hello again, believe it or not, it’s been another month and a very, very long time since we posted anything architectural or photographic - things have been busy but actually, we needn’t always go on a long, exotic journey to find some good, inspiring facades. for this short little trip, we’re staying in edinburgh today to look at another student accommodation.
the building is at 8 roxburgh place (on the corner of west adam place), you can get to it by walking up the stairs behind the dovecot (this is very specific but if you’re a brutalist textile lover, it’s a highly recommended double trip to the textile studios as well as this concrete monster!)
the building belongs to the university of edinburgh and i can’t for the love of my life find the architect! if anyone knows, do reach out. i’m guessing it was built in the 1960s and recently renovated. by all accounts it is rated highly among students, mainly for the excellent location and the stunning views of the city, and i have zero doubt it’s an absolutely brilliant experience to stay there for your studies.
this is a textile design blog though, so as usual, we’re here for the patterns and the facade does not disappoint. it’s only five floors tall so it’s not an imposing monstrosity at all, and the human scale is made evident by the large window panels and the even facade - all floors are the same height, there is not a grand entrance or an all important ground floor, the seamless repeat of windows start immediately off the ground.
the near-square shaped windows sit in rounded rectangles with some relief details above them and it makes me imagine it inside in the style of futuristic space capsules. this panelling continues on all elevations, even without windows, the details are there, which is quite obviously a pleasing sight to the pattern lovers.
there is a bit of an extrusion on the front side, and due to that, it looks like there is a bit of an offset to the grid of windows, which breaks the monotony a bit and brings some excitement to the facade. i enjoyed walking around here - there is another lovely brutalist gem right across it, a university teaching centre recently renovated by reiach and hall. surrounded by the medieval churches of old edinburgh, they don’t look out of place at all in this living, breathing city.
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if you came here looking for ideas for your student accommodation, come and browse our shop!
hello again, long time no see, another month went past so quickly. of course, we were quite busy getting our new lookbook published, but even amidst the busiest periods it’s important to make time to get inspired. i thought that i’d recommend something a bit different this time - we aren’t going to recommend a building (well, yes, sort of) or a book (well, yes, sort of…!), we’re going to an exhibition - to my favourite venue in edinburgh -the dovecot studios!
if you’re in scotland, and are into textiles, it’s an absolute must to visit this tapestry studio (chances are, we might have met there as it’s also my favourite place to exhibit at fairs here!) and this spring they have prepared something quite special for visitors - andy warhol’s textiles!
it’s not the first time i saw some them in scotland - a few years ago a wonderfully curated exhibition of artist’s textilestook place in new lanark, which included his work as well as fabrics from picasso, dali and miro amongst others. i remember it being quite large and certainly beautiful - a rich journey into textile designs by artists we mostly know for their paintings and sculptures. this one is based on a similar concept - we all know andy warhol the pop-artist but how much do we know of the textile designer?
the dovecot curated it into a smaller and more focused exhibition that goes through his commercial textile designs. if you’re familiar with his logos and other commercial work, you’ll instantly recognise the easily reproduceable, wet inky screen printing style that marks all the exhibited textiles. the exhibition details this process a little bit if you’re not familiar with it, as well as shares some of the commercial background of the textile businesses these were produced for.
it really is a joyful ride with conversational patterns - mostly on 1950s and ‘60s fashion pieces. you might have seen the button prints before, but there are brooms, pretzels and gardening tools too… and it’s also quite interesting to look close-up and see the graphical quality of the designs. it is also a journey into how the textile industry used to work just a few decades ago.
i have not taken many photos at the gallery itself as it’s much better to look at it in person. however i did buy the big book (i do not often do it after exhibitions) to remind myself of these patterns from time to time.
go go go and see this - highly recommended! until 18th may.
hello dears, it’s that time of the year again, can you smell the cinnamon and see all the sparkles? it’s festive season time and we do have some nice ones lined up this year again. unfortunately we will not be doing any in glasgow this winter, but for all of you my glaswegian friends, feel free to browse the online selection, we are putting up a lot of the smaller gifts yea as well.
but for those of you in dundee and edinburgh (the first festive one in the city for zitozza!), you can come and get your hands on the tactile goods (and dig into the bargain basket!) as there’s a lovely little line-up of two consecutive weekends.
