September is all about back-to-school energy – and so, if you’re looking to learn something new (or perfect existing skills), we have just the thing for you. Introducing Menu of the Week: a newsletter series featuring recipes for a three-course menu by Marie Cassis, delivered straight to your inbox every seven days.

If you’re unfamiliar with her name, you may well know her Instagram platform, @aromecassis. Here the Egyptian-born, London-based music therapist and cook shares artful pictures of her deceptively simple culinary creations – think pan con tomate with olives, or spaghetti with mini meatballs – with her 126k followers. “I aim to keep them as honest as possible and I try not to do crowd-pleasers,” said Marie, speaking about her dishes when we interviewed her for Issue No.6 of our magazine. “It’s not about me trying to make something look really elaborate and complicated. It’s about letting the ingredients speak for themselves and being led by them.”

And that’s exactly what to expect with Menu of the Week: pretty plates of seasonal food that promise to impress dinner-party guests. Previous editions of the newsletter have included recipes for grilled corn with dukkah-lemon whipped butter, crispy chicken legs with puttanesca-inspired sauce, and apricot frangipane. Drool. And, given that September is known for its abundant British produce, we can’t think of a better time to sign up.

Menu of the Week costs £5 monthly or £50 annually.

As an artist born in Venezuela to Grenadian and Haitian parents, whose extended family raised him between New York and the Caribbean, Alvaro Barrington has often used his work to explore his culture, heritage and community. His vibrant paintings and large-scale sculptures have seen him draw inspiration from hibiscus flowers and the life of activist Marcus Gravey alike, while incorporating cross-disciplinary materials and sewing techniques he picked up from his aunts.

For his new exhibition, ‘Grandma’s Land’, which runs from 2 September to 21 October, Alvaro is reflecting on one part of his personal history in particular: his early experiences growing up in the Caribbean. Taking over Sadie Coles HQ on Kingly Street, Alvaro will be creating, as he puts it, “a universe” – the stars of which are three behemoth, hand-built architectural structures. Honouring the landscape of the Caribbean, Alvaro has crafted these pieces using materials such as timber and burlap, which are commonly utilised for housing in the region. Other new works on display will include paintings, drawings, installations and, for the first time, film. Notting Hill Carnival-goers may also recognise pieces first previewed as part of the 2023 parade; vivid abstract paintings that adorned floats and stages at this year’s event.

Two of the three architectural structures will play host to works by guest artists, including Sonia Gomes and Paul Anthony Smith, who are known for using their work to celebrate the Caribbean and its diaspora.

Pictured: Alvaro Barrington, Wet Fete: Bather, June 2023 © Alvaro Barrington. Courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London.

While we’ve long been fans of Ryan Gander – whose multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, film, writing, performance and more – we were truly won over by the artist when we met him at home in Suffolk last year. Along with his wife, Rebecca, he transformed what was once a “rabbit warren of little rooms” into a flexible wheelchair-friendly house for their family. As Ryan explained: “I approached it as an artwork – as a chance to make beautiful things that I feel proud of leaving behind in the world.”

Naturally, then, we were quick to add Ryan’s forthcoming exhibition, ‘PUNTO!’, to our diary. Aiming to unpack the relationship between our evolutionary past and the ways we live today, Ryan raises questions such as, “How would the world look if humans had not learned to count?” From bronze sculptures to poetic and typographic compositions and a documentary, his work touches on subjects such as capitalist growth, speed and progress – all in his signature genre-defying, high-concept way.

‘PUNTO!’ runs from 14 September to 28 October.

“I like the gritty side of design,” said Andu Masebo, when we spent the day with him earlier this year. “I don’t want to make art. I want to make simple and accessible objects.” The designer has been “making stuff” since 2011 but over the past 18 months, his products – from collector-friendly three-legged candleholders to his ‘Union’ chair – have become increasingly buzzed about. So much so that Andu has been selected for the annual V&A Emerging Designer Commission, which will launch during London Design Festival on 16 September.

For ‘Part Exchange’, Andu has transformed a scrapped red Alfa Romeo Cloverleaf into a trio of household objects: a daybed, freestanding shelves and a coffee table, which will be on display and collectively tell the story of the car. Having purchased the old vehicle at the end of its 25-year life, Andu sought to connect with its previous owners – from Jean in Yorkshire to William in Manchester and Nigel in Blackburn – to inspire the design of his furnishings. “I am interested in attempting to develop a new aesthetic of reuse,” says Andu. “One that sees sustainability as an opportunity to enrich the meaning of things, old and new.”

‘Part Exchange’ is a love letter to the automobile trade – something Andu has always felt an affinity with. As he revealed during our encounter with the designer earlier this year: “A lot of the stuff I’ve done is inspired by the car industry. There’s still a thriving community of local garages and spraying studios in London that allow you to use them for their production, which is actually quite rare.”

‘Part Exchange’ runs until 15 October 2023. And don’t forget to check out the full programme for London Design Festival, which takes place 16-24 September.

Marcel Breuer is one of the most important architects and designers of the 20th century. He trained at Bauhaus in Germany, which is often referred to as the birthplace of modernism, before going on to work under its founder Walter Gropius. He would design his most culturally significant structures, however, when he founded his own practice – from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. We have a particular soft spot, however, for one of his lesser-known buildings: his holiday home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Completed in 1949, Breuer spent almost every summer of his life in this timber house until his death in 1981 (in fact, his ashes are even buried on site) and his frequent guests included architect Florence Knoll, Alexander Calder and Gropius.

But sadly the dwelling now faces demolition – unless Cape Cod Modern House Trust (CCMHT) raises enough money to save it by May 2024. The local preservation group is now under contract to purchase the house from Marcel’s son, Tomas, in spring 2024 and promises to restore it to its former glory. As Peter McMahon, founding director of CCMHT said: “The Breuer house is not only an important piece of architecture, it was also a meeting place for many of the great designers and artists of the era. We have a chance to save it from ruin and to make it a busy nexus of learning and creativity again.” The purchase would also mean the organisation would acquire Breuer’s own collection of art, furniture and books, which would be archived and made accessible to the public.

In order to do so, the CCMHT needs to secure $1.4 million of the $2 million purchase price – and it is asking for your help. If the campaign is successful, the home will not only be saved but available to rent and tour from summer 2025. Click here if you would like to donate and help save a piece of architectural history.

To learn more about the modernist houses of Cape Cod, watch Narrow Built on Land, a documentry directed by Malachi Connolly. The beautiful film captures a particular moment in time when a group of European architects and artists with bohemian outlooks (Breuer included) built Bauhaus-inspired summer homes near the New England seaside.