Welcome to Juxtapose Magazine!

A visual interpretation of contrast within the city of Birmingham which aims to highlight

the many nuances hidden within the city’s streets that may otherwise go unnoticed. We

also look to emphasise the artistic details such as colour, texture and shape. This first issue looks into the architecture and food of

Birmingham, focusing on the history and cul-ture associated with it.

Past | FuturePast | Future

I have gone around the centre of Birminghamand found quite a few abandoned buildings, which

you would expect in such a big city. There are quite a few that have been standing still for years. I had a collection to choose from, but one stood out to the others. It is on Belmont road just decaying while everything around it develops and comes to life. The back of it is missing its basically a wall, a lot of it got burnt down. Most the windows have no glass and the bricks have become stained and crumbling. The window frames look like they have decayed to almost nothing. It appears to look like it was made in the early 20th century.

I have added vines and graffiti to it to make it look even more decayed than it already is. I have done this because nature always takes over in the end. However man always gets involved this is reflected through the

graffiti, one will always find tags etc. on buildings thathave been abandoned. Abandoned buildings cease to be used and just become a place memories are and nothing else.

Past | Future

Birmingham is changing all the time. It is the second biggest city in the UK so it needs to keep

up with the present and modernise. Set an example to the other cities of the UK. Birmingham is always having building’s being refurbished, knocked down rebuilt. I am a new student in Birmingham and have no car so I walk around Birmingham a lot and discover the buildings and places of Birmingham. I am currently studying at Birmingham City University; my campus has been made into a futuristic, modern building interior and exterior. Just down the road there is Selfridges. Which is well known for its futuristic exterior. The building is an unusual curving shape and instead of using brick there are aluminium plates covering the building. Finally there is a brand new library, which has boosted to be the biggest library in Europe. The library looks like it’s a gift-wrapped

present it is made with bright colours and has an intricate pattern covering it. From all of these inspirations I have developed an abandoned building that I found in central Birmingham. I have made it colourful and have used as little concrete and brick as I can. The outside is made from different shaped coloured plastics. I also made it transparent so someone from the outside can see in, such as people walking up the stair case can see a wide view of the outside which has become very popular with modern buildings.

Birmingham will keep developing, there is always construction work going on and modern building are popping up everywhere I hope that the abandoned buildings will be developed and used instead of standing still and forgotten.

The word spaghetti is of Italian origin. Spaghetti is pasta that is thin, long and cylindrical in shape. It is made of water and semolina or flour, and is usually prepared in a pot of salted, boiling water which is brought to boiling. Lots of people think that spaghetti (or even pasta) is originated from China (where long thin noodles have a lengthy history). This information is taken from a manuscript of Marco Polo, but later on people found out that it was an inaccurate Latin translation. In the past people in Italy ate pasta in the form of gnocchi-like dumplings that had to be eaten as soon as it was prepared.

Nowadays historians say that the Arabs who populated Southern Italy (around the 12th Century)

were the first to innovatively make pasta from

grain into long thin stripes, to be able to dry them and store them for months or even years. Italian dried spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but outside of Italy and Sicily it may be made with other kinds of flour.

Traditionally, most spaghetti was 50 cm (20 in) long, but shorter lengths gained in popularity during the latter half of the 20th

century and now spaghetti is most commonly available in 25–30 cm (10–12 in) lengths. A variety of pasta dishes are based on it, from

spaghetti alla Carbonara or garlic and oil to spaghetti with

tomato sauce, meat and other sauces.

Spaghetti is a word of uncertain origin and comes from the plural of Italian

spaghetto, a diminutive form of spago. The initial

record of its use in English is by Eliza Acton in her Modern Cookery 1849.

Gravelly Hill Interchange, better known as Birmingham’s Spaghetti Junction

is the intersection of the M6 motorway

(Junction 6), A38 (M) motorway,

A38 road and A5127 road above

two railway lines, three

canals and two rivers in Birmingham,

England. The interchange was opened on 24 May 1972. Journalists gave the interchange’s characteristic name “Spaghetti Junction” in 1965 from the

Birmingham Evening Mail. On 1st

of June 1965, reporter Roy Smith described plans for the then

unbuilt junction as a “cross between

a plate of spaghetti and an unsuccessful attempt at a Staffordshire knot”, and a sub-editor captioned the article “Spaghetti Junction”. Ever since its opening, the Junction went through major repairs over the years because of the heavy traffic going day by day through the Junction. Under the motorway there are meeting points of local roads, the river Tame’s confluences with the

River Rea and Hockley Brook, electricity lines, gas pipelines,

the Cross-City and Walsall railway

lines and Salford

Junction.

