Re-newed Frontier

Bucharest was a fruitful trip in terms of culture intake and productivity earlier this year, the latest and final piece of work as a result of that visit has just been published on Architonic. Read the 'Bucharest: The 2010 Mix' article and my previous contributions for the Zurich based magazine here. As much as the city was an eye opener with an elegant decay of opposing styles - pieces from the imperial past melded with influence from outside and around the neighboring Western and Eastern worlds - creative discourse appeared to be be at a shy and emergent stage. One of the few creatives to actively assist in the article research process was Corvin Cristian, whose interior design for the re-vamped former stock exchange building can be seen in the images above. Bucharest is not a perfect city but, it is an exciting place to visit and energizing to hear from locals with visions for what could be. Staying at a place like the Hotel Rembrandt certainly benefited the experience, as too did my hosts.

images: Advertising agency Headvertising's Bucahrest HQ, interior design by Corvin Cristian

À bon chat, bon rat

Suffering from post-cheap flight travel trauma and subsequent illness from the multiple chicken marching arrangements (extensive bus journeys, caged into tight squadrons of ill travelers before embarking and vice versa) put paid to any previous words about my recent Paris jaunt. Here are some nibbles from the French metropole of amour and tardy waiting staff; Staying around the Château Rouge area of Paris was grimey warm - like onion soup - charming, colorful and full of slapdash market stalls. The daily contraband operation at nearby Barbès metro was a theatrical masterpiece; sellers moving back and forth to the changing of traffic lights or loitering like seasoned flâners. One of the lures of Paris on this occasion was a return to the Rex Club for a set by legendary mixer Francois K. You can check out my review of this event on Resident Advisor. Ultimately, the best cultural olives in this swing-by-trip were the burgeoning design and culture scene in Bastille and the vibrant and youthful burst of bars in Oberkampf.

'ticket collage' by Alexander Horne, 2010