It was a pointless walk. Pointless in the way that there was no point A to start or B to arrive in. I was guided by my feet, one following the other like a shadow on a bright day. The last sunshine of November. The wind abetted me from the shore, skyscrapers draught led to the narrow streets of Soho. The usual tourists of Carnaby Street with Liberty, Selfridges, and AllSaints bags were there, and the Christmas-themed window displays as well. A little crowded for my taste. I took refuge in Fitzrovia alleys. The text came while I was contemplating coffee, 'Barbican, in an hour?'
An afternoon cocktail at the Barbican
This was the say I entered the Barbican at around 2:00 p.m., I had cauliflower soup at the Kitchen, accompanied by meeting notes. The day I watched Aftersun at 3:20 p.m. feeling like I was skipping school. The day I met a couple of people hanging out at the Martini Bar before attending the London Symphony Orchestra concert, they offered me a ticket if their friend cannot make it, but alas, they did. This was the say I sat on the first-floor carpet to watch the 6:30 p.m. performance before returning to the Kitchen for a pizza session. A dark, gloomy, rainy afternoon metamorphosed into an ingenious rendezvous.
London pours - moments, encounters, happenstances. It’s up to you to find your nestle.
The tune this week is Asaf Avidan - Lost Horse
Hazal
In the 13th AKA '👩🎤 A London state of mind' issue
Hopping (What’s going on in London: Hand-picked and unmissable events): Tamino is at Rough Trade East for an acoustic performance; Habibi Funk sets jump between rare 45-inch records from the Arab disapora at Colour Factory. How about a day out in town? Stephen Cripps exhibition is at Turner Contemporary, Margate.
What’s Cooking (Selected places to eat, drink, cafés, food markets): Planque: easy on the eye, nose and tongue.
Water Cooler Talk (Local news that you need to know to survive or just to speak of): A short (?) 4 to 5 hours, just over 7 miles walk in Richmond Park was selected as one of the must quintessential routes.
An Arbitrary Guide (A subjective, opionated guide): To Romanesque - Victorian - Modernist - Brutal - Contemporary architecture in London, by Defne.
Last chance
Photography: Ramy Moharam Fouad
Tamino: Intimate Solo Acoustic Performance
What is it? Acoustic performance. This is a 30 minute performance for Tamino’s new album 'Sahar'.
Where? Rough Trade East
When? 23 November
Why should you go? This is your chance to meet and greet Tamino, a Belgium-based singer of Egyptian and Lebanese heritage.
Duly noted: Tamino is the grandson of Muharram Faroud, famous in his Egyptian homeland as an actor and singer known as 'The Sound of the Nile'.
Footshooter record, illustrated by Anu
Anu Ambasna: Comic Workshop
What is it? Workshop. London-born artist, DJ and broadcaster Anu Ambasna will guide the participants through her distinct style of comic making, in constructing their own works within a collaborative, DIY environment.
Where? ICA
When? 24 November
Why should you go? To get to know Anu’s satiric style before your encounter her publications at the Institute of Contemporary Arts Bookshop, GOSH! Comics, South London Gallery, Books Peckham, Review, Pages of Hackney, Idle Moments.
Duly noted: You can listen to Anu’s podcast on NTS Radio.
Habibi Funk, eclectic sounds from the Arab world
Habibi Funk
What is it? Live gig. Habibi Funk, a DJ and label based in Berlin, whose sets jump between rare 45-inch records from the Arab diaspora, with heavy flavours of hip-hop, disco, funk and more.
Where? Colour Factory
When? 25 November
Why should you go? To dance till morning with tunes of Tarzsa (having residencies with NTS); The Palestinian Swedish Shaqdi; The Egyptian writer and DJ Nihal El Aasar.
Duly noted: Before the set, check out Habibi Funk Boiler Room at Beirut. Dancing at home, while working at the breakfast table the next morning is guaranteed.
Walk-in
Photography: George Darrell
Harland Miller Imminent End, Rescheduled Eternally
What is it? Exhibition. Writer and artist Harland Miller is probably best known for his large-scale paintings of Penguin paperback look-alikes, complete with laconic made-up titles.
