Archive for the ‘Dwell/Architecture’ Category

Wooden Forest Apartment is a renovation project by Ikeda Yukie Architects, Japan. The architects retained and exposed the original wooden columns of an old two-story house in Nakano, Tokyo with the intention that “the exposed columns give the impression of a forest of wood within the relative starkness of the mostly-white interior.”

|| Via dezeen ||

Beautiful architecture photography by Nicholas Alan Cope.

Mario Kogan Architects‘ Paratay House is a majestic concrete and stone structure nestled on a lush coastal island between Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro. So very James Bond’s arch nemesis’ secret hide out.

|| Images via The Coolist ||

In 1961, Playboy magazine ran an article titled Designs for Living, featuring modernist architects and designers George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames and Jens Risom.

Go, read Playboy for the articles. You can start with this one.

From left to right: George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames and Jens Risom, photo(s) originally appeared in Playboy magazine, July 1961.

George Nelson || Edward Wormley

Eero Saarinen || Harry Bertoia

Charles [and Ray] Eames || Jens Risom

|| Via The Selvedge Yard | Lushpad ||

1. Mies Van der Rohe Barcelona Chair, at Knoll // 2. TenOverSix document clutch, hand-dipped in paint // 3. Brian Atwood patent leather platform pumps, image via Style Accessory Report // 4. Quilted clutch by Givenchy, available at Barneys // 5. Preen for Topshop pumps with quilted heel // 6. TenOverSix hand-painted quilted leather Speedy Bag // 7. I’ve had an unrequited love affair with the classic Florence Knoll settee forever. Available at Highbrow Furniture.

With these bare boned designs, the space between becomes an integral part of the whole. Despite the use of common industrial materials, the resulting products have an airy, weightless, and, in some cases, organic appeal.

1. Jaime Hayon’s Grid Vases for Gaia and Gino // 2. Designer and sculptor, Harry Bertoia, said of his Wire chair, “If you look at these chairs, they are mainly made of air, like sculpture. Space passes right through them.” Pictured is the Side Wire Chair, first produced in 1952 by Knoll // 3. Ten Thousand Things Cage earrings, at Ylang23 // 4&5. Incredible lightness of being. Spanish architect, artist and engineer, Santiago Calatrava, adds an unmistakable ethereal touch to his buildings and bridges.

The incredible office of Selgas Cano architects in Madrid.

|| Via Arch Daily | Photos by Iwan Baan ||

As the story goes, a museum curator once ordered two (Eames‘ Timelife) stools for his son and daughter. “Graduation gifts?” he was asked. “No,” he said, “the kids are only five and three. But I want them to have the experience of growing up with something truly good that they can keep all their lives.”

The Eames stool is my favorite piece of furniture at home. The stool was also reportedly Ray Eames‘ personal favorite. Drawing on her training as a sculptor, she set out to design an occasional piece for the lobby of the Timelife Building in New York City back in 1960. Eventually, the walnut stools liberally scattered about the Eames’ home in Pacific Palisades.

Each of husband-and-wife designers Charles and Ray Eames’ Timelife Stools are unique in that each piece displays its own grain and pattern, a work of art, as supplied by nature. Manufactured by Herman Miller and available at Highbrow Furniture, the top surface and the smaller bottom surface are both concave, so they can be flipped over.

Of course, there are plenty of options when it comes to occasional seating/table, with various designers taking their stab at these little, movable, chess-like pieces. While there are options, I must say that I think the Eames‘ Timelife stools own.

1. One of the most referential, and my favorite out of these like-minded designs, the Stack Stool. Designers, Ruby Metzner and Sather Duke, for Brooklyn-based Hivemindesign, designed the stool of multiple stacked pieces that, like a puzzle, can be recombined. Available at Matter Matters // 2. How about a literal version, but in lacquer paint? In bright white, for a contemporary-mod approach. Or black. Available at Room Service Home // 3. Gus Design’s Pawn Stool appeals to the inner cubist. Get it at Design Public // 4. Mario Botta’s Clessidra (Hourglass) stool is more rustic-modern than truly referential. Each stool is worked from a single block of cedar wood. The sculptural Clessidra are also designed to stack on each other, to create new and interesting forms // 5. Prospero Rasulo Teti Stool. Each stool is signed by the designer. Freeze-resistant frame in fine porcelain for outdoor use // 6. Philippe Starck’s, for Kartell, Prince Aha Stool. Perfect occasional table for when you’re sitting next to your oh-so-glamorous-yet-ironically-shaped-pool. Get it at a (relatively) cost-efficient price at DWR.

|| Image source for the Eames’ Case Study House #8 ||

These designs place their bends, folds and pleats in plain view.

1. Paris-based Inga Sempé for Luceplan, Plissé (pleated or folded), is a suspension lamp with a concertina-like shade which can be adjusted and customized to a variety of lengths // 2. Martine Sitbon’s Rue du Mail S/S ‘09. The collection featured 3D shapes created from micro-pleated panels on organza and leather jackets, origami tucks and folds on strapless dresses worn over sheer knit tanks // 3. Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus, Seattle Public Library. Image source // 4. Frank Gehry’s IAC building in New York. Gehry’s curved-glass office building began like most of his projects — by arranging folded pieces of paper // 5. Re-arrangeable installation tile system. Clouds, designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Kvadrat.

The brainchild of two architects, Coolhaus offers ice cream sandwiches named after design icons. Their prefab flavors include Frank Behry, Mies Vanilla Rohe, Richard Meyer Lemon and IM Peinut Butter, product specs can be found online. Currently available only to those in the L.A. area, founders Natasha Case and Freya Estreller update customers regarding their traveling ice cream truck’s whereabouts via Twitter.

Coolhaus has been featured in Dwell, where I found a photo to use. Other pic via Good Magazine.