We Heart; Lifestyle & Design Magazine » Pop-Up

Prada’s 24 h Museum

James Davidson — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:02:28 +0000

Blink and you missed it. This collaboration between fashion giant Prada, architecture icon Rem Koolhaas’ research studio – AMO, and celebrity obsessed artist Francesco Vezzoli, opened on January 24th and – as the name suggests – was gone by the 25th. Vezzoli’s sculptures – photographs mounted onto foamboard – of classical figures with celebrity faces, lined the main hall of the delightfully shocking pink ‘cage’, whilst elsewhere the “Salon des Refusés” – inspired by museum’s ‘hidden archives’ – shrouded a discreet disco dance floor.

Unsurprisingly the celebs turned out in force, with the likes of Marianne Faithfull and Anna Wintour allegedly throwing shapes to a Kate Moss DJ set – how very A-List, darling. But, forget the glamour, forget the mwah-mwah fashion set, what’s intriguing about Prada’s 24 h Museum is the examination of the concept of iconography and Vezzoli’s satire on celebrity. Will the human race be looking back at Courtney Love or Natalie Portman in a few centuries? Who knows, but we’ll bet our bottom dollar that they’ll still be admiring Koolhaas’ breathtaking spaces…

Images courtesy OMA

Cointreau Privé London

Alicja McCarthy — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:57:07 +0000

Cocktails are not just for girls and so was proved when We Heart went cocktail making at the new pop-up speak easy Cointreau Privé in London. The cocktail lounge and restaurant, co-designed by the French liqueur Cointreau and its global brand ambassador Dita Von Teese – modelled on her own LA home – is exactly what you might expect. Opulent and kitsch, sexy with a hint of Parisian style and lashings of brass, gold, sparkle with red velvet… you almost expect Don Draper to be standing at the bar.

The cocktail in question is the signature cocktail; Cointreau Citrus Spice. Using only four ingredients the emphasis is on freshness, the result is a zesty, strong and citrus flavour which makes for a delicious and decidedly moorish cocktail.

Here’s how to make one yourself;

Recipe
37.5ml Cointreau
25ml freshly squeezed orange juice
puree of ginger (or grated) 1/3 tea spoon
10ml fresh lemon juice

Method
Place the ginger into a cocktail shaker, then add all the other ingredients with ice cubes and shake the shaker ‘Cocktail’ style.
Fine strain and pour into a cocktail glass… for that extra bit of zing add an ‘Orange Penny’ garnish (small disk of peel) et voila!

We Heart get to grips with Ms Von Teese’s Cointreau Citrus Spice

Very easy, and very tasty… practically good for you (one of your five a day we joke) and the boys loved it.

Cointreau Privé is only open until 17th December so to register please visit their website. For that extra bit of decadence, and to make a night of it, the speakeasy boasts a five star restaurant presided over by Adam Van Der Bussche and The Recipe.

Dishoom Chowpatty Beach Pop-Up

James Davidson — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:44:44 +0000

Back in February we featured Dishoom, the beautiful Covent Garden restaurant inspired by the faded elegance of Bombay’s 19th century cafés. This week the St. Martin’s Lane establishment has dragged itself down to the beach – well, London’s cultural Southbank to be precise – for a summer of classic Bombay street food, entertainment and their, soon to be highly in demand, ‘Golas’ – their Bombay influenced take on the slush-puppy – all taking place in the confines of their wonderfully ramshackle pop-up beach bar. Playing on the style of their West End restaurant, but fusing it with heavy doses of sunshine, fun and frivolity, Dishoom’s updated vision of Bombay’s Chowpatty beach looks set to be one of the more enjoyable spots to spend long summer days in the capital…

The Modern Pantry at Meza

James Davidson — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:35:30 +0000

The Modern Pantry of Clerkenwell is a sanctuary of excitedly bold flavours, colourful ingredients and herbs and spices from around the world that are brought together by New Zealand chef Anna Hansen to create fresh, original and inspiring dishes that excite the palate. This spring, for a limited period – The Modern Pantry will be popping up in the heart of one of London’s most vibrant areas, Soho. From 22nd March 2011 The Modern Pantry will make its mark at Meza on Wardour Street. For four weeks only, the restaurant and bar will be completely transformed, taking on the minimal and comfortable surroundings that define The Modern Pantry, with furniture from acclaimed Danish design house Fritz Hansen, grey and white painted walls and artwork from guest artists Kate Boxer and Robert Clarke. Anne Hansen will be transporting her eclectic menu to include an A la carte menu as well as a pre-theatre menu with matching white wines picked from all over New Zealand…

The Modern Pantry at Meza

The Vinyl Factory pop-up at St Martins Lane Hotel

James Davidson — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:40:52 +0000