Where? White Cube, Bermondsey
When? Until 22 January 2023
Why should you go? To discover IRL, Miller’s pop art influenced style, employing humour, irony, and emotion.
Duly noted: You can start reading Miller’s novels and short stories with his first one: Slow Down Arthur, Stick to Thirty (2000).
Plan ahead
Samsung Electronics' TV production line, the 1970s. Courtesy of the Samsung Innovation Museum
Hallyu! The Korean Wave
What is it? Exhibition. This display of works shows the colourful and dynamic popular culture of South Korea and its global impact on the creative industries of cinema, theatre, music, beauty, and fashion.
Where? V&A South Kensington
When? Until 25 June 2023
Why should you go? To have a better understanding of hallyu – meaning the Korean wave –. Hallyu has become 'the world's biggest, fastest cultural paradigm shift in modern history', as noted by writer Euny Hong.
Duly noted: The tickets are £20, you must book ahead.
Out of town
Turner Contemporary, designed by David Chipperfield
Stephen Cripps: In Real Life
What is it? Exhibition. In Real Life comprises over 250 works on paper, films, documents, and audio recordings that paint an in-depth and extensive picture of sculptor and performance artist Stephen Cripps’s artistic practice.
Where? Turner Contemporary, Margate
When? Until 8 January
Why should you go? To get to know the world of an English artist born in Bath, lived at Butler’s Wharf, on the Thames, a warehouse building that also provided workspace for more than 100 other artists, and died at 29, before his 30th birthday.
Duly noted: Barletta, created in 2019 by Natalia and Jackson has a variety of pop-ups around town. Recently they have been the victim of fraud and £50,000 was taken from their business. They have started a crowdfunding campaign you can contribute to.
Some restaurants have that je ne sais quoi that makes you want to describe them by using the vague and lazy phrase 'je ne sais quoi'. Planque deserves better.
The Haggerston restaurant matches an excellent modern French menu with an atmosphere that’s too spacious even for East London.
The high ceilings and wood-covered generous seating plan remind me of trending Brooklyn restaurants designed by Danish architects rather than London or Paris establishments where the spaces between the tables are as small as the shared plates. Despite its modern feel, you know you are at a French restaurant.
The name Planque of course primes you for it, but also the extensive list of French wines, a pastis among the apéritifs and the French accents of the service staff (or their excellent pronunciation of wine names) can be other indicators. Yet for me, it is the French worker jackets worn by the service staff, the kind that saturates the fits of Broadway Market strollers on a Sunday, that make the restaurant an aesthetically pleasing, cooler-than-thou place.
Planque is where you seek extended eye contact with the person who is perfectly explaining to you the spices in the persimmon custard tarte or the bold bottle at odds with the characteristics of the Loire region. Perfect for a wine-heavy splurge with food-forward friends as well as ambience-seeking Londoners you want to impress.
Chickpea panisse & trout roe
Photography: Anton Rodriguez
Where: 322-324 Acton Mews, beneath the railway arches of the Overground station, E8 4EA
What to order: The menu changes seasonally, however, some excellent dishes from my visits were the calf brain, the panisse and the chou farci (stuffed cabbage). Order wine generously and with the aid of the establishment.
Duly noted: Planque is also a wine membership club accepting grape enthusiasts by application and providing priorities and privileges such as tastings, discounts, cellar space and more.
• One of UK's most iconic winter walks: The Tamsin Trail at Richmond Park. A short (4 to 5 hours, just over 7 miles walk) in Richmond Park was selected as one of the must quintessential routes of the UK by Country Living magazine.
Here is a short list of what you can encounter during the trail: King Henry's Mound near Pembroke Lodge. A view of St Paul's Cathedral. The twitting of green parakeets.
- Willing to travel further? A bus, train, or car trip away, you can visit Higger Tor and Carl Wark, Peak District; Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, Bolton Abbey, and Yorkshire Dales.
A guide to London architecture
Romanesque - Victorian - Modernist - Brutal - Contemporary. What is the archetypal architecture style in London, if there is any?
Words by: Defne Özdoğan.
London is a city where Romanesque, Victorian, Modernist, Brutal, and Contemporary architecture assembles. At the moment, I live in Walthamstow. Here, you can’t see skyscrapers or contemporary architecture. This area is not filled with newly constructed buildings or social housing estates. Victorian, Georgian and Edwardian, two or three-storey single and semi-detached homes reside in my neighbourhood. Moving towards the central by the overground, the urban pattern changes every second and London’s architectural library becomes visible. From the East towards the Central, there are many examples of old modernist social housing estates followed by buildings such as the Barbican which represent the brutalist period after World War II. Moreover, tall contemporary new-builds become very visible. Towards the Central River Thames area, you see all the historical buildings that belong to movements such as Baroque, Romanesque and Gothic. But for me, London can be described with 5 particular buildings.
Tate Modern Terrace, source Hufton + Crow
Building: Tate Modern
Neighbourhood: Southbank. Architect: Herzog & de Meuron
Once a Bankside Power Station built by Giles Gilbert Scott who designed the iconic red telephone boxes, now an art gallery, Tate Modern is an essential space for art history and contemporary culture of art. Henry Tate, a 19th-century sugar merchant from Liverpool, donated his collection of contemporary paintings and £80,000 to the government which are now in Tate’s permanent collection alongside Marilyn Diptych (1962) by Andy Warhol, Nude Woman With Necklace (1968) by Pablo Picasso, Mountain Lake (1938) by Salvador Dalí. The building is almost the same size as Westminster Abbey, the top floor of the Switch House has a terrace with a view of the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Photography: CK Travels
Building: Alexandra Road Estate
Neighbourhood: Camden. Architect: Neave Brown
Once a social housing estate, still a social housing estate/private residence, it is a crucial example of modernist architecture and council housing. Along with 520 apartments, the site includes a school, community centre, youth club, heating complex, and parkland. The estate was granted Grade II listed status on 18 August 1993, the first post-war council housing estate to be listed. It was featured in Foals – "Mountain At My Gates" video. Try to speak with the residents, I would say. We did some studying and the number of people who spent a lifetime on this estate is crazy.
Barbican Estate
Building: Barbican
Neighbourhood: Barbican. Architect: Chamberlin, Powell and Bon
Once the centre of the rag trade, and home to fabric and leather merchants, furriers, glovers and a host of other tradesmen, a Grade II listed building, the Barbican is one of London’s best examples of Brutalist architecture. Now it’s used as one of London's major venues for events, concerts, and exhibitions, and also a residential complex of around 2,000 flats and maisonettes. The history of the Barbican, a utopian vision to transform an area of London left devastated by bombs during the Second World War should definitely be read. It is a masterpiece in terms of regenerating an area of the city.
Building: The University of Central Saint Martins
Neighbourhood: Granary Square. Architect: Stanton Williams Architects
The building was built for unloading and storing wheat for London's bakers in 1851, it was turned into the University of CSM College of Arts in 1989. Granary Square was given to us as a case study in our first year of BA architecture. The square is a shapeshifter, every season it serves different activities and social spaces. It facilitates a quick escape from Kings Cross in general. I am not 100% sure if I really like the building because I studied there but, go visit, and see for yourself. Please try to check these details out: The very high ceilings of the building, people smoking next to the Waitrose, the amazing bookshop next to the canal where concerts happen occasionally, and kids and dogs playing in the fountains in summer or winter time.
Battersea Power Station
Building: Battersea Power Station
Neighbourhood: Battersea. Architect: WilkinsonEyre did the restoration of the building however quite a few architects were involved in the actual building of the work such as Giles Gilbert Scott and Frank Gehry.
Once a Coal-fired power station, now 'a place for locals, tourists and residents to enjoy a unique blend of shops, bars, restaurants, entertainment venues, parks and historical spaces' as it says on its website. I haven’t been to this space -yet-, so it is difficult to explain why I recommend it. But the area really has been regenerating thanks to this development. People have been buying houses for the past 5 years because of this building and it is finally open to the public. I know that the architecture is magnificent with a lot of Mediaeval details. Also, there aren’t many examples of large-scale Art Deco-style buildings in London, so it should be worth giving a try.
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Sunday shoppers at Columbia Road Flower Market
Now that the days are getting shorter and colder, outside activities are going to be limited to those who are willing to be resilient. What is your preferred winter London pastime, write to us @aposto.london.
