According to Zero Per Zero, the subway line map is the symbol of city. In their series of railway system maps, the Seoul-based design firm manages to cover all of the basics (stations, important landmarks, etc.), but also focuses on the character of cities, e.g., paying homage to Milton Glaser in their map of New York and channeling the Japanese flag in their take on Tokyo. In other words, while these maps might serve a practical purpose, they’d also look good hanging on your apartment’s walls. Click through to see our favorites so far, and stay tuned: according to their website, more locations will be coming in the future.
A childhood spent in his native Zimbabwe informs the uplifting, intensely personal music of London-based singer/songwriter Tinashé and his debut album, Saved.
Playing modern pop with nods to Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Vampire Weekend, and his original hero, Michael Jackson, the ebullient young artist tempers his guitar-driven tracks with traditional African influences and instrumentation. From the album’s transcendent title track to the longing “Good Times,” it’s a record full of hope, promise, and fantastic tunes.
Remember that amazing tilt-shift video of New York City life in miniature from a few months ago that made the entire city look like a toy set? Well, filmmakers Matt Gosden and Rob Rackstraw shot and edited a similar clip about London, and get this — it only took them 12 hours! Click through to check out the stunning results.
What will the major cities of the world look like after the inevitable civilization-ending catastrophe that we keep imagining will happen? Visual artist Richard Hardy, a graduate of London’s Bartlett School of Architecture, put together a short video titled The Eco-Commune, which explores one possibility. Set in London 2050 to a soundtrack that reminds us of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, Hardy depicts a nearly abandoned urban landscape where nature makes a slow yet stubborn return as humans begin again. View video stills and the video itself after the jump.
We love London. More specifically, we love music from London (might have something to do with a mid-’90s teenage infatuation for all things Britpop). The UK capital spits out new music at an aggressive rate. Yet the past few years has seen the city’s musical DNA mutate beyond recognition. Acts like The xx craft come-down tunes out of a love for the Pixies and chart R&B, while fuzz-punks Male Bonding recently earned Pitchfork’s Best New Music designation with a debut that sounds like it should have come from the LA scene that spawned No Age, instead of an East London that until just a few short years ago was dominated by the rule-Britannia shapes thrown by the Libertines and their landfill of indie followers.
Yesterday the 2012 London Olympics unveiled their official mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, two one-eyed futuristic drops of steel. Based on a story by children’s author Michael Morpurgo, the metallic characters were “created” from the final support girder for the Olympic Stadium in East London. Sound strange? It gets much weirder. After the jump, we evaluate mascots from past Olympic games, separating out the best from the worst.
Peter Akinti’s harrowing debut novel shines an unflinching light on the disparity of race and class, focusing on East London’s projects with an activist spirit akin to Richard Wright.
Drawing on his experience growing up in the council estate of Forest Gate, Akinti crafts vivid young characters struggling to define themselves amid the chaos of families and communities entrenched in crime. The grit is tempered with an unlikely love story, affirming the power of the human spirit and signaling the arrival of a major new literary talent.
London-based Mumford & Sons breathe new life into folk rock with powerful four-part harmonies, lightning-fast banjo picking, and pint-hoisting emotion.
Led by frontman Marcus Mumford, the band rocketed out of the UK indie-folk scene that also birthed Noah and the Whale and frequent collaborator Laura Marling. Although they formed less than two years ago, Mumford & Sons have found fast success, with their debut LP, Sigh No More, cementing their place as one of 2009′s most exciting acts.
With his second album, Jack Peñate shrugs off London-centric singer/songwriter tropes in favor of elaborate, moody pop.
While Peñate’s 2007 debut saw him lumped in with fellow city dwellers Kate Nash and Lily Allen, his partnership with Bloc Party producer Paul Epworth for the appropriately named Everything Is New channels everything from Afrobeat to the Cure. Casting aside self-knowingness, Peñate has shifted to a more evocative mode, equally evidenced by the stunning video for “Tonight’s Today.”
When weread that Alain de Botton was serving as Heathrow Airport’s “writer in residence” this week, we were understandably flummoxed. Why would an airport need a writer in residence? What would he do? De Botton’s appointment, it turns out, is part of a public relations campaign for the airport. After spending this week at a desk in Terminal 5, de Botton will turn his research and notes into a book that will be published in September and given away to 10,000 Heathrow travelers.
While we’re still not sure if we’ll actually want to read A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary when it comes out, we have warmed to the idea of writers in (non-traditional) residence. After all, Jonathan Miles’s Dear American Airlines was really good. In fact, we think America’s airports could use a few more writers in residence. Check out our suggestions after the jump. Read More »
