A Diamond Jubilee photo opportunity: my portraits of the Queen

Photographically, my biggest news is getting pictures of The Queen on her visit to Richmond Park. I went about three hours early, and did a lot of nifty reconnaissance, taking up a strategic position at an appropriate barrier about two hours before Her Majesty’s estimated arrival time.

Then the heavens opened with the most horrid of hailstone storms. Magically, that cleared up, and Her Majesty was able to walk around, not exactly to pass where I stood, but close enough for a long lens.

Very stalwart was the line-up of Air Force cadets who must have been soaked. Then there were some dear little girls in white dresses ready for a Maypole dance, who had to huddle shivering under umbrellas at one point. But the general consensus of the crowd was that it was all thoroughly worth it, in this the Diamond Jubilee year.

I’ve also been to the beautiful Watts Gallery at Compton, near Guildford. This was built by the great Victorian portrait painter GF Watts (1817-1904), and houses a wonderful selection of his paintings and sculpture, including a special show of Watts’ contemporaries called The Hall of Fame (open until 7 June). So good to see those familiar images of Tennyson, William Morris and many more.

Watts, it seems, wished to paint “the mind and soul” of his sitters as well as their outward appearance. Standing in front of his great works, it seems to me that he must have succeeded, and the standard of painting certainly excels any I’ve seen in shows of more recent artists.

But undoubtedly, the highlight of our visit was the memorial chapel built by Watt’s wife, Mary, who was 30 years younger than him. This small hexagonal building is completely lined inside with art nouveau angels and cherubs, intertwined with Celtic motifs. There are also wonderful clay tiles modelled in deep relief by local people – from village boys to the lady of the manor.

Mary believed that with the tuition she provided anyone could practise art, and she used a seam of clay from her own grounds. The whole effect is utterly enchanting and the chapel is completely free to visit. You have to pay to go in the gallery – but it only cost £2 on Tuesdays (www.wattsgallery.org.uk).

We also fitted in a visit to Sheffield Park in East Sussex where the magnificent grounds with their fine lakes are starting to sport their famous rhododendrons in all the glory of their crimson and shocking pink (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheffield-park-and-garden).

I’m on twitter @sunnyholt.

To see more pictures please look at www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler.

Vist www.lovelondon.uk.com.

Front row seats at the Olympic Stadium's Gold Challenge

We’ve been dying to get into the Olympic Park – though you get a pretty good view from the Olympic Suite (well, it’s a large viewing room, really) at John Lewis Stratford, which is open to everybody, unless a special event is taking place.

So I was so thrilled to get tickets for very first event in the Olympic Stadium – The Gold Challenge. We had to go through ferocious airport-type security to see about
1,000 people take part in 100m and 400m races for charity, alongside celebs and sport stars.

There were runners of all ages - from four-years-old to stalwart octogenarians. An amazing spectacle at lunchtime was a huge parade of between 3,000 and 4,000 people (the organisers didn’t seem quite sure how many!). School children, sports clubs, charity workers, community groups and more circled the stadium in a happy joyous throng, to loud cheering.

About 80,000 people can be packed into the stadium during the Games - 25,000 seats in its permanent lower tier, and a temporary lightweight steel and concrete upper tier holding a further 55,000 spectators that can be removed after the Games.

Sadly like so many people we won’t be one of them. But I love the shape of the stadium, with its distinctive zig-zag roof, like a lot of sharks’ teeth. Inside you can see how these are rigs for lights and all the paraphernalia of today’s digital media.

The top ring of the stadium was built using surplus gas pipes – all part, it seems, of London 2012's 'reduce, reuse, recycle' approach to sustainability. Indeed, the building is 75 per cent lighter in steel use than other stadiums. I’ve also found out that the concrete is low-carbon, made from industrial waste – it has an impressive 40 per cent less embodied carbon than usual.

There are some lovely bright touches inside where light is reflected through coloured panels casting intriguing shadows. We had seats at the bottom near the front, and from here you get a good person-to-person view. But you need to climb up to the top to get a complete vista.

