The Cosmic House in London’s leafy Holland Park is not for the faint-hearted. Designed by Charles Jencks, the house is considered one of the most important examples of Postmodern architecture and is the UK’s first Grade I listed house of that style. No psychedelic drugs are required for your visit which will convince you that…
A Tour of Leighton House Museum
It’s safe to say that Leighton House in Kensington probably houses the most beautiful room in London. This historic house, once owned by celebrity artist of the day, Lord Frederic Leighton, has one of London’s showstopper interior gems, hiding an Arab Hall which looks like a Fabergé egg just had babies with Ali Baba’s cave….
London’s alternative museums: 22 quirky & unusual museums you absolutely must see when you visit London
Last updated on November 21st, 2022Let’s go and discover some alternative museums in London: 22 must-see unusual, off-beat, historical and secret museums everyone should visit at least once in London You’ve done the Tower of London, the British Museum, Madame Tussauds and Westminster Abbey. But there’s so much more to London than our superstar tourist…
Meet the winners of the 2019 MullenLowe NOVA Awards
A balloon dress designed by Central Saint Martins student, Fredrik Tjærandsen, bagged the top prize in the 2019 MullenLowe NOVA Awards announced last Thursday evening. 1300 final year students were whittled down to a mere 14 to represent the school in the coveted design prize. A total of six awards were presented, but Tjærandsen’s design,…
The MullenLowe NOVA Awards | Central Saint Martins
Last updated on July 25th, 2020Always looking for a good excuse to go back to school, I found myself heading to Central Saint Martins in London’s Kings Cross not once but twice in the space of a few weeks. I’d been invited to look at the finalists for the Degree Shows, an annual design brouhaha…
Visiting the Neasden Temple in London
Last updated on May 11th, 2021Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. I know, you won’t be able to pronounce the name, so just refer to it as the Neasden Temple. Yes, you read that right. Neasden. This divine temple, which you would expect to see in Agra, actually resides in north west London. It’s a masterpiece in Indian…
Haute design : Manolo Blahnik at the Wallace Collection
Last updated on December 3rd, 2019Nobody clads a foot quite like Manolo. Women fantasize about having a pair of his arty concoctions in their shoe rack. My eldest daughter asked me for a pair of Manolos for her eighteenth birthday. We know he was Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe designer of choice in Sex and the City,…
Eltham Palace | Where Medieval meets Art Deco London
Last updated on March 1st, 2021Eltham Palace is one of London’s unique gems, a historic venue where Art Deco London is living it up with its medieval ancestors. Imagine a hotsy-totsy sleepover with both Henry VIII and Hercule Poirot. You have a coupe de champagne in one hand, and the ivories tinker away in the…
The Great Exhibition and how the Crystal Palace built the V and A
Last updated on June 2nd, 2021If you’ve been watching Victoria Series 3, then you’ve recently come across Henry Cole, Prince Albert’s wingman in the creation of the visionary Great Exhibition of 1851. What you probably didn’t know is that the exhibition, dubbed The Greatest Show on Earth and housed inside the glittering Crystal Palace in…
Fitzrovia Chapel | Byztantine Bling in London
Last updated on August 16th, 2020There are some places in London that simply take your breath away. The Arab Hall in Leighton House is one of those. The Soane Museum is another, as is Two Temple Place. Then I visited Fitzrovia Chapel where every square inch screams of bling without a Swarovski crystal in sight….