New In - Jul_Aug 24
A new carefully curated selection of new finds from the warmer months. For our July and August round-up – puzzles to get your brain ticking, a long-awaited watch of a witty theatre production, and a curator whose home is frozen in time.
Published by Phaidon, Glass Houses is an awe-inspiring dive into contemporary glass architecture, celebrating the art of transparency. This glossy book explores designs that dissolve boundaries between interior and exterior, bringing the outside in through perspective and stunning views, extending past the conventional wall of a building. With incredible visuals and insightful commentary, it’s both a love letter to modernism and a manifesto for the future of living spaces, incl. an introductory essay by Andrew Heid, founder of NO ARCHITECTURE. Inside are 50 homes, from Philip Johnson’s Glass House to Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, spanning Mexico to the Netherlands and Japan to France.
We all hopped on the Wordle hype many years ago. It was all the rage, and breaking your streak was enough to set your day up to a bad start. Recently, we rediscovered on TikTok, became obsessed with watching speed runs and have since re-ignited our love for The New York Times Games. Ironically, our way to combat doom scrolling in the morning is delving into Connections, Spelling Bee and the Mini Crossword, providing a daily dose of mental stimulation – a small little win (or lose) to kickstart the brain.
Co-Star flips astrology on its head, delivering blunt, hyper-personalised horoscopes and compatibility readings via a slick, minimalist-designed app. Using NASA-grade data and algorithms, it feels eerily spot-on – and not afraid to call you out on your star sign’s shortcomings. The social feature lets you compare charts with friends, receive real-time updates, and add a modern edge to celestial connections, and their Instagram admin has mastered the art of a meme. Take it with a pinch of salt, but we find it incredibly amusing.
Present Laughter @ National Theatre
After missing the live performance and the first wave of National Theatre at Home, we were made up when Present Laughter, featuring Andrew Scott, did the rounds at local cinemas. You bet we were straight on buying tickets. A whirlwind of wit and charm, the theatre production is Noël Coward at his sharpest. Following the chaotic life of Garry Essendine, a self-obsessed actor grappling with fame, admirers, and midlife crises, Scott is exquisite from the 2019 revival at The Old Vic.
Nestled just north of Cambridge city centre is the delight of Kettle’s Yard. Specialising in modern and contemporary art, the gallery is adjacent to the historic house once owned by British art collector and former Tate curator Jim Ede and his wife, Helen. The building comprises four Victorian cottages converted by Ede with a couple of extensions to enhance the space by architects Leslie Martin and Jamie Fobert in recent years to cater for public footfall. Despite these additions, the main interiors remain untouched, allowing the authenticity to ooze out while feeling frozen in time. The unified use of natural materials throughout the house, such as wood, brick and the bare white walls as a base, allows for the art and careful curation to be the focal point. The house displays Ede’s collection of found objects and prolific works by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, spanning furniture, glass, ceramics, paintings, drawings and prints. Ede hosted personal tours for students and believed that art should be shared, so it was fitting that he donated the house to the University of Cambridge in the mid-60s. The couple even initiated a ‘loan scheme’ allowing students to borrow artwork to display in their rooms. The gallery is free, and the house is bookable.
A happy 25th anniversary to Grand Designs. Hosted by Kevin McCloud, the show has spent a quarter of a century documenting ambitious home-building projects across the UK and abroad. It starts with a pipe dream and people brave enough to turn their extraordinary ideas into reality. We recently re-watched the earlier episodes from the late '90s to early ‘00s, many of which showcased innovative designs that were years ahead of their time. Amersham 1999’s Water Tower, Islington 1999’s House of Straw, Doncaster 1999’s Glass House, London 2001’s Jewel Box by Tonkin Liu, Waterloo 2004’s Violin Factory, Esher 2004’s Huf House, Peckham 2005’s Sliding Glass Roof, Gloucester 2005’s 16th Century Farmhouse, Ross on Wye 2006’s Contemporary Barn and Ashford 2006’s Water Tower all caught our eye. Catch all episodes on Channel 4.
Academy Award winner Sofia Coppola excels again as a triple threat for On the Rocks – directing, screenwriting and producing. A drama comedy that follows Laura (Rashida Jones), a writer grappling with a creative block and marital doubts, who enlists her cheeky, charismatic father, Felix (Bill Murray), to investigate her husband’s possible infidelity – or rather, he imposes himself, planting seeds of doubt. Their escapades through New York unfold, and the city becomes a character in its own right. Distributed by A24, you can watch on Apple TV.
Credit: Stine Keinicke (Opah Store)
Founded by Sophie Cabourn, RE:BOURN, are purveyors in pre-owned and dead-stock designer clothing curation. They have a private studio in Gosforth, Newcastle, but regularly pop up around the city, stocking everything from vintage Snowpeak and Stone Island to Carhartt and Nigel Cabourn. They recently traded at Belstaff’s Archive Yard Sale at the Gladstone Pottery Museum to celebrate the brand’s 100 Anniversary year-long celebration. Follow them on Instagram for new dates.
Max Mara Art Prize for Women [2022 – 2024] winner Dominque White’s new body of work ‘Deadweight,’ stuns at Whitechapel Gallery. In its 9th edition, the biennial award provided Dominique the opportunity for a six-month residency organised by Collezione Maramotti in Italy to gather theoretical research, develop new skills and learn from specialists. The product of this resulted in an exhibit exploring nautical themes through the lens of escapism, blackness and ephemeral history, gathering references from Palermo, Genoa and Todi. The large-scale sculptures combine metals, wood, and rope, embodying skeleton-like anchor shapes and evoking a feeling of abandonment. They are offset with dim lighting in the brick-walled gallery space – an impeccable curation. Deadweight is on show until 15 Sept 2024, and you can learn more about the artist's residency here.
We love unearthing products through a solid recommendation. While scouring Opah Store, we stumbled across a new stockist: London–based Danish product designer Stine Keinicke. We fell in love with her Bold Kitchen collection, which features stainless steel multi-functional bowls and plates that double as sterile storage solutions. You’ll soon find a set taking pride of place on our kitchen shelf.
