Kali Arulpragasam (sister of MIA) is a London based jewellery designer slash social commentator. Her past collections in her line Super Fertile such as Terrorism Affects Tourism shows beautiful positive imagery of terrorism inflicted nations and Hunger exemplifies food as jewels – grains and nuts in gold and silver. Her current line Cra$h is a fantastic (expensive) take on the waning global economy, welfare and spending.
Forget just interiors, I’ve been interested increasingly in architecture, which makes my best friend go, ‘Great, as if you don’t have enough hobbies’. My childhood buddy Nazia, has even been using some of my photographs of religious spaces in the Victoria University Interior Architecture course she teaches. Anywho, a sucker for a coffee table book, a few months ago, I read the book 101 Things I Learned at Architecture School. It’s a small, nicely bound hardcover filled with lessons, (each to a page, accompanied by illustration) that author Matthew Frederick learnt while studying architecture. A fantastic, easy read, best indulged in bites rather than from front to back. The title suggests the book would appeal to architects, but there are so many teachings transferable to any other design discipline and even unrelated fields for that matter. These are some favourite snippets from the book.
6 We move through negative spaces and dwell in positive spaces.
Positive spaces are almost always preferred by people for lingering and social interaction.
Negative spaces tend to promote movement rather than dwelling in place.
18 Any design decision should be justified in at least two ways. The more justifications you can find for any element, the better.
E.g.
Stairs to promote passage from floor to floor, a space of congregation, a scuptural element.
A window that bathes a wall with light, frames a view, allows ventilation.
Row of columns that provides structural support, allows people to meet and sit.
32
The most effective, most creative problem solvers engage in a process of meta-thinking, or ‘thinking about the thinking’.
Meta-thinking means that you are aware of how you are thinking as you are doing the thinking. Meta-thinkers engage in continual internal dialogue of testing, stretching, criticising and redirecting their thought processes.
51 Beauty is due more to harmonious relationships among the elements of a composition than to the elements themselves.
It’s the dialogue of the pieces, not the pieces themselves, that creates aesthetic success.
72 Design with models.
3D models can help you understand your project in new ways. Quick material models will help you test design options. Carefully crafted, highly detailed models are more suited to document design decisions that have already been made.
100 Give it a name.
When you come up with a concept or stray idea, name it – ‘half-eaten donut’, ‘meeting of strangers’ and other such monikers will help you explain to yourself what you have created. As the process evolves, allow new names to emerge.
101 Architects are late bloomers.
An architect must be knowledgeable in history, art, sociology, physics, psychology, materiality, symbology, political process, and innumerable other fields and must create a building that meets regulatory codes, keeps out the weather, withstands earthquakes, has functioning elevators and mechanical systems, and meets the complex functional and emotional needs of its users. Learning to integrate so many concerns into a cohesive product takes a long time, with lots of trial and error along the way.
So you don’t have to wear this in the future.
Although I secretly love it. Bio-Accessories was on display at Melbourne City Library (my library!) and was the brainchild of designers Ben Landau and Brittany Veitch. Described as ‘an effort on the wearers behalf to green their own personal space’, this collection was part couture, part social commentary.
Oh my life, they’re designing for the new decade already. Can you imagine us looking back at these ten years and talking about how things are so noughties influenced? Yuk. It’s nearly October and I’m still waiting for this year to redeem itself. 2009, I hate you. But Moschino, I love. I probably own half a dozen pieces. Most recently, a fantastic vintage Cheap and Chic waistcoat, a hand-me-down from my 17 year old cousin. Their entire Spring 2010 collection at Milan Fashion Week was playful and pretty, the cool headpieces, the touch of tacky gold. All tasty morsels.
Eeeee! My ultimate dreamboat Teva is in the newest Stolen Girlfriend’s Club campaign Weapons of Mass Seduction shot by Derek Henderson, one of my favourite ever photographers. You can also watch the collection video here and hear Teva’s cute little French accent. I’m going to have to ask him who he’s talking about. Also these women’s pieces are hot.
Ashaal and I got tattooed this week, it’s a little kitsch, a name we call each other, and actually something you’d see it on the side of a bus, you have to get it to get it I guess. He got the same one plus a huge tattoo of his old dog on his calf. Mine hurt like a bitch for all of fifteen minutes and then I doused myself in beer and later on, binged on street stall sandwiches. I had my first Bombay sandwich, it’s this mad amalgamation of mashed potato and diced onion and grated cheese and mint chutney and beetroot and cucumber and chilli and seasonings between three slices of bread toasted to perfection. It gave me a huge girl boner with all its goodness.
And this is Shweta. She’s an old friend who likes sandwiches as much as I do.
I just discovered the work of designer Ashish Gupta and his label Ashish which I love. Being home makes me all googly-eyed about clothes inspite of the closest thing to fashion running in my family is that sometimes my granddad watches FTV on silent. Cutie! These are some of my favourites from various London Fashion Weeks where Ashish has showcased his collections carefully screenshotted by me.
Spring/Summer 09
Autumn/Winter 09
I’ve been in a pompom making frenzy (no comment) and I opened the April copy of Vogue India left behind by my mother and found an editorial with this piece on a little girl. Milliner Piers Atkinson makes some great quirky headpieces.
