Life.Style.etc

While driving down the A27 you may not expect to be wowed by amazing architecture, but take a trip off the M23 towards Shoreham and there is not one but two buildings that will tempt your eyes off the road. The first, perched atop a distant hill is Lancing college chapel, which, with its dreamy gothic style spires is more Hogwarts than Hogwarts itself. It’s actually gothic reproduction, built in 1868 in a 14th century stylee with 13th century French influences (so says Wikipedia) but who cares when it looks this pretty? Then BOOM! Hunched right next to the road theres this bad boy – the abandoned remains of Shoreham cement works, which closed in 1991. This image does nothing convey it’s vast scale, nor does it translate how blood chillingly terrifying it looks in the flesh, but by golly, you wouldn’t want to find yourself there after dark.  Anyhow, two very different but none the less incredible buildings that made me stop and stare. Which is your favourite? Claudia xx

The Haunch of Venison on London’s Bond Street has a brilliant free exhibition on right now called The Mystery of Appearance. It was fantastic to see lesser-known pieces by Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and David Hockney, but for me, the star of the show was Frank Auerbach. It’s a shame that the internet isn’t 3D, as to really get a sense of these amazing paintings you have to get close to the thick layers of paint. I wrote ‘ordered chaos’ in my notebook, also ‘intense movement’. Epic! Love the dense, muted colours, too. Just the thing to inspire the team as we begin to think about shoots for Autumn/Winter 2012. Mo.x

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Mo, acting news editor, and Harriet, style director, are very excited to be going to the launch gala of Helsinki World Design Capital at the beginning of February, just look at one of brilliant ways they celebrated its ushering in at new year. This is clearly our kind of town.