It’s time for our end of summer sort-out, where we share the bookmarked snippets that have recently caught our attention. If you like, you can subscribe to our newsletter and have these delivered to your inbox every so often. Or you can dip into them here on our Journal. This time, we’re getting green-fingered at the Barbican, piecing together our favourite collage artists and exploring a remote cabin in northern Tanzania …

Frond memories

We have four apartments for sale in London’s best-loved brutalist behemoth at the moment, in Andrewes House, Speed House, Defoe House and Ben Jonson House. (Incidentally, the houses are named after historical figures with a connection to Cripplegate ward, where the estate is built.)

Those selling up are going to miss out on the results of a vast (£191m) renewal programme that is taking place at the multi-arts venue. In preparation for shutting up shop, Wayward Plants have been enlisted to take thousands of cuttings from the wide range of specimens on display in the Conservatory. They will be propagating them into new plants that can be adopted for the duration of the refurb, meaning you can look after a living leaf of the estate’s history in your own home.

Can’t be trusted? Then perhaps you’d prefer to peruse MADE’s latest 23-piece collection of furniture and homeware, which draws on original architectural drawings of the brutalist icon. At the very least, you should consider signing a petition created by Stefi Orazi of Modernist Estates to bring the Barbican basin back into production. If you can’t live in it, at least you might be able to wash your face in it …

On the cutting mat

There are lots of collage artists in our Drawer of Things. We recently discovered Dafna Talmor, who won first place in the Landscape category in the Sony World Photography Awards Professional competition for her enigmatic ‘Constructed Landscapes’. Also in our pile is the visceral visual world of artist Martha Rosler, whose work was recently on display at Denmark’s Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. In her ongoing series, ‘House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home’, Rosler combines images from interior decorating magazines with photographs of the Vietnam War to startling effect.

How to move house

Hikiya takes the annual village tug of war match to new heights. It is a Japanese technique used to move buildings in their entirety via a rope system and many, many willing volunteers, who chant “so-re, so-re!” as they take the strain. This summer, the 360-tonne Hirosaki Castle keep in north-eastern Japan was nudged two metres to the left following the restoration of an ancient wall that was damaged in a major earthquake. Over 1,800 people volunteered to take turns pulling 30-metre ropes, edging the keep towards its final destination, one centimetre at a time.

Tempting as it is to draw a comparison between this and the act of moving house in the UK, we will resist. In fact, to prove that moving really doesn’t have to be quite so strenuous, our co-founder Albert Hill is hosting a live online session that aims to demystify the process of selling your home. The talk is at 6pm on 16th September. Sign up by emailing marketing@themodernhouse.com

“The picture of simplicity”

And lastly, a house tour we wish we’d commissioned: the late Jane Goodall’s cabin on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Northern Tanzania.

Photography credits: © Martha Rosler; © Louisiana Museum of Modern Art / Camilla Stephan; © Felix Speller; © Twyfords