On my way to Ottawa this winter, I had a five hour layover in Philadelphia. Having watched movies for the past seven hours sitting on a plane, I spent most of my time walking around the airport. Some parts of the airport are quite old, with low ceilings and awful yellowish lighting, which combined with the tacky christmas decorations would make any Santa in the world shiver. The only thing that warmed up the environment seemed to be the rocking chairs that were scattered on the sides of the hallways. But I soon found out that there was something else.

First I ate the healthiest thing I could find, a blueberry yogurt, then I started exploring. Despite the tasteless decorations and the general lack of warmth, the five hours I spent in the Philadelphia's airport were surprisingly pleasant and entertaining. As I found out later, in 1998 Philadelphia's airport started an exhibitions program, which would bring art and culture in the airport with the aim to provide the travellers a unique cultural experience. The exhibitions rotate throughout the year to touch different themes. What links them is the fact that the artists are all from Philadelphia.

The first exhibition I ran into was a series of dolls made using unconventional objects. Pens, bottle caps, brushes, buttons and other random everyday objects are given a second life by Ellen Benson who uses them to create human-like figures. Her style is inspired by South American art, and she visits Mexico every year to see local craft and ceramics. Ellen has made 600 dolls so far and aims at making one thousand. While I do find the idea of using everyday objects to make dolls very amusing, I think the artist should focus more on the quality rather than the quantity. Some dolls are very creative and the objects are used in a clever way to achieve original Michel Gondry-like designs. Others are disappointing.

As I walked on I ran into a band that was playing Christmas songs, which I thought was really cool and made the atmosphere more pleasant and warm. It's a shame I didn't manage to get a picture of them. The second exhibition I ran into was a series of ceramic sculptures by Victoria Gold. The star of her art was again something rather unconventional and unpopular: pigeons. I myself see the presence of pigeons in cities as a forced and unpleasant acquaintance. Victoria Gold looks at them from a different point of view, she learns from and about them by observing. They are not intruders to her eyes, but finely feathered friends with individual characteristics and personalities.

The last exhibition I saw was the one I liked the most. Metalsmith Susan Mayers created a series of chandelier-like sculptures made out of aluminium stripes. Each sculpture is well studied and the loops are meticulously balanced. The metal gives up its ordinary attributes to Susan's taste; it becomes graceful and organic, almost soft.

Philadelphia's airport turned out to be one of the most fascinating I've ever been to. I always find the lack of entertainment and the abundance of ugliness in airports very unimpressive. With a simple idea, this airport made the experience of many travellers more interesting, as well as advertised the city of Philadelphia. My five hour lay over did not feel like a waste of time, and by at the end of it I felt enriched by the city's culture and innovation.  

As many food lovers in London already know, Jamie Oliver's new shop, Recipease, just opened in Notting Hill. I decided to visit it the day after the opening, to avoid the crowd. This ploy worked to a certain point: the shop looks in fact like the kind of place that is always crowded.

The shop is split in two levels and the space is small, yet it manages to involve the customers into three activities. The first floor has a good selection of cooking equipment, as well as fresh produce and cupboard food, all Jamie's recommendations. This first section of the store works really well along with another element that lures the customers into buying. In the middle of both floors there are in fact isles, where it is possible to learn the basics of cooking through one-hour courses. On the second floor there is more cooking equipment scattered here and there and the final touch: the restaurant, where Jamie's famous dishes are served.

The design of the store follows the latest trend of mixing new and old, urban and rural, high-tech and vintage, big windows and rusted metal. It has a sort of country-home look, with tiles, wooden stools, colourful and creative decorations. The stall-like disposition of the tables gives the impression of being in a food market, within a small town. The seating areas are many and small, which allows the customers to feel as if they were in a trendy little restaurant. Or at least it does, if they can ignore the crowd and the noise.

From a “content” point of view it was nothing impressive, and it is what I expected it to be: overpriced cooking equipment, overpriced cooking courses, and overpriced food. But at the same time, you do get good quality and Jamie's face on it. It is still very inspiring for a cook to visit: there are screens around the whole shop where video-recipes are shown and you get to see people cooking exotic dishes during the cooking classes. It also seems like a good chance for somebody that would like to learn how to cook but doesn't know where to start.

Even though the location is little and the elements many, the designer did a very good job making everything fit in and creating a good space and a recognizable identity. The shop could have easily looked like a mess, but everything works out quite well. In a way it is a lot like a Jamie Oliver's recipe: many good ingredients, short time, delicious result.

When I visited Anthropologie the last time, I ran into a beautiful coral-like design that continued within the shop. I was not able to figure out from a distance what it was made out of, but looking closer it became clear: paper. I always find it very inspiring to see beautiful designs that take an ecological approach.

The corals covered part of the walls, drawing the customers through the shop. Walking through it, the theme of the sea became stronger, with more corals and cardboard waves.

Anthropologie beautiful windows and decorations can only work next to their merchandise, which also never disappoints me. It is rare, nowadays, to see a brand reflected in the design of its shop. Often the thin line between following a trend and reflecting the brand, is crossed, and this results in many shops looking the same. Jack Wills, Hollister, American Eagle and Aeropostale, follow a style that is very trendy but end up losing their identity. Anthropologie follows its unique style, coming up almost every month with innovative designs, windows and decorations that are trendy and beautiful yet holding a strong link with the brand.

In the last picture it is possible to see the cardboard waves on the top. And the beautiful woman on the right, is my mom. The photos were taken at the Kings Road branch, in London.

As I mentioned in my previous post about Lego's interactive installation at the Southbank centre, the Olympics brought along a lot of art and design: some of which may be remembered in history as landmarks of the 2012 Olympics. London, being one of the most beautiful and advanced cities in the world, there were great expectations regarding the organization of the games, also from a design point of view. And where big expectations arrive, big let downs come along.

Anish Kapoor's Orbit, Zaha Hadid's Aquatic Centre, the two mascots of the games Wenlock and Mandeville, the logo, and the opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle: they were all highly criticised on different aspects.

Anish Kapoor's Orbit was given so many negative and witty nicknames that I am not even going to try to come up with a new one. My favourite of these nicknames being “eyeful tower”. The seats disposition of Zaha Hadid's Aquatic Centre did not allow the spectators a good view. Wenlock and Mandeville were described as the fruit of a “drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and Dalek”. A bit harsh in my opinion, but nevertheless hilarious. Danny Boyle's opening ceremony was at once celebrated, and harshly criticized as “boring”, “too much about england, not enough about the olympics” and “a disappointment and a shame”.

When designing for such a large audience, it is impossible to please all. Every country has different expectations and different point of views. Personally, I am quite happy with most of the designs, although I did face some disappointments.

The first Olympics-related design I ran into, was the official Logo, as a 3-D version of it was placed in Trafalgar square to keep a countdown to the opening day of the Olympics.

The graffiti-like logo is supposed to recall the shape of the city of London. The designer, Wolff Olins, avoided any landmark as the aim was to make everyone feel equally part of the Olympics.

The design received an 80% negative response from the public and an inappropriate assumption regarding the meaning of the shape. The font used, Headline 2012, features in Simon Garfield's article The 8 worst fonts in the world; and Iran threatened boycott the games claiming that it spelled the word “Zion”. It is incredible how much fuss 4 (ugly) shapes put together can raise.

I then looked at past Olympics logos, and honestly, they are not much better, and at least this logo is simple, recognizable and has a deep meaning. The identity of the 2012 Olympics was built around it, on the streets, the tickets, the gadgets, everything lead to the games. In a way it does represent London, an edgy, dynamic and multi-ethnic city. All features that perfectly describe an Olympics host.