Outside, we walked right round the stadium and had a good view of the complete Aquatics Centre, which has a wonderfully tight sculptural impact, but seems smaller than it looked in the drawings.

Then there is the curvy red metal of the ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower – what a mouthful. At 115 metres (377 ft), it is now Britain’s largest piece of public art, so Anish Kapoor has out-arted Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North.

It looks really rather lovely from inside the park, once you get used to it, and I can’t wait to go up to the top. Apparently you will go up in a lift and then be able to saunter down.

But I didn’t realise it embodied five Olympic rings, and actually I think that’s still difficult to make out. And it should be called the Kapoor tower, really. Other nicknames abound – a quick poll of twitpals (including top design journos) yielded Colossus of Stratford, giant treble clef, helter-skelter, super-sized mutant trombone, hubble bubble and double dipper. And one or two others too rude to print.

As for the “park”, I’ve heard lots of talk of wildflower meadows, but we didn’t see much greenery – I suppose it will be imported nearer the time, but it seems a shame that there are no trees growing already.

All photos are by me – see lots more on in a special photo report on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler/sets/72157629362177006/

My book Love London has 180 photographs of London teamed with over 100 quotes about the capital.

http://www.lovelondon.uk.com

And follow me on www.twitter.com/sunnyholt

Interior decorators were out in force at London Design Week 2012

Some people might say working on a Sunday is pretty grim but I’ve never minded using the so-called “day of rest” to go to the big trade shows. It’s the day they open, which gives the whole business a frisson of excitement, and you get a chance to steal a march on tardier pursuers of news and views.

Thus it was that a balmy spring Sunday found me in a sun-drenched Chelsea Harbour surrounded by the rites of decorating. They do things very well here, from the huge pink lampshade outside to the giant underwater mobiles. I wasn’t quite sure about the shoals of black fish, but loved an ariel view from the gallery, showing design devotees dining off pink tablecloths (London Design Week is at Chelsea Harbour, Lots Road, SW10 until Friday 16 March; www.dcch.co.uk)

The place oozes atmosphere, and the interior decorators were indeed out in force, busy rifling through the racks of new designs, dutifully scribbling notes with the pencils that are so plentifully supplied for that very purpose. I took along Milly, my eldest granddaughter, who is in her final year of architecture at Lincoln, and has always loved colour and pattern, which we found in abundance.

It’s lovely meeting old friends from the trade, and making new ones. Liz Cann, design director of Zoffany and Sanderson was introducing a new collection based on Elizabethan wall-paintings. Artist Melissa Whyte, whose work this was, was also there to launch the impressively heavy pattern book.

It was also fun to see Brian Yates and Sheila Coombes, and to show Milly the Zaha Hadid wallpaper collection, along with other designs by Italian architects. It was interesting to see these strong abstract designs with a new take on pattern that is geometric rather than floral.

Anthony Ferringo provided a welcome pit-stop, with a quick run-through of key brands: Colefax and Fowler (the decorators’ decorators), Jane Churchill (so pretty), Manuel Canovas (c’est chic alors) and Larsen. I photographed Jack Lenor Larsen once at Chelsea Harbour years ago – he is the ace of cool.

Chief executive Richard Chilcott was over from the States and celebrating J.Robert Scott’s 40th anniversary – he posed for a picture with international sales director Margarite Zouppas, against a woven fabric where the pattern is digitally printed onto the warp and weft, for amazing clarity and depth.

The Americans really excel at high-class decorating products for the top end of “the trade”. After all, according to the New Yorker, “interior design as a profession was invented by the American decorator/actress Elsie de Wolfe”, who in 1913 published The House in Good Taste, and later, on seeing the Parthenon, enthused: “Beige! My colour!”

Apparently, Elsie hated Victoriana, so would not have been happy at Watts of Westminster (with its impressive background of Victorian ecclesiastical design), where director Fiona Flint enthusiastically showed us her imagery of new designs photographed in a church. “It was the obvious place,” she laughed, “but I never really dared before.” The church – Abbey Dore in Herefordshire – was perfect for Watts’s unique blend of heavy pattern, large, strong motifs, and rich colour.

