52 Weeks 52 Cities by Iwan Baan | Amsterdam (NL)

Developed exclusively for German museum Marta Herford, Dutch photographer Iwan Baan completed a one-year photographic journey around the world. Known for challenging a long-standing tradition of depicting buildings as isolated and static, architectural photographer Baan represents people in architecture and highlights building enviornments in order to communicate the relationship between human and architecture and between socialisation and its spatial situation.

The exhibition 52 Weeks, 52 Cities features photographs of each week of last year accompanied by personally spoken commentaries by Baan. The extensive list of locations visited by Baan includes Dallas (USA), Larabanga (Northern Ghana), Allahabad (India) and Setonomori (Japan).

Accompanying the exhibition is a book published by Kehrer Verlag and designed by Another Something & Company.

Photography by Benjamin Van Witsen

Triplstitched Contour Print Shirt | London (UK)

Up-and-coming menswear label and IDMC° favourite Triplstitched, work out of their Enfield factory in North London where they design and manufacture contemporary casual shirts using vintage machinery. Founded by co-founder of design and sourcing firm Eden & Eden, Scott Eden and Managing Director of Hong Kong-based menswear supplier The Limeys, Ben Marden, the pair work with a wish to return shirt production to the UK.

Triplstitched have sourced, shipped and restored shirt-making machinery from around the world with a promise to manufacture the garments from their London base using tried and test construction methods. Eden and Marden boast classic pieces of machinery in their factory including a Reece S2 buttonhole machine and a Union Special wide flat felled chain stitched armhole machine, developed to create the distinct aesthetic produced by American shirt icons. And although the machinery may not be able compete with their speedier modern counterparts, the finished Triplstitched garments are produced with a distinctive appearance.

With an arsenal of contemporary classics, the Contour Print is inspired by the quintessentially British Ordnance Survey Map. The classic two finger button down Oxford shirt features an print developed in-house that was created after Triplstitched re-drew a section of an 18th century map formerly used by the military to chart areas and territory. 

The shirt was then produced by Heathrow based IVO, a family run printer who used a rotary printing press to transfer the print pattern into the 100% cotton fabric and finally sanforized for a softer finish.

Available from at Triplstitched.

NOMA Restaurant map illustrations by Hannah Warren | London (UK)

Released in 2010, NOMA: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine offers comprehensive coverage of the first seven years following the opening of Copenhagen's prestigious restaurant, NOMA. With an introduction to the people, places and ingredients that have shaped the restaurant since its inception by award winning chef René Redzepi, the book looks at how NOMA has been widely credited for re-inventing Nordic cuisine with its unique approach to cooking. In addition, NOMA: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine, explores how the restaurant has looked to their landscape for culinary inspiration by researching various ingredients and cultures to re-discover the rich history of Nordic food.

Redzepi, who previously worked at both elBulli and The French Laundry, opened  NOMA in a derelict 18th century warehouse in 2003 and presents experimental gourmet cuisine combining innovation, culinary craft and an innate knowledge of Nordic food. Throughout the pages, its clear that Redzepi takes great care in his work to ensure that his diners have a truly memorable culinary experience achieved through the use of seasonally and regionally sourced ingredients. Redzepi's search for ingredients has taken him across the globe, from locally foraged wild produce to horse-mussels from the Faroe Islands and water springs in Greenland.

Comissioned by Phaidon in 2010 and designed by award winning design consultancy Studio Frith, NOMA: Time and Place in Nordic Cusine is a unique and intimate depiction of NOMA's history and philosophy, the experimentation that takes place behind the menu and the cultural significance of dining at NOMA. Alongside Redzepi's story and recipes the book features a series of exclusively commissioned photographs and illustrations that reflect the food and atmosphere at NOMA as well as its Nordic surroundings.

We're particularly fond of the map illustrations and hand-drawn typeface by London-based freelance illustrator Hannah Warren that pinpoint the locations of NOMA suppliers as well as the journey Redzepi took to discover them. The illustrations were inspired by the natural landscape of the Nordic region and Warren used collaged tree bark, native to each region, to create the drawings.

Campaign Furniture by Ghurka | New York (USA)

Ghurka was founded in the early 1970s by Marley Hodgson. After visiting an antiques auction, he left with a piece of campaign gear made for a Ghurka regimental officer stationed in India during the 1900s and was inspired by the rugged elegance of the 75-year-old leather. Hodgson went on to make his first Ghurka bag - a leather knapsack for his son that is still used on a daily basis by his granddaughter. Since then Ghurka have continued to make leather bags and accessories with a commitment to traditional craftsmanship, functionality and timeless American style.

To celebrate their design heritage, Ghurka’s latest Campaign Furniture Collection pays homage to the great expeditions that crossed Asia and Africa in the early 20th century. The arresting collection consists of seven pieces, masterfully handmade in New York with solid oak, supple vegetable-tanned calfskin and brass hardware.

Available from The Ghurka website

The Dalliance House | Kifisia (GR)

In the affluent northern suburb of Kifisia (Greece) you'll find The Dalliance House, an all day restaurant, cafe and bar. Proudly sat in a neoclassical building dating back to the 1890s, the site was originally constructed to house one of Kifisia's bourgeois family. The beauty of the building attracted three architects to the project, who joined forces to transform the space back to a meeting place. Panagiotis Fountas, Konstantina Panagiotou and Marilena Spanoudaki wished to uncover the building's original roots underneath the multitude of major changes that the building had endured over time. Instead of erasing the remnants of change, the trio's approach was to preserve them in an attempt to not only revive, but also to remember, everything that has that happened within the walls.

The exterior has been restored to its original neoclassical form through the use of a considered colour palette and strategic lighting and inside, original features such as ceiling roses and elaborate late 19th century decoration sit alongside contemporary materials. The house's walls and murals were restored using several aging techniques to give a worn, age-old aesthetic and old school geisha tattoos and a comic-covered wall and ceiling provide a distinctively contemporary edge. The vibrant and elegant furnishings include Ingo Maurer lighting, a Baxter sofa and a monastery style dining table. With one foot in the present and the other firmly in the past, The Dalliance House has achieved a successful blend of neoclassical and contemporary design that sensitively considers the building's rich history.

Photography by Costas Mitropoulos