Italian girl in London

Italian girl in London

Tag Archives: design

Conservation and innovation for the Italian School of London

20 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by italiangirlinlondon in Little Black Book

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Architecture, design, education, interiors, italian school of london, JT Lab

Italians like doing business in London and are here to stay, soft or hard Brexit. The love affair with West London is still going strong, at least for those who can still afford it, or got there first, and set roots in leafy Notting Hill and surroundings.

A statement of their commitment is the newly refurbished and extended Italian School in London, a full time bilingual Italian and English Primary School with Nursery, located in one of the nicest roads in the upmarket Holland Park.

The education model integrates the British system – in particular its educational objectives and teaching methods – with the Italian curriculum, merging the best of both worlds, using the words of their founders.

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The school originally opened in 2010 to accommodate a limited number of pupils. The growing number of Italians – most of them bankers and professionals – that have chosen the UK capital to do business and start a family has been increasing steadily for the last six years, and despite the uncertainty triggered by the referendum, it doesn’t look like it is going to stop anytime soon. So more people means more families and children, and higher demand for more space to accommodate pupils.

The difference between junior schools that most of us attended and this one are staggering. While our chairs were old and made of the cheapest possible materials, the desks scribbled all over it and were dated pre Second World War, these are colourful, ergonomic and have the signature of leading design firms behind them.

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And that is the interior. This new development, which features a glazed walkway through the courtyard between the two properties on the first floor, was executed and delivered by JT Lab, architecture and design firm based in London, led by two young Italian architects.

The project presented a high level of complexity and challenges, such as the conversion of a listed building, located in a conservation area, from residential to school, the redesign of the inner space to efficiently enable a smooth connection between the original building and the new one, delivered within a tight deadline.

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Tiziano Massarutto, principal at JT lab and project lead said: “We are delighted with the new building. We got there after facing several challenges, such as matching the features of the building and the need to deliver a space suitable for young children and their educational needs. We are very proud of the result, having delivered it on time, within budget and to high standards.

While we were working on this project, we thought a lot about the users of this space, the children and their teachers. Putting their safety first, their experience at school, and their desire to have fun at school, we designed this space around them. This school, which features Italian leading furniture companies for their interiors, is a child-centric space, and I hope my little daughter will be able to study here in few years time”.

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E’ finita l’attesa: pasta fresca anche a Londra da Burro e Salvia

13 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by italiangirlinlondon in Food and cooking, Lifestyle, Little Black Book

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design, gnocchi, pasta, ravioli, tagliatelle, tradizioni

Fino a qualche anno fa il venerdì era giorno giusto per comperare il pesce e la pasta. Le nostre madri, manager e pianificatrici organizzatissime, compravano gli gnocchi per il venerdì, le tagliatelle per il sabato e i quadrucci da fare in brodo per il lunedì. Sì, perché’ il lunedì bisognava stare leggeri, iniziare la dieta, e un bel brodino arricchito dai quadrucci era la soluzione per bilanciare il brasato e le torte mangiate il giorno prima. 1016581_565855026790979_1045149545_n

Erano giorni dalle ore lunghe e infinite, soprattutto quelle pomeridiane, giorni in cui le stagioni e gli anni fiscali non avevano senso, ma solo le vacanze scolastiche dettavano il ritmo. In quei giorni il pastificio era un negozio piccolo, e si trovava in ogni quartiere. Le macchine erano a vista e due generazioni della stessa famiglia impegnate a portare avanti il business, lavorando nel fronte e nel retro bottega. Pochi i prodotti in vendita, a cui se ne sono aggiunti una manciata negli ultimi anni.

Se la via fosse un film, potremmo premere il tasto “forward” e ritrovarci in un secondo a Shoreditch, East London. Il pastificio Burro e Salvia è la versione 2.0 del tradizionale pastificio italiano, sapientemente affacciato sulla strada più hip di questa zona così vibrante e di tendenza. Il design dell’ interno è minimalista con l’anima, e tutti gli elementi che lo compongono sono stati scelti con attenzione e fantasia: la tazzina del caffè, l’etichetta del pacchetto, i grembiuli, il sapone per le mani di Aesop.

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Pasta, gnocchi, ravioli. Tutto viene preparato davanti ai clienti, dietro ad un bel bancone di Corian, pronto per essere portato a casa e cucinato a piacere, o ancor meglio gustato direttamente nella zona ristorante nel retro del locale, o al banco, seduti su uno sgabello, mentre si osserva il mondo passare davanti. Per chi opta per la prima possibilità Gaia Enria – la proprietaria –  allega al pacchetto un foglietto di istruzione su come si cucina la pasta. Insomma, nessun rischio di pasta collosa o ravioli che si sfracellano in pentola per chi non ha mai osato cucinare.

Il menu di Burro e Salvia è tradizionale e stagionale, arricchito da qualche sorpresa. Per esempio gli gnocchi di ricotta e spinaci che ho assaggiato io – perfetti per una giornata estiva non troppo calda –mi hanno sorpreso con una punta di menta nel retrogusto.

1016589_573383286038153_366436613_nVorrei portare a scoprire questo posto i miei amici italiani, a Londra per un weekend o per sempre, mostrando loro come alcuni capisaldi della cultura culinaria italiana possono ancora essere esportati, e  direi anche arricchiti e rivitalizzati. Come? Facendo attenzione ai dettagli, all’esperienza del cliente e aggiungendo un tocco di design. E ricordandoci che una cosa semplice come la pasta, puo’ essere divina. Tutto quel di cui ha bisogno è attenzione e un bel contesto.

A proposito, una porzione di pasta – da sola – non fa ingrassare.

E aiuta la produzione di serotonina.

https://www.facebook.com/burroesalvia?fref=ts

www.http://burroesalvia.co.uk/

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More than shoes

07 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by italiangirlinlondon in Art and Design

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Craft, design, DIY, Somerset House, Walpole

 

http-::www.flickr.com:photos:i_csuhai:3295801546:

http-::www.flickr.com:photos:i_csuhai:3295801546:

Who needs to go on a minibreak when you live in London? Unfortunately I had to work this weekend, so all I had to enjoy was the best part of Friday evening and Saturday until 5 pm. A handful of hours to prove once more that quality is more important than quality.

So what can you do, when – after a night out – you are ready to leave your place by lunchtime and only have few hours? I decided for once to trust the Friday edition of the Evening Standard and do one of the activities recommended. So I convinced the Lord that cycling to Somerset House to see Somerset House, a retrospective and celebration of the work of some very talented British crafts makers, was a good idea. The fact that it was an initiative of Walpole British Luxury Institute was good enough for me. From knitwear to shoemaking and glass blowing, blended with the opportunity to meet the makers alongside the products, and see the labour of love that lies behind a pair of shoes or a cabinet.

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All of these in one of my favourite parts of Somerset house, the West Wing galleries. Filled with lights and sunshine, the objects and their makers brought this space to life. I felt like I was lounging in someone’s sitting room. With very high ceilings. Were the curators and the organisers trying to suggest that this is the space where this objects should live, outside the workshop and the retail arena, but in our homes?

Glass Blowing

It feels like Craft is becoming what Design was few years ago. Craft is having a moment and everyone seems to want to have a piece of it. Even the School of life of Alain De Bottom is dedicating a talk to one of the aspects of crafting – DIY. And it sold out in a couple of hours.

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