I am delighted the furniture emporium Chaplins – so dear and yet so far in Hatch End – now has a style outpost in Chelsea Harbour. So sad to hear that Jimmy Chaplin, the man originally behind it all, passed away a few weeks ago. Now son Simon continues a great tradition for selling top brands in modern furniture, sourced from all over the world and presented with elegance and elan. Their website at www.chaplins.co.uk is one of the best web catalogues there is.

Design Centre Chelsea Harbour provide free transport back and forth from Sloane Square twice a year, for people attending their events, and this year had laid on Land Rover cars, lined with so much leather you could actually smell the hide.

Later on in the week, after lunching with John Lewis near their head office on Victoria Street, I was intrigued to see a sign outside Westminster Cathedral that said you could take a lift to the top of their wonderful tower (otherwise apparently it’s 303 steps).

This must be the best value in town: £3 for a stunning 360 degree view, with charming signs to explain landmarks. I was there on my own, allowed to linger as long as I liked, simply ringing a bell to summon the lift down.

Talking of John Lewis, my hot news is that they will be soon stocking the Love London range of products based on my photographs (www.lovelondon.uk.com).

* Photographs by me. Follow me on twitter: @sunnyholt

Designs of the year 2012: architecture, digital, graphics, furniture and more

One of my very favourite shows is Designs of the Year, which has just opened at the Design Museum near Tower Bridge (and you’ve got until July to catch it).

Filling a spacious light and airy upper floor are clusters of round plinths showing off a host of products shortlisted for Awards in seven categories: architecture, digital, fashion, furniture, graphics, product, and transport.

(Above) Morag Myerscough's geometric design at the Birmingham Interiors Show

I love what the curators called the “designs with a conscience” - Vivienne Westwood’s bags made by African women, a redesign of the emergency ambulance by the Helen Hamlyn Foundation at the RCA, an earthquake-proof table for schools, and a super-sleek new wheelchair designed and manufactured by its enterprising user, Andrew Slorance (iimaginedesign.com), who whizzed around me showing off his Carbon Black’s finer points.
 
On the other hand, does the world really need another chair? Nearly half the furniture section was chairs, though the ingenious Tipton rocker by Barber Osgerby was a show stopper. This is the pair that have done the Olympic torch, and that is in this show as well. We were told that Kate’s dress had been nominated for an award, but all we got to see was the veil. This show is so dense you really need a couple of visits to take it all in. Category award winners and the overall winner of the Design of the Year Award 2012 will be announced in April.

Last month, I was a little quiet on the blog front - those big January trade shows (see my report on this year's spring fairs) were pretty punishing. And I got my camera stolen in Paris at the big Maison & Objet design fair. After buying a replacement I had to go direct to the big Interiors show in Birmingham.

Up at Birmingham, Rory and Piers of London’s Designersblock had put together a brilliantly off-beat “Design Village” for the centre of the show, complete with its own bar and “pub”.

Exhibitors from the outer fringes of the design world included London’s most potent pattern people, doing their take on “bed and breakfast” room-settings. Morag Myerscough covered a very solid looking bed with an aggressive geometric design (studiomyerscough.com) which sucked you inwards.

House of Hackney showed Dalston Rose, a subverted toile wallpaper, with inky hues and a dip dye effect along the bottom (houseofhackney.com).

And dear Donna Wilson let out a crowd of her signature knitted creatures to frolic in a paper-cut out forest (donnawilson.co.uk).

Meanwhile, I was one of the judges for the New Design Britain competition. I loved this wallpaper panel by Colleen Ellington (pictured right). It reminds me of Klimt, and there is something of a likeness between designer and subject.

All pictures by www.barbarachandler.co.uk
See more pictures of the design fairs on www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler/
Follow me on twitter: @sunnyholt

Well – that was a great Christmas break, but now it‘s down to some serious design reporting

I’m looking forward to visiting the new show Home, on at Earls Court in the coming week. It’s only open to “the trade” – ie the buyers for the shops (and journalists!) – but I’ll be there to report back on anything we at Homes & Property think you’ll especially like. Looking down the list of who’s showing, I’m finding a lot of very bright British design sparks.
 
