and recuperate.

1. Charlotte Street Hotel 2. Charlotte Street Hotel 3. Lucky Pig 4. Charlotte Street Gallery 5. Honey & Co 6. Berners Tavern

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L&N LOVES.

Hotel Cycle, Japan

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An unassuming former maritime warehouse in the middle of Hiroshima has been converted into a complex of slick lodgings, quality dining outlets, and a bike shop. We got on our bikes and paid a visit.

Hotel Cycle’s design was the brainchild of Suppose, a multi-award winning Hiroshima-based design studio whose work has included numerous contemporary houses, galleries and shops across Japan. In addition to interiors, the practice has designed several high-profile furniture items, lectured in Japan’s leading Universities and written books about architecture’s transformative influence on its surroundings.

The building’s design is sleek, functional and minimalist as is common practice in Japan. Each of the hotel’s 28 modular rooms are painted in dark grey and feature king sized beds draped in white linen. Residents are invited to check-in bringing their bike to their room.

The building also features a bike shop where guests can rent bikes, a bike-themed bar, Kog, (the initial concept for the bar was that electricity would be generated by customers pedaling on bar stools), as well as a restaurant. The hotel cafe also features a ‘cycle through’ facility where guests can order fresh coffee and sandwiches without getting off their bikes.

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1. Main lobby 2. Seaside view 3. Double room

Japan’s obsession with cycling is not a new phenomenon and now has an international appeal.

Tokyo Fixed Gear (tokyofixed.cc) is an online retailer founded as a blog selling Japanese bike parts from a spare bedroom in a Tokyo apartment in 2007. It has relocated to UK but retained its focus on producing high-quality, unique cycling kit and apparel working with some of the most interesting cycling brands and creatives from around the globe.

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The hotel cafe features a ‘cycle through’ facility where guests can order coffee and food without getting off their bikes.”

Cycling Japan, (cyclingjapan.jp) offers bike tours across the country including a five day trip around Mount Fuji within the Fuji five lakes region and Fuji Five Lakes area. The owners of the venture are all cycling enthusiasts and are adamant that getting across the country by bike is the best way to experience the beauty of the natural landscape that Japan has to offer. An added benefit they say is the cycle to eat culture which enables you to burn off the calories that have been added between meals.

With so much to see and experience there has never been a better time to get on a bike and discover the idyllic views and unique culture that Japan has to offer.

Find out more about Hotel Cycle: onomichi-u2.com

& d o o F k n i r D Experiential

Middle Eastern

Next issue

Alcoholic Architecture

The Palomar

Get involved

Borough Market, SE1

Soho, W1

Tired of ordering the usual? Then why not try entering a world where meteorology, mixology and monasticism collide?

Billed as “the world’s first alcoholic weather system for your tongue”, Alcoholic Architecture is ostensibly a walk-in cloud of breathable cocktail presented as an installation that explodes drinks to the scale of architecture. We’re pretty sure that things become a little clearer after your first immersion. That is once the alcohol enters the bloodstream (and we quote) “through the lungs and then the eyeballs”. Located on the site of a former monastery and next to London’s oldest Gothic cathedral beside Borough Market the experience promises to be nothing short of enlightening.

With a menu influenced by the rich cultures of Southern Spain, North Africa and the Levant, The Palomar is bringing the taste of modern day Jerusalem to Theatreland. At the front of the restaurant is a stylish, laid-back, 16-seat zinc bar with a view over the kitchen, while the main restaurant area offers a slightly more formal atmosphere with dark oak panelling and banquette seating in royal blue leather. Highlights include a selection of ‘Josperised’ meats and vegetables (from the Josper oven) and a hearty pork belly tajine with ras el hanout, dried apricots & Israeli couscous.

The raw bar is not to be overlooked either, offering a vibrant selection of chilled seafood and meats with a Palomar twist.

If you’d like to feature or advertise in the next issue of L&N, please get in touch with our editorial team.

alcoholicarchitecture.com

thepalomar.co.uk

Japanese

Modern European

Sosharu

The Cavendish

Clerkenwell, EC1

Marylebone, W1

An exciting addition to Clerkenwell’s thriving dining scene, Sosharu is a Japanese izakaya-style restaurant situated within the Turnmill Building on Turnmill Street. A collaboration between Jason Atherton (Pollen Street Social, Berners Tavern) and executive head chef Alex Craciun, who has worked at the former’s The Social Company for a number of years, Sosharu serves casual yet refined Japanese cuisine using British seasonal ingredients. Comprising small dishes, with sections dedicated to different specialities including temaki, hibachi grill, yaki grill, tempura, sashimi and dishes inspired by Japanese classics, the menu is an open invitation to experiment with tastes and textures. Designed by Shanghai based studio Neri & Hu, also responsible for Atherton’s Pollen Street Social, the striking interiors pay homage to classic Japanese dwellings known as minka.

The Cavendish is a refined drinking and dining establishment located in the heart of Marylebone. With the considered luxury of a private members’ club and an expertly curated menu of edible, drinkable and smokable specialities, this is place where “provenance is paramount and indulgence is encouraged”. Occupying a stunning Victorian-era public house on legendary thoroughfare New Cavendish Street, The Cavendish serves a top-notch brunch and one of the the best value prix fixe weekday lunches in town. Head chef Douglas Santi (formerly Alain Ducasse and Babbo in Mayfair) has also recently launched an excellent all-day menu for the upstairs restaurant featuring an epic ‘100 Layer Lasagne’. Lighter bites are also available in the buzzing downstairs bar which fills with a discerning local crowd. Grab a table on the smart, street-side terrace before summer ends.

sosharulondon.com

35newcavendish.co.uk

Email info@londonewcastle.com using ‘L&N Newspaper’ as the subject line and we’ll be in touch.

Credits Photography Front Cover – main image Arcaid Images / Alamy Pg 03. New London Model Paul Raftery Pg 03. High-Rise Magnolia Pictures Pg 09. Emperor Moth Morley von Sternberg Pg 14 & 15. Nomadic Community Gardens Tania D. Campbell Pg 17. Hotel Cycle Tetsuya Ito/Courtesy of DISCOVERLINK Setouch Pg 18. The Palomar Helen Cathcart

Design & Production Spinach – spinachdesign.com

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