Great Eastern Street just off Shoreditch High Street

Lots of street art and vintage buildings:

Old Blue Last Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Cos Entire AD 1700 and Rebuilt 1876

“The View London Review”

“On the corner of Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road stands Old Blue Last, whose site dates back to the 16th Century when it was once a theatre, and at another point a brothel. Voted as ‘The coolest pub in the World’ by NME, The Old Blue Last is now owned by cult magazine Vice.

The Venue

      Changing hands and buildings at various points over the last few centuries, the once-theatre was knocked down and replaced with a pub called The Last in the 1700s and in the 1880s it was bought by Truman’s Brewery, knocked down again and renamed the Old Blue Last. It was this final venue that housed an illegal knocking shop and strip joint within its walls.

     The front of the pub looks traditionally old, with the recently refurbished interior keeping its character, but improving on its old shabby decor. A spacious wooden floor as you enter is edged with Chesterfield sofas, low wooden tables and even a row of four old-fashioned wooden cinema seats with leather backs. Antlers are a key statement and can be spotted on various walls. A bookcase behind the bar houses other strange animals, like an armadillo, to take your attention as you wait to be served. A huge mirror also hangs behind the bar etched with the words Truman Hanbury Buxton Ales, and dates from 1886 when Truman’s took over. Upstairs is more intimate with its own bar and a small stage ready for live acts.

The Atmosphere

      An older than average Shoreditch crowd, a mature mob of after work suits and casuals sup ales and sip wine on the ground floor. People look at ease and comfortable – at home even – in the venue. Regulars make up the majority of punters and bar service is adequate for such a busy venue.”

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/pubsandbars/old-blue-last-review-14297.html

Have to go back and look inside next time!

You are here…. On our way to SCP East

Sheridan Coakley  and I’m guessing the P stands for Products.

http://www.ft.com/ is a really interesting article about his support for new American furniture designers

“Our flagship store, SCP East, is truly the beating heart of the whole company. Housed in a former furniture-manufacturing warehouse, it is one of London’s largest design stores and has had its doors open for business since 1985. Spread across two sizable floors, the store is a feast of design, accommodating both those looking to furnish the whole home or those in search of smaller affordable items of classic design.

     “The story of SCP is neatly intertwined with the complete cultural and commercial renaissance witnessed in the East End over the last two decades. From the heady days of the Brit Art scene to the economic revival of Brick Lane and Spitalfields. In the early years, the SCP East store had the feel of a furniture gallery and warehouse space, hosting exhibitions of SCP products by rising stars of the British design scene and of European design difficult to get in London. The slightly run down and decadent location only seemed to increase the rarified appeal of what was on show.”

http://www.scp.co.uk/pages/scp-east

http://www.scp.co.uk/pages/scp-east

     “SCP was founded in 1985 by Sheridan Coakley as a manufacturer and retailer of modern furniture. Inspired by the designs of the Modern Movement, Coakley decided to start selling classic and hard to find pieces and also try his hand a producing new designs in the same spirit. Nearly three decades on, SCP remains true to its founding idea, to make and sell design products that are functional, beautiful and made to last.

In 1986, SCP exhibited for the first time at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. On show were the first ever manufactured designs by Matthew Hilton and Jasper Morrison. The event established SCP as a pioneering force in the UK and international furniture industry.

Since those early heady days of creative entrepreneurialism, SCP has continued to develop new products every year. Employing the rich talents of designers that include Terence Woodgate, Konstantin Grcic, Michael Marriott, Andrew Stafford, Tom Dixon, Russell Pinch, Robin Day, Donna Wilson, Alex Hellum, Kay+Stemmer, Timorous Beasties, PearsonLloyd, Rachel Whiteread and Peter Marigold.

Today, SCP is firmly established as one of the UK’s most innovative and internationally respected manufacturers and suppliers of contemporary design. SCP is also an acclaimed and award winning retailer, regularly voted as one of London’s finest design shops.”  http://www.scp.co.uk/pages/about-us

I like this really stark cabinet which makes me think my taste has become modern industrial or 1950s something.

I’ve always liked mix & match chairs bought when you find what you like rather than a matched set.

I really like these scrapwood pieces too, but only one per room I think as they are a bit overwhelming like madras shorts.

Waste cabinet in Scrapwood  £5,100.00

Designed by Piet Hein Eek   Manufactured by Piet Hein Eek

     “The Waste cabinet is meticulously crafted in Piet Hein Eek’s studio using traditional woodworking technique. It brings his quintessential vocabulary of recycled wood collage to a cabinet design of exceptional grace. Each piece is completed with a characteristic high gloss finish. Due to the nature of the material used in production, each piece is one-of-a-kind.”  http://www.scp.co.uk/collections/bedroom/products/scrapwood-sideboard

£7,860.00 Piet Hein Eek

I wonder if he’s related to Piet Hein the Danish mathematician, designer, philosopher who wrote the wonderful little book called “Grooks.”

I could live in this building!

http://www.scp.co.uk/  £4,096.00

http://www.scp.co.uk/collections/furniture/products/lansdowne-21  similar

The colors aren’t me, but a desk and chair by a big window is and I love the long neck lamps.

Walking back from Shoreditch…

Eye-i   by Bruce McLean 1993  Best from this view rather than across the street.

The blond with one red eye is what I would have called it.

   “A large metal sculpture situated in North Folgate, outside the Bishopsgate Arcade.  Bishopsgate, North Folgate, Shoreditch High Street and Kingsland Road were all originally part of Ermine Street, the main Roman road from London Bridge to Lincoln and York. Could that be the reason for the two blue lines running up the centre of the sculpture? “

http://www.exploringeastlondon.co.uk/eel/Spitalfields/Spitalfields..htm

Eye-i

This abstract female face in bright coloured metal is by Bruce McLean. Glasgow-born McClean – well-known for his performance art – specialises in the irreverent and this 1993’s sculpture’s title refers to the Glasgow ‘Aye-aye!’ greeting and its prominent winking eye as well as the I-beams from which it is made.

199 Bishopsgate EC2

Tube: Liverpool Street http://www.secret-london.co.uk/Modern_Art.html

http://www.broadgate..co.uk/News/Detail/1251  more about McLean

http://www.broadgate.co.uk/Content/PDF/BroadgateArtLeaflet.pdf more about Broadgate art

https://www.google.com/  is a link to his silk screen which I really like.

http://abstractcritical.com/note/bruce-mclean-the-shapes-of-sculpture/ interview with Bruce McLean

Nest stop, 30 St Mary Axe (street) or The Gherkin as it is known.

A great landmark when you have to find your way home as it’s not so far from SKD Marina.

“A fine pickle”   

   “As Norman Foster’s Stirling prize-winner demonstrates, some of the most exciting sculpture of our time is being produced by architects, writes Jonathan Jones

     It has everything that used to be scorned by the British public: radical shape, industrial materials, imposing itself on a City skyline that some argue should be reserved for Wren and Hawksmoor. Laughed at when it was announced, instantly popular when (quickly) built, this is the first great skyscraper to be built in London.” http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/oct/18/architecture.regeneration

“On curved stone benches either side of 30 St Mary Axe are inscribed the 20 lines of Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay’s ‘Arcadian Dream Garden’.”  Time Out London 

http://abunchofbenches.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/arcadian-dream-garden.html  is the whole poem.

http://www.30stmaryaxe.com/home.html is the building’s website explaining how incredibly eco- friendly it is and energy efficient.  Also explains how the windows are cleaned.

Taking photos of St Paul’s or each other or even a Selfie!