Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law, Science & Technology

Glamorous Gowns, Jewel Tones & Endless Dreams: A Cinematic New Year's Eve Countdown with "To Catch a Thief" by Alfred Hitchcock

The year is coming to an end and some of us some may be going to parties and dinners or may be leaving for a special end-of-the-year holiday. For those ones preparing to go somewhere glamorous and nice - have a wonderful time!

For those staying in, instead, well, there's no need to sulk, actually you should rejoice as you may have additional time to… dream! Dreams are free, after all, and you can dream any time, when life is smiling at you or when things do not go as they should or as you wished. So, let's have a fashion dream all together in these last hours that separate us from 2024.

In the last few posts we mentioned Schiaparelli's designs from the '30s and the '40s, so let's move on a little bit, but maintain the vintage mood, virtually shopping for glamorous dresses and gowns from Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 romantic thriller "To Catch a Thief", based on the 1952 eponymous novel by David Dodge (the film will turn 70 in 2025; take a note of this anniversary).

Starring Cary Grant as John Robie, aka former burglar and thief "The Cat", and Grace Kelly as wealthy and spoiled American heiress Frances Stevens, the film takes place around the beaches and rooftops of the French Riviera.

There's no assassin in the film, but an expert thief who is replicating The Cat's modus operandi and is robbing wealthy ladies on holiday of their grand jewels. Among the hotel guests who get robbed there are also Frances and her mother staying at the illustrious Carlton, in Cannes.

The film featured costumes -  from evening gowns to beachwear - designed by the legendary Edith Head. The most awarded costume designer in the history of film, Head won in her career 8 Academy Awards and got thirty-five Oscar nominations. For this film she created an absolutely wonderful wardrobe for Grace Kelly that went from beach ensembles to a grand golden gown.

The most interesting thing about the costumes in the film is that there is a peculiar transition in the colors of Frances' outfits, from the ice blue tones she wears earlier on in the film to the brilliant gold of her lamé gown in the film's climax (please note: Cary Grant is in blackface towards the end of the film, dressed like a moor and carrying a parasol behind Frances and her mother, his face is not painted, though, but he wears a black wooden mask which is instrumental to fool the police at the ball; please note, viewers may find this offensive and distressing).

The color changes in her gowns also mirror a sort of change in her character: Frances who seems rather distant while wearing her ice blue gown, becomes calculating when donning her glamorous white and black beach ensemble, and then turns into a sort of accomplice in the plan to unmask the thief while she is wearing her grand golden gown. In a nutshell, the colors are subtly used to tell the story.

But there is also another symbolism: all the dresses and gowns donned by Grace Kelly in the film are in some ways inspired by the colors of jewels. In a way, we could almost draw a comparison between the film wardrobe and Balanchine's "Jewels" ballet that had costumes and choreographies inspired by precious gems. Throughout "To Catch a Thief", jewel tones predominate, from the emerald green light of the scene in which Frances and Robie are looking at the fireworks to the sapphire blues of the sea, something that gets replicated in Frances' wardrobe.

When we first meet Frances she is wearing a light yellow halter neck one piece bathing suit, then an ice blue chiffon gown with thin spaghetti straps and then a blush pink sleeveless top and pleated skirt ensemble - all these colours may be hinting at sapphires that can be both yellow, pink and blue.

Her striking black halter neck swimming suit and matching capri pants with white linen wrap skirt point at black onyx, while her white strapless column gown at diamonds. Her final grand 18th-century inspired strapless golden ball gown with sleeves is extravagantly elaborate compared to the white column dress Kelly wears earlier on in the film.

It is characterised by a fitted bodice and an ample skirt with four pair of wings (butterflies? doves?) appliqued on the skirt - matched with a golden wig decorated with a pair of wings painted gold and with gold gloves. This design is definitely over-the-top and obviously hints at solid gold or platinum, anticipating the passion for all things metallic that inspired fashion decade after decade (and that in more recent years generated a fascination with automata, robots and gynoids with bodies of solid metal), offering a gold version of Cecil Beaton's 1925 "Symphony in Silver" portrait of his sister Baba in a silver gown.

So, while "To Catch a Thief" may not be a masterpiece in Hitchcock's filmography, it may still offer us some great options for a dream wardrobe and for a grand festive gown. 

Since we are dreaming big, let's not forget to dream of shopping for jewels, maybe in tones that match the hues seen in "To Catch a Thief": at Sotheby's you may find a Buccellati necklace inspired by flowers that reflects the colors of Grace Kelly's costumes in the film as it features yellow and white gold, tourmaline, sapphire and ruby (a necklace that, in real life, may set you back $56.250...).