Then it’s over to Paris by Eurostar for the incredible Maison & Objet, in huge halls to the north west of the city. This show actually takes place in September as well, but the ones in January are the more important, as they set the design trends for 2012.

Shop keepers come from all over the world to hunt out the latest merchandise. Halls are packed, with tempers frayed and temperatures unpleasantly variable – from boiling to freezing in the blink of an aisle. Signage is negligible (where are those loos?), sandwiches are on French leave, and there is very little natural light, except in one markedly modern new hall. A couple of years ago strong winds blew off a section of the roof in two places – yes, really. But would I miss it? You bet I wouldn’t – the adrenalin sets me up for the whole year, and it is Paris, after all.
 
The number of British exhibitors taking their wares to Maison has exploded recently, with many who started in a small way on the stand of the British European Design Group (BEDG; www.bedg.org), now confident enough to take space in their own right. I always love calling by the Brits at Maison, firstly because I am so proud of them, and secondly because I know that what they show will be available pretty quickly to readers back home.
 
After Maison comes Interiors UK – this show used to be called Interiors Birmingham, but has changed title to reflect (they hope) an increasing importance in the world of international design fairs. The organisers have worked really hard to up the design ante. I’m looking forward to exploring the space organised by Designersblock - there are some good “taster” videos on their website (www.verydesignersblock.com).

Piers Roberts and Rory Dodd – London design mavericks extraordinaire - are bringing together fringe elements of British design that I know I won’t have seen even in Paris.

In the picture, they are bathed in a red glow from the neon sign at their last installation at the London Design Festival in September – Rory is on the left and Piers on the right.
 
Next stop, Milan in April – I’ll have a chance to draw breath before then!

Meanwhile, over Christmas, I did a lot of walking to see some of the best display ideas in the capital from store windows to the huge trees at Trafalgar Square. Here are a couple of pictures, one from Selfridges (left) and one from Liberty (top right). In window design, British shops really do lead the world – there are so many creative ideas to absorb from them. 

* To see more pictures from my Christmas and new year walkabout visit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler/sets/72157628281265145/

From Art Nouveau to modern minimalism

We’ve snatched two brief holidays this year. The first was in Budapest. Our hotel was an art nouveau original with its own tiled and gleaming spa – spas are a Budapest speciality. Our room had a view over the Danube (we were in Buda and the other side was Pest).

I especially loved “the house of art nouveau” (pictured) – built in 1903, for a couple who were obviously avid collectors. There are three floors of wonderfully romantic and curvy furniture, pictures, ceramics, lighting and superb stained glass, and out the back is a courtyard where you can admire the magnificent facade with its twisting sinuous window and door frames (magyarszecessziohaza.hu).

Our second mini-break was in Montpelier, and here the highlight was a trip to the new(ish) Millau Bridge – or le Viaduc de Millau, as I should say. This opened in December 2004. Designed by the British architect Norman Foster and French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux, it’s sensationally thin, long and high, with the “cable-stays” creating a very elegant silhouette.

Indeed it is the tallest bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft). As we drove across, and the countryside stretched out way down below, I was surprised to find I wasn’t scared but almost elated. 

* Read about my book Love London at www.lovelondon.uk.com

Mugs, blogs and octogenarians

I went to Sir Terence Conran’s 80th birthday party in The Conran Shop, where we all sat at round tables and between courses played a sort of baffling pub-quiz designed to test our knowledge of the man himself (right).

So I should now know how many blue shirts he has, but I’ve forgotten. However I can tell you that when Habitat opened in Chelsea in 1964, staff wore Mary Quant, with hair by Vidal Sassoon.

Restaurants have been an ongoing passion, of course, as well as very good business, but I wasn’t very clever at their names, being not a foodie, really. But apparently ashtray-nicking is endemic - after 10 years, Quaglino’s had lost 25,000 of them, and declared an ashtray armistice in an attempt to get them back. 