DCA CRAFTED - 26th & 27th november at the dundee contemporary arts 11:00 - 17:30 (152 nethergate, dundee, DD1 4DY)
the first one is just around the corner, in the city of jute of course, we wouldn’t miss this for anything. this is a fabulous line-up of the very best of contemporary scottish design at a true creative hub. this venue has creative workshops, cinemas and exhibitions so if you’re that kind of crowd, please do come along and have a chat! we really look forward to it.
festive makers market - 2nd december at edinburgh open workshops 10:00 - 16:00 (39-41 assembly street, edinburgh, EH6 7BQ)
this one is brand new, and we’re particularly excited about this one because for the first time for christmas, we’re heading to edinburgh, to leith to be more precise, the new creative hub of the place! i particularly look forward to meeting the creatives who know about and use edinburgh open workshops as i’ll be joined by furniture makers, woodworkers and other craftspeoople and can’t wait to buy something beautiful too!
so i hope you’re able to join and see us in either dundee or edinburgh - glasgow, aberdeen, and fife, i do hope to see you sometime later, but the online shop remains open 24/7.
if you want to buy anything bespoke or made to order, please place your purchase by tuesday 12th december as after this date, we might not be able to send with enough time before christmas to arrive. regular orders will be shipped right up to christmas, but please be mindful of courier services being overwhelmed and give your order slightly more time than usual.
happy shopping and do have a wonderful, wonderful christmas and all the very best for the new year.
hello again, we have a very nice announcement to make - just a quick blog post to announce our latest market round up. and we have a very, very nice double header ahead in our favourite scottish venues in edinburgh and then glasgow! celebrate the summer with some colourful block prints and browse all the loveliness scotland’s designers have to offer.
19th - 20th august - dovecot studios, edinburgh
first up is our bestest most favourite venue in scotland, the dovecot studios in edinburgh. this fabulous venue will be home to a fantastic line-up of local makers, curated by support the makers. the dovecot is also a fringe festival venue with exhibitions and of course, their lovely café and shops so do come along.
26th - 27th august - the briggait, glasgow
and afterwards, our favourite market returns. we absolutely love coming to the wasps studios markets as these markets are always very well organised and lovingly curated with some of the most engaged, creative audience of shoppers. it’s just a great experience all round and i can’t wait to talk to visitors and browse the lineup again. do come along
after all these fairs we will take a little break before we come back in the autumn and winter - but our shop remains online always so do browse our collections and let us know if we can help with anything at all. happy browsing!
hello spring, hello market season! the days are getting longer and it’s time to go outside, and get your hands on lovely, locally made stuff. visit the spring fairs and support your local, independent businesses. here’s where you’ll find some zitozza stuff this spring:
15th - 16th april - the briggait, glasgow with wasps studios
6th may - the steeple church, dundee with the yard
14th may - assembly rooms, edinburgh with craft & flea
looking forward to seeing you there - bring your friends for a day out and enjoy the fresh air and the local makes. take care!
good afternoon - this just a very quick announcement that zitozza joined the support the makers network and will be attending the spring market on sunday 6th march, at bellfield, portobello, edinburgh (16b bellfield st, portobello, edinburgh EH15 2BP) between 11am and 4pm.
this is a ticketed event (costs £1.50) so hurry up and purchase yours now - and see you there soon!
UPDATE 03/03/2022
many apologies but due to a positive covid test zitozza will be unable to attend the market. we are definitely, definitely going to the next one though (same place, in may), so stay tuned and i will leave this post here because i’m sure that it will be still worth attending!
save the date! it seems that as life is opening up more and more, we’re coming to pop-up at more events and markets - and this time, at a really prestigious boutique location at the newly opened st james quarter in edinburgh!
the pop-up event series lasts altogether for two weeks, from monday 23rd august until sunday 5th september, and is organised by the wonderful people at women’s business station to showcase some amazing makers from all across scotland and it takes place at sook, a pop-up boutique space at the shopping centre. zitozza will take up two days here, on wednesday and thursday 1st & 2nd september, sharing the space with a few other brilliant makers.
no doubt more posts are coming - and do keep an eye on our social media, but i just wanted to let you all know that this date is also coming! keep safe!
i hope you’re having a happy summer people, i know it’s not easy to navigate between wanting a sense of normality and being cautious about the spread of the virus, but as we are getting through it all, we are very happy to announce that you’ll be able to meet us again, in real life, at CLOTH#21 in edinburgh, scotland, at the beautiful venue of the dovecot studios.
this will take place on two weekends, and zitozza will be there at the second one, on the 21st and 22nd august, from 10am till 5pm. it’s an honour to be standing amongst many other talented makers and textile designers - so please do come as it will be definitely worth it. not only it’s going to be full of stalls with beautiful stuff but the venue itself is one of the best in scotland, and perhaps one of the only ones catering for tapestries and textile arts at such a level.
and also please don’t forget that on the 7th august, the penultimate jutefest will also be on in dundee (at unit 2, anchor mills, west hendersons wynd from 10am till 4pm) man it feels good to be blogging about physical events and i hope it can continue! see you soon!
