Testing out the Flickr Wordpress Plugin (with Prada Building Photos)
I uploaded some photos I took at the Prada store in Aoyama, Tokyo on the weekend and I wanted an easy way to display them here. For the last post, I went to each photo on Flickr and grabbed the link text it gave me. It was OK for 5 photos, but I could see it getting old soon. I installed the Flickr Photo Album for Wordpress, a long process involving getting a wordpress key, and trying to figure out why it wouldn’t work at first. Turned out to be a problem with the latest version of Wordpress. After commenting out a couple of lines in the PHP (Who really want’s to mess with PHP when installing a plugin) it’s working. I’d be happier if you could drag and drop photos onto the write post page but as it is, it’s much faster than the old way. Thanks plugin writers!
Here’s what must be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, the Prada Building in Aoyama, Tokyo. They really don’t like people taking photos inside though, which is a pity considering it’s such a wonderful setting.
There’s not much I can say about it that hasn’t been said already. The use of the space the architects were given is incredible, there’s a wide open space in front with benches (marble?) and angular walls which were at one point covered in moss. They’d dried out a bit when I went, so it wasn’t that lush, but I can imagine that it’ll be nice again when the weather cools down properly. I love the decision to leave a space in front of the building, it gives it the room to breath that it needs. It’s such a landmark that it needs to stand out on it’s own.
The lattice on the outside is also on the inside, smooth white plastic all set in 120° and 60° angles begging to be touched. It’s like the shop they didn’t show in 2001 A Space Odyssey. You can’t help but run your hands along it. When you first go into the store, the first thing you notice is the incredible luxury of the cream carpet. It’s spongy and bouncy and the colour of that cat in James Bond movies. How do they keep it clean? Stairs wind around the building letting you look out of the diamond shaped windows. The VIP fitting rooms (they had a sign up stopping people from going in) have white leatherette sofas with TV screens arching down from the ceiling.
I only hope they haven’t printed out my picture from the CCTV as an “undesirable photo taking non-buyer” and that I can get back in again for another look.
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