The Design Museum, founded in 1989, was the first of its kind anywhere, and showing now is a Conran retrospective - “Terence Conran - the way we live now” is open until 4 March (designmuseum.org). 

“What now,” Sir Terence was asked. “Do more,” was the rather endearing reply from a man currently designing for his own brand Content by Conran, furniture for his company Benchmark, plus a new collection launched this autumn for M&S. 

The previous show at the Design Museum starring modernist Kenneth Grange was a huge hit. I was the other half of a “Grange in conversation” event, packed out with Grange fans, and a bit intimidating. I also sat on a panel with Kenneth at the V&A – we discussed “design and the aging population” – think I was the oldest journalist they could find. However, considering the ages of both Conran and Grange, 80 is obviously where it’s at. 

My granddaughter Lulu played her violin at the Schools Prom concert at the Albert Hall. Cheered on by a large and rather raucous family gang, her Wessex Youth Orchestra was a raging success, as indeed were all the acts, which were surprisingly varied. The WYO played the final numbers, with Land of Hope and Glory raising the roof. Lulu was very fetching in the Union Jack hard hat which all the orchestra donned right at the end. 

And I went into town to take pictures of the Lord Mayor’s Show, which was an incredible spectacle, with such a multitude of floats, and military march-pasts (thelordmayorsappeal.org). The 250-year-old Mayor’s state coach is indeed the stuff of fairy tales. There were over 200 vehicles in all, with more than 25 horse-drawn carriages. I was standing with a very enthusiastic Brownie pack whose cheers attracted lots of special attention from some of the 6,000 people taking part. I also popped by the tents outside St Paul’s which are in fact very civilised. 

At a pre-Christmas preview at Priscilla Carluccio’s enchanting shop Few & Far I met once again my favourite potter Bill Lloyd. I’ve now got several pieces by him, all in hand-thrown porcelain with a thick white/creamy glaze. Shapes are simple yet idiosyncratic, and often fit together, like my set of three stacking mugs.

Billy had made an edition of 50 mugs for the show, and I wanted one badly. But they were bought by a VIP of the design world to give as a Christmas present to another big design name (but obviously I have promised not to tell, as this could spoil the surprise!). However Billy presented me with two beautifully wrapped parcels before leaving, and each did indeed contain a mug. Wrapping is Priscilla’s forte – she has coloured carrier bags of handmade paper from India.  

I also went to a happy gathering of the Design Bloggers Collective – I’m a member and you can check us out on Facebook. We now number over 30 – all dedicated to putting very personal design news, thoughts and pictures on the internet. We were kindly hosted by the European Design Centre, a lovely furniture showroom just behind the Oxford Street Top Shop.

They have just set up the “Decorators’ Hub”, a space where designers can meet their clients in central London. It’s got WiFi, a furniture reference library, fabric samples, comfy chairs and a good table. Designers can book it for up to two hours (edclondon.com).

I’ve been working hard on my website (www.barbarachandler.co.uk) putting up all the photos that are now available as handmade cards.

Reporting from the London Design Festival 2011

The design world here in the capital is up to its hyperactive hilt in the London Design Festival. It’s been going on for a few days, but the big shows are now upon us – seven megabites of contemporary design.

Before I hit the hotspots of 100% Design at Earls Court, and Tent in East London (plus Tramshed in Rivington Street, and designjunction in Southampton Row), I wanted to share some special moments at the Festival so far. Incidentally you can find all details of the big shows in my September events diary (homesandproperty.co.uk/september2011events).
 
Kick-off was at the V&A in the Sackler wing a week ago, where I met up with H&P editor Janice Morley, and we did a wonderful tour de force, flying the flag for Homes & Property and meeting key players. We loved the chance to chat individually with Will Knight, Festival deputy director, and Murray Moss, the New York Gallery owner, who has mounted virtuoso displays of 3D printed sculpture all over the Museum.

