I LOVE MODERN CASUAL
I’ve been converted. It happened in 2006. I have to admit that in my £5-£10 category of wine purchases I now favour screw caps over corks. They seem more attractive, sexier and more desirable.
Why? What? How did this happen? Screw caps were associated with poor quality wines. I never had any tragic experiences with corked vintages. I wasn’t persuaded by any wine buff’s arguments. Natural cork, the sound and feel of it was my only option. However, I just drifted away from that long and serious relationship. Gradually screw cap wines started to look fresh, contemporary and they communicated new-world provenance, excitement and progressive attitude.
Mind you that I’m your typical conservative design-intensive forty-something. I belong to that breed who subscribed to Blueprint and The Face in the 80’s, who will always find Apple Macs more attractive than the smallest and smartest PCs and who would wear Comme des Garcons suits if he could afford them. That type who travelled the world to build his collections of rare groove soul, funk and Blue Note jazz albums, experienced with mid-century modern and Vespas … – been there, done that.
It’s my belief and loyalty towards authenticity and tradition that is getting weaker day by day. And I’m not alone. These once so sacred values are inflated - overused and over-priced and waiting to be dumped to the new emerging markets! In the western world a ‘modern classic’ has turned into a liability and bore.
Whatever you want to call it but you can sense that new kind of effortless quality that is winning hearts here. From Innocent drinks to Wagamama restaurants and American Apparel t-shirts, these new confident and casual brands that look and feel truly modern – just like those screw cap wines.
Wow. A very strong observation. I think your idea of the west liberating itself by dumping its old values and heavy classical ballast to the emerging markets in the form of exclusivity-driven pomp is really interesting. As the balance shifts, and the new markets will dictate the new directions for us - will we get a digested backwash of our discarded classic past as the new markets struggle to redefine themselves? There are already super-exclusive Chinese luxury brands that are aiming at international markets with a heavy interpretation of the local classical tradition.
…on a different note, I have been trying to imagine and execute an agenda of “Casual Architecture” for some time now, which - to me at least - sounds really exciting and new. The activity of architecture, unlike the activity of building, is never casual. The term “Casual Architecture” suggests an effortless marriage of ease, pleasure, purposefulness and ambition, which is what I would like the future to be like.
Dear Marten,
I read your article on Architecture being the ’sexiest’ profession in todays time…hmm…you seem to have been emotional listener and I believe a rather patient one. Only thus could you have generated such reactions in your text!..Interesting again!…Anyways, I am Zamindar and being of the same discipline do agree/ can debate some issues you mentioned.. .Maybe we cud catchup sumtime…I am presently scripting a book titled ‘Tight Spaces’. Its a book on an Indian city called Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat.. I will look forward to your reply..
Cheers!
Luv-
me.
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