It would seem we’re leaning towards a bit of a personal crusade to save vinyl. Yesterday it was Jack White’s ‘Rolling Record Store‘ and now today it’s the turn of The Vinyl Factory, and their splendid new temporary retail space at the beautiful St Martins Lane Hotel. Having collaborated with the likes of Damon Albarn, Primal Scream and the Pet Shop Boys, The Vinyl Factory is a unique music and arts enterprise that celebrates one of vinyl’s greatest assets – the record cover. Curating exhibitions, conceiving a series of super-limited deluxe vinyl and art box sets, owning London’s finest record shop Phonica and publishing FACT Magazine, are just a few of the strings to The Vinyl Factory’s considerably impressive bow, and now, the Music Is Art concept store, located in the Front Room of the St Martins Lane Hotel, represents the company’s first foray into displaying and selling its art and music limited editions in a physical space. Running until May 29th, the space will be an “homage to records and the relationship between music and art, celebrating the unique, the tangible and the rare in an age of rapid digital consumption”. MP3s? Who the hell are they?

OHWOW Pop-Up at Cappellini SoHo

James Davidson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:44:32 +0000

You may recall OHWOW’s Greenwich Village retail space from back in June, if you do then you’ll quite possibly recognise architect/designer, Rafael de Cárdenas’ particularly vivid style, as he’s once again partnered with OHWOW’s Al Moran and Aaron Bondaroff to create a blindingly brilliant pop-up retail space within Italian brand Cappellini‘s Wooster Street flagship store. Nodding to the graphic elements of their fixed store, OHWOW’s festive pop-up alludes to wrapped presents with its bold cellophane wrapping almost presenting the store itself as one super-sized gift. Intensely unique, the OHWOW pop-up jars splendidly with the super-bright red interiors of the Cappellini store and needless to say the stock is as impressive as the design – with contemporary artists such as Terrence Koh, Jim Drain, and Scott Campbell having been commissioned to create unique hand-painted holiday ornaments that will be on display and for sale until the pop-up’s doors close in January…

North Pole Bar, Manchester

James Davidson — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:36:19 +0000

As the weather begins to take a real grip and attentions begin to stray away from deadlines to Christmas shopping, and more importantly – parties, there’s nothing better than submerging yourselves into a little bit of kitsch, winter nostalgia, and there’s very few better places in Britain that do it better than Manchester. Packed to the brim with pop-up bars, skating rinks and one of the UK’s largest Christmas markets – Manchester certainly adopts a splendid European festival vibe for the best part of December. An early starter in the silly season of over indulgence is Cathedral Gardens’ North Pole Bar, a pop-up bar boasting über-kitsch faux fur throws, Swiss chalet rugs, warm winter cocktails and, erm, an Asian noodle bar. Glossing over the mismatched commercial partnership, Manchester’s North Pole Bar is as good an example of an unpretentious, simple slice of plain old winter fun, and if you’re looking to tie in your Christmas shopping with a bit of a knees up – and why not? – then this is a good a place as any to do just that…

Photography: Haydn Rydings

The Loft Project

James Davidson — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 23:07:20 +0000

Originally conceived as a temporary supper club with personal test kitchen, The Loft Project – the brainchild of Nuno Mendes, an acclaimed chef whose career has led him through top restaurants in Europe and the US, including an internship at El Bulli – is now an intriguing platform for up and coming chefs to showcase their talents in a unique, intimate setting in East London. Having recently showcased the talents of Samuel Miller – of the world’s number one restaurant, Noma – and Ola Rudin – previously of the highly esteemed WD-50 and Aquavit in New York, The Loft Project is proving itself to be one of London’s leading locations for sampling cuisine of the very highest order, from some of the most prodigious young talent around. Taking all that you know about the supper club trend and putting a 3 Michelin star spin on it all, The Loft Project continues to be one of the most exciting foodie experiments in the world, get involved whilst you can…

Richard Chai x Snarkitecture

James Davidson — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 16:42:37 +0000

Considered by some, seemingly ill-informed, commentators to be nothing more than a “quick fad” – pop-up environments are a 21st century phenomenon that just goes from strength to strength, and let’s face it, the unrestricted ability to show off your ideas and to experiment with creativity mean they’re the stuff dreams are made of for any forward-thinking designer, architect, retailer, restaurateur etc. This collaboration between Brooklyn based art/architecture practice Snarkitecture and up and coming, award-winning fashion designer, Richard Chai, is no different – pushing the boundaries of a temporary retail space with its interior landscape, created by using white architectural foam cut by hand to produce erosions and extensions of the sculpted walls and ceiling…

LLOVE Pop-Up Hotel, Tokyo

James Davidson — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:43:43 +0000

Over the last 10 years, the boundaries between art, design and hospitality have certainly blurred. Hotel lobbies have become temporary art spaces and top designers and artists have conceived rooms, bars and restaurants. Suzanne Oxenaar, Artistic Director of the Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy in Amsterdam – together with a selection of Dutch and Japanese artists – has taken things to the next level, curating a temporary exhibition, as part of Tokyo Designers Week, that consists of 14 guest rooms cum art installations you can actually spend the night in. Open to the public between the hours of 12pm and 3pm, LLOVE‘s guest rooms – that are inspired by 400 years of trade and cultural relations between Netherlands and Japan – are available to reserve until 23rd November, and are accompanied by a café and a shop that are, of course, equally visually arresting. Thought provoking, beautiful and offering the chance to become truly engaged with a dramatic art ‘happening’ – can we expect to see more pop-up ‘hotelibitions’ in future?