Feeling more inspired by the blue sea and the yellow sun, shades that call to mind the French riviera? Opt for Marcel Salloum's gold, platinum sapphire ring with a striking central bi-colored yellow and blue sapphire (slightly cheaper than the previous necklace at $10.230).

If you love the absinthe-green tones that Hitchcock opted for in some of the scenes, at Sotheby's they have a cocktail ring in white gold, with a central round cabochon-cut opal surrounded by coloreless, blue and green diamonds (only $3.870, almost a bargain...).

So, you see, just like Cinderella, we shall go to the ball after all, and still manage to gracefully waltz into the coming year, adorned with the finery of our imagination and the promise of possibilities. Have a lovely New Year's Eve!

Finding Fashion in Ingredients

Some of us have been whipping up festive feasts for our loved ones in the last few days, or maybe are gearing up for another culinary adventure tomorrow evening as they wait to ring in the new year.

Cooking with love is undoubtedly fulfilling, but, for those of us who do not possess the culinary skills of a Michelin Star Chef, but feel more inclined towards food presentation, table setting may be their true calling.

Yet there is a stage in the food prep game that's oddly exciting and might spark some fashion inspo for arty creative minds – the ingredient hunt.

Wandering through the veggie aisle can indeed be a colorful adventure for your taste buds and your style senses. If you've embraced Barbie pink this year, and you may not be ready to let it go yet, try to get some Pink Passion Swiss Chard with its large, tender green leaves and those crisp, pink stems. Pair it up with purple, yellow and orange carrots for some serious foodie fashion inspiration.

In a previous post we looked at the vegetable muse, remembering Schiaparelli's vegetable necklace and her 1941 black rayon crepe dinner jacket adorned with vegetable-shaped buttons, so vegetables can be a great inspiration.

Mushrooms have been stealing the fashion spotlight this year, with designers cooking up sustainable options to leather with mycelium.

You can bet mushrooms will be the trendsetters of the fashion world in the years to come and we will see more of them on the runways in 2024.

Speaking of trends, blue crabs invaded many Mediterranean countries this year, reaching Italy, and now you can spot their vibrant colors in quite a few supermarkets. Eating them? Well, that's up to you.

Yet they do have some wonderful blue shades and they can be an inspiration for a variety of fashion items, from garments to accessories. An oversized crab necklace made its way, for example, into Schiaparelli's S/S 24 collection, giving lobsters a run for their money.

So, next time you're shopping for ingredients, do not get lost in the supermarket and get distracted, but make some ready to wear (or even Haute Couture…) connections: if cooking isn't your jam, shopping for groceries could still be fun.

A Statement Sleeve Trick for the End of the Year (& Beyond)

In yesterday's post, we explored a necklace with ties to Elsa Schiaparelli, crafted by repurposing various materials. Let's continue this thread and draw inspiration from a 1938 dinner dress by Schiaparelli, to ponder a bit about the art of renewing a design.

The first image featured in this post shows an elegant silk crepe evening dress by Schiap (sourced from the Philadelphia Art Museum archive) with a distinctive element - short, bejeweled, tiered pink sleeves adorned with gem-embroidered detailing by Lesage.

The two-tiered rigid sleeves in this design possess a hybrid quality, reminiscent of a blend between short sleeves and shoulder pads. They elongate the shoulder silhouette, instilling the wearer with a sense of power and status. Despite their brevity, these sleeves command attention, accentuating one's physical presence in space. It's a simple yet remarkably effective technique.

While we can't buy this specific design, we can get inspired by its sleeves and, with a little bit of imagination, we may use this trick to refresh an old dress (or even a T-shirt) and add to a design a powerfully chic and glamorous aura.

The attention on sleeves aligns with current trends: sleeves have been a prominent feature in 2023 fashion and this trend reached a peak in Yorgos Lanthimos's film "Poor Things," starring Emma Stone as Bella Baxter.

The emphasis on sleeves in Stone's costumes, designed by Holly Waddington (and recently displayed at the ASU FIDM Museum in Los Angeles), is unmistakable. In the film the sleeves voluminously expand and extend, resembling inflatable structures, akin to clouds or balloons, offering a more overt contrast to the designs by Schiaparelli seen earlier on in this post.

However, the focus on sleeves isn't confined to the current year, but will extend into the next. In January, the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York will launch its 2024 programming with "Statement Sleeves," a free exhibition featuring approximately 80 pieces from the 18th century to the present day selected from the museum archives (and there are some truly extraordinary pieces there, going from a 1895 skating jacket to Madame Grès' navy blue silk taffeta evening gown with billowing sleeves). 

