Konnichiwa! We’re back! Did you miss us? No, we didn’t think so.
We chat about Airbnb’s new design studio, Brighton’s new eye(sore), Rob talks wistfully about his old tutor while Jon tries out Adobe’s Portfolio.
Our book of the month is In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki. We discuss the book deep in bosky contemplation, while perched upon Japanese toilets.
The serenity is rudely broken by the arrival of Jon’s stonking pea and ham pie and Rob’s bum-tingling chilli pork pie, kindly donated by one of our listeners.
Jon and Rob have both bought a poster by Mike Sullivan of Studio Mister.
Airbnb have launched a design and innovation studio -
http://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/1-7-august-2016/airbnb-launches-design-studio-samara/
Brighton eye sore -
http://www.designboom.com/architecture/british-airways-i360-observation-tower-brighton-marks-barfield-architects-08-02-2016/
Altered perception -
https://twitter.com/jonnygeller/status/756804370600255488
Rob’s old typography tutor was featured in the Guardian -
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2016/jul/28/fading-england-1970s-snapshot-people-and-places-in-pictures
Adobe Portfolio -
https://www.myportfolio.com/
Guns don’t hurt people, emojis do -
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/02/apple-replaces-gun-emoji-water-pistol-revolver-violence-debate
Unicode consortium -
http://unicode.org
In Praise of Shadows by Jun Ichiro Tanizaki
The text presents personal reflections on topics as diverse as architecture and its fittings, crafts, finishes, jade, food, cosmetics and mono no aware (the art of impermanence). Tanizaki explores in close description the use of space in buildings, lacquerware by candlelight, monastery toilets and women in the dark of a brothel. The essay acts as "a classic description of the collision between the shadows of traditional Japanese interiors and the dazzling light of the modern age."
A little more about the intricacies of Japanese aesthetics on wikipedia -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aesthetics
Topsy Turvy a film by Mike Leigh
Edmund De Waal
The Hare With Amber Eyes
Shogun - by James Clavell
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
Alluded to, but not actually mentioned on the show -
A long article about weapon technology if gunpowder hadn’t been invented -
https://www.quora.com/How-would-weapons-technology-have-progressed-from-200-A-D-through-2016-if-we-had-never-discovered-gunpowder/answer/Joe-Buettner?srid=uHlL&share=533b15eb
and this related article -
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a7341/rome-sweet-rome-could-a-single-marine-unit-destroy-the-roman-empire/
Rob’s website of the week - Fictive Kin
Very cool design studio in Brooklyn. Lots to look at on their website, heaps of articles - well worth digging in to.
Jon’s website of the week - Illustration Chronicles
175 years of illustration –Via the ubiquitous Mr Gray
Rob’s pie this week was hand delivered by Kate Weston, one half of WDC Studio. Stuart raved about this pie and offered to send me one - who am I to refuse? Washed down with a pint of Adnam’s Broadside, Rob’s pie was an Adams & Harlow Red Devil Pie. A pork pie with a hint of chilli - it scored a strong 7 out of 10
Jon’s pie was a pea and ham hock from Harriot’s in West Meon. It was accompanied by a bottle of Mr Whitehead’s Heart of Hampshire cider. A deserving 8 out of 10!