F41 Lounger

I'm a big fan of everything Marcel Breuer, especially his chairs. Whilst this bicycle chain driven piece might not have aged quite as well as the iconic Wassily tubular chairs (a certain pair of vintage fakes warrant a future post), you've got to love the pram meets go-kart aesthetic.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/marcel-breuers-20583

Cinelli

I'm due an update to my virtual 'Bike Bookcase' below, especially since 'It's not about the Bike' moved into the fiction category. One recent purchase where such truths are not so pertinent to the book's message is this rather nice book on the history of Cinelli, including a foreword by Paul Smith. 

http://www.amazon.com/Cinelli-The-Art-Design-Bicycle/dp/0847838676

Magic Mirror

I must admit that with this all this space dust and magic mirrors, Normski does seem to be back on form.

http://www.designboom.com/architecture/foster-partners-vieux-port-pavilion-marseille/

Scot Inspired English

There are TT bikes and there are TT bikes. There are obsessive frame builders and there are obsessive frame builders. In case you missed this best of NAHBS show steel machine, this is what you call an obsessive TT bike by an obsessive frame builder- Rob English. Graeme Obree meets Archibald Russell.

http://www.culturecycles.com/2013/02/nahbs-2013-english-cycles-tt/

Catenary Pavilion

Some nice thinking going on here:

http://causalocuta.blogspot.hk/2012/03/catenary-pavilion-second-sketch.html

The Photo Resolution Range

Further, "the largest concentration of calibration targets in one place is on the grounds of Edwards Air Force Base" in California, "in an area referred to as the photo resolution range, where 15 calibration targets run for 20 miles across the southeast side of the base in a line, so multiple targets can be photographed in one pass. There is some variation in the size and shape of the targets at Edwards, suggesting updates and modifications for specific programs. A number of the targets there also have aircraft hulks next to them, added to provide additional, realistic subjects for testing cameras." 

http://bldgblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/optical-calibration-targets.html

Espresso

Feel free to check http://www.colossi.cc/reports-2012-13 for the low down on yesterday's Omnium track racing, including some quality Cantonese podium action. On a different tact though, is my very cool new Handpresso.

On the beach or at the track, I need never suffer terrible coffee again. Hooray for portable innovation.

Geoffrey's Headlamps

Colombo Colombo Colombo. As an Architect, think of Sri Lanka and you think Geoffrey Bawa. Think of Colombo and you think romantic colonial ruins with colonial dudes wearing fresh linen and turbans serving you Gin & Tonics. Or is that just me?

 

Nonetheless, while Colombo only partially delivered on that front, we did get a glimpse of what life must have been like for Geoffrey Bawa, staying in his Colombo house, still tended for by the same house keepers who served him till his death 10 years ago. This Rolls Royce last left the garage in 1983 when Geoffrey drove to see the inauguration of his new Sri Lankan parliament.

 

Beyond that, beautiful Art, sculptures and photos graced the walls of this mentalist rabbit warren collage of a house. Hidden rooms with the occasional door ajar showed more of what was buried within. Whatever, it must have been a pretty cool life to lead for a man who is probably the only famous Architect to come out of this small island. Keep it cocktail.

Full set of photos from the trip up on this link if you're interested:

https://plus.google.com/photos/115536926035453826984/albums/5846681332190781169

Kandalama Kung Hei

It's going to be a bit quiet on here in the coming week or so, as Mr & Mrs BnB head to Sri Lanka for Chinese New Year. Sadly, Geoffrey Bawa's masterpiece, Kandalama (pictured), was fully booked, so we'll have to save that for another trip. But we are staying in his hoose in Colombo, which should be fun! Meantime, Kung Hei Fat Choi!!!

http://thewildmagazine.com/hero/harmony-by-design/

3 Ball

More good track racing this weekend & my best results at a Velodrome for some time- two 3rd places in Open Cat Elimination & Keirin a good reward for a solid January mileage & our track night training. Full report up on:

http://www.colossi.cc/reports-2012

Norman in Space

Let's print buildings out of Regolith.

http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/492/Default.aspx

Sunset

Hard to get tired of this view on your commute. Nice to leave the office before sunset!