This showcase will explore how sleeves function as "signifiers of status, taste, and personality," underscoring their role in defining a look, both in historical contexts and contemporary fashion, according to a press release.

Whether basic and understated or voluminous, ruffled, sheer, and dramatic, sleeves in various shapes, adorned with a wide array of embellishments, continue to be a focal point in contemporary creations, so join the trend (if you haven't already) by reinventing your two-tiered sleeve à la Schiap.

Kitchen Tool Drama: From a Lobster Cracker to an Avant-Garde Necklace

Lobsters turned into a fashionable motif after Elsa Schiaparelli's infamous dress arrived on the fashion scene.

Designed in 1937 by Schiaparelli in collaboration with Salvador Dalí, the white silk organza evening gown with a print of an oversized lobster was deemed unusual, surreal and controversial.

The lobster was indeed out of place on this elegant and feminine gown, yet it perfectly mirrored Schiap's passion for original designs, evoking Dalí's art, like his lobster telephone from 1936.

The dress (now part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art collection) was made famous when it appeared in Vogue magazine, modeled by Wallis Simpson, who later on married the Duke of Windsor.

Since then, as you may remember also from previous posts, lobsters appeared as embroidered motifs, prints and accessories as well.

Lobsters returned in Daniel Roseberry's Schiaparelli S/S 24 collection, that featured a painted lobster on a jacket, an oversized lobster necklace and a draped cream jersey sarong skirt with a lobster strategically placed over the crotch.

Before that, Thom Browne's Pre-Fall 2022 was a riot of lobsters: the collection featured an armor-like lobster tail skirt and matching pincer mittens, lobster-shaped rucksacks, white or red lobster-dotted formal suits and preppy intarsia cardigans obviously decorated with lobsters.

Legend goes that French poet and essayist Gérard de Nerval used to walk a lobster around the streets of Paris on a blue ribbon. 

Apparently he would do so to upset the bourgeoisie, and, throughout the years, we have seen further extravagant lobster-related moments courtesy of the late Isabella Blow (View this photo and View this photo) and of Lady Gaga as well (View this photo). 

Yet, before that, lobsters were pretty popular subjects on Christmas cards. Browse through well-stocked archives and institutions like the Victoria & Albert Museum (you can discover more about their Christmas cards and lobster designs from this video), and you may be able to spot some great examples of Victorian era Christmas cards, often featuring babies riding lobsters, a lobster parade or a lobster snapping at children (not sure why, maybe they were naughty and the lobster retaliated…).

Now, some of us may have had seafood, crab or lobster during a grand Christmas dinner or may have seafood for the New Year's Eve celebrations. Which means that some of us (or our friends/relatives who prepared/are going to prepare the meal) may have around the house a claw cracker tool. Handy for all sorts of seafood, but especially for lobsters and crabs, these crackers at times are shaped like lobster claws and are coated in shiny red varnish, something that, to my eyes, makes them irresistible. Having a soft spot for all marine creatures, but for crustaceans in particular (I love their exoskeleton; if I were a mermaid I would probably have a pet lobster...), I removed the item from a friend's kitchen (note: removed, not stolen...removed) because I felt the need of doing something more original with this tool.

Despite the cracker in question wasn't as shiny as I would have liked, I still thought that it may have been reused. I dug into my box of leftover materials, found a sturdy elastic band that originally belonged to a broken Cressi Duke snorkeling mask (View this photo; I found it very apt reusing a piece of a diving mask for a necklace inspired by lobsters, remember to always disassemble things you must discard as, quite often, you will find a piece that may come handy in future…) and combined the two things together to come up with a rather unusual necklace.

I also used a leftover piece of leather to cover the screw in the middle of the cracker; the leather also helps securing the cracker open (I used an automatic button to keep the strip in place). Using the thick elastic and the black leather strip was a way to mimic the tape or the elastic that blocks the claws of lobsters when you buy them, but I wanted to reinterpret them and turn them from a constriction for the lobster, to a construction feat, almost a frame that keeps the necklace together and in place.

The result is wearable, avant-garde and bizarre, but also pretty cool, considering that it was just a matter of assembling the necklace and no glue or needle was employed to keep it in place. The only new material I used was the automatic button for the central leather strip (could be a nice exercise: make something almost entirely from recycled bits and pieces, using only one new material). The piece can therefore be completely dismantled and the lobster cracker could still be used for the purpose it was designed for.