We admired the Bouroullec Brothers Textile Field in the Raphael Gallery and sneakily joined a tour group to hear how the famous cartoons were working templates for the weavers in Brussels.
 
We also met Kristjana Williams (left), who had covered walls and furniture in the British Galleries with the gorgeous graphics that are her signature style at the Carnaby design boutique, Beyond the Valley. Visitors can now create their own patterns on iPads provided. And we called by Power of Making, the absorbing ongoing show of design and craft.
 
Amanda Levete’s Timber Wave was unveiled and it's magnificent (pictured, above right) – a rippling wooden sculpture encircling the main door of the V&A, and casting shadows when the sun comes out. Don’t miss this.
 
I also enjoyed a small installation called the Living Room in Shoreditch, where a young designer and a design journalist have put together a small but perfectly formed display of British domestic design – yes, do do this at home.
 
From there I walked to Lee Broom’s (left) in Rivington Street. This designer was a child/teen actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company before doing a fashion degree at Central St Martin’s and his new upholstery exudes the glamour of his earlier life.

Sofas sweep outwards without a single seam – that’s when you find them behind the 300m of black velvet which drapes the showroom. Oh, and I let myself in with the golden key that had been hand-delivered a couple of days earlier. Now there’s drama for you.
 
I’ve also seen the incredible salvaged computer screens with dancing animations by Okay Studio at the Natural History Museum (turn left from the big entrance hall), and I swung by the Royal College of Art.
 
Then of course for me the main event: the London Design Medal dinner at St Paul’s. Here, John Pawson’s exquisite assembly of lenses and mirror reflects the glory of a usually-hidden stairway, turning it into a seemingly endless downward spiral (left).

We guests had a private view before venturing into the nave for champagne – sacrilege surely – and then onto the crypt for dinner.

The fifth London Design Medal went to Ron Arad, who stole our front cover last year, during his Barbican retrospective. Accepting the award, Ron simply said, "Thank you London – I couldn't imagine doing whatever I'm doing anywhere else in the world". That says it all.
 
There was a special award for Vidal Sassoon, the 14-year old East End apprentice who went on to shape the nation’s hair. This had been instigated by Thomas Heatherwick, last year’s Medal winner. Some of us can remember the furore when Alice Rawsthorne, as director of the Design Musuem, devoted a show to flower-arranging. So it will be interesting to see what the design snobs make of this.

But why should not flowers and hair be installation art/design as much as any pile-up of bricks or upcycled rubbish? Mr Sassoon was a joy to meet – like all the true Brits from the 60s.

In between all this I’ve been spotting my new book of photographs, Love London, in various shops, including SCP Designs in Curtain Road, and SKK in Lexington Street, Soho. I’ve even ventured into product here with tea towels and bone china plates! See details on lovelondon.uk.com
 
I’ll be covering the big design shows in due course, plus the decor fests of Focus and Decorex.

Find more pictures, with lots more reportage on
flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler/
 
* All pictures by barbarachandler.co.uk.
 
* Check out details of all Festival events and designers at londondesignfestival.com

My summer mini-break: 850 miles, three new museums and the Peckham Peace Wall

Three museums (all newly opened) in four days was not bad going, we thought. It was our summer mini-break, and Ben, my husband drove 850 miles, and then some.

First stop Wakefield to see the new Hepworth gallery by David Chipperfield (hepworthwakefield.org). This sits beside a dramatic rushing weir, but disappointingly you won’t get that view if you stick to the received route from the car park over the new bridge into the museum (and past some wonderful old boatyards). You have to walk around the building and cross over the road bridge. The building is a bit shed-like, uncompromisingly modern, has a super-smooth “pigmented” concrete finish, and from the outside very few window openings.

The cafe is very gloomy, and in the ladies loo people puzzle over how to turn on the taps. Notices are pinned up to tell us that the taps are sensor-controlled. Every tap in public places seems to work differently these days – what happened to simple cross-heads?

Inside, the galleries themselves are very beautiful white spaces with lots of light, and the views to the outside (over the weir and boatyards, with more sculpture) are almost as thrilling as the art inside.