Track Nights

Cool to see Colossi track night's garnering some Chinese language press. Thanks to William from Life Cycle for sharing:

http://www.facebook.com/LifeCycleClub

XCR: Black Beauty

Thanks to Sander for these awesome factory shots of my re-sprayed Colossi XCR- looking good! To cut a long story short, I had a travel accident around a year ago that resulted in a dented top tube, and being a little tired of polishing the lovely brass fillet welds I decided to go for a new paint job that concealed these welds at the same time as replacing the damaged top tube (behold the repairability of steel!).

Having seen Sander's raw on brushed XCR decals, I went for a similar idea, but set within a brushed band on the downtube, highlighted with red stripes and set within a gloss black .

This is the drawing I sent the factory- a pretty good match I think! p.s., yes I did ask for the red bands on my forks... Looking forward to the return of my new black beauty!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colossi/sets/72157632634804155/with/8426285802/

Panorama

A couple of catch up nice shots from the other weekend climbing Tai Mo Shan- my first serious test of the '27 on my new Super Record block...

Leeps (in colossi jersey) & I did two TMS's, before riding onto the New Territories newly 'fashionable' road climb Robin's Nest- brutal is not the word! Nora (in grey) did 4 1/2 TMS's. Nutter!

Bamboo Opera

One of the nice things about an impending Chinese New Year is the Bamboo Opera Houses put up. Hong Kong at it's temporal best.

Lambo

As seen on the street outside the flat today. Interesting custom finish- expect this on a Pinarello TT / Zaha pavilion any time soon.

Tour de TMS

Epic is an over-used word amongst bikers, especially those who subscribe to a certain british brand who have made a business model from mixing arm bands with saddle sores. OK, that's a bit cynical, but all sometimes the best all day biking comes when you mix fat tires, a loose idea of a route, some dirt, a big hill, 2 ferries, 1 taxi, lots of doughnuts, ice cream and an impromptu Nathan Rd KOM attempt.

Sugoroku

It's been a while since I put any shipping container related buildings up. Loving the idea that you can pick this up and drop it somewhere else when your lease expires:

http://www.designboom.com/architecture/daiken-met-architects-nawakenji-m-sugoroku-office/

Sky Tree vs. Shopping Bike

Well it doesn't get much more bikesandbuildings than this then does it? Would like to say it's my drawing. But, talent aside, I could never get so interested in such a sh*t bike. And I guess Tokyo sky tree is not my favorite building either. But a cool drawing!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46520504@N07/5689347197/

191

Bah! Just missed the podium in today's HKCA points race. But I guess I made the colossi group shot in our spanking new skin suits! [Hipster credentials even lower still...] So freaking hard I had to lie down and collapse on the floor after we finished. Reach max heart rate 191 then go for a lap anyone? James's report up on

http://www.colossi.cc/

Sub 7lbs

As seen at the inaugural HK Bicycle Film Festival this evening, alongside some pretty amazing NYC related biking films. I should be at the 'afterparty' but instead I'm getting an early night for my first race of the year- a 100 lap points race tmr... [my hipster credentials are now LOW]. Catch whatever you can of the festival whilst it's on.

http://www.facebook.com/events/441282752589005/

My World

Since joining Strava mid-2011. Thanks to Mr Smiff for the link:

http://www.jonathanokeeffe.com/strava/map.php

PS / LifeCycle

Hey, don't be afraid of the digital filter... Yea, maybe a bit much, but still some very cool shots from Monday's colossi.cc track session courtesy of William from LifeCycleClub. Who, incidentally, rocked a very nice Condor for the night. There's a good post on these guys [I still need to make my appointment!] that is worth a read here:

http://www.cyclinginquisition.com/2012/12/the-emodiment-of-hong-kongs-peculiar.html

Kengo Kuma

Anyone who read my Japan post will clearly have got the impression that I enjoyed the place. A lot. For someone living in a bit of a cultural desert, Japan was a real reminder of the importance of design and the process of really caring about something down to the last detail. Not that I've forgotten, but it's something that is easy to forget in the modern Chinese mentality of building big and fast.

Full of surprises and lots of great buildings beyond the guidebook, one nice little surprise on New Years Eve was this super cool Kengo Kuma designed Asakusa Town Hall. It's nice how in the process from model (image pilfered) to completion (image by me after a few Asahi), it really gained qualities rather than diluted down. I didn't even know it was a Kengo Kuma building until I got back here, but now it makes sense- timber slats, a quirky take on old meets new, and best of all with a public panoramic view of Tokyo on which to drink the sake you've snuck in using your pockets. Good times.