James

The area surrounding Arnold Circus, East London, is one of my favourite places in the city. Walking around this industrial neighbourhood - that not so long ago was completely written off, but has definitely risen from the ashes as a breeding ground for creativity - really lifts my spirit.

East London has definitely risen from the ashes as a breeding ground for creativity.

Historically, the area was home to a lot of weaver mills. Nowadays it’s a melting pot of many cultures and it especially has a huge Bangladeshi community. Art flourishes here, and my way to have a sip of it is to have a coffee at the café of Leila’s Shop. The waiters all dress in old-fashioned tabards and serve traditional, high quality food. Leila is obsessed with design! Her place is full of artifacts and furniture, made locally and beyond.

A beautiful piece of functional design created by Mr. Alex Hulme…

It was here that I met Mr. Alex Hulme. A gentleman with an open mind, with whom I seemed to share a sense of aesthetic. This became even more evident when I had to leave and he grabbed his pencil from his chest pocket to exchange details. A beautiful piece of functional design that he himself had created.

Alex also turned out to be a real craftsman.

The next day Alex invited me to have lunch at Canteen, a wonderful restaurant in an old school on the other side of the park. It’s part of a local series of listed buildings, housing studios for artists and designers. After lunch Alex took me to his studio in one of the buildings known as Sunbury Workshops, to demonstrate the production process of the Pocket Pencil and to show me more of his work. Not only was I impressed with Alex’ ideas, he also turned out to be a real craftsman.