Cool Hunting
With gorgeous photography, elegant recipes and an uncluttered aesthetic, architect John Pawson and food writer Annie Bell's book "Living and Eating" is a primer on warm minimalism. Shunning fussy presentation and elaborate preparations, the book celebrates the joy of of a lovingly prepared, simple meal, emphasizing the food itself and enjoyment above all else. As the authors put it, "The result of all this—we hope—is one of harmony."
Originally published in 2001, Pawson and Bell's book shares many of the same values championed by Alice Waters, Judy Rodgers and other leaders of the "California cuisine" movement, albeit with a British perspective and a design that's coffee table-worthy. Tips on cookware, techniques, food pairings and setting round out the collection of modern classics like Sea Bass Baked in Salt and Poppy Seed Cheesecake. Other standouts include Parmesean-broiled Chicken Breasts and Roasted Pumpkin with Garlic and Chili, but there are plenty of basics as well and all the dishes boast uncomplicated instructions. The upshot is a book as appealing to seasoned cooks as it is to aesthetes and those of us who are still developing their culinary repertoire.
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center recently opened its new innovative 220,000-square-foot laboratory at its campus in Troy, NY. Designed by British architecture firm, Grimshaw, the building is home to a 1,200-seat concert hall, a 400-seat theater with a full fly tower, an audio and video production suite, artists-in-residence studios and a dance studio. Equally as amazing is the architecture itself,...
Hairywood in Covent Garden Piazza The celebrated collaboration between 6a Architects and fashion designers Eley Kishimoto has been reconstructed for 2008 and placed in London's busiest public square. The decorative tower (above left), inspired by both Rapunzel and Jaques Tati, created a buzz in 2005 when it appeared peeping over Old Street. Take some time out to rise above the chaos, go sit in...
The creative renaissance and urban revitalization of London continues to amaze. The Deptford Project is a creative program situated in the old railway yard of Deptford Station, the city's oldest passenger only station. To be redeveloped into a new public square by Alison Brooks Architects in 2010, the old railyard and a listed Victorian carriage ramp will serve as the fulcrum for an interim series...
As any semi-serious cook (or Food Network junkie) knows, the foundation of cooking is the ability to dice and pare with the best of them. While classes at the Culinary Institute might not be in your future, the recent "Knife Skills Illustrated" is a worthy alternative, collecting extensive methods and techniques for cutting fruits, vegetables and meats into one handy volume. With over 800 illustrations,...
We cannot claim to be experts on beach cafe architecture, but one look at Thomas Heatherwick's East Beach Cafe and one can't help but think that this is a woefully under-explored area of building design. Surely it's rife with exciting and innovative possibilities, but then that's the British designer's great talent, creating unexpected forms in unexpected places which, on sight, make you reevaluate all...
Size + Matter, it could be said, was one of the most viewed events of the London Design Festival last month. Two installations by two of the U.K.'s leading architects—both women—were placed outside the cultural hub that is the Southbank Centre that thousands of people walk by everyday. Urban Nebula by Zaha Hadid used pre-cast concrete to create a darkly dramatic public seating sculpture....