So, did I save an innocent lobster who may have incurred in future in my friend's culinary rage? Possibly. Did I jeopardize a friendship with my kitchen tool drama? Probably. Do I have a new necklace? Definitely. Will I ever be invited again to a dinner where seafood/lobster/crab is served? Er, probably not. But, as I said, now I have a new and bizarre accessory at a minimal cost. Guess you can't have everything in life...

Angelic Aesthetics with a Twist & Hidden Messages in a Costume

Angels are associated with the Christmas iconography, but, if you're looking for inspirations relating to these celestial beings that go beyond the usual iconography of angels with feathered wings, check out the image featured in this post of dancer and choreographer Loïe Fuller.

As you may remember from previous posts, Fuller was a pioneer of theatrical lighting techniques and held patents for chemical compounds to create colour gel and use chemical salts for luminescent lighting and garments. 

The dancer was known for her iconic "Serpentine Dance" in which she would create different shapes - from flowers to butterflies and flames - by moving in the darkness her fantastically coloured phosphorescent swaths of silk attached to a pair of hand-held wands.

Maybe taken around 1901, the first image featured in this post (from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.) portrays Fuller in an elongated white flowing gown, behind her head and shoulders, a representation of the moon forms an oversized halo.

Her head is indeed the only visible part of her body, completely hidden behind the almost tentacular gown that, flowing fluidly, extends from her body reaching out and spreading around her like tentacles.

In the second image in this post, instead, we can see her forming angel wings thanks to the hand-held wands hidden in her costume.

In more recent years this trick was used by fashion and costume designers to create capes that revealed an image or a slogan: Iris van Herpen's design for Jordan Roth at the 2019 Met Gala looked like a closed theatre curtain.

When Roth raised his arms, though, laser-cut "glitch-bubbles" stretched open into a large spheroid volume of three and a half meters wide and revealed a new layer in between these bubbles, a 360° theatre combining photos of Paris's Palais Garnier, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the Royal Opera in Stockholm.

"The look explores the relationship between the fine line of performance and illusion and transforms Jordan into a performance himself," van Herpen explains about it on her site.

Van Herpen's design for Roth uses a powerful image, hidden in the folds of the cape, but Fuller's design can be employed also for other applications.

In the 2022 production by Jamie Fletcher of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" - from John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask's 1998 eponymous stage musical, that was turned into a film in 2001 by John Cameron Mitchell - Divina De Campo's wears a stars-and-stripes cape that opens up to reveal the slogan "Gender is a construct".

A similar expedient was also featured in Mitchell's film with Hedwig opening up an extravagant cape à la Loïe Fuller with the message "Yankee Go Home... With Me!" dedicated to Sergeant Luther Robinson, an American soldier.

Consider the-message-hiding-in-a-Loïe-Fuller-cape trick as a striking concept for making a grand entrance at a New Year's Eve celebration or as a clever means to challenge the conventional angelic look, especially if you're involved in a subversive interpretation of a live nativity scene.

Messages to add? Oh, well, anything you fancy, from social issues and politics to art, cultural taboos, entertainment and technology. Just make it striking and annoying enough to challenge the norm, disrupt the status quo, stir the conversation, spark debate and dance into a year of radical transformation.

Candles in the Darkness: Christmas in the Midst of Conflict from the Israel-Gaza War Back to The Manchester Blitz

Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, the Palestinian town where Christians believe Jesus was born, were subdued. This year's Christmas celebrations across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories were indeed cancelled in solidarity with the people of Gaza. In Bethlehem, in particular, shops and restaurants were closed, tourists and pilgrims were absent, and locals prayed for Gaza.  

At the beginning of October, Hamas militants initiated an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing around 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. In response, the Israeli military conducted air strikes on Gaza and launched a ground offensive.

So far, according to the United Nations reports, close to two million people were forced to leave their homes in Gaza. More than 20,400 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war in response to the October attack by Hamas and, according to the UN, a quarter of the population is now starving.

Fighting has also intensified: more than 100 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes late on Sunday, Christmas Eve, and bombings struck a residential block in the Maghazi refugee camp near Deir al-Balah, that was also hit despite previously being identified by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as an "evacuation zone" for Palestinians fleeing the fighting. In brief, Christmas was one of the single deadliest days of the 12-week-old conflict.

In Manger Square in Bethlehem, outside the Church of the Nativity, built on the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born, worshippers lit candles and prayed at the nativity scene that featured figures standing amid rubble and razor wire.

In the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, the nativity scene featured instead a baby Jesus again among rubble, but also wrapped in a Palestinian keffiyeh, to remind people of all the children - around 8,000 - who died in Gaza since October.