Birmingham in the olden days was much different to how it is today. Places such as New Street and Vic-toria Square weren’t pedestrianised but traffic was a lot less due to mo-tor cars not having been developed yet. The main source of bustle in the city would have been the lively market in the city centre which is still a lively hub in the city centre. Shops on the high street would have been much less colourful, due to the fashions of the day, but in no way less busy

Old

Nowadays the city is a much louder place; the traffic noise is much increased due to motor cars being someone that we just take for granted. Street crime is a common thing, and now there seems to be at least a dozen sirens blaring out each day. The high street is vibrant and colourful, with the bright lights of the digital world, but the olden days are still represented in the grand architecture still present in Victoria square and Town Hall.

New

Hands can tell people a lot about personality, for example if a person paints their nails, someone might assume they keep themselves well groomed. Or if they have calluses on their fingers; they might play an instrument. Another way to classify personality is whether you are left brain or right brain dominant. This is quite a complex scientific theory, but very simplified, someone who is left brain dominant will be practical, deal with logic and facts, structure, maths or science. However, someone who is right brain dominant will have a wider imagination, be more creative, more likely to believe without a strong basis of fact. I asked these people which side they felt they fell into.

This person on the left works in an office environment. They deal with helping young people to find jobs, and things such as helping with writing skills for CVs and essays.

This person on the left works with children, nursing. You could argue that this person could also fit into the right brain side, as they have to be an imaginative person to be able to work with children.

This person on the right is studying me-chanical engineering, has a keen interest in science and physics, and would like to one day be designing parts for planes or weaponry for the armed forces.

Left Hand Brain

This person on the left is interested in filmmaking and is currently studying film whilst working on her own movie projects in her free time.

This person on the right thinks she could fall into either category, but feels she is quite a creative person, currently pursuing here interest in photography as a career.

Right Hand Brain

This person on the left is an actress playing a part in a film project. The bandages and jewellery that can be seen here are part of her costume for the role.

A T A S T E f r o mBIRMINGHAM

As the UK’s second largest city,

Birmingham is packed full of

different cultures and nationalities

and is any food lovers dream, with

an abundance of restaurants from

all over the world, your bound to

find a style of cooking that will

entice your taste buds.

While Birmingham is popularly

known for being home to one of

the worlds largest and most famous

confectionery companies, it is also

home to some other culinary gems

that have graced the world. Along

with Cadbury’s and what might

seem lesser known, Birmingham

is also the birthplace of the hum-

ble tea brand Typhoo and original

home of the famous Balti curry.

Tea and curry are a staple part of

everyday cuisine for the regular

Brit, especially in Birmingham and

yet some may not know that two of

the biggest forms originated right

within the streets Birmingham.

And so with that in mind I’ve

decided to enlighten you to two of

the biggest inventions in Birming-

ham besides the chocolate dream-

land that is Cadbury’s.

Over the years, the Typhoo business

has developed from being the first

brand to sell ready packaged tea, to

becoming a leading tea business.

With over 100 years of experience

Typhoo is one of the nation’s top tea

brands and an established household

name and since its beginnings in

1903, Typhoo has always produced

great tasting and great value tea, that

is true throughout the whole range.

Typhoo’s origins are located in

Birmingham and the founder of

Typhoo John Sumner who was

also born in Birmingham. The idea

originally came from Johns

daughter Mary who suffered from

indigestion and had tried a tea mad

from tiny particles rather than the

large leaf tea that was common.

This tea brought her great relief and

so she suggested that it be sold.

Birmingham is the curry capital

of the UK with a wider selection

of Asian and Indian restaurants in

Birmingham than anywhere else

in the country, some of which are

the oldest to be found in Britain.

The Balti is a type of curry that

is served in a thin, pressed steel

wok-like ‘balti bowl’. Balti cuisine

became known throughout

the UK during the 1990’s after

substantial growth since the 1980’s.

Balti is traditionally named

after the pot which it is cooked

in, the origin of the name comes

from the Urdu and Hindi word

Balty which translates to

‘bucket’. Curry is a culinary

treasure in the UK and yet many

don’t realise that one of the

biggest curries was formed right here.

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