citylikeyou — London / Chrissie Macdonald

I’m an illustrator, maker and art director based in London and work with photographers to create images for clients such as the V&A, Orange, The New York Times, Creative Review and Wallpaper*. As part of Peepshow Collective I work collaboratively with the other members on exhibitions, animation and installation projects. Portrait by Jenny Lewis.

http://www.chrissiemacdonald.co.uk

Illustrator Art Director

Current city: London

chrissiemacdonald.co.uk

London / Shop

I spend many hours in the bookshops along this stretch, namely Henry Pordes for second hand books and new discounted titles (pile on left of photo), as well as Koenig Books for new art books with lots of great discounts in the basement. (photo right). In 2001 the rents for much of this strip were increased to align them closer to market value but thanks to public support they were reduced again. Unfortunately some bookshops still closed down; Koenig replaced the beloved Zwemmers - a real institution - but thankfully still provide great books, although others are no longer bookshops at all.

London / Music Venue

The Roundhouse was built as a steam-engine repair shed in 1846, and then became a warehouse before falling into disuse for 25 years and reopening as a performing arts venue in 1964 hosting acts like Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and Pink Floyd. It was redeveloped between 2004-2006 and is one of my favourite music venues in London; it’s a beautiful building, has a great sound and isn’t too huge so feels fairly intimate. Some highlights for me this year were The Flaming Lips, David Byrne & St.Vincent and the Timepiece installation by Conrad Shawcross.

London / Gallery

My walk through the Heath often continues on to the Camden Arts Centre, a really fantastic exhibition space that runs workshops and courses as well as having a great café and bookshop to boot. I collect their exhibition booklets called File Notes - beautifully designed by James Goggin and Sarah De Bondt - some memorable shows include Eva Hesse Studiowork, The Bruce Lacey Experience and Serena Korda’s Aping the Beast. The latter concluded with a procession from the gallery up to the Heath, culminating in a re-enactment of The Battle of the River Plate in a pond. This is my photo of the Beast and the Boob Meteorite.

London / Cinema

This is a little general but there’s so many great cinemas in London, I can’t choose just one. I probably go to Screen on the Green most often as it’s nearby and shows great films, has really comfortable armchairs and serve drinks to your seat as well as hosting director Q&As and late night screenings. Other favourites include: Curzon Mayfair, Renoir, NFT, Barbican and Prince Charles cinema where I’ve been to a great Movie Maths triple bill; RoboCop + The Raid = Dredd. I can’t get rid of anything so compile all my tickets in a file chronologically, which also serves as a map of where I was living at any one time; depending on which cinemas I frequented the most.

London / Park

I go to the Heath every weekend (often via the wonderful Waterlow Park which skirts Highgate Cemetery) and during the week too if I’m working from home; it helps to put things in perspective when I’m thinking about my work. It’s great in the summer for obvious reasons but I love it the most in autumn and on those rare days it snows so much London grinds to a halt (which doesn’t take much). Everyone heads up there to make giant snowballs/cats/creatures and surf down Parliament Hill on anything they can get their hands on. Grown ups turn into kids for the day. My husband and I made this snow yeti last year, it was sad to leave him behind but he soon made friends and even made it into the Camden New Journal.

London / Department Store

I love this building and always visit if I’m in the area to look at their great window displays, travel up in the beautiful wood paneled lift and wander down the creaky oak staircase. The exterior and interior woodwork is from two old Men-of-War ships, the flooring made from their deck timbers. I normally head straight to the fabric department to see what new seasonal prints they have in, though only buy a metre’s worth so not quite sure what I’ll ever make from them. My most treasured prints are those designed by Grayson Perry of polluted factories, teddy bears, knuckle-dusters and hand grenades. They also sell oversized gift coins produced by the Royal Mint and packaged beautifully in a velvet pouch, which appeal to my love of all things out-sized.

London / Creative Director

Swiss graphic designer, founder and creative director of London/Zürich based studio BOB.

London / Writer

Reeme Idris is a freelance features writer based in London, often in Paris.

London / Artist

Since an early stage, Giacomo felt interested in the visual perception of the volumes, light, transparencies, light materials, and how the eye treats the mind with a thoughtful use of them. Bachelor in Product Design and a Master’s degree in Architecture provided him all the technical aspects of the use of strengths, understanding of materials and 3D modelling. Once has the technical knowledge and the convince of creating art, the material chose was the step to follow. The keenness of using a simple material whit shining properties became stronger thus after an examination of different materials the decision was to use brass and steel wire. In addition, the concept of using something cheap to create something precious is very attractive. Creating a net of sewed wire with specific mental patrons and the using the strengths, making reinforcement to create shapes and curvatures lead final sculptures and models. The process followed during the last four years has been an autodidactic process of discovering how the weight, the tensions and the structure of the net can get transformed into an art piece.

London / Designer

Designer. Lover of the weird and the wonderful.

London / Architect

Shortlisted as Emerging Woman Architect of the Year by Architects Journal,‘new talent’ by the Guardian and ‘one to watch’ by Wallpaper’s Editor Tony Chambers in 2012. Pernilla Ohrstedt was born in 1980 in Stockholm. Her design output has been both in the UK and abroad, spanning the disciplines of experimental art, architecture and curatorial practice. In 2011 Pernilla set a collaborative architecture partnership with Asif Khan. She has collaborated on several celebrated projects with Asif, including Future Memory Pavilion 2011 for British Council and Royal Academy of Arts in Singapore, Cloud 2011 for Design Miami Basel and Colette, Paris. Pernilla & Asif are currently designing Coca-Cola’s pavilion for the London 2012 Olympic Park. The 1000sqm Pavilion is an experimental building called the Beatbox. Collaborating with the music producer Mark Ronson the pavilion seamlessly integrates innovative sound technology and experimental design into a piece of architecture that the visitor will be able to play like a musical instrument.

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