Nothing beats this prefabricated  garden shed/greenhouse.This project is a collaboration between Helsinki architect Ville Hara of Avanto Architects and designer Linda Bergroth of Hel Yes!. The pair launched their greenhouse and garden shed kit for the gardening market in 2010. It combines a green house with storage space and comes in ready made elements that can be assembled by simply using a screwdriver. Linda customised one of the prototypes to create her own summer house studio located on a distant island in eastern Finland. Linda added timber floors, solar panels for lighting, entry steps and a footpath made out of reclaimed bricks.

Imagine waking up on the waters edge of a remote Helsinki Island, whilst all the clutter is tucked away neatly in the storage compartment at the back. Heaven!

Photos is by Arsi Ikäheimonen

Alexander Seton has earned a growing reputation based upon producing carved marble and stone sculptures that play on optical illusion and the perception of surface. The work uses the tension and often contradiction between the traditional skill of carving and use of contemporary subject matter and concerns.

In this exhibition Alexander explores the heated debate of flags whether draped, folded or hanging. His ‘Flags’ exhibition at Lismore Regional Gallery, his first solo show in a public gallery, serves to remind us that every flag tells a story.

Carved out of marble – yet appearing light and cloth-like, Seton’s flags refer to the past and present. His traditional material brings its associations with history, and the exquisite craftsmanship of generations of stonemasons and sculptors who have used it previously. Alex treats his favourite stone with this same skill and precision and respect. He says it is ‘not only its incredible plasticity as a sculptural medium, but also its loaded history. As a medium it’s very quiet and slow – in a world of shouting instant mediums competing for attention.’

In focussing his attention on the flag, Alex locates a simple emblem which can symbolise everything a nation could be. Flags, the artist says, are ‘particular expressions of our patriotism, nationhood, and the problematic relationship that every thinking individual has with ideas of civic duty, loyalty and dissent.’ The neutral character of white marble invites us to look at where we are as individuals and as a nation. Within the exhibition itself, some works provoke us to state or at the very least consider our stance whilst others express discontent at campaigns for patriotism and give a light-hearted plea for tolerance.

Alexander Seton ‘Flags’ runs from 17 December 2011 to 29 January 2012 at Lismore Regional Gallery

Fashion Designer Isabel Marant is renowned for her cult ‘bohemian style’, French fashion label whilst her husband Jérôme Dreyfuss creates a range of  bags and accessories with a similar style. Both their ranges are to die for!

If you thought this duo couldn’t get any more chic, think again. They recently spoke about their weekends spent at their rustic cottage, surrounded by acacia trees on the banks of Loing River, in the French countryside of Fontainebleau . With a strict embargo on fashion talk the cottage serves as a retreat from the couple’s hectic working week. Just 35 miles from Paris, the rustic surroundings are nevertheless far removed from city life and is. “Aside from people paddling on the river, you hear only nature,” Marant says. With a picturesque setting and even a treehouse for the couple’s 8 year old son, Tal, a rustic getaway has never looked so good!

Photography by Adrian Gaut