During the Christmas Eve midnight mass service at the Church of St. Catherine in Bethlehem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, remembered how when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to the Lord in a manger because there was no room for them. "My thoughts go to Gaza and its two million inhabitants," he then added. "Truly the words 'there was no room for them' describe their situation, which is now known to all. Their suffering ceaselessly cries out to the whole world. No place or home is safe for anyone."

You may be a believer or not, but this lack of "room" continues to be the cause of many tragedies and divisions in our time as well. The world is a vast place, but there is no room for Palestinians and no safe place in Gaza (even the Catholic Holy Family church, in Gaza City, that was turned into a makeshift shelter, was repeatedly hit by Israeli airstrikes); there seems to be no room for migrants arriving in Europe by boat after a long journey and for people suffering and in need.

We should take a break today and ponder on this constant displacement suffered by people who are told that there is no room for them, and also think about other deadly raids and bombings that occurred around Christmas and that marked history. 

The large-scale aerial and ground operations in the Gaza Strip that should be targeting Hamas leaders, but just seem to be killing innocent civilians, evoke indeed other attacks carried out around Christmas during the Second World War. 

In October 1940, the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) switched its methods to night attacks. As an important inland port and manufacturing centre, the city of Manchester, in the UK, together with the nearby industrial estate in Trafford Park, were both targeted.

The most devastating attack took place in the days immediately preceding Christmas. The attacks were particularly violent between 22 and 24 December: the Luftwaffe executed an aerial assault over the course of two consecutive evenings. Nearly 450 bombers dropped 467 tons of explosives and 1925 incendiary bombs. Along with destroying countless buildings and blocking major access points to the city, the attack took an estimated 684 lives and left more than 2,000 injured. The event passed to history as the "Manchester Blitz" or "Christmas Blitz".

Among the buildings wholly or partially destroyed there were the Free Trade Hall, the Royal Exchange, the cathedral, the Victoria Buildings, Salford Royal Infirmary, Manchester United's ground at Old Trafford, Cross Street chapel, and Victoria Station.

Manchester was a textile manufacturing centre and, hit by the bombs, the inflammable textiles in the clothing and cotton goods warehouse district of Portland Street, George Street and Piccadilly, contributed to spreading the flames. Eventually, the military had to be called in to dynamite some buildings so as to create fire breaks. Parts of the area were still smouldering over a week later.

Witnesses also reported of seeing a sort of snow falling over Manchester at a certain point after a loud bang. Yet it wasn't snow, but sweet wrappers scattered to the wind by a bomb that had hit Long's Toffee Works.

Art can help us remembering these events: the Manchester Art Gallery archive, for example, preserves several pencil sketches by Arthur Sherwood Edwards, an architect and sculptor who worked for Manchester City Council's Architects Department, showing the destruction left by the blitz.

Made using thick bold pencil strokes, the sketches show the relics and rubble in Manchester: in a sketch it is possible to see the ruins of St Augustine's Church in York Street, off Oxford Road; in another there is the Royal Exchange with rubble in the foreground.

Then there's Back Water Street with a solitary telephone box left standing; Gartside Street with a building in ruins surrounded by rubble and more destroyed buildings in Back Irwell Street and Albert Street.

The bombing took a matter of hours to destroy the city; the rebuilding took years to complete. The Free Trade Hall, for example, was restored in time for the 1951 festival of Britain, and the cathedral was completed seven years later.

At times the altar in Manchester cathedral is covered with a cloth embroidered with the design of a phoenix: the bird symbolizes the city rising again from the ashes of the Christmas blitz.

A city can still rise from the ashes, houses can be rebuilt, but it is not possible to bring back the dead, while for the living the trauma persists. In his homily during the Christmas mass, Pizzaballa stated regarding the situation in Gaza, "It is not enough to talk about a cease-fire; we don't want a cease-fire, we want the hostilities to end. We have to stop this nonsense."

Any war is nonsense, and no raid or bombing can be justified at Christmas or at any other time of the year. It is therefore imperative for us all in the international community to unite and take a decisive stance against this ongoing turmoil and work towards the healing of people ravaged by conflicts.

A Twist to Christmas Card Traditions

We may not exchange Christmas cards as frequently as before, but looking at vintage cards could spark inspiration to revive this tradition or generate ideas for various card and invitation styles. Take, for instance, the rich collection at the Manchester Art Gallery.

