Category: england

Postcard from London, England: Art restores power to the station

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 Above: “Life in His Mouth, Death Cradles Her Arm,” Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, 2016. Photo grab from video.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Architectural Challenge Number One, 1940s: Design an industrial complex on a site directly across the Thames from one of London’s most cherished landmarks – Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) was an accomplished architect by the time he was tapped to tackle the Bankside Power Station. Unlike his earlier two-chimneyed Battersea Power Station, Bankside featured a single soaring chimney front and center, prompting some to refer to it as the cathedral of industry.

Architectural Challenge Number 2, 1990s: Convert a massive decommissioned power station into a frame for modern art. An international competition attracted 168 submissions, with the Swiss architectural firm of Herzog & de Meuron selected for the adaptive reuse project. The firm’s respect for and desire to preserve the external features of the brick power station impressed the selection committee of the Tate Modern.

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Postcard from Bilbao, Spain: All Hallows’ Eve

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Store displays gave us advance warning American Halloween traditions had bridged the ocean to invade Europe.

Spain’s vulnerability is enhanced by the fact that Halloween is the eve of a national holiday – Dia de Todos los Santos, or All Saints’ Day. While not a full-scale conquest yet, Bilbao appears on the cusp of adopting costumes.

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Postcard from London, England: Fashion fusion

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Above left: 19th-century Indian fine muslin dress embroidered with silk, silver and gold thread, Victoria & Albert Museum South Kensington. Above right: Lampshade skirt, Mary Katrantzou, 2011, The Design Museum.

Visiting numerous museums in a row, it’s impossible for me not to compare what might seem as incongruous exhibits. A portion of “Rebel: Thirty Years of London Fashion” at The Design Museum struck me as almost consciously mimicking the Asian fashion display in the Victoria & Albert Museum combining robes and fabrics.

Thirty years represents an anniversary celebration of the British Fashion Council NEWGEN program offering young designers an opportunity to expose their creativity to a wide audience. With a fresh M.A. in Fashion degree, Lee Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) was in that first group of beneficiaries.

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