A cast Barbara Hepworth made of her own hand (pictured, left) was compelling – “the left hand is the thinking hand,” she said. “It must be relaxed and sensitive to rhythms of thought.”

Outside a towering insect-like pavilion in black scorched wood was a haven for children and picnickers. It turned out to be a sculpture, too, called Black Cloud, by Heather and Ivan Morison

Then, a night at the recently-restored Midland Hotel at Morecombe, an art deco treasure, with sculpture and painting by Eric Gill (pictured, right).

And on up to Liverpool, for a couple of nights in the Holiday Inn at Albert Docks, with a super view across the Mersey from our converted-warehouse room (bit noisy on Saturday with hen and stag parties, though).

The Museum of Liverpool opened on 19 July 2011, and got 13,234 visitors on its first day (liverpoolmuseums.org.uk). On our visit a couple of weeks later, it was similarly packed. We could well see why. Outside is visitor friendly with lots of places to sit, and inside an engrossing assembly of imaginative and interactive displays, illuminating all aspects of this great city.

Climb a wide spiral staircase to the top, to find a huge window (8 by 25 metres) looking out over those famous buildings of the iconic Liverpool skyline – the Three Graces. These are firstly the Royal Liver Building (1908-11) topped by huge birds (the guarding female gazes outwards, the male inwards to see when the pubs are open – or so we were told). Then there is the Cunard Building (1914-16) with its palatial Italianate facade; and finally the old offices of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board (1903-07), with its vast centre dome. There’s a similar window at the other end.

Critics have mixed views on the museum architecture but I thought the building had a splendid shape. And a massive steel frame apparently has enabled the big column-free spaces which make walking round so easy. I’m not so sure about the faceted stone cladding. But I loved the big blue sign outside the museum proudly proclaiming its name (though probably not architect-designed). Oh, and whilst in Liverpool we took in the Magritte show – well worth seeing and on until 16 October.

By contrast the discreet tasteful signs of the new Chipperfield galleries at Wakefield and Margate are very tasteful – but very low vis.

We went to Margate on a separate day trip, to the new Turner Cotemporary (turnercontemporary.org). Actually, there was only one Turner painting on display, though a pretty big one. The Gallery will house a series of modern art shows – “Revealed” is the one we saw, open until 4 September – “exploring the borders between what we see and know and the truly fantastic.” I loved Daniel Burne’s huge circle with mirrors, framing the real sea, and Ellen Harvey’s Arcadia booth, with fairground letters outside and scenes of Margate hand-engraved on mirrors inside – magical.

Back home, I wanted to see the so-called Peckham Peace Wall for myself, and caught a train to Peckham Rye. There I found the boarded-up front of a Poundland – much more extensive than I had imagined – covered with post-it notes expressing love for the area, condemnations of violence and hope for the future.

New notes were being added all the while, and there was a steady stream of people stopping to read – of all races and ages. Nearby, a rap concert outside the library was launching a campaign for a new community centre. Well worth the trip.

* All pictures by www.barbarachandler.co.uk - see more on http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler/

Selfridges, Habitat, Homebase and more

I fetched up earlyish at the Selfridges VIP shopping suite to meet the legendary Diane von Furstenberg (pictured) – she of the wrap-dress fame. She was over from New York to launch her second collection of bed linen, this time with some lovely china as well, on asymmetric mix-and-match shapes. She launched her first homewares at New York Fashion week, decking out the VIP lounge and virtually taking furnishings down the catwalk – an industry first (well, two industries – fashion and textiles)
 
Diane showed me her latest collection of duvet covers, which will be sold draped over a rail, like the expensive dresses that inspired them. So you will be able to feel the fabric, which is soft and luxurious, and appreciate the richness of the pattern and colour. Such an obvious idea when you see it done – but then all the best ideas are like that, aren’t they? “I really don’t see any division between home and what I wear,” Diane confided. “it’s one single exercise as far as I’m concerned.”
 
