English Medieval Towns … and their architecture

Happy New Year everyone. I have a feeling that this year will be positive, full of new opportunities and bright experiences.

In my last post I explored London’s fashion and architecture. After being in one of the most fashionable cities in the world, I embarked in a week trip to England’s midlands. Was it cold? you cannot imagine. Was it priceless? you cannot imagine.

The town where I spent most of my time was called Oakham the county town of Rutland (smallest county in England) It lies 17.4 miles east from Leicester, and has a total resident population of 9,975.

There I fell in love with its main church called All Saints Church which was built during the 14th century. I also enjoyed my visit to the Oakham Castle. The interior decoration of the castle is simple and medieval, and it is dominated by hundreds of horseshoes left there by the royals.

All Saints Church

Oakham Castle - Exterior

Horseshoes at Oakham Castle

Walking through the streets of Oakham, specially at night, you can feel as part of a medieval movie and imagine people carrying torches and wearing hooded capes. My favorite street became Dean’s Street which houses some of the oldest cottages in downtown Oakham. You can also appreciate Dutch style roofs.

Oakham Streets

For a couple of weeks we took small trips to a town called Stamford located 100 miles north of London. Stamford used to be a wool town and since them it has retained a lot of  its old architecture. “Many of the buildings are constructed from old Lincolnshire limestone”.  Stamford is house of many churches as well, which I enjoyed visiting and admiring.

Stamford old architecture and stainglass windows

We also paid visit to the most beautiful chapel called Normanton Church. The church stands in front of a man-made reservoir, and it escaped being demolished when the reservoir was built. “It was deconsecrated in 1970 and a Trust was formed to try and ensure its preservation”. You can feel closer to the higher spirits when you reach the back of the church and look towards the water.

Normanton Church

Closer to the higher spirits

Finally we explored the beauty and solitary life of a small village called Hambleton which houses Hambleton Hall where the royals enjoy spending a couple of days a year. In this village we enjoyed a cold Stella and admired the beauty of its small cemetery.

Hambleton Centre and Cemetery

Enough snow for now. I must admit England is beautiful and full of history. Where will I head in the year 2011 … don’t know yet, and I must say, Colombia is calling.

Till next post …

London’s Fashion and Architecture

This year’s end has brought me to one of the most fashionable and architecturally conscious cities in the world, London.

I always wondered what was about London that every Londoner I met had such an exquisite taste for fashion and elegance. Now I get it. “The great thing about London is that it lives and breathes fashion. The street is still the best way to get a snapshot of London style.” - Todd Lynn

Classic look of Londoner even after a snow storm.

During the day and the beginning of the evening, people are reserved and practical, but the night brings the best of the best. Out in the streets you can admire women in high heels and coats and men  in fashionable trousers stepping on the ground with confidence and elegance. Once you enter a restaurant skin is exposed and silk dresses and shirts become the hot topic. Do not be surprised if their underwear reflects their style. No surprise London-based Agent Provocateur has proved to show why being the sexiest woman is priceless.

Fashion does reflect the city’s architecture which reflects history and modernity at the same time. Some structures such as the Tower of London have been alive since before the Great Fire of 1666.

Other buildings such as St. Paul’s Cathedral have been rebuilt four times after being devastated by the Great Fire. The first one  built in 886 and destroyed in the fire of 962. The second cathedral was begun in 962 and burnt, with the whole city, in the fire of 1087. The third  St Paul’s, known as Old St Paul’s, was begun by the Normans. Its built took over 200 years, and a great deal was lost in a fire in 1136. Thereafter, the roof was once more built, and by 1300 it was the third longest church in Europe with one of Europe’s tallest spires at 585 feet (178 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide.”Old St Paul’s” was gutted with the fire of 1666. Great Fire of London of 1666. While it might have been salvageable a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modern style instead. The current building was designed by one of the most famous architects in the history of England Sir Christopher Wren.

Old St. Paul's

St. Paul's on a winter afternoon

Skyscrapers are not famous in London as development building codes protect the views from St. Paul’s Cathedral. Nevertheless, you can see some tall buildings in central London such as the 30 St Mary Axe mostly known as the Gherkin by Sir Norman Foster.

View Towards Gherkin from top of The Monument.

Other notable modern buildings include  the Great Court of the British Museum also designed by Norman Foster.

Court at British Museum

Several monuments pay homage to people and events in the city such as The Monument by Sir. Christopher Wren which provides views of the surrounding area whilst commemorating the Great Fire of London which originated nearby.

The Monument

Nelson’s Column is a nationally recognised monument in Trafalgar Square, providing a focal point for the whole central area of London.

Nelson's Column

Trafalgar Square

Finally, I must say the most beautiful architectural icon of London Architecture and history is the Big Ben located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster. It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. The clock first ticked on 31 May 1859. And it served an honor to me by allowing me to hear the noon bells on December 17th 2010. Indeed an emotional moment for a lover of fashion and architecture in London.

Big Ben

Next blog post will exposed medieval towns in England’s midlands, so please stay tuned.

Merry Christmas to all.