One standout piece from the archive is an original chromolithographed and embossed fan-shaped card, adorned with a tasseled cord, dating back to 1870-80. Produced by Eugène Rimmel, French-born British perfumer and businessman (yes, the one that invented non-toxic mascara, that's why in many languages mascara is also known as "rimmel"...), the card unfolds like a peacock's tail, featuring seven leaves that elegantly fit into a central piece.

Rimmel employed perfume creatively, infusing scent in sachet valentines and in theatre and concet programs, so maybe also this card was perfumed. What we do know for sure about this card, though, is that this was a popular design: there was indeed a Valentine card by Rimmel that looked like this "Christmas fan", but with different wishes ("My heart if with you," "Forget me not"; View this photo). 

For fashion fans, there's a card in the Manchester Art Gallery archive from 1910-20 that incorporates a miniature sewing set. Designed by Angus Thomas and sourced from Mary Greg's collection, it playfully declares, "You're still a bachelor - darn your socks! Nevertheless, I send my heartiest wishes for a singularly jolly Christmas and a doubly Happy New Year." The quirky aspect of this card lies in its inclusion of a needle, buttons, a small pair of scissors, and a flattened thimble affixed to lightweight cardboard.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Mary Greg, driven by a passion for pre-industrial handmade objects, diligently preserved items made with traditional skills that were fast-disappearing or even already lost. Greg would acquire everyday domestic items like basketware and thimbles that were often overlooked by contemporary collectors, but that, over time, gained rarity. 

This card is just an example of Thomas' comic Christmas and puzzle cards from the 1800s. Many of them featured silly and humorous puns that people liked a lot.

Joke cards actually became a favourite around that time: Thomas sold Christmas cards with a variety of subjects and jokes, at times including paper shells ("I send this 'o pin you'll come well out of your shell and have a jolly Christmas with lots of good luck to warm the cockles of your heart," View this photo) or scissors (check out the wishes on this one - "Have a clipping time", View this photo).

One of the most popular cards by Thomas featured a pasteboard thermometer attached to it saying "With the Warmest Christmas Greetings. May your Enjoyment Rise by Degrees to the Highest Known Temperature". On the card there was also a quiz: "What is the highest known temperature?" with the answer ingeniously hidden behind the thermometer. Thomas' cards are rare, but it's still possible to stumble upon them on Etsy or at vintage markets - so keep your eyes peeled for them.

So, there's still time to wish a loved one a jolly Christmas and there's still applications for Thomas' silly jokes: perhaps, you may want to use the miniature sewing kit idea as an opportunity to remind someone of the joy in learning new skills or employ it to metaphorically reconcile a broken friendship. Have a lovely Christmas!

Supernatural Christmas Eve Tale: "Maese Pérez el Organista" by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

It's Christmas Eve and most of us are more or less ready to join in the celebrations with our families and friends. Who knows, maybe some of us are alone and others may be working. In a way, it doesn't matter where we are as it feels hard to celebrate in a broken world where there are still too many wars and injustices and with climate change turning a white Christmas into a warm celebration. But we all need something to sooth our soul, we all crave for some magic and solace as well.

So, tonight, before going to bed, for inspiration, read "Maese Pérez el organista", one of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer's "leyendas", written in the 1800s.

This short story divided in four parts with a brief intro, revolves around a humble blind organist, Maese (master) Pérez, who plays angelically during the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, bringing joy to the hearts of vast crowds of people through his celestial music.

Yet, being old and infirm, Maese Perez dies, but there's a supernatural twist in this tale that is also the story of a vast humanity gathering together in a church - from common people to the ecclesiastical hierarchies and the wealthy lords and dames in rich robes, most of them definitely not interested in the Mass, but just hoping to be transported to the celestial spheres through Maese Pérez's music.

So have a lovely and slightly scary Christmas Eve reading this tale in its original language, Spanish (Download Maese Pérez el Organista_GustavoAdolfoBécquer), or in its English translation (Download Maese Pérez el Organista_GustavoAdolfoBécquer_English).

And, if you like playing with Artificial Intelligence and you feel inspired, well, do your own illustrations (like I did with Midjourney) for this supernatural short story.

Inhabiting Miniature Worlds: Dolls' Houses Vs Architectural Models

In yesterday's post, we explored gingerbread houses designed by architects and engineers as part of a fun Christmas event with a design twist. However, can a miniature house really be considered an architectural model? For example, are there differences between a doll's house and an architectural model? An exhibition at London's Architectural Association (AA) recently analyzed this dilemma.

