Thriving too

Beat blinds

2009-07-14T13:34:02+01:00

According to designer Will Gurley these xylophone blinds "help integrate play for children into adult environments and encourage them to embrace the world of music". Not yet in the shops but they've attended several major international furniture fairs so here's hoping.

Share your optimistic vision at Power of 8 Open Weekend

2009-07-14T12:30:05+01:00

Tessy

Crazy Urban Camping

2009-07-14T10:17:00+01:00

Import Export Architecten designed a new type of ‘small scale’ urban camping. The mobile UC can be implanted in any city centre that likes to experiment with this new type of camping. UC is a place where adventurous city wanderers can stay overnight, meet other campers and find a safe shelter with basic designed practical facilities.

Shhhh!

2009-07-12T20:59:25+01:00

Close your eyes.

What can you hear? ... waves breaking on the beach in Goa *sigh*

I walked home last week, head in the clouds as per, and then suddenly stopped transfixed by the sounds of church bells coming from St Pauls and sat for a bit to soak it up. For the rest of the walk home, I made an effort to listen. And noticed a whole new way to think about familiar streets.

Go to the BBC World Service map and travel the world through sounds. Or record and add your own...

Bodies in Urban spaces

2009-07-11T00:06:00+01:00

By Willi Dorner. And our quest for originality continues...

Manchester is Ace

2009-07-10T14:11:25+01:00

Manchester is my adopted city, school holidays spent visiting grandparents in Ancoats, student grants frittered away in Afflecks Palace. It's the place I shop, party with friends and enjoy a coffee in one of the slightly chaotic establishments which have made their home in the Northern Quarter. So, it was a nice surprise to discover Carolyn Hughes thinks the same. She set up her blog, Manchester is Ace to celebrate the best bits of this great city. It's an eclectic mix of restaurant and shop reviews, events listings and anything else that happens to catch Carolyn's eye.
I discovered the site by accident, following a friend of Carolyn's on twitter, I picked up on a link she'd posted and stopped by to take a look. Like me, Carolyn is a fan of Bread and Butter, one of the newer eating places in the Northern Quarter of the city. We've never met, but judging by her posts we share a love of this great city and it's so nice see to the good things Manchester has to offer celebrated for once. Take a look at Carolyn's site for yourself and if you ever visit Manchester, let me know what you think of my favourite city.

A Kind of Magic

2009-07-10T11:52:00+01:00

Photographs by Bogdan Chesaru of soap bubbles. As the artist describes:

"As seen through the camera lens, a vibrant scenery of shapes and patterns, swirling and dancing on the edge of time, arouse both the eye and mind with a sensation of spatial elasticity. Driven by a strong minimalist impulse, my work is a venture into this playground of the most faint air currents, molecular forces and gravity’s relentless pull."

Brilliant Bikes

2009-07-08T11:43:00+01:00

Aren't these great! From Christiania Bikes.