Day Six - Letter from London

Whilst James has all the hard work to do of overseeing this project on the ground, I have the fun job reading the blog from over here in the UK, and making design suggestions, picking materials and daydreaming. Marriage is all about finding the perfect division of labor, and I'd say we've got it just right on this project, though I'm not sure James would agree...

I'll be going to as many exhibitions as possible while I'm here (autumn is the best season in London for art and design events), and will posting the things that are great sources of inspiration. First off: today I went to see the amazing gem that is the Serpentine Summer Pavilion by French Architect Jean Nouvelle. Our little white house is not going to look quite like this, but his comments in this video about the time frame for the build are something we can relate to:

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010 by Jean Nouvel from O Production Ltd. on Vimeo.

I also got to check out the Ernesto Neto exhibition at the Hayward Gallery - here are a few photos of his otherworldly maze-like environments, created with a thin net membrane stretched over skeletal frames made from plywood. The netting is secured by stitching, and - the best part - weighted down where needed with pockets of spices and herbs like camomile and rosemary. This is construction for all of the senses. The whole installation spans two big indoor rooms and two outdoor terraces. Fantastic.