"Portraits of a Practice: The Life and Work of MJ Long," featured two doll's houses used as portals to examine MJ Long's designs, work, life, and her uncatalogued archive at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Born in Summit, New Jersey, in 1939, Mary Jane Long studied architecture at Yale School of Architecture, later moving to the UK in 1965 to join Colin St John (Sandy) Wilson's architecture practice. She played a crucial role in the 30-year creation of the British Library, and married Wilson in 1972. She independently designed studios for artists including Peter Blake, RB Kitaj and Frank Auerbach, and worked on museums and galleries including the Jewish Museum in London.

The exhibition at the AA Gallery showcased a doll's house Long designed for her daughter Sal and a model, a reconstruction of Colin St John Wilson and Partners' entry to the AD Doll's House Competition in 1982.

There are some differences between these two structures: the doll's house served as a contemplative space that encapsulated references and ideas from Long's career into a miniature form. It also explored the gendering of space and objects, as well as the gendered complexities of family life and domesticity. On the other hand, the architectural model, while still a doll's house, looked more modern with its brightly colored and functional environments, and featured numerous drawers, doors, and layers, even though it lacked inhabitation.

Doll's houses actually often consider inhabitation, making hierarchies and power structures embedded in domestic space more visible, while architectural models tend to hide these relationships through the abstraction of space and minimal inhabitation.

Besides, the doll's house is considered a toy, something playful and feminine, while the other is seen as a more serious and professional model.

However, MJ Long's house for Sal remains a real gem: hand-painted, in tones of grey and mauve, it was based on a classic New Haven house (on a street called Hillhouse Avenue, not far from Yale University where Long studied) and featured the number 23 on the door.

The architect made it on the floor of the living room in the home she shared with her husband and business partner Colin St John Wilson.

Together, they co-designed the British Library, and during a challenging stage in the process, Long devoted her limited free time to constructing the doll's house, incorporating aspects of her childhood, academic interests and personal life to create this large timber object whose style is distinct from anything she made in practice and that maybe was created as a personal passion project, rather than just as a present for Sal.  

Curated by AA Diploma tutor Elena Palacios Carral (who bought Long's doll's house for Sal at an auction) and designed by Isabella Synek Herd (who built the replica of the doll's house that was originally Colin St John Wilson and Partners' entry for the 1982 AD competition), the exhibition and a lecture accompanying it (see YouTube video embedded in this post) offered insights into Long's life and work.

Another fascinating example of toy house that could also be an architectural model is found at the Davia Bargellini Museum in Bologna.

This model serves as a miniature reproduction of an 18th century house, complete with furniture, tableware, and even a birdcage with a tiny bird hanging from the ceiling.

The exterior of the house features glass doors and large windows with golden balustrades, frames, and cornices. The interior is divided into five interconnected rooms, all of them floored and frescoed - entrance hall, dining room, kitchen, living room, and bedroom, all complete with exquisite furniture and accessories such as tableware. 

Doll's houses were widely popular in Northern Europe at the time and in particular in countries such as the Netherlands (the Rijksmuseum has got some lovely examples of doll's houses), but also in France, Germany, and England. Doll's houses primarily served an educational function.

In Italy, scaled houses for nativity scenes and sacred representations are not rare, but, outside the religious context, these objects remain quite rare. In this doll's house instead, the reproduction of architectural elements and furnishings is accurate in every detail. Various materials were used, including wood, fabrics, glass, metals and ceramic, with gilded, painted, and lacquered decorations.

The carvings show motifs derived from Roman Baroque, often present in 18th century Bolognese furniture while the style reflects that of the region, which reveals the piece was probably made in Emilia Romagna.

Undoubtedly, this model represented a miniature luxury abode more similar to an extremely detailed architectural model, and light years away from the Barbie houses of our times in 50 shades of pink (guess it's a bit like comparing Haute Couture with ultra-fast fashion...).

Whether built for relaxation or turned into a profession, doll's houses and miniature spaces resonate with our times for one main reason: they serve as materializations of our dream houses, something that many cannot afford or have built and lost because of conflicts or natural catastrophes.

Baking a Better World: Gingerbread Urbanism Inspiring Sustainable Futures

It's that time of the year when architecture turns sweet and even amateurs can try their hands at designing and baking the most extravagant buildings with gingerbread.

At Westfield London and in New York City (25 Fulton Street, The Seaport, Lower Manhattan) there is a special winter wonderland with hundreds of gingerbread buildings created by over 100 architects, designers and engineers.

The Gingerbread City event is not just a visually striking candytown, though: this year it was inspired by climate change and by a specific theme - water in cities.