Sheets aside, do get over to the South Bank, if you can. There are ongoing celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain, including a cute little strip of sand masquerading as a beach. We had our photo taken in a booth for free, and then it was emailed to use as a postcard. There is lots of live entertainment on the sidewalks, plus a more formal programme at the Festival Hall (southbankcentre.co.uk) culminating in Wayne Hemmingway’s Vintage Festival at the end of the month.

  I’ve also been to the Park Plaza hotel just the other side of Westminster Bridge for the My View of London photo awards. The hotel, only opened last year, has a ritzy affordable glamour – well, affordable by the standards of London hotels. And it has its own sensational view from the lobby – look straight over the bridge, and then tell the time by Big Ben! I was a judge of the photo comp, and there were over 1000 entries – not that I had to go through them all. We judges viewed 90, and then put our top 30 in order of merit – still bit of a task, really, but very interesting. The competition is to raise awareness of the excellent eye research charity Fight For Sight. If you are reading this, then, like me, give thanks for eyes, such a precious gift. You can see the shortlist and the winning entries on myviewoflondon.org.uk.

I loved meeting the entrants – a very diverse bunch, from “strictly analogue” Suzi Livingstone (shortlisted) who makes her own cameras, using film OF COURSE, to Lindsey Chadwick who had spent several days hovering around the Inns of Court to get a striking image of red phone boxes and a Union Jack umbrella, called “London Pride” which came second (pictured). The winning image was an ultra-moody shot of a just-visible Tower Bridge (“Dickens View” by Nick Gommon ) and I loved meeting the jovial John Kortland whose street shot of a ”Smash and Grab Wedding” made us all smile – and came third. A young Hungarian, Gabor Mate, submitted a romantic black and white shot of Piccadilly Circus (short-listed), which I remembered later, when I called by the Hungarian Photography exhibition now on at the Royal Academy.

A posh lunch at the lovely Lutyens restaurant in Fleet Street (in the old Reuters building) was hosted by Marc Bolland, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, who told us 21 million people visit his stores every week. It’s the sort of statistic you remember while standing in the queue. This event, oozing editors, was to preview the Conran range of furnishings which will come into the stores this autumn. We saw furniture and furnishings in that well-mannered but interesting style which is currently very British. Elegant and understated, colours included grey, indigo, mustard and kingfisher.

Sir Terence made an endearing speech referring to the designs as “Habitat for the 21st century.” A couple of days later we had the sad news that Habitat as we knew it has ceased trading. It was bought by Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase. Sir Terence was reported then as saying "Of course I'm sad that my love child, Habitat, appears to be dying, but I am more interested in the future of my own business and design projects - that is my focus."

Habitat’s three London stores in Tottenham Court Road, King’s Road, and Finchley Road carry on, but 30 others look set to cease trading. Homebase, will sell merchandise under the Habitat label, and, later still, I met Andrew Carnie, their trading director for home. Homebase were launching an amazing 1,500 new products in a showhouse they have in the West End. Andrew assured me that his company was seeking to fill Homebase with premium brands, and was not going “to trash Habitat but resurrect it.” He added that he “greatly valued” the Habitat design team, and would be working with them.

The exit to the Lutyens restaurant is bang next door to St Brides Church, with its famous wedding cake steeple, and I went to have a look around. Do go down into the crypt. When Wren built his church after the great fire of 1666, it was over no less than six previous crypts, which were re-discovered during the post-war restoration. On show are fragments of buildings, records, pages of old type and newspaper – it’s like a mini-museum, and there’s nobody there.

Right at the back is a tiny medieval chapel with just eight seats opposite a simple altar. This I found was a memorial to the Harmsworth family, and all the staff of Associated Newspapers and the Evening Standard who lost their lives in two world wars. Indeed in the Crypt Chapel next door is a Book of Remembrance with the names of the 36 Evening Standard journalists killed in the Great War and the 22 killed in the Second World War…and now we remember them again with gratitude in this our 21st century Homes & Property internet blog.
 
* All pictures by www.barbarachandler.co.uk - see more on http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbarachandler