During super Typhoon Yolanda, or Haiyan, in November 2013 the people of Bantayan, a small island in the central Philippines, took shelter in schools and government buildings. After the storm the residents of these impoverished fishing communities returned to the site of their villages to find a devastated landscape, littered with felled coconut trees, corrugated iron, and twisted palm fronds.
International aid flooded in to help the victims in the form of food, medical supplies and temporary shelter. After six months the tents and tarpaulins are gradually being replaced by swiftly erected plywood houses, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Kerry Dean, a British photographer, and Alex McIntosh, a member of Centre for Sustainable Fashion, a research centre at London College of Fashion, recently travelled to the Philippines to photograph and interview the residents of Bantayan, many of who are still living in donated tents or temporary shelters, cobbled together from the wreckage of their former homes. The result is a beautiful and insightful series that captures a conundrum, a vibrant, colourful community, welcoming and open but fearful of and unprepared for a future where little seems secure. [ Continue reading ]
The Makinohara, Japan-based architecture firm mA-style finished the design of this extension for a young couple's house next to the main family home in Yaizu last year, but we still find this one of the more elegant designs we have seen in a long time. The house that was extended is an one-storey Japanese-style house with an area of approximately 200 m², a very common house seen in rural areas. The house is large and has many spacious rooms where the whole family can gather and socialize, but the young couple wanted a new quiet space that would ensure them a private area. A simple extension would enable them to seclude, but the connection with the main house might get lost which they wanted to prevent. Therefore, by utilizing the functions for living in the main house, the extension is designed as a minimum living space pursuing distance without losing contact, very in line with the complexity of delicate Japanese social interaction and inherent serenity. Above all it's a space of stunning beauty one sees rarely. [ Continue reading ]
It's been a little while since our friend Michael A. Muller shared his favorite tracks for our Spring Playlist and with summer slowly turning it's back towards the Netherlands it's time for a new playlist. The Another Summer Playlist resulted in a pretty eclectic mix with a lot of great releases in folk, indie and rock but also in garage, house and techno. We're very happy to include a beautiful song by our friend, and co-founder of Libertine-Libertine, Rasmus who together with Bjarke Niemann forms Death Has No Dominion. Rustie's remix of Machinedrum's Back Seat Ho is the craziest track in the list with a for us unusual trap sound, but it just undeniably sticks in your head. We love new releases by Moodprint & YellowStraps, ODESZA featuring Madelyn Grant, Balmorhea, Damon Albarn and Alt-J, with its mind-blowing video. Other, from the electronic realm, tracks that follow are the Shaken-Up version of Silent Shout by the recently broken up The Knife, the great Son Lux track named Easy featuring Lorde, tracks by David August, Chrome Sparks, Martyn and Four Tet and the super promising track named Girl of the upcoming Jamie XX album. We conclude this summer mix with another slow-burner by Francis Harris of his new album Minutes to Sleep named Me To Drift. Enjoy: here's to some more sunshine! [ Continue reading ]
We have been a little quiet about our last couple of Curated gifts, but last week we celebrated the release of already the tenth gift for our subscribers. For this tenth anniversary we collaborated with Rotterdam-based design label Sweatshop Deluxe, which offers young designers the chance to produce limited released of their designs and helped us with the production of The White Rabbit. This porcelain rabbit we created is a design of Lise Lefebvre, a French designer, who is based in Amsterdam. Next to the work she produces with her studio, she also works as the head of education for product design at the Willem de Kooning Academie Rotterdam and she teaches at the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. The exclusive limited editions of the faceted porcelain rabbit were dipped in indigo glazing, giving them an unique beautiful two-toned appearance, as if The White Rabbit just took a little dip in magical water. [ Continue reading ]
We are still inspired by the book named 'The Age of Collage' which was published by Gestalten a year ago. The book is a striking documentation of today’s continued appetite for destructive construction found in the art of collage. Showcasing outstanding current artwork and artists, the book also takes an insightful behind-the-scenes look at those working with this interdisciplinary and cross-media approach. The collages featured in this book are influenced by illustration, painting, and photography and play with elements of abstraction, constructivism, surrealism, and dada. Referencing scientific images, pop culture, and erotica, they reflect humanity’s collective visual memory and context. Among the featured artists are the highly talented Ashkan Honarvar and our friend, multitalent Sergei Sviatchenko. [ Continue reading ]
The latest story by the ever-inspiring Jungles in Paris brings us back to colorful India where talented Belgian travel photographer Pascal Mannaerts moved from the camel herders of The Great Indian Desert towards the east of North-India where at four locations the utmost fascinating and impressive Hindu festival Kumbh Mela is celebrated. The festival which takes place at the confluence of three sacred rivers; the Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Sarasvati, is the largest regular gathering of people on earth. Pilgrims come together at a time and place of divine indication, forming a massive swell of humanity from which a single type usually stands out: the sadhu, or holy man. [ Continue reading ]
We haven't been writing about our friends from Copenhagen for a little while, but we absolutely love the new imagery for Libertine-Libertine's Autumn/Winter 2014 collection, which is again of the highest standard. With this lookbook the Danish label of Rasmus Bak, Pernille Schwarz and Peter Munch Ovesen returns aesthetically to its punk roots, very much in line with the great monochromatic imagery for last in-season 'Black Moon' collection. As always the collection combines a street-ready sensibility and dapper cut and sew designs; consisting of returning items like bomber jackets, parkas, button-up shirts in different prints and colors, with the 'Trasher,' 'Gung-ho' and 'Mosh' patterns as signatures for this season's collection. The images were shot by regular collaborator, photographer Sacha Maric and art directed by the Copenhagen-based studio Ironflag. [ Continue reading ]