Photography: Images 1, 3, 8, 10, 12, 14 Masanori Ikeda(Yukai) – all other images Takumi Ota

A.F. Vandevorst, Guerrilla Store Aktion 1

James Davidson — Thu, 06 May 2010 16:37:03 +0000

As many of the larger brands around the world continue to deliver staid, unadventurous – often undecorated – ‘pop-up’ stores, the once stimulating cult of guerrilla stores has been written off by many as somewhat of a fad… a tired one at that. It’s enlightening then to see the concept presented with style, energy and a distinct hallmark of class. Belgian fashion label, A.F. Vandevorst, have done just that here with their world war era field hospital concept for this Antwerp pop-up… the intention of the ‘Aktion’ guerrilla stores is to present the installation within unoccupied premises around the world – including boutiques, laundrettes and bakeries – for a maximum of three months at a time. The Antwerp store has recently closed, however it’s thought that Brussels could be next….

Photography by: Ann Vallé

Phaidon Pop-Up Store, Piccadilly

James Davidson — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:16:31 +0000

As you will probably know, Phaidon are one of the world’s most celebrated publishing houses. Beautifully designed, hefty tomes featuring the likes of top chefs such as Ferran Adria to definitive illustrated biographies such as the majestic ‘Le Corbusier Le Grand’ through to their essential Wallpaper* City Guides, Phaidon produce the coffee table icons that everybody wants to own. It’s probably an understatement then to say that their foray into the ever-expanding ‘pop-up’ craze will be nothing short of a sure fire success. Located opposite London’s Royal Academy of Arts, this temporary flagship store will be around until the end of London 2010, catch it while you can.

London Design Guide Pop-Up Shop

James Davidson — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:39:05 +0000

The ‘first publication dedicated to the multi-faceted designscape of London,’ London Design Guide is the debut of an annual publication dedicated to London’s many design retailers, galleries, museums and bookshops of contemporary and 20th Century furniture and products. To coincide with this weeks London Design Festival the rather clued up author of said book, Max Fraser, in collaboration with Sigmar Design Studio, have put together a chic little pop-up shop in the Brompton Design District. If you’re in the area enjoying this weeks festivities then be sure to pop-in to the pop-up and bag yourself a signed copy of what is set to become London’s design bible.

Nomiya Restaurant at the ArtHome

James Davidson — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:25:29 +0000

Part of the Electrolux sponsored ArtHome experience at the Palais de Tokyo contemporary art gallery, Paris, the Nomiya Restaurant is a old concept by chef Gilles Stassart, creator of the MAC/VAL restaurant Transversal, and artist Laurent Grasso. Situated high above Paris on the rooftop of the Palais de Tokyo, replacing the ground-breaking Everland Hotel, the Nomiya dining room has views equally as breathtaking as it’s own innovative architectural space. With evening dining for 12 visitors only, reservations taken a month in advance, daily tours and workshops that offer an ‘up-close look at the secrets and inspirations behind the sumptuous dishes of the Nomiya restaurant,’ this is an accessible experience that any visit to Paris should not be complete without.

143 ‘Pop-Up Store’, London

James Davidson — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:34:57 +0000

Open for 2 weeks only (shutting it’s doors on 28th May) is 143, an impeccably cool collaboration between the seemingly unstoppable creative genius that is Kate Moross and cult fashion label Silver Spoon Attire, supported by Gio-Goi. In the heart of London’s Newburgh quarter, 143 is a visual feast of limited edition collections, clothing, art, music and even confectionery, all housed in a beautifully pink, flouro and decidedly playful interior, art directed by Moross, the wonderfully talented starlet of the London creative scene. A limited run of 143 tees from Gio-Goi, each screen printed and individually numbered by Kate along wit items from the Silver Spoon Attire SS09 collection (with an exclusive on-site made 2 measure service) are just some of the highlights amongst retro eyewear, home-wares from Joseph Joseph, accessories and jewellery, artworks, nostalgic candy and music from Kate’s own Isomorph Records which includes a 5 Track 10” Candy floss pink vinyl from We Heart Stuff favourites HeartsRevolution.

“The Candy Floss Pink Sparkle Lo-pro”, as customised by Kate Moross for 143, has been produced by Fixed Gear London and is valued at over £2,000, it can be won by raffle via 5 pound tickets with all proceeds going to the chosen 143 charity, Barnardo’s.

Following the pop-up store’s limited run at it’s Newburgh location, the 143 retail concept will be rolled out to carefully chosen locations world-wide, we’ll ensure that you’re the first to know if it’s heading to a town near you.