Au Revoir McAllister House

Finally after a whole month of hard work looking for a new place to live and emptying the castle I am leaving behind, I have some time to catch up with my blog.

“It’s not surprising that legends swirl around apartment houses designed by James Francis Dunn. With their undulating, cloudlike facades and lion-headed brackets, his buildings are among the most picturesque and provocative in San Francisco, and the most redolent of the grand boulevards of Paris.” (SF Chronicle)

1347 McAllister Street

Two and a half years ago, I arrived to one of Francis Dunn’s houses in search of a new home in San Francisco, and life gave me the opportunity to inhabit such. The McAllister House, one block North from Alamo Square saw me coming as a young woman named Cristina, and this week sees me leaving as a much more mature woman: Isabel. Great changes took place under the influence of French Renaissance architecture.

“The sinuous, wrought-iron balconies on 1347 McAllister St., it is said, were copied after the boxes inside the Paris Opera. Dunn’s client hoped to please a beautiful diva. When she dropped the love-sick swain, the story continues, in fury he turned the place into a bordello.”

Guardians of our dreams

“A Dunn building is likely to have curves everywhere — in bay windows, wrought-iron balconies that often integrate the fire escape into their designs, and window mullions. Decorative detail abounds — cartouches, shields, drips of all sorts, women’s faces, bearded men’s heads, eagles or phoenixes holding up balconies and cornices.

Gaudi Inspired Entrance

Many of Dunn’s buildings have a broad, heavily ornamented cornice at the top — and another above the first floor, to set off the building’s entry from its living floors.

“Weirdo,” an architectural surveyor for the Junior League wrote in 1977 about one Dunn building. “Especially the lions’ heads.”

But fans don’t agree. What sounds on paper like excess comes across in reality as stunning, thanks to Dunn’s compositional skills and taste.”

Living in a Dunn’s building was an honor. Amazing views from the living room also known as the hall of mirrors made each gathering in this space celebratory. The oval windows witnessed everyone’s story.

Hall of Mirrors

Many times when leaving the house, I saw travelers taking pictures of the façade, and once they saw me they would say: “we are taking pictures of your house”. Well, not any more, but at least it was so for a while.

Walking the steep stairs reminded me of my muscles, and always made me aware of the grandness (and sacrifice) of living in a house with high ceilings.

The interior of the house is filled with beautiful plaster ornaments such as a big start surrounding a chandelier, wooden details around the stairs, etc.

A chandelier detail that witnessed my dreams for seven months

Who said that designing from the inside out was a new concept? Dunn practiced such concept with rooms opened to the outside world, such as the living room and the guest area which point toward City Hall.

Guest area opening towards flower deck: home of wasps, roses, tomatoes and many friends.

Dunn was “born and raised in a working-class, largely Irish South of Market neighborhood by a widowed mother, he was self-taught as an architect — but remarkably well taught. He mastered Parisian architecture by studying the latest journals. In later years he traveled throughout the United States, and probably in France, and his work was always up to date, reflecting current trends in New York and Paris.”

1347 McAllister was finished in 1902 and says au revoir to my life in 2010. Now I must seek new inspiration in the vibrant neighborhood of the Mission.

More information about James Francis Dunn’s architecture and buildings around San Francisco at San Francisco Chronicle’ French Connection article.

A Tribute to the Sewing Machine

Forgive my obsession with sewing since I learned how to sew, yet more obsessive has been my search for a sewing machine.

Friday: Looking for sewing machines on ebay. So many models and brands, so little knowledge.
Saturday: Hours spent reading the features and conditions of each of the 26,786 machines available on ebay USA.
Sunday: Lost three bids for a Pfaff, and two Singers. I learned that good sewing machines are expensive even if they are used and made in the 70′s.
Monday: Read about the main brands that manufacture sewing machines. Brother, Singer, Kenmore, Janome, Husqvarna Viking, good old Pfaff, and started moving towards Janome and far from Brother. Sent an e-mail to my mum asking her for advice (even though she doesn’t sew) and learned from her that she had a sewing machine that had not been used in 15 years, went over to her place, undusted it and found a beautiful Kenmore 1803. The motor worked, but the machine did not work. I took it to Sears to get it serviced and am currently crossing fingers to see if it is fixable and useful.
Tuesday: Read about the sewing machine and developed a respect and deeper desire for it. So here I go with today’s literature extracted from wikipedia and The Museum of American Heritage.

The sewing machine was first patented in 1791 by British cabinet maker Thomas Saint who was in search of a machine that sew leather and canvas.

Thomas Saint Sewing Machine

In 1814 an Austrian tailor, Josef Madersperger, introduced his first sewing machine. The development of this machine began in 1807.

In 1830 a French tailor, Barthélemy Thimonnier received a patent on a sewing machine that sewed straight seams using chain stitch. By 1841 he was successful in having eighty machines sewing uniforms for the French Army. But the fears of the tailors could not be quieted and the machines were destroyed by a mob.

Sometime between 1832 and 1834 Walter Hunt a New York inventor produced a sewing machine that made a lockstitch. The machine used an eye-pointed needle carrying the upper thread and a shuttle carrying the lower thread. It represented the first occasion an inventor had not attempted to reproduce a hand stitch. The feed let the machine down – requiring the machine to be stopped frequently and reset up. Hunt eventually lost interest in his machine and sold the patent.

Walter Hunt Sewing Machine Patent

Elias Howe, Jr. was born in Spencer, MA to an impoverished family. He had to work at a farm during most of his childhood.  At the age of sixteen he moved to Boston and started working as a machinist. After he married, he quit work due to a chronic illness, and his wife took in sewing to support the family. Seeing his wife toiling at her stitches and seeing his family at the edge of poverty convinced him of the need for a sewing machine. After watching his wife for hours at a time and trying to duplicate the motion of her arm, he completed a machine in 1845. The machine was set in a hall were five seamstress raced it. The machine finished five seams before any seamstress had completed one. After a lengthy stint in England trying to attract interest in his machine he returned to America to find various people infringing his patent. He eventually won his case in 1854 and was awarded the right to claim royalties from the manufacturers using ideas covered by his patent.

Elias Howe Sewing Machine

Isaac Merritt Singer has become synonymous with the sewing machine. He was the eight child of poor German immigrants from New York. At the age of twelve he started working as a mechanic and cabinetmaker.

Singer patented a type-casting machine for book printing and displayed it in a steam-powered workshop run by Orson Phelps. Phelps was involved in designing sewing machines; however, customers kept returning them because of faulty design. Singer examined the machines with the eye of a practical machinist. Singer suggested that instead of having the shuttle passing around a circle, the shuttle should move to and fro in a straight path. Phelps’ machine had a curved needle that moved horizontally; Singer proposed a straight needle to be used vertically. Phelps encouraged Singer to give up the type-casting machine and concentrate on the sewing machine.

In 1851, Singer was granted an American patent for a sewing machine, and it was suggested he patent the foot pedal (or treadle) used to power some of his machines; however, it had been in use for too long for a patent to be issued. When Howe learned of Singer’s machine he took him to court. Howe won and Singer was forced to pay a lump sum for all machines already produced. Singer then took out a license under Howe’s patent and paid him $1.15 per machine. Singer then entered a joint partnership with a lawyer named Edward Clark and formed the first hire-purchase (time payment) scheme to allow people to afford to buy their machines.

Meanwhile Allen B. Wilson went into partnership with Nathaniel Wheeler to produce a machine with a rotary hook instead of a shuttle. This was quieter and smoother than the other methods. The Wheeler and Wilson Company produced more machines in 1850s and 1860s than any other manufacturer. Wilson also invented the four-motion feed mechanism; this is still seen on every machine today. This had a forward, down, back, and up motion, which drew the cloth through in an even and smooth motion.

In 1855, James Gibbs, a 24-year old farmer, first saw a woodcut illustration of a sewing machine, and out of curiosity, he devised his own machine. Two years later, while visiting a tailor in Virginia, he noticed a Singer sewing machine, which he thought was too heavy, complicated, and exorbitantly priced. Recalling his own invention, he teamed up with James Willcox whose family was already involved in building models of new inventions. Together, they manufactured chainstitch sewing machines. The machines were sold for approximately $50. Similar machines sold for $100. The Singer company then brought out their own light family machine in 1858, but it also sold for $100. The Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company prospered and even into the 1970s was producing commercial machines, many of which were based on the original chainstitch principle.

Willcox Gibbs Sewing Machine

In 1885 Singer invented and patented the Singer Vibrating Shuttle, which made for a better lockstitcher than the oscillating shuttles of the time. Millions were produced until finally superseded by rotary shuttle machines in the 20th century.

…I often heard (Elias Howe) say that he worked fourteen years to get up that sewing machine. But his wife made up her mind one day that they would starve to death if there wasn’t something or other invented pretty soon, and so in two hours she invented the sewing machine.- Russell Conwell, 1877

As intriguing as this statement is, we will never know if the credit for the first sewing machine should actually go to Elias Howe’s wife, Elizabeth Ames Howe. What we do know is that of the thousands of sewing machine patents granted in the past 150 years, hundreds of them have been by women. Notable among them is Helen Augusta Blanchard (1840-1922) of Maine. Of her 28 patents, 22 of them deal with sewing machines; she is particularly known as the inventor of the zigzag sewing machine.

ZigZag

ZigZag Detail

Sewing machines continued being made to roughly the same design, with more lavish decoration appearing until well into the 1900s when the first electric machines started to appear. The first electric machines were developed by Singer Sewing Co. and introduced in 1889.

Electrical Sewing Machine

Modern machines may be computer controlled and use stepper motors or sequential cams to achieve very complex patterns. Most of these are now made in Asia and the market is becoming more specialized.

The sewing machine changed the life of millions of people, and it is bound to change mine. For now, I must wait to see if the electrical Kenmore 1803 made in 1973 is meant to be mine.

Enough sewing machine obsession. I will be camping in Point Reyes and Mendocino through the rest of the week and the weekend.

See you next week.