More than Architecture

Monday, March 15, 2010

Sex On Fire

As you may know, Ole Scheeren is my tutor in this semester. We haven't met him in a while. Last Friday was his first time to look at our research stuff. We are pretty messed up and need to improve quite a lot.

No time for anything other then studio work.

Well, but music never stops even when I am working. Recently fell in love with another cover by Alex Cornell. Kings of Leon's Sex on Fire. His cover is nearly perfection.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

When architecture meets shoes...

Rem D. Koolhaas, 不是我們熟識的OMA掌舵Rem Koolhass，而是他的侄子。

他開始設計鞋的故事很有趣，於1999年當他還在攻讀建築碩士課程時，他的女朋友離他而去，為了忘記傷痛，他把自己的一切改變過來，連建築設計都放棄了，開始嘗試設計鞋（？）。他第一件作品的靈感，來自 Mies van de Rohe 的 Barcelona Chair。這個設計成為了他在2003年成立的品牌United Nude裡的Mobius系列。

Koolhaas 的業務夥伴是 Clark 家族的 Galahad Clark，設計多由Koolhaas包辦。基於他讀建築出身，他的設計充滿著建築帶給他的想法。品牌的鞋以優雅簡約見稱，以鞋的結構配合簡單幾何和色調，不用添加裝飾的設計已甚具風格。Koolhaas 現在長居於廣州，並於上年春季在廣州開設United Nude的旗艦店。

一個活生生的見證。將建築融入時裝，得出賞心悅目的效果。比Zaha Hadid 設計像 Crocs 一般的膠鞋要出色得多。偶像，或者我應該跟個 Architect 改下個名。

官方網頁：http://www.unitednude.com/

Sunday, March 7, 2010

No Distance Left to Run

Blur... 他們在2000年推出的精選大碟，封面上四個Julian Opie的肖像吸引了我，那時開始我才知道Blur的存在。不過始終沒有太注意他們的音樂，畢竟在他們紅透半邊天的時候，我不過是一個小學生。那時候我聽的不過是迪士尼的soundtracks，頂多就是BSB和Spice Girls那種pop group。

近年越來越對他們感興趣。當然，這和他們2009 reunion有關，宣傳和曝光都多了，自然引起注視。但更重要的，似乎是因為我到了20多歲，正正到了他們寫音樂時的那種年紀。聽著他們的音樂，聽到年輕人與年輕人之間的共鳴。無論在哪個年代，年輕人總要追求夢想，過程中難免有各種掙紮。

2009年，他們再度夾band，做了最後一場演唱會。過程被製作了這段記錄片《No Distance Left to Run》。很好的名子，完美的句號。

Almost Alice

At the end of the movie 'Alice in Wonderland', I heard that Avril Lavigne's song. It gives quite a contemporary rock feeling to the film. But her voice is quite annoying indeed.

I later found that there's a project called 'Almost Alice'. They invite a group of musicians to reinterpret the story by their music. Musicians include Franz Ferdinand, All-American Rejects, Plain White T's and some other indie bands. I am now listening to it and it is quite nice.

Give it a try, don't be fooled by the impression Avril Lavigne gave you. Her song is the worst on that album.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Making Fun of Movies

Recently read an article on Collegehumor, it is called 'Honest Movie Titles L Oscars 2010'. They gave different titles for these oscar films. Some are really brilliant and make you laugh.

Here is another video by FunnyorDie, called 'Movie Poster Floating Heads'. A 'movie poster designer' talked about his works. Hilarious.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Alice in the Fashionland

Found a set of photos taken by Vogue in Dec 2003. It is a set of photos of 'Alice' with a bunch of fashion designers. The designers play roles in the story or take part in certain scenes. Tom Ford as the White Rabbit, falling into the rabbit hole with Alice. John Galliano as the Red Queen, getting angry with someone stealing her tart. Marc Jacobs as the Caterpillar, giving out wise advise. Jean Paul Gaultier becomes the Cheshire Cat, with those stripes on his body.

The best one is Tweedledum and Tweedledee, guess who play the role? Viktor & Rolf got it and they look nice.

I guess fashion designers like the story too.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Pet Shop Boys

一直對Pet Shop Boys並不熟悉，名子倒有聽過，卻從未有留意。幾年前身處倫敦時見到他們的演唱會海報，身邊好友雀躍地表示若可以親身到場就好了。雖然有好友熏淘，但對於接觸新音樂，多數要自己親身發掘才會提起興趣。

要至2009年他們的最新專輯《Yes》推出，才第一次認真聽他們的音樂。再要至2009年的Brit Awards，看到他們和Lady Gaga和Brandon Flowers(The Killers) 的表演才真正知道他們的音樂和表演是怎樣一回事。這個年齡仍充滿活力迄立不倒，就知他們的功力不簡單。

單單看著他們的大碟Artwork，就知他們的演唱和舞台一定精彩。

My Favourite Youtube Musician

When you search for a song on Youtube, usually a lot of unofficial videos come up. A lot of them would be cover versions of the song. I found this musician when I searched for ‘Alicia Keys – No One’.

I have listened to his others covers and find that we share similar musical taste, which makes me even enjoy his music more. He usually just plays one simple instrument such as guitar or keyboard. His voice is incredible, a bit John Mayer like.

The best part of it, his mp3 can be downloaded at iLike and his homepage.
Try 'Cannonball' and 'Human' too. They are really nice.

His page: http://www.alexcornell.com/
Enjoy!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Introducing ‘Contributing Editor’

I have been regularly checking this site up since a year ago. This is where fashion, art and photography come together. Unlike most of the fashion magazines, instead of the hard-sell style fashion photograph, they let fashion becomes part of the story and beautiful picture. In that sense, through their cameras, they give fashion a deeper content.

Contributing Editor: Devoted to featuring the work of etablished and emerging creative talent Contributing Editor was launched in September 2008 by Matthew Edelstein and Ryan Schmidt as the platform for new ideas in fashion, art, and photography. Contributing Editor stands for everything that’s right now.

Their website: http://www.thecontributingeditor.com/

Enjoy!

電影節 2010

回復學生價的資格，本應可以看餐包，無奈這個反常規地忙的Year 4，時間比Year Out更多限制。昨晚才知道今天可以訂票，匆忙間靠謹有的網上資料選了10部戲：

英倫異客 London River
電影節介紹: http://www.hkiff.org.hk/chi/film/detail/20/34120-london-river.html
官方網頁: http://www.tadrart.com/tessalit/londonriver/