The background noise of bustling Berlin ground to a halt when I visited the Holocaust Memorial – a vast museum dedicated to the memory of the huge number of Jews murdered across Europe. Quietly contemplating the horrors of a period of history the world is still struggling to come to terms with, our sombre mood was elevated by the breathtaking architecture of the memorial itself. Designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold, it consists of a 19,000 square metre site covered with 2,711 tall concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. Designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. Beautiful and sad, the result is a work of art as fitting as it is poignant.
Archive for December, 2009
David Chipperfield restyles the ‘Neues Museum’, Berlin
Another inspiring visit on my recent travels –check out British architect David Chipperfield’s restoration of the ‘Neues Museum’ in Berlin. Situated on Berlin’s museum island in the heart of former East Berlin, it was built in 1849 but was badly bombed during the Second World War, reduced to a crumbling shell.
In 1997, David Chipperfield Architects – with Julian Harrap – won the international competition for the rebuilding of the ‘Neues Museum’.
Their ambitious £49 million remodelling marries old and new seamlessly, breathing new life into this amazing building. After more than 60 years in ruins, the Neues Museum opened its doors once again in October. Photos by Ute Zscharnt.
Pop Life at Tate Modern
One of my favourite recent exhibitions – bringing together an amazing array of artists from the 1980s onwards – all of whom have built their own ‘brands’ – embracing commerce and the mass media to extend their reach and turn their creativity into a decent money-making career.
Andy Warhol infamously claimed that “Good business is the best art.” Languishing as a penniless artist was not something he was prepared to do.
Pop Life included installations from Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and many more.
Banish those cardboard towel blues
We buy fluffy new towels and the first candle lit bath is pure bliss. But that just-purchased softness and bounce rarely survives the curse of The First Wash. The harsh reality of living in a hard water area is that the limescale plays havoc with our bath sheets, turning them stiff enough to play tennis with.
Here are a few tips to bring the softness back.
All hail the tumble drier
Tumble driers may be out of favour because of their anti-eco credentials, but we have to admit that tumble dried towels beat line dried towels hands down in the softness stakes.
The Calgon Trick
A tip found in an old Good Housekeeping which seems to get the thumbs up in soft-towel forums online; try washing your towels on a normal machine cycle with a Calgon tablet, but no detergent. Apparently there will be enough suds to clean the towels despite not putting any washing powder in there and they’ll dry softer.
Everything comes out nicer with an Aga
If you’re lucky enough to have an Aga, some people say popping your towels on top when they’re almost dry can help soften them.
Maybe Mum knew best after all
A good old-fashioned airing cupboard, kept warm, is said to help do the trick.
One for the Old Wives Tale archives?
Some people swear by putting a cup of white wine vinegar in the wash. We can’t verify whether this is true or not, but if it makes your hair shiny, why can’t it fluff up your towels too?
Never use fabric softener
The build up of silicone in the softener leaves a residue on your towels making them flat and rough.
Couture Christmas
People have always come to us looking for inspiration designing their homes and hotels, but recently we’ve seen an upsurge in requests from people wanting to decorate for the festive season.
And we say, why not? Christmas is a time for celebration and it can be almost sad saying goodbye to our trees when it’s time to take them down, so why not get the most out of them while they’re twinkling up our front rooms. And the wonderful thing is that there are no rules. Retro revival trees with hand made baubles are just as fabulous as fashion fantasy style trees and then there are trees that don’t actually look like trees at all. The only thing that matters is having fun with it!
Suzy recently took part in a tinsel-charged debate over whether the style police have kidnapped Christmas. To read the Guardian article go to:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/02/christmas-fashion-john-galliano
Christmas tree pictured by Frank Visser