The humble traditional Christmas gingerbread house has been given a makeover and redesigned to offer a vision of the future in which we can plan and construct cities that are responsive to water needs and safeguard this essential resource. 

The city of the title is actually divided in five distinct climate zones: Desert Landscape, Urban Floodplain, Canal City, Frozen Landscape and Underwater + Floating City.

 

There's a bit of everything in these climate zones, from train stations and bridgeways to canals, thermal springs and research centres, linear parks and skyscrapers, from market squares and terraced houses to biophilic buildings, visitor centres, rooftop gardens, markets, museums, schools and parks, art galleries and even islands that can adjust to rising water levels and are designed to be made from repurposed industrial materials found from ex-industrial zones.

On the event's Instagram page you may discover some of the models accompanied by the original sketch that inspired it and by a short presentation of the architectural studio that made the building.

At the Gingerbread City event in New York highlights include the Sweet Temptations Urban Farm, designed and built by the team at RKTB, a studio focused on designing affordable housing, public schools, and adaptive reuse projects. The studio conceives architecture as a social art with a responsibility for improving the lives of all people.

Their project consists in a urban-farm building and public canopy-covered space. The farm building's form is inspired by terrace farming, with the canopy flowing from it like mist off a mountain, cascading over a public market and eatery.

In London, some of the houses are built by famous architectural studios such as Zaha Hadid's, that actually went a bit over the top with a structure that looks a bit like a culinary nightmare from a '70s recipe book.

Entitled BubbleBurst Bonbon Museum, their gingerbread construction is based on a collection of continuous spherical and effervescent volumes that create an interconnected world of exhibition spaces forming the museum.

Architects and urbanists Allies and Morrison came up with a fabulously detailed Bakewell Bridge in the Canal City zone that provides a lovely crossing, continuing the bustling streetscape of the Canal Quarter with a busy mix of shops, workplaces and homes.

Quite a few projects are linked with animals: MiraHiVE, is a parametric animal watching tower and platform that floats above the waterside in the Urban Floodplain zone.

Designed and built by the team at Artes London (an international design studio comprising architects, designers and master planners with a mission - reflecting the rhythm of nature while embracing the pulse of technology, and respecting the cultures they inhabit), the platforms are connected via walkways and cycle lanes that span across the water.

Another example of a structure inspired by animals is the delicate Sea Turtle Heritage Centre by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) characterized by geodesic domes clustered on the ocean seabed.

The centre's main goal is to educate visitors about the depleting coral, endangered turtle species and human impact on the marine environment.

In the sugary landscape of Gingerbread City there are also modern conglomerates and fairy tale-like villages.

Nutmeg Terrace baked by Elliott Wood Partnership, a design-led consultancy offering structural and civil engineering, digital, transport and sustainability services for the built environment, is a series of unique terraced houses designed to work with the active floodplain from the river below.

Sustainability is brought to the forefront by raising the residential housing so that they are not affected by the flood water and in turn limiting the effect on the river and the biodiversity below.

Those who love a cute fairy tale will not resist the cute penguins living at Frosty Fin Harbour, a charming "fisher-guin" village nestled amongst icy cliffs and lulled by the rhythm of gentle waves.

Situated in the Frozen zone, designed and built by the team at BM3 Architecture, this structure is cute and bustling with life. Its inhabitants gather around the "Snowflake Inn", the main community attraction, nestled among adorable fishing huts.

Love underwater adventures? Check out the Underwater & Floating zone where you will discover the Frosted Wheat Subsea Retreat.

Nestled in a pristine underwater environment and uniting inhabitants from above and below the sea, Morrow + Lorraine's eco-lodge is designed to provide a tranquil haven for those suffering from eco-anxiety.

There's also a team of 3rd Year Architecture students (Jayne G; Priya H; Anthony H; Alexi R; supported by the Lancaster School of Architecture), among the participants and they are thinking big with the Twinkle Treat Power Station.

The design provides the opportunity to create a sustainable power source by utilising the rivers currents whilst simultaneously offering multi-purpose public spaces.

Taking its form from the natural landscape, and following the curves of the river, the circular foundations support a fluid superstructure that responds to the threat of flooding.

Inspiring for artists, architects, designers and baking fans, these cities of the future are colourful, cute, humorous, modern and sustainable, and make you realise the world would be a better place if we redirected our energies from hate, wars and conflicts to something more constructive.

Now, here's a concluding thought: while we've seen fashion experiments with gingerbread, can we envision a mini-gingerbread runway featuring edible garments and accessories? Perhaps a possibility for the upcoming year? Hopefully, I'm feeling ginger